Samsung Galaxy S9 might come with enhanced face recognition

Samsung's facial recognition feature might become a little less wonky in the next iteration of the company's flagship phone, the Galaxy S9.

According to SamCentral's Max Weinbach, who dug through the beta version of Note 8's Android Oreo Settings APK, there's a new feature called "intelligent scan" could provide a significant improvement over the facial recognition feature implemented in the Galaxy Note 8.

The new combination apparently uses "Iris Scanner and Face Recognition together for better results even in low or very bright light."

Both the iris scanner and the face recognition feature work in the Note 8, but neither is perfect -- eye scanning is a bit slow, while face recognition doesn't work well in the dark. But when used as a combo, the results might get significantly better.

Weinbach even managed to dig out a short video showing how the new feature might work.

There's still a lot we don't know about the feature. It could be implemented on the Note 8, it could be coming to the upcoming Galaxy S9, scheduled to launch in late February, or both.

In any case, the new feature could bring Samsung's phones a little closer to the iPhone X levels of face recognition, which, with its infrared-based Face ID, is undoubtedly the leader in the space.