S10 leaks: Samsung to avoid camera notch with hole punch design

After a disappointingly iterative upgrade from Samsung's Galaxy S8 to the S9 in 2018, all eyes have been on the world's top smartphone manufacturer to unveil a radical improvement with the 10th-anniversary update to the Galaxy series.

Judging by leaks and rumours, Samsung is ready to deliver. According to various leaks and smartphone renders swirling online, Samsung is on track to make its Galaxy flagship smartphone the first to feature a new "hole punch" style of selfie camera.

The last hurdle in the way of a bezel-less phone, the selfie camera has increasingly been integrated into a so-called notch at the top of the screen, a design adopted by Apple for its iPhone and by Google for the latest Pixel to a lukewarm response.

But the next wave of smartphones is set to be shaped by a new display technology that allows manufacturers to embed a small hole for the selfie camera inside the screen, making for a small black dot in the display.

While the hole punch approach for the selfie camera may take some getting used to, the fact that it allows for a smartphone without bezels on the top and bottom will likely ease any pain.

A photo tweeted on Tuesday from the notorious smartphone leaker Ice Universe shows two Samsung phones with stunningly large screens with black dots in the top-right corners.

As shown in the photo, Samsung's larger S10+ phone is largely expected to feature a dual selfie camera, which will likely also mean a slightly largely black hole in an otherwise pristine AMOLED screen, according to a report from SamMobile.

This dual-lens feature, familiar from phones like the Google Pixel 3, brings the benefit of better selfie shots with a strong feeling of depth, as well as the option to fit more people into a group selfie with a wide-angle lens.

Expected in early 2019, the next Galaxy generation looks set to be ready in time for the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February, where last year's S9 flagships where unveiled.

For all its efforts, however, Samsung may just be beaten to the hole punch approach by Chinese rivals Huawei, whose Nova 4 handset is reported to launch in December with this same new piece of display bling.