As the fingerprint scanner's relocation under the display seems unlikely, Samsung is expected to retain the feature at the back of its upcoming Galaxy S9. The latest report claims this will indeed be the case, but it will move the scanner into a more practical spot to address complaints about fingerprint-blighted camera lenses.
An alleged leaked screenshot from the S Health App, shared by KeyForWeb, shows the heart rate sensor in the position previously occupied by the troublesome fingerprint sensor, which now looks to be situated below the camera.
This is corroborated by a leaked real-life photo of the device that shows the scanner at the said position. According to Android Headline, the handset is believed to be the smaller model of the Galaxy S9. It only sports a single rear camera, but the bigger variant should have a dual-camera setup like the Galaxy Note 8.
There is no way to confirm the leaks at the moment as Samsung does not address rumors prior to a device's launch, so this should be taken with a healthy grain of salt. What rumors say so far, though, is that the Galaxy S9 will retain the Infinity Display and curved edges of its predecessor. The standard model is expected to measure 5.8 inches, while the Plus model would be 6.2 inches.
The United States variant will likely house Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 chipset, with an octa-core Kryo 385 CPU and the Adreno 630 GPU, while the global variant will be equipped with the Exynos 9810 chipset, comprising Samsung's third-generation custom CPU and an improved GPU.
All models are expected to be metal and glass-made, water- and dust-resistant, and run Android 8.0 Oreo. There should be more internal storage and sharper imaging as well.
Samsung has yet to announce the launch details of the Galaxy S9. Earlier rumors indicate it will make its first public appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2018, to be followed by a full launch in March. However, a source recently said a CES appearance is unlikely. Instead, Samsung might opt to pull the covers off of the flagship at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in February.
