The rumored, flagship Nokia 9 could be one of the first smartphones to boast an in-display fingerprint scanner if the latest leaks are to be believed.

Ever since smartphone makers declared war on the bezel, the fingerprint sensor has been banished to the back of devices or cut altogether.

While we've seen one phone go on sale that manages to fit the sensor under the screen, we're still waiting for a global flagship phone to pull off the same trick.

Recent rumors suggest the upcoming Nokia 9 could well be that phone: NokiaPowerUser relays news from a "trusted source" in China who says an in-display fingerprint sensor is indeed on the cards for the device, scheduled to launch before the end of the year.

The source also says that Nokia owner HMD Global might end up putting a notch on the front of the device, presumably to house the front-facing camera and make the top bezels as wafer-thin as possible.

The aim is to "maximize the display area" on its flagships, apparently, beyond the efforts of the Nokia 8 Sirocco.

First past the post

The in-screen fingerprint sensor is something that's been tipped once before by NokiaPowerUser, though in the absence of any other sources corroborating the story we'd say keep an open mind for the time being.

There's no doubt manufacturers are trying their best to develop the technology – it's just a question of whether or not they'll be successful.

With the Nokia 9 still a ways away from launching, it's possible that the Galaxy Note 9, scheduled for an August reveal, could beat it to the punch with an in-screen fingerprint reader. There have been conflicting rumors on what Samsung is planning for the super-sized phone though, so perhaps not.

Whatever the end result, we're looking forward to the Nokia 9's launch, when it happens: the phone is tipped to feature a Snapdragon 845 chipset, up to 8GB of RAM, and perhaps a a 22MP dual-lens Carl Zeiss camera around the back too.