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Galaxy S8 may have a pressure-sensitive home key, Note 8 a whole display

By Daniel Petrov

Updated: Mar 15, 2017, 3:35 AM

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Galaxy S8 could sport a pressure-sensitive virtual home button area

Ever since Apple announced its 3D Touch technology for pressure-sensitive screens on the iPhone 6s, it has been incorporating and enhancing it further throughout its whole lineup, but what about its rumored iPhone 8 that will eventually be the first Cupertino design to utilize an OLED display? Well, Samsung, Apple's eventual supplier of OLED panels, may have found a solution.

Korean media is exclusively reporting today that Samsung has developed advanced pressure-sensitive technology for its OLED displays, and it has been showcased to a limited number of partners during the MWC expo two weeks ago. The source claims that we will see a limited application of this technology as soon as the Galaxy S8 that is expected to be announced as Samsung's Unpacked event on March 29th.

We say limited, as pressure sensitivity would apparently only be active in the navigation strip on the bottom of the screen, and the new virtual home button in particular, allowing you to open up various menus by harder or gentler presses. According to the industry insiders who commented on the matter, a full implementation of a pressure-sensitive display by Samsung would eventually come later this year, with the Note 8.

Samsung has already patented force touch panels

The Huawei P9 Plus has an OLED panel with what Huawei calls Force Touch, but it is essentially the same pressure-sensitive tech Apple utilizes, too, as you can see in the video below. Thus, there are precedents of OLED phones with pressure-sensitive displays, and Samsung even patented the technology recently, so we can't wait to see how it's been implemented in the S8, Note 8, and, eventually, in the OLED iPhone 8.

Given that Android Nougat already brings app shortcuts when you hold a home screen icon, it has to be some more creative implementation than simply pop-up menus, in order to warrant an extra layer of screen technology getting built around it.

source: The Investor

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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena from 2010 to 2025, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.