Based on materials from android-softwares.com
Fingerprint scanners became popular thanks to the iPhone 5s, and it happened back in 2013. Touch ID, hidden in the Home button on the front panel, made unlocking your smartphone easier than ever: you just had to press the Home button and wait while your finger is considered to be unlocked. Very quickly, this technology turned into a trend, and now it is a standard feature that has already appeared in devices of the middle and sometimes lower price segment.
However, not every device has a fingerprint scanner on the front. Some have it on the back, next to the camera, and some even on the side. In the war against bezels this year, a number of smartphones that had a fingerprint scanner on the front in previous generations moved to a strange place in the back (yes, S8 and Note 8, we're looking at you). And in the 'enemy camp' at iPhone X, he completely disappeared. There was a scanner – and remember what your name was.
In this regard, many users have a thought: 'Uh, wait! Will we still have machines with a normal fingerprint scanner? ' By itself, this factor, of course, does not allow dividing smartphones into good and bad, but, nevertheless, a number of potential buyers can reject the wrong location of the scanner and stop them from buying, no matter how attractive this or that flagship may seem.
And despite the fact that, according to rumors, next year the scanner will be integrated into the glass that covers the display, now we have what we have. Let's see which Android flagships have the fingerprint scanner on the front.
1. HTC U11
The flagship from the company HTC retained the classic 16: 9 aspect ratio, thick bezels, and had plenty of room for the front fingerprint scanner. However, judging by the recently announced U11 +, it looks like HTC will also join the 18: 9 proponents and move the scanner to the back in 2018.
2. Nokia 8
The revival of the popularly beloved titan after Microsoft practically forced it into oblivion. Now Nokia Mobile is back in the hands of the founders – of course, only in a sense. No more Symbian and Windows – the new Nokia runs on almost clean Android. And also has a design in classic forms and the same classic arrangement of buttons. And this means that the scanner also found a place in the front.
3. Motorola Moto Z2 Force Edition
The 'unkillable' smartphone Motorola this year also adheres to some of the 'old design' principles. This is due to the Moto Mods system: the modules are promised three years of support, so this year Moto Z2 is also forced to keep the old shape. The location of the fingerprint scanner is also somewhat optimistic, at least as long as the Moto Mods game continues. Why? Because the module will cover the scanner if it is located at the back. And that would be a bad design decision.
4. OnePlus 5 (5T?)
A quick side note: The company is rumored to be rolling out an update to its flagship, the OnePlus 5T. And some rumors say that in its design a place for a fingerprint scanner is already allocated on the back side. But there is no confirmation yet.
And the OnePlus 5 itself has a classic design, including the Home button on the front. The manufacturer has always given choice to the user in everything related to the software interface and insisted on a 'user-friendly' design. For example, quite recently, the CEO of the company, Pete Lau, burst into a passage about the current trend of removing the audio jack from smartphones and said that OnePlus would not do this. Maybe the company will give up the location of the scanner at the back? After all, it is impossible to call it unambiguously convenient.
5. Huawei Mate 10
The phablet from Huawei has two versions – Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro. The second has an enlarged, 6-inch screen with an aspect ratio of 18: 9. And, as it already becomes usual, below, under the screen, there is no room for a physical button, the fingerprint scanner has moved to the back side. But in the regular Mate 10, despite the thin bezels around the 5.9-inch display, this place was preserved – and in Huawei they left the scanner in front.
6. Galaxy Note Fan Edition
And finally, the 'smartphone you can't buy'. Technically, it's a Galaxy Note 7, but with a battery that's definitely not going to explode. It is logical that the device has a 2016 design, that is, a Home button with a biometric scanner. You can try to order an exotic animal from South Korea, but it will cost you prohibitively expensive. Therefore, you should not do this, unless you are one of those who cannot imagine life without the Note 7 (aka 'The latest Samsung smartphone with a physical' Home 'button / front fingerprint reader' (is that so?), Aka ' The first Samsung smartphone with an iris scanner that doesn't explode. '
Dear readers, what do you think about the preferred placement of the fingerprint scanner? And does this play a role for you when choosing a smartphone?