Smartphones at CES 2018: Sony’s selfies and Vivo’s fingerprint reader

The Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra is due out from February 2018. Image: Sony via AFP Relaxnews

While the new generation of high-end smartphones is expected to break cover at the upcoming Mobile World Congress, Feb. 26 to March 1, 2018, several interesting handsets are on display at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, which runs through Jan. 12.

New additions to the smartphone market are above all found on Sony’s stand, with no fewer than three new mid-range models: the Xperia XA2, Xperia Ultra XA2 and Xperia L2. With these handsets, Sony has paid particular attention to the front-facing cameras in a bid to ensure top-quality selfies. Each model has a 120-degree super-wide-angle 8-megapixel front camera, and the Xperia Ultra XA2 has a dual front-facing camera (16- and 8-megapixels) for sharp shots even in low light. The handsets are slated for release from February 2018.

The main technical innovation comes from Vivo. At the Las Vegas event, the Chinese manufacturer is showing off the world’s first smartphone to have a fingerprint reader under the display. In fact, the fingerprint sensor in the Xplay 7 is housed between the screen and the circuit board. A symbol then appears on the lock screen, on which the user places their finger to unlock the phone. In theory, the system, developed by Synaptics, only works with OLED screens.

HiSense, another Chinese manufacturer at CES, brought along five new handsets, all with 18:9-format screens but little else in the way of original features. Alcatel, whose devices are produced by Chinese manufacturer TCL, also opted for this format, which is shaping up to be a trend.

Finally, Samsung brought its Galaxy A8 to CES, the first smartphone in the Galaxy A range to have a borderless display and a dual front-facing camera. JB

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