Report: Samsung may abandon the ultrasonic fingerprint scanner on their future smartphones

The Korean Times reports that recent security issues with the Samsung Galaxy S10 and Note 10’s ultrasonic fingerprint reader may have impacted Samsung’s relationship with Qualcomm.

Samsung debuted Qualcomm’s ultrasonic 3D fingerprint reader on their 2019 range of flagship smartphones, with the sensors promising to be faster and more secure.

The Korean Times reports that even at the time there were some ongoing concerns, and that these have only been amplified by reports from users that the ultrasonic fingerprint reader was slower than expected and then more recently by the scandal when it was discovered that if you had a 3rd party screen protector on your phone any finger could unlock your device. This led to many banks disabling their apps when running on Samsung handsets.

“Samsung Electronics applied the ultrasonic fingerprint scanners to its new smartphones despite lingering security concerns,” an official from a telecommunications company said on condition of anonymity. “The latest security issue involving the new technology could cause other smartphone manufacturers to hesitate to adopt it.”

“It has not been long since biometric sensors appeared on smartphones,” the official said. “The latest security issue showed that the new technology has obvious limits.”

Other companies used optical in-display fingerprint readers in their handsets, and the Korean Times reports that Samsung may switch to a local Korean supplied of these for their next device.

“If Samsung Electronics replaces the fingerprint sensors in question with traditional optical scanners, this would benefit domestic companies that offer optical scanners,” said local Samsung Securities analyst Lee Jong-wook .

Qualcomm for its part is expected to announce an improved ultrasonic fingerprint reader at their upcoming December 3rd Qualcomm Tech event in Maui.

What has our reader’s experience of the fingerprint reader on the S10 and Note 10 and should Samsung update to an optical reader? Let us know in the comments below.

Via Neowin