Getting the fingerprint sensor inside a display has been the next logical step for years (unless you're Apple). It has proven hard to crack the code on that, though. As displays keep getting bigger, it's time for someone to take the plunge, and Synaptics says it has the technology to make it happen. Its new Clear ID in-display fingerprint sensors are coming soon in partnership with a "top 5" smartphone OEM. That's a bit cryptic.

The Clear ID sensors (FS9500) work just like existing fingerprint sensors—you tap, and the sensor immediately recognizes your fingerprint. However, it does that from under the display glass and OLED panel. This allows for slimmer bezels without moving the sensor to the back of the phone. Synaptics contends that consumers prefer sensors on the front of the phone. Consumers are wrong, but okay.

Synaptics claims the sensors are already in mass production with a smartphone maker, but it's not saying who. It does use the term "infinity display" to refer to low-bezel phones, and that's a Samsung term. However, all Synaptics can confirm is that its partner is a "top 5" smartphone OEM. If we're talking worldwide, that's Samsung, Huawei, Apple, Oppo, and Xiaomi. Apple is obviously out, but any of the others are plausible.