Samsung's likely to stick with a side fingerprint sensor for the Galaxy Z Fold4

Patent filings don't mean a thing

After seeing last year's foldables and this year's non-folding flagships, expectations are understandably high for Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Z Fold4 and Z Flip4. Rumors have already suggested that in addition to obvious upgrades like a new processor, we might also see considerable improvements in the camera department, and maybe, just maybe, a fancy new S Pen. But not every corner of these phones is being reinvented, and for those of you planning to pick up the Fold4, it's increasingly looking like an in-display fingerprint sensor won't be on the menu.

According to a new report from BusinessKorea (via SamMobile), the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 (or Z-less Galaxy Fold4 if recent global developments are anything to go by) will not feature an in-display sensor, instead going for the same sort of side-mounted one we've seen on Samsung's existing Fold phones. Some weak, earlier rumors talked about the idea of an in-display sensor like Samsung employs on the S22, following the discovery of a patent filed by Samsung with the World Intellectual Property Organization — just in case you needed any more confirmation that patent filings rarely lead to good info about upcoming products (especially in the short term).

Supposedly, this isn't because of any foldable-related technological hurdle, but that the side sensor is seen as more natural placement than an in-display one. While the latter makes sense on a standard form factor smartphone like the Galaxy S22 series, in a foldable, the side is a more logical option as the main display is hidden away, and relying on an in-display sensor can represent an extra step.

Of course, it's still early days for this year's new foldables, and we're probably still a few months away from getting anything concrete — Samsung might have some more surprises waiting for us in the weeks to come.