Vivo Carries Forward Pioneering In-Display Biometrics Tech to Sequel Smartphone

“The in-display fingerprint sensor is available on a 128GB version of the X21, whereas the standard version of the phone features a regular rear-mounted fingerprint scanner.”

Just a couple months after becoming the first smartphone maker to launch a device featuring an in-display fingerprint sensor, Vivo has carried the technology forward in a sequel device.

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Coming so soon after the X20 Plus UD, the Vivo X21 isn’t a complete redesign, but does offer some substantial upgrades over the previous device. Rather than an OLED display, it features a 6.28″ Super AMOLED display; and it runs on a Snapdragon 660 chip, rather than the X20 Plus UD’s Snapdragon 635. It also takes a design cue from Apple’s iPhone X, virtually eliminating the upper bezel and featuring instead a notch to include the earphone speaker and front-facing camera. Also echoing the iPhone X is the X21’s use of 3D facial recognition, though it isn’t yet clear how effective this particular system is compared to Apple’s sophisticated infrared Face ID system.

The in-display fingerprint sensor is available on a 128GB version of the X21, whereas the standard version of the phone features a regular rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. While Vivo was showing off new technology allowing a fingerprint to be scanned across a wide area of the screen on a prototype device at Mobile World Congress a couple of weeks ago, it appears that the X21 UD’s sensor is based on the same technology as the X20 Plus UD’s, restricting fingerprint recognition to one, coin-sized portion of the display. Still, the fact that it’s within the display remains a singular accomplishment that not even Apple and Samsung have achieved in their own devices.

Alas, it looks like the new devices, like the Vivo X20 UD, will only be available in China, with prices announced exclusively in yuan so far. The X21 will go on sale on March 24th, and sales for the X21 UD will start on March 28th.

Sources: Phone Radar, GSMArena