In 2018 we started to see more smartphone manufacturers include in-display fingerprint sensors into their devices. Now in a post on Weibo by Xiaomi’s co-founder and president Lin Bin (via Gagets360), it seems that the company is working on a “next-generation” in-display fingerprint sensor.
Details are a bit scarce on the sensor at the moment, but from what we can tell it will solve two problems that are commonly associated with in-display sensors. One of which is the lack of one-tap unlocking, meaning that they will need to wake the phone first before it registers their finger. The second problem is the limited area in which the fingerprint can be read, meaning that the finger needs to be placed on a specific location.
This can be a bit tricky because unlike physical sensors that were used in the past that had obvious cutouts, in-display sensors don’t which can be a bit confusing for some. Usually OEMs do place an outline for users to place their fingers on, but like we said, for some this might not always be so obvious. Expanding the area will help with that.
According to Xiaomi, their new sensor will increase the total active sensor area to 25mmx50.2mm. That being said, it is unclear when Xiaomi’s next-gen sensors are expected to debut, and which phones they will debut in, but for now it appears to be in the prototype stage.