With only a few days remaining in 2017, the public's attention is now towards the next batch of flagship smartphones coming next year. Among the first wave of premium handsets arriving in early 2018 is the LG G7, which is rumored to sport a new biometric feature, similar to the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Note 8.

The latest patent leak obtained by the Dutch tech website LetsGoDigital shows the LG G7 featuring an iris scanning technology to unlock the phone. To note, the current high-end LG devices such as LG G6 and LG V30 use the face unlock method, which has often been subjected to questions of reliability. The new iris scanner is expected to heighten the security level of the 2018 flagship.

Phone Arena reported that the iris scanning technology to be utilized in the LG G7 is the same mechanism used by the latest Samsung Galaxy devices. Specifically, the upcoming LG flagship will boast an advanced iris scanner that will be functional in different lighting environment. Moreover, the scanner will add a feature that will prevent other people from bypassing the phone with a static photo. The smartphone will make the user look at a series of dots moving around the screen, in which the advanced iris scanner will analyze the characteristics of the user's eyes.

It is expected that the advanced iris scanner of the LG G7 will be included in the front-facing camera module, something that the South Korean tech firm has already showcased at the Korea Electronics Show (KES) in 2016. LG has yet to introduce this all-in-one camera module into a commercial product, although the LG G7 is speculated to be the first device to sport such technology.

Meanwhile, there are rumors that the LG G7 will be the first flagship smartphone to be unveiled next year, going ahead of the anticipated Samsung Galaxy S9 launch at the same period. It was first believed that both the LG G7 and Galaxy S9 will appear at the Consumers Electronics Show (CES) 2018 in January, but recent reports suggest that Samsung has decided to move its flagship launch at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in February.