MWC 2018: Vivo APEX Concept Features Half-Screen In-Display Fingerprint Scanner Michael Kwan February 26, 2018 News So, over at MWC 2018 in Barcelona, we were treated to our first official look at the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus. And unsurprisingly, neither phone is equipped with an in-display fingerprint scanner, much to the dismay of mobile enthusiasts around the globe. But there’s this other phone being shown off, the Vivo APEX Concept, that takes in-display fingerprint reading to a whole other level. [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkndoqWH_FQ] The above hands-on video, courtesy of The Verge, shows off several of the most notable features on this truly unique concept phone. And maybe the most important bit here is that everything on this phone is actually well within the realm of reasonable possibility. Chinese company Vivo has already shown off a production phone that has a fingerprint reader that’s built into the screen itself, but the reader is the same size as every other fingerprint reader you see on every other phone. It’s just that it’s built into the screen. The Vivo APEX Concept takes this a step further. They’re saying that “half” of the screen can function as a fingerprint reader. That’s a bit of a stretch, but you do get a solid section that takes up about a third of the display. Oh, and that screen is pushing the whole display-to-body ratio to new heights too, shrinking the bezels all the way around to almost nothing. While the “almost all screen” look of the Vivo APEX Concept looks great, it makes for a whole other set of challenges. Where do you put the front-facing camera, for example? Well, Vivo decided that the camera can pop out of the top of the phone. I’m weary about those moving parts, but it is an interesting solution that avoids the notch. And the earpiece has been replaced by a vibrating screen that functions like a speaker. Weird. At this point, the Vivo APEX Concept is just a concept, but it’s perhaps one of the most realistically viable concepts we’ve seen in a while. And it could be showing off what bigger players like Samsung and Apple could have in store for us in the next couple of years. Share This With The World!
