Samsung Galaxy S6 to feature a larger physical Home button? Ugh!

Galaxy S6 Features

With a new Galaxy S6 rumors flying in on day-by-day basis, this one is the most strange of them all. It’s not directly related to Galaxy S6 specs or features per se, but it certainly involves wider ramifications. Looks like Samsung has politely accepted that iPhone’s touch-based fingerprint scanner is better than its swipe-based sensor found on Galaxy S5 and Note 4, among other sets, and thus may use one. The same sensor you find on Huawei Ascend Mate 7, pictured above.

The issue about this rumor is, well, it looks to be very authentic one.

But what’s the issue with a better fingerprint sensor, you may ask. Well, just think of a Galaxy S6 with larger Home button, the size of that of iPhone 6’s, because touch based sensor needs more space to do its duty. No matter how much we hate the hardware Home button, deep inside we know going to stay, and report has it that Samsung already looks happy with the idea of larger-than-S5’s button, with touch-based fingerprint sensor glued over it.

To Samsung’s credit, the use of capacitive Recents button, as found Galaxy S5, made things way easier than before when you had to hold the Home button at the very bottom of the phone’s front to access recent apps. So, Home button is not that much of a headache as it was on Galaxy S4, but we would have preferred sans-Home button front anytime.

How is that possible when Samsung looks hellbent on using fingerprint sensor?

Well, Samsung can slap the fingerprint sensor, with all touch-based tech in the world, at the very back of the device, the treatment LG preferred quite marvelously for power and volume buttons — and shown to us that it actually works beautifully. Having used LG G3 as my daily driver, it was amazing to find how easily you could get used to and be delighted at using the power and volume rocker from device’s back — though, it’s worth mentioning that this setup is quite inconceivable without the LG’s double tap to unlock feature.

The lack of double-tap is not an issue here as S6 will have power button anyway at the right side of it, and fingerprint scanner only helps in unlocking the device.

Device in case has to be Huawei Ascend Mate 7 actually, which houses a touch-based fingerprint sensor at its back, unlocking the phone with a simple touch from user. We really don’t need a Home button at front, so a rear fingerprint sensor is really cool idea for the very fingerprint tech, let along the Galaxy S6.

There are already high expectations as regards Galaxy S6’s design, and if Samsung cannot overcome its feeling of self-righteousness about the requirement of hard Home button on the front, it will amount to going one step backward with the new Galaxy S6’s design — fingerprint sensor involved or not.

By the way, the fingerprint sensor will do more than just helping you unlock the screen privately, as Samsung’s also planning to tie the tech to we sign-in, Samsung account verification, private mode and ‘pay with paypal’ payment system. Sounds bloatware, right? And we thought it was going away as Samsung was looking to get some inspiration from Nexus 6 — well, truly said, some things never change!

Source: SamMobile

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Kapil Malani

A die-hard Liverpool FC fan, Kapil is a big fan of Batman, Android and street Cricket. In that order, probably. Email: [email protected]