14 DAY TRIAL // OnePlus confirmed to CNET that their new flagship phone, the OnePlus 6T, will come with an in-screen fingerprint sensor designed to make it easier for the users to unlock their devices.
The in-screen fingerprint reader comes as an additional way to lock and unlock OnePlus' smartphones seeing that it also comes with a Face Unlock feature.
OnePlus said in its statement to CNET that "we unlock our phones multiple times a day, and Screen Unlock reduces the number of steps to complete the action. By adding this feature as an addition to other display unlocking options such as Face Unlock, users will have options to unlock the display in a way that is most efficient for them."
While being marketed as an in-screen feature, the Screen Unlock is embedded under the top display layer and works by lighting your finger using a sensor array allowing the reader's optical sensor to read your fingerprint.
The OnePlus 6T will not be the only smartphone with an in-screen fingerprint sensor
The new in-screen fingerprint sensor is responsible for the OnePlus 6T being 0.45 mm thicker than the OnePlus 6, as well as for the removal of the sensor on the backside of the device for a more streamlined unibody appearance.
Although already present on other manufacturers phones such as the Porsche Design Huawei Mate RS and Vivo's Nex, X20 Plus UD, X21, and V11, the fact that it was only included in OnePlus' devices this year even though it was planned to be added on the OnePlus 6 should be a direct testament of the tech's maturity.
What is sure is that, depending on the success of OnePlus' new flagship device, other companies, such as Samsung which planned to introduce an in-screen fingerprint reader years ago, might decide that now is the time to actually do it.
OnePlus' implementation will most probably be the cornerstone for this tech, with bigger manufacturers in line to adopt it once it proves successful. The OnePlus 6T might just be the smartphone to change everyone's minds.