Samsung Galaxy S11 leak claims Samsung will be copying THIS classic iPhone feature

It's already working on bring the now two-year-old iPhone technology to Android

Samsung Galaxy S11
(Image credit: Phone Arena)

Samsung Galaxy S11 might be one of the biggest contenders against both the iPhone 11 Pro and the upcoming iPhone 12. It's certainly one of the highest-profile Android phones coming up in 2020. But a new leak has confirmed that the smartphone maker is working on its own version of a technology already incorporated into the iPhone.

XDAdevelopers leakster Max Weinbach was looking through the code for Face Service, a facial recognition app. In that code was multiple references to something called UX_Picasso.

Here's where it gets interesting. Picasso has been confirmed by top Samsung leakster Iceuniverse as the codename for the Samsung Galaxy S11. If Face Service is creating UX, or user experience technology, for the Galaxy S11 it stands to reason the device can handle the technology.

We can conclude that the phone is going to follow in the Google Pixel 4's footsteps and feature 3D facial recognition, possibly to unlock the phone in place of the fingerprint scanner like Apple's FaceID tech.

Given the Samsung Galaxy S10's previous security problems with the embedded fingerprint scanner, a facial unlock might be an elegant way to circumnavigate this problem. Samsung devices have incorporated 2D face-unlock functionality before, but the biggest question is whether we are going to be a full 3D face-unlock feature in line with the iPhone. Unfortunately, it's too soon to tell.

The Galaxy S11 is expected to debut with a raft of features to take on rivals like the Huawei P40 Pro. An under-screen selfie camera, 5G compatibility and a practically bezel-less face are all possibilities. As of today, it seems as though we can add 3D facial recognition to the list.

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Matt Evans

Matt Evans now works for T3.com sister brand TechRadar, covering all things relating to fitness and wellness. He came to T3.com as staff writer before moving on, and was previously on Men's Health, and slightly counterintuitively, a website devoted to the consumption of Scotch whiskey. In his free time, he could often be found with his nose in a book until he discovered the Kindle.