The Galaxy Note 10 supposedly won‘t require an external speaker. Instead, this vital component will be built into the screen.
This is something that could improve future iPhone models too.
Look and listen to Sound on Display
Samsung announced Sound on Display (SoD) last year. It’s kept mum on technical details so far, but basically it will vibrate the screen to produce sound waves.
SoD hasn’t yet been incorporated it into any handset, but that might change when the Galaxy Note10 launches next month. An analysis of a screen protector supposedly for this model points out that there are no openings at the top of the panel for the front-facing speakers needed during phone calls. This strongly suggests these are built into the display.
Note 10's "chin" is very narrow, the same level as the iPhone, no speaker grooves on the forehead, which means that the flagship Sound on Display(SoD) technology will replace the traditional speaker. The forehead will be narrower. pic.twitter.com/6aRGQIG0ee
— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) June 19, 2019
An open question with SoD is sound quality. Despite recent missteps, Samsung surely wouldn’t use this technology in one of its premier models if it sounded terrible.
SoD for iPhone too
Despite the two companies battling it out for smartphone supremacy, Apple regularly buys components from Samsung.
If Apple used SoD panels made by this Korean megacorp in future iPhones, it would be able to shrink the screen cutout. While most people seem reconciled to the Notch, surely no one would complain about it becoming smaller.