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Galaxy S21 Ultra teardown shows the larger in-display fingerprint sensor

JerryRigEverything is at it again, giving us a good look at the Galaxy S21 Ultra's innards.

What you need to know

  • JerryRigEverything takes apart a Galaxy S21 Ultra, showing its internals.
  • The optical in-display fingerprint sensor is much larger than on previous units.
  • Unfortunately, the selfie camera stopped working after the device was put back together.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 smartphones will be available starting tomorrow, but before you get your hands on one, JerryRigEverything has taken it upon himself to give us a look at what you're paying for. His latest teardown video, which was posted today, takes the cream-of-the-crop Galaxy S21 Ultra and dismantles, which is something we definitely don't recommend for the average user.

One of the main takeaways from the teardown is the larger ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, which Samsung claims is 77% larger than on the Galaxy S20. You can even see the size difference between the sensors in the video, which is dramatically increased and more efficiently designed. Hayato Huseman was impressed with the in-display sensor in his Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra review, noting that it was "much faster and easier to use". Hopefully, this points to an ever-increasing size for in-display fingerprint sensors, which could one day take up a large portion of a smartphone display.

Unfortunately, the front-facing display doesn't fare well when the Galaxy S21 Ultra is put back together, so taking your device apart is not ideal if you like to take selfies. Of course, you're better off protecting your device with some of the best Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra cases. And if you're still considering buying the Galaxy S21, you still have time before some of these crazy pre-order promotions at T-Mobile end, so act fast!

The best of the best

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

$1200 at Samsung

Look no further.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra is Samsung's latest premium 5G smartphone. With the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset, a large AMOLED 120Hz display, quad-camera system, and optional S Pen, there's almost nothing you can't do with this smartphone.


by Derrek Lee