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Vivo's new Apex concept phone has a half-screen in-display fingerprint scanner and a pop-up selfie camera

By James Lu - on 26 Feb 2018, 5:30pm

Vivo's new Apex concept phone has a half-screen in-display fingerprint scanner and a pop-up selfie camera

At CES this year, Vivo showed off a prototype phone that used the world's first in-display fingerprint scanner. At MWC, the Chinese brand is back with a new concept phone that takes that idea to the next level.

The concept phone is called Apex, and it features a new type of in-display fingerprint scanner Vivo is describing as “Half-Screen In-Display Fingerprint Scanning Technology.” Basically, instead of a small circle on the display where you place your finger, half the display is able to be used as a fingerprint scanner. So instead of having to aim at the small icon to unlock your phone, you can just place your finger anywhere within the scannable area to unlock it. For extra security, you can even require simultaneous input from two different fingerprints to unlock the phone.

The Apex also has another interesting piece of tech in it: a pop-up selfie camera. The new trend for bezel-less displays has meant that manufacturers have had to find creative places to put the selfie camera. Xiaomi put it below the screen for the Mi MIX, while Apple uses a notch for the iPhone X. Most other brands just settle for a thicker bezel at the top of the display. Vivo's solution is one of the most creative we've seen so far: the 8-megapixel camera is hidden behind the screen and pops up like a pop-up flash when required. The result is an ultra thin top bezel to match the side bezels.

As for the front speaker, apparently the entire screen vibrates itself like a speaker to let you hear calls. I'm not exactly sure how this works, but it sounds similar in concept to the piezoelectric design Xiaomi used in the first Mi MIX.

According to Vivo, the Apex is purely a concept, and Vivo has no plans to release it as an actual product for now, however I wouldn't be surprised if one or both of its unique features do end up making it into some future Vivo phones.

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