Xiaomi 15 series may feature an in-display ultrasonic fingerprint sensor: report

According to a new report, the Xiaomi 15 could bring a host of new improvements over its predecessor to users. The next generation of Xiaomi’s flagship series, which is likely to include the vanilla Xiaomi 15, Xiaomi 15 Pro and Xiaomi 15 Ultra, may feature an in-display ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, ditching the optical fingerprint scanner of its predecessor. Recently, another report claimed that the smartphone series could be powered by the yet-to-be-announced Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset. It should be noted that the Xiaomi 14 series, which debuted in China in October 2023, is yet to launch in India.

Tipster Digital Chat Station posted information about the new development (through GizmoChina) and claims that the Chinese smartphone maker is working on new fingerprint scanner technology. The move will see the company use an in-display ultrasonic sensor for the Xiaomi 15 series. The leak also added that the brand may use ultrasonic fingerprint recognition technology from Goodix, which is considered cheaper compared to similar sensors from Qualcomm .

Ultrasonic fingerprint sensors transmit an ultrasonic pulse of sound waves imperceptible to humans. The sound waves hit the finger and return with the collected information. It matches the pattern of the edges and the space between them to recognize the user. Unlike optical fingerprint sensors, it offers several advantages. Since the sensor scans the fingerprint in three dimensions, greasy or wet fingers can also be scanned easily. It is also a more secure method of fingerprint scanning compared to the optical method. It should be noted that the use of this technology is limited to a few premium smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy S24 series.

An earlier report also highlighted that the Xiaomi 15 series could be equipped with the yet-to-be-announced Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset. The processor could be announced in October 2024, and given that the Xiaomi 14 series debuted in China in the same month last year, the Xiaomi 15 series could be among the first smartphones powered by the chip.

At X (formerly known as Twitter), a tipster published some details about the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 SoC. According to the leak, it could reach a maximum clock speed of 4GHz, marking a significant upgrade over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, which ran at 3.3GHz. It is also expected to be paired with the Adreno 830 GPU.