The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 poised to launch later this year could have some highly anticipated features such as a dual rear camera and an in-display fingerprint authentication, among the highlights.
While there's no clear evidence to support this claim, the theory makes sense nonetheless. In the months prior to the big Galaxy S8 unveiling, rumors kept piling up in anticipation and the smartphone was expected to have an even bolder design than it does in reality.
Dual Rear Cameras
A number of smartphone makers including Samsung's archrival, Apple, have equipped their top-notch flagships with dual rear cameras and Samsung was expected to follow suit and launch its Galaxy S8 with such a camera layout. Subsequent rumors, however, indicated that the company had dropped such plans and indeed, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ launched with single rear cameras.
Even if the change did not materialize with the Galaxy S8, Samsung likely had at least one prototype of a smartphone with a dual rear camera layout so it should have some of the groundwork already handled. That said, although it didn't implement the new camera layout on its latest flagship, it could introduce it with the upcoming Galaxy Note 8.
In-Display Fingerprint Authentication
Another huge feature rumored for the Galaxy S8 is an in-display fingerprint authentication, although it didn't make it to the final design either. Samsung had been working with Synaptics to implement an in-display fingerprint authentication, since it was removing the physical home button from the Galaxy S8.
Just a couple of weeks before the Galaxy S8 became official, however, a report out of Korea revealed that Samsung and Synaptics actually ran out of time with the implementation and rather than equipping the Galaxy S8 with a fingerprint scanner embedded onto the screen, it would go for a rear-mounted fingerprint reader instead.
That rumor turned out to be accurate as well, as the Galaxy S8 does indeed have an oddly placed fingerprint scanner on its back, right next to the camera. The placement is slightly annoying since users could accidentally smudge the camera lens trying to use the fingerprint sensor, but that's that.
Since Samsung and Synaptics already started working on the in-display fingerprint authentication but just ran out of time with the implementation for the Galaxy S8 release, it would make perfect sense to save the technology for the Galaxy Note 8 set to hit the scene later this year.
A Vietnamese website recently posted a set of images and a video showing purported Galaxy S8 prototypes and some of them featured a dual rear camera layout with a fingerprint scanner right below it. None of the alleged prototypes had a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, which seems to bolster the presumption that it had other plans for the smartphone's design.
Samsung could build on one of those prototypes and by the time the Galaxy Note 8 is ready to debut, it could have enough time to perfect the in-display fingerprint authentication technology with Synaptics.
It would be highly unlikely that Samsung would just abandon these design plans but may just shelve them for later, especially since the Galaxy Note 8 will need some extra oomph to wash away the Galaxy Note 7 shame.
That said, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 could rock the bold design the Galaxy S8 was rumored to have, including a dual rear camera setup and a fingerprint scanner embedded into the display.
Nevertheless, since it's all just speculation at this point, take this with a hefty grain of salt. As always, we'll keep you posted as soon as we learn more.
