Galaxy S10: Samsung’s 2019 Flagship Could Use Its Screen As An Earpiece
The Samsung Galaxy S10 continues to get more intriguing. Just recently, reports emerged suggesting that the South Korean tech giant would be implementing a screen-based speaker system for its first 2019 flagship mobile device.
Samsung’s unique speaker system was reportedly showcased at SID last May. The system enables Samsung to free up even more space from the Galaxy S10’s front panel, allowing the South Korean tech giant to entirely skip the notch that has been prevalent among smartphones this year after the release of the Apple iPhone X. Samsung, for its part, would be using a sound-on-display screen that doubles as a speaker for the mobile device.
The sound-on-display feature involves sound being conducted directly through the smartphone’s screen to the user’s ear via skull bones. According to a BGR report, a prototype device measuring 6.22 inches diagonally with a 2960 x 1440 resolution was already unveiled last May. While the device that showcased the technology was not named, its 2:1 aspect ratio suggests that the technology would likely be rolled out for Samsung’s premium smartphones next year — the first of which would be the Galaxy S10.
In a lot of ways, Samsung would be hitting two birds with one stone with a sound-on-display feature. For one, it would allow Samsung to free up even more space on its flagship handsets, enabling it to reduce its premium devices’ bezels considerably. Apart from this, it would also allow the South Korean tech giant to completely avoid Apple’s notch, which has pretty much become commonplace among smartphone makers in the mobile industry. Even premium handsets, such as Google’s Pixel 3 XL, for one, are rumored to feature the rather unsightly notch.
I teamed up with the guys from Mobil-Helden and we created a Samsung #GalaxyS10 concept. More info (in german): https://t.co/mcEqwPxU3P We will show more pictures during the week. pic.twitter.com/5iBhXKPJAb
— Jonas Daehnert (@PhoneDesigner) June 11, 2018
What is quite impressive with Samsung’s sound-on-display system is the fact that sound is conducted directly to users’ ear bones. This means that if users hold the smartphone away from their ear, they would not be able to hear a sound. Considering that a good number of voice calls are done through the speakerphone, Samsung would likely incorporate physical speakers in other areas of the device, such as its sides, according to a Forbes report. This would enable Samsung to equip a high-end speaker system on the upcoming device, making it ideal for media consumption — a feature that would definitely be a selling point of a smartphone with a completely bezel-less display.
The Galaxy S10 is expected to be released sometime early 2019. With rumors that the South Korean tech giant is finally set to unveil the highly-anticipated Galaxy X early next year as well, rumors are high that the Galaxy S10, the first real upgrade to Samsung’s S-series in two years, would be launched as early as January 2019.
