The Samsung Galaxy S8’s fingerprint sensor will be positioned right next to its camera, suggest new images of the device tweeted last night by mobile reporter Evan Blass.

The images show three different color models of the smartphone, each from the front, side, and back. As many had anticipated, almost the entire front side of the device is dedicated to the screen. On the back, the camera sits in the upper middle of the device, just above the Samsung logo. The fingerprint sensor appears to be situated next to it, less than a centimeter away.

As The Verge’s Chris Welch writes, the positioning could lead to “a fair number of index finger smudges on the camera lens.” And that could lead to an obvious comparison – and not to the S8’s advantage – to Apple’s next flagship iPhone if that device features an in-display fingerprint sensor, as many now speculate it will.

Still, the Galaxy S8 is expected to have at least one feature that is not widely anticipated for the next iPhone – iris scanning. Paired with facial recognition, the technology could offer users an exceptionally quick, accurate, and convenient means of authentication. That in turn, could mean less frequent use of the fingerprint sensor anyway, and fewer smudges on the camera lens.

Source: The Verge