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The OnePlus 6T will have an in-display fingerprint sensor

The OnePlus 6T will have an in-display fingerprint sensor

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Combined with a much smaller notch, this phone is sounding pretty great

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In usual OnePlus tradition, the OnePlus 6 released earlier this year (above) will soon be succeeded.
In usual OnePlus tradition, the OnePlus 6 released earlier this year (above) will soon be succeeded.
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales

OnePlus has confirmed that its next smartphone of 2018, the OnePlus 6T, will have an in-display fingerprint sensor. The company has dubbed its implementation of the technology as “Screen Unlock,” according to CNET. “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.”

Last week, purported packaging for the OnePlus 6T was leaked, seemingly confirming that the feature was on the way. The box also makes it clear that the 6T will look very close to the Oppo F9, so the notch from the OnePlus 6 will be downsized considerably. It has also been rumored that T-Mobile will sell the OnePlus 6T in the United States, marking the first major carrier deal that the company has landed in the country.

The upcoming phone’s tagline is apparently “unlock the speed.” To successfully authenticate your print, the display lights up a section where you rest your finger and then the phone reads your fingerprint from beneath the screen; that’s why this technology is only viable on OLED smartphones. LCDs aren’t thin enough. Adding all the necessary components have resulted in the 6T being .45mm thicker than the OnePlus 6, according to CNET’s report.

oppo f9
From the front, the OnePlus 6T should look largely identical to the Oppo F9.
Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge

We’ve already seen in-display fingerprint sensors on other smartphones this year from companies including Vivo. The one downside compared to a traditional, dedicated scanner is speed; the in-display method is a bit slower than the fingerprint sensors you’ll find on Samsung, Google Pixel, and other phones — including the OnePlus 6 from earlier this year. (OnePlus has confirmed that the rear fingerprint sensor is going away in favor of the in-screen approach.) If you can’t deal with that, at least the company’s Face Unlock remains extremely fast.

Supposedly, OnePlus was hoping to include in-display fingerprint scanning on the OnePlus 5T. But “the technology wasn’t mature enough” to provide a good user experience, the company told CNET.