Galaxy S8 reported to feature facial recognition for payments after launch

Today we’re hearing about a new feature of the upcoming Galaxy S8 and S8+ that may help differentiate it from the rest of the smartphone market, at least a little bit. A new report citing unnamed sources close to the matter claim that Samsung will launch a payment verification feature using facial recognition.

Bloomberg‘s sources shared that Samsung “will employ facial-recognition technology for mobile payments within months of release…” instead of having the feature ready when the device launches in April. Although Samsung has included facial and voice recognition since the Galaxy S4, this would be a first for implementing these features to authenticate financial transactions.

The sources mentioned that this new feature will blend the rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, iris and facial recognition to authenticate various mobile services including Samsung Pay. We’ll have to wait and see if this alleged feature and its implementation will truly be something that can set the Galaxy S8 family apart from LG’s G6, Apple’s upcoming 10th-anniversary release, and the rest of the competition.

Hopefully, we’ll see fast and accurate enough iris and facial recognition that it could relieve the need to use the fingerprint sensor. This would come in handy especially in the case of mobile payments, as tapping a fingerprint sensor so close to the top of the phone could be an annoyance since we generally tap the top of the phone to the terminal.

In a recent poll, almost 80% of respondents shared they don’t like Samsung’s decision to place the fingerprint sensor on the rear near the camera sensor. Although Samsung devoted a lot of resources to bringing an on-screen fingerprint sensor to this year’s flagship devices, the third-party partner they were working with wasn’t able to make it happen in time.

It isn’t too surprising that Samsung is working hard to bring more innovation to the Galaxy S8, even if it launches after the smartphones are first available. The iPhone is expected to bring an on-screen fingerprint reader along and facial recognition and some analysts think Samsung is in the toughest position its ever been in, as far as the smartphone market.

We’ll find out if Samsung has any surprises left when they officially announce the Galaxy S8 and S8+ on March 29th. In the meantime, you can follow all of our Galaxy S8 coverage here.