Samsung is slated to take the wraps off the successor to the Galaxy Note 5 smartphone — dubbed the Galaxy Note 7 — at its "7 Unpacked" event on Aug. 2 in New York City.
Speculation is rife that the much-awaited smartphone will possibly be the first consumer smartphone to tout an exciting new feature — the iris scanner. Now, a product listing on Indian export and import website Zauba confirms that the Galaxy Note 7 will indeed boast the biometrics feature.
The Zauba listing for a Samsung smartphone touting the model number SM-N930F was posted on Friday, July 15, and reveals that the camera for iris scanner the handset — believed to be the Galaxy Note 7 — was imported from Vietnam.
This is not the first time murmurs of the Galaxy Note 7 housing an iris scanner have emerged online. In June, we reported that a new patent from Samsung for its iris scanner showed off how the technology would function on the impending Galaxy Note 7. The patent suggested that Samsung would deploy a novel "triple-camera system" in the handset that would house the much-awaited iris scanning functionality.
Moreover, leaked images of the Galaxy Note 7 that emerged on Weibo a few days ago also offered a peek into how the iris scanner for the smartphone would function. The images showed that users would have the iris scanning or pattern unlock options at their disposal to unlock their Galaxy Note 7.
The lockscreen will show users a viewfinder for the secondary camera if they opt for the iris scanning option. The users will then have to position their eyes in both the circles — at a distance of about 25 cm (10 inches) to 35 cm (14 inches). If the match is accurate, the smartphone will be unlocked automatically.
The iris scanner it is believed will be embedded in the Galaxy Note 7's home button. For those wondering if Samsung will bypass the fingerprint scanner in favor of the newer technology which scans one's eyes to unlock a handset, it is likely that the company will feature both in its Galaxy Note 7.
Both the technologies are handy for unlocking a device, but the iris scanner is said to be faster when compared with a fingerprint scanner and allegedly completes the task in under a second.
In addition to the iris scanner, the Note 7 will reportedly sport a 5.7-inch QHD Super AMOLED curved display. The U.S. variant of the smartphone will be powered by a Snapdragon 821 processor and 6 GB of RAM. The S Pen-equipped phablet is said to house a powerful 4,000 mAh battery and will be offered in 64 GB/128 GB/256 GB storage options.
The Android Marshmallow-powered device will be the first Galaxy Note to be waterproof and will tout an IP68 certification. It will also pack in a 5-megapixel selfie camera and a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera. The Galaxy Note 7 will also have a USB Type-C port.
