Everyone keeps saying face unlock is “good enough,” but Samsung clearly disagrees.
The company is reportedly working on a new biometric system called Polar ID for the Galaxy S27, and on paper it’s a direct swing at Apple’s Face ID – just without the giant notch and bloated hardware.
If this leak is accurate, Samsung isn’t just trying to match Apple’s security game. It’s trying to do it in less space, with fewer parts, and without wrecking the display.
Polar ID: Samsung’s Notch-Free Answer to Face ID
According to the leak, Samsung plans to debut Polar ID on the Galaxy S27, a flagship that isn’t expected until 2027. That means this isn’t some last‑minute experiment; this is long‑term roadmap stuff.
Rather than copying Apple’s infrared dot‑projection setup wholesale, Samsung is apparently teaming up with Metalenz, a US-based optics company, to build something different. The result is Polar ID, positioned as Samsung’s first serious Face ID-class system – not the half-baked 2D face unlock we’ve had on Galaxy phones for years.
The key pitch: comparable security to Face ID, but packed into a punch hole instead of a giant notch or pill.
How Polar ID Works: Your Skin as a “Light Fingerprint”
Apple’s Face ID fires more than 30,000 infrared dots at your face, builds a depth map, and authenticates based on that 3D structure. It’s accurate, but it needs multiple modules: a dot projector, an IR camera, and a flood illuminator – plus space to hold them.
Polar ID goes a different route. Instead of mapping thousands of points, it apparently reads polarized infrared light reflected from human skin. Think of it as treating your face like a “light-based fingerprint”.
The leak claims the pattern of IR light reflected from skin is highly distinctive and extremely hard to spoof. Static images, videos, phone screens, and even silicone masks supposedly can’t replicate the reflection pattern correctly. In theory, that elevates it well above the insecure 2D face unlocks we’ve been stuck with on Android for years.
If that holds up, you’re looking at a system meant not just for unlocking the phone, but for high-trust tasks like digital payment authentication.
Smaller Hardware, Bigger Deal: Punch Hole vs Notch
Here’s where things get interesting for design nerds.
Polar ID is said to rely on only two main components: an infrared projector and a compatible front camera. No dedicated IR camera plus extra illuminator cluster. Because of that, the entire system is reportedly around 50% smaller than Apple’s Face ID module.
That size reduction matters. According to the leak, Polar ID can fit inside a standard front camera punch hole, which has been Samsung’s signature look on its flagships.
If this is true, Samsung could offer Face ID-level security while keeping:
- No giant notch
- No Dynamic Island‑style blob
- No massive pill cutout eating into the status bar
That’s a pretty big middle finger to the idea that serious 3D-style facial authentication automatically requires ugly hardware cutouts.
Speed and Low-Light: Matching Face ID Where It Counts
Raw security is one thing, but if biometric auth is annoying, people turn it off. The leak says Polar ID can unlock a phone in around 180 milliseconds.
That’s essentially on par with Apple’s Face ID. For real-world use, that’s fast enough that the biometric check finishes by the time you swipe up or tap the screen.
The system is also claimed to work in low-light conditions, which is critical for something based on light reflection. If it can reliably handle dark rooms, nighttime streets, and the classic “unlock your phone in bed” scenario, then it’s in the same usability tier as Apple’s solution, not the usual Android face unlock that just throws errors once lights are down.
Again, this is all on paper so far, but if Samsung actually ships those numbers, Polar ID moves from gimmick to legitimate daily driver feature.
Digital Payments and Real Security: No More Half Measures
Android users have been stuck in a weird split world for a while. You either:
- Use fingerprint sensors (usually reliable, but sometimes janky under-display), or
- Use basic 2D face unlock that most banking and payment apps refuse to trust.
Polar ID is being positioned as safe enough for digital payment authentication. That’s the real benchmark. If payment providers and OS-level security flags treat this as a high-assurance biometric, it changes how you interact with your phone.
Instead of juggling PINs and extra prompts, you could have:
- Screen unlock with Polar ID
- App lock/unlock with Polar ID
- Payment confirmations with Polar ID
All while keeping fingerprint as a backup.
If Samsung pulls that off, it finally closes the embarrassing gap where Apple has had a true 3D, payment-grade face unlock for years, and most Android OEMs shipped camera-based shortcuts that are basically fancy convenience toggles.
The Catch: This Is Still Just a Leak
Here’s the annoying part: the Galaxy S26 isn’t even out yet, and this leak jumps ahead to the Galaxy S27 and a feature allegedly coming in 2027.
That’s a long time for plans to change. Components get cut, vendors shift, costs spike, or the tech just doesn’t meet expectations in mass production. Companies prototype ambitious ideas all the time that never make it into shipping hardware.
So right now, Polar ID is potential, not a guarantee:
- We don’t have hard failure rates.
- We don’t know how it handles glasses, facial hair, or masks.
- We don’t know how well it works outside a lab.
All we have is a concept: polarized infrared reflection as a unique biometric signature, with a compact module that can fit into a punch hole.
Why Consumers Should Care
If you’re buying premium Android phones, you should be demanding more than bigger screens and another “Pro” camera mode.
Biometrics affect you every single time you pick up your phone, open a banking app, or approve a payment. Right now, Apple is still the default reference point when people talk about secure face authentication. Samsung’s rumored Polar ID is one of the first serious attempts from the Android side to actually challenge that, instead of pretending camera-only face unlock is the same thing.
If it ships as described, Polar ID could mean:
- iPhone-level facial security on Android
- No notch tax on display design
- Faster, cleaner authentication for payments and secure apps
Or it could turn into another cool-sounding project that never leaves the roadmap slide.
For now, this is a rare leak that actually matters for everyday use, not just another megapixel bump or pointless AI marketing term. If you care about privacy, ergonomics, and not having a giant black chunk eating your screen, you should be paying attention.
Check back soon as this story develops.