Samsung Galaxy S9 Face ID? ‘Intelligent Scan’ Feature Combines Face, Iris Scans

Ahead of Samsung Galaxy S9’s debut, developers have uncovered information suggesting that the flagship Android smartphone is going to come equipped with an advanced biometric system.

XDA Developers published a report over the weekend detailing what appears to be a new unlocking feature they found after doing an APK teardown of the Settings app on the latest Android Oreo beta for the tech giant’s Galaxy Note 8 flagship phablet. Apparently, they stumbled upon strings pertaining to Samsung’s upcoming 2018 flagships.

The report states that the Galaxy S9 and S9+ will likely come equipped with a feature called “Intelligent Scan,” which is basically a combination of facial recognition and iris scanning technologies. Because this biometric system reads both face and iris scans, it offers better security and accuracy compared to the iris scanner that debuted with last year’s flagship handsets.

Intelligent Scan is reportedly capable of recognizing faces and reading irises in both low light and very bright light environments. Plus, the system works almost instantly. XDA Senior Member Maxwell Weinbach has published a short YouTube clip showing how the Galaxy S9’s new feature works.

The uncovered feature is believed to work efficiently as an unlock tool for both the Galaxy S9 and S9+. The inclusion of facial recognition technology also makes it a capable system to verify the identity of the user. Phone Arena says it could work with any app that has support for it as well.

However, Intelligent Scan wouldn’t be the main or only biometric feature of the Galaxy S9 flagship. The new feature is still not seen as a capable tool to replace fingerprint authentication. Therefore, consumers can still expect Samsung’s upcoming flagships to debut with fingerprint readers.

Samsung is expected to formally introduce the Galaxy S9 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain next month. The company has already sent out invitations for a Feb. 25 Unpacked event. Though the unveiling will happen a day before the kickoff of MWC, the new flagship is going to make an appearance at the largest trade show for mobile technology.

While Samsung is now eager to show off its Galaxy S9 smartphone at MWC, the South Korean tech giant’s rivals are not launching their new flagships at next month’s big event. As previously reported, LG, Huawei and HTC have decided to just introduce their next flagship offerings at their own launch events that are scheduled to take place after MWC.