Xiaomi showcases prototype smartphone with a larger in-display fingerprint sensor

Highlights: Xiaomi has posted a video showcasing in-display fingerprint sensor on a handset. The device can apparently be unlocked by pressing down on a wider display area. The sensor used on the phone is said to be 50.2 mm x 25mm in size.  Vivo X20 Plus UD was the first smartphone to feature an in-display fingerprint sensor and since then, many other handsets have launched with the same technology. While the tech is relatively new, there’s been no big innovation around it. The fingerprint sensor is typically placed below the screen in a small area where the user needs to press down with their finger to unlock a device. Now, Xiaomi is teasing a new advancement in the tech and in a new video, company’s President and Co-founder Lin Bin showcased a prototype smartphone that uses an in-display fingerprint sensor, which seems to be embedded underneath a wider area of the display.  Lin Bin posted the video on Weibo and the post’s caption suggests that the unlocking area is 50.2 mm x 25mm, which is said to be “many times larger than the unlocking area of the mainstream mobile phone on the market”. Going by the video, the large in-display fingerprint sensor area works well and is swift in unlocking the device. The video also shows that the fingerprint sensor works even when one unlocks the phone without looking at it. The prototype phone used in the video demo seems like the Mi 8 but it remains to be seen by when the tech will make its way to Xiaomi devices and whether it will be reserved only for the flagship phones.  The Xiaomi MI 8 Pro was the company's first phone to ship with an in-display fingerprint sensor. In-display sensor is basically a CMOS sensor, which is placed underneath the display and reflects light to read the fingerprint and unlock the device. The sensor can, theoretically, be of any shape and size and while the dimensions of the sensor shared by Bin suggest that the company is using a sensor that is quite wide, it is not capable of covering the entire display. However, we expect that amidst the growing competition, someone will figure out how to pack a fingerprint sensor under the entire display.  Related Reads: Samsung's latest patent hints at under-display fingerprint scanner covering the entire screen

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