Tipster @vizileaks has posted images of the Xperia Z5 and Xperia Z5 Compact on Twitter, giving the impression that the upcoming handsets from Sony may come equipped with a fingerprint scanner.
The photo shows an iPhone placed between the two Xperia handsets, which are purported to be the Xperia Z5 and the Xperia Z5 Compact. Adding the iPhone in the whole picture may have been necessary for comparing the phones' sizes.
By looking closer at the image, the presence of a fingerprint scanner on the right side of the larger Z5 is immediately noticeable. The volume control can also be viewed and appears to have been moved a little farther down the side of the device. Another button is said to be the handset's camera.
The smaller Z5, which should be the Xperia Z5 Compact, has, on its display, a hand holding a phone with the thumb ready to press what looks like a button on the right side of the device. As the side of the handset is blocked by the iPhone, there's no way of telling whether it bears the same trio of buttons found on its bigger sibling. However, the display somehow gives the impression that the handset has a fingerprint scanner and that the button for it is placed on the handset's right side.
Moreover, ViziLeaks only tweeted the words "Sony Xperia Z (TBC) and compact," which didn't mention anything about the handsets having a fingerprint scanner.
Sony Xperia Z(TBC) and compact pic.twitter.com/yNTHvYg5dm
— ViziLeaks (@vizileaks) August 3, 2015
Over the past few years, the fingerprint sensor has been seen as an essential mainstay that phone makers have been adding to their flagship devices. While it doesn't command the same level of necessity from consumers who have always believed more in the importance of a good camera or good HD display, users who are accustomed to using a security measure by way of fingerprint scanning find it difficult to forgo having the feature on a handset they plan to buy in the future.
While it's still early to assume the level of veracity on the leaked image, it's interesting to note how Sony has decided to place the sensor on the right side of the device. This may pose a problem to left-handed individuals, who may find it difficult to access the sensor. Then again, this issue may seem irrelevant since it would be hard to imagine how future handsets would look or how expensive they would be if buttons for such a feature appeared on either side of a device.
