Samsung has trademarked something rather interesting yesterday, something called “Samsung LED illuminated”. This trademark was applied with the EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office), and it suggests that a replacement for a notification light might be on the way.
This trademark has been categorized as Class 9, 11, and the description is: “LED for displays; LED for mobile phones; LED for mobile phone flash; LED display; LED-lighting; LED headlights”.
The application itself has been submitted by Abril Abogados from Madrid, Spain, a company which usually acts in Samsung’s name in Europe, so this is not surprising at all. Now, this trademark does not exactly explain what “Samsung LED Illuminated” is, but considering that Samsung removed the LED notification light with the Galaxy S10 series, it’s possible that it’s a replacement for that.
The Galaxy S10 series does have a light ring around the front-facing camera, but that ring does not act as a notification light by default. You can get it to do that via a third-party app, or Samsung’s very own application, but the feature is not pre-installed in the device.
If we had to guess, we’d say that Samsung LED Illuminated is a replacement for an LED light, and we’d also say that it will be implemented in a similar fashion to the one on the Galaxy S10. The Galaxy Note10 and Note10+ may become the first two devices to offer Samsung LED Illuminated, and once again, if we had to guess, we’d say that the implementation will be similar to what we’ve seen in the Galaxy S10, but with a new name, and new pre-installed functionality for notifications.
Needless to say, an LED notification light is extremely useful, and considering that bezels have been getting thinner and thinner on phones, smartphone OEMs have opted to omit that feature, especially on flagship devices.
Many companies have included “Always On Display” functionality instead of an LED notification light, but it’s just not the same. Always On Display drains way more battery than an LED notification light, which is not surprising, no matter how it’s implemented.
An LED notification light, on the other hand, does not really drain the battery at all, its impact on battery life is completely insignificant, and it seems like Samsung realized that, and is planning to bring it back, in style. On top of that, an LED notification light is also more subtle than an Always On Display, or any other similar functionality.
The Galaxy Note10 and Note10+ will become official on August 7, and it remains to be seen if they will feature such functionality. If not, we may have to wait until the Galaxy S11, or maybe some other phone in-between those two devices. There is always a chance that we’re wrong, and that this trademark represents something else entirely, but the chance of that is not that high. In any case, we’ll have to wait until August 7 and see if Samsung has plans to include Samsung LED Illuminated on the Galaxy Note10 series.