Samsung Galaxy S10 Full Specification, Review and Features
To Infinity-O and beyond
Early Verdict
The Galaxy S10 is a fitting 10th anniversary phone for Samsung and
its storied S series. It delivers on change with a novel-looking
Infinity-O screen so large it displaces the front camera, and a
triple-lens rear camera that takes ultra-wide photos. Its in-screen
fingerprint sensor tech should serve you well, while its Wireless
PowerShare could serve your friends well. That’s a lot of change – just
know that it comes at a high price.
For:
- High screen-to-body ratio
- In-screen fingerprint sensor
- Wireless PowerShare perk
Agains:
- Stunning price hike
- Bixby button still exists
Samsung Galaxy S10 Specs:
Weight: 157gDimensions: 149.9 x 70.4 x 7.8mm
OS: Android 9
Screen size: 6.1-inch
Resolution: QHD+
CPU: Octa-core chipset
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 128/512GB
Battery: 3,400mAh
Rear camera: 16MP + 12MP + 12MP
Front camera: 10MP
Introduction, Price, and Availability:
The Samsung Galaxy S10 has been engineered to be a
conversation-changer, a phone that's intended to turn everyone's yearly
question of "Do I really need to upgrade?" into a more exclamatory "Do I
really need to upgrade!"
It's the 6.1-inch Infinity Display that really
sells this phone. It introduces a nearly-edge-to-edge look that
stretches top to bottom, with pixels spilling over the curved edges at
the sides – there's no room for big bezels on Samsung's 2019 flagship
smartphone.
Its new Infinity-O screen – also a feature of the Galaxy S10 Plus and cheaper Galaxy S10e
– is so large it actually displaces the front camera, consigning it to a
small 'punch-hole' in the screen. All of the important sensors are
neatly tucked behind this vibrant and bright Super AMOLED display.
Also
behind the glass is the new ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. You won't
find a fingerprint pad on the back anymore, or anywhere visibly on the
phone. Samsung put its sensor – now invisible – on the front, where we
feel it belongs.
The Samsung Galaxy S10 officially makes punch-hole displays a trend
after the idea debuted on the Honor View 20, and in-screen fingerprint
sensors more mainstream after they appeared on the OnePlus 6T, Huawei
Mate 20 Pro and a few Vivo phones.
It’s
all in the cause of achieving that impressive 93.1% screen-to-body
ratio on the front of the phone. And, frankly, we like it a bit better
than a traditional notch. It won't bug you after a couple of hours with
the Samsung Galaxy S10.
Maximization is also the idea behind the
Galaxy S10's rear-facing triple-lens camera. Samsung’s camera array has
lenses to take normal, telephoto and new ultra-wide photos. The
ultra-wide camera is all about capturing more of what’s in front of you
without having to back up.
Sure, LG phones have touted ultra-wide camera lenses for years, most recently the LG V40,
but Samsung’s cameras have been more consistent in low-light
conditions. The feature is finally in a flagship-level phone you want.
The
Galaxy S10 also has features everyone can get. Its Wireless PowerShare
feature lets you use the back of the S10 to Qi charge another phone or
the new Galaxy Buds,
cloning the reverse wireless charging idea in the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, a
phone that’s not widely available in certain territories, including the
US.
The Galaxy S10 is an amalgam of other handsets’ single
hallmark features packed into one phone, while Samsung pioneers as many
technical features as it can cram in – faster Wi-Fi 6 and HDR10+ are
both firsts for smartphones. And that’s what Samsung does best really.
The
Samsung Galaxy S10 marks a decade of Galaxy S phones, and while there’s
been little innovation in recent years from the most popular smartphone
brands, including Samsung (Bixby and AR EMoji don’t cut it), the S10
has enough newness to tempt you to upgrade.
Samsung Galaxy S10 Release Date and Price:
The Samsung Galaxy S10 release date is Friday, March 8. It was
officially announced on February 20, with pre-orders opening right away
in some countries. In the US, Galaxy S10 pre-orders started on February
21.
There's a hitch or two in Samsung's masterplan to get everyone
to upgrade to this particular handset. The Galaxy S10 is expensive,
more so than the Galaxy S9, although it's markedly better value than the
iPhone XS, which is more expensive and has a smaller 5.8-inch screen.
Then
there's the fact that Samsung's biggest competition in 2019 may be
Samsung. The Galaxy S10e is cheaper and almost as good, while the Galaxy
S10 Plus is the phone you’ll want if you can handle its price and
screen size – and that’s to say nothing of the Galaxy S10 5G and the
Samsung Galaxy Fold, which early adopters may look for true innovation
at a higher price.
The
Samsung Galaxy S10 price starts at $899 / £799 / AU$1,349 / AED 3,199
for the 128GB of storage model, meaning you're spending an additional
$180 / £60 / AED 100 on this phone over the S9 launch price.
If you need more storage (and don't want to use the microSD slot
inside the Galaxy S10) you can opt for the 512GB model which costs
$1,149 / £999 / AU$1,699.
If you like the look of this phone but
think that price is a tad high realize that Apple charges $100 / £200 /
AU$430 more for the smaller 5.8-inch iPhone XS with half the internal
storage, 64GB.
Ordering the Galaxy S10 in advance of March 8 will
net you bonuses in some countries. In the US, for example, Samsung is
offering free wireless Galaxy Buds worth $149 / AU$249 when you
pre-order either the Galaxy S10 or Galaxy S10 Plus.
Display and Design:Display
Samsung’s screens are so good "our
competitors are even using them", Samsung brand manager Paul Guzek told
TechRadar, an all-too-obvious dig at Apple. It's hard to disagree.
It
has elegantly curved edges with pixels that spill over the sides,
amped-up brightness for better outdoor visibility, and HDR10+ support
for superior contrast and color.
There's a QHD+ resolution too,
which creates a pixel density of 550ppi, ensuring everything on screen
is highly detailed. However, the phone defaults to Full HD+, which looks
as good and you probably won't notice a difference on a phone this
size, unless you're using it for VR two inches from your face. It also
saves battery life by burning fewer pixels.
The new Infinity-O display type is what stands out – for better or
worse. Samsung has successfully avoided a notch cut-out at the top of
its flagship phones, instead using a laser-cut hole in the top-right
corner of the screen to embed the front-facing camera, as on the Honor
View 20.
Is a 'punch-hole' camera more or less distracting than a
notch? From our time with the Galaxy S10 so far, we'd say less. It sits
comfortably to the right in the notification bar, providing plenty of
space for the time, battery and connectivity icons, as well as any
notifications you may have.
It’s also given Samsung more screen
real estate to play with than ever, and don’t let the bigger 6.1-inch
screen size scare you off.
The S10’s dimensions are 149.9 x 70.4 x
7.8mm (and it weighs 157g), so it’s only marginally taller and wider
than the S9 with its 5.8-inch screen, and noticeably thinner and a bit
lighter.
Those marginal increases in height and width are due to
the S10’s screen-to-body ratio of 93.1% (the S9 was 83.6%). The S10 Plus
sports that 6.4-inch screen with the same screen-to-body ratio and a
nice size if you can handle it. However, if you're wary of false corner
touches (especially when typing) due to the bezel-less edges, stick with
the normal S10.
Bezel does outline the top and bottom of this display, even if we
said it wasn’t big. Samsung’s top speaker still reigns, and there’s a
thin but noticeable chin across the bottom; it’s less bezel rather than
bezel-less.
And the fact that the bottom bezel is larger than the top one catches our eye – it may be more distracting than the punch-hole.
There’s
little to dislike regarding the new display – if the Infinity-O doesn’t
distract day-to-day, and as mentioned we’ll update this review when we
have more hands-on time with the S10.
Design
You’re not going to be overly surprised by the rest of the Samsung
Galaxy S10 design, though there are a few notable enhancements, two
hidden surprises, and an old classic here.
Its thinner aluminum
frame is sandwiched between smooth glass, with the back coming in your
choice of color: Flamingo Pink, Prism Black, Prism Blue, Prism White,
Canary Yellow and Prism Green. Samsung Galaxy S10 colors will vary by
region, with the US getting all but yellow and green.
There’s the
smallest of camera bumps on the back, housing the triple-lens camera
array, while we saw no signs of Samsung’s invisible reverse wireless
charging module below this. It’s a particularly clean look in a world of
camera bumps and rear-fingerprint sensors.
We had no difficulty
activating Samsung’s Wireless PowerShare feature after turning it on via
the quick settings notification shade. We placed our Galaxy Buds case
on the lower third of the S10 back and the earbuds began charging almost
instantly. It even charged our iPhone XS Max.
Samsung laid out
two scenarios in which Wireless PowerShare would be helpful: charging a
friend’s phone, or charging your Galaxy Buds at night, effectively
making your plugged-in S10 a mobile Qi charger pad. Samsung noted,
though, that PowerShare won’t work when the phone is below 30%.
Possibly
the best bit about the Samsung Galaxy S10 though is its size. As we've
already mentioned, it measures 149.9 x 70.4 x 7.8mm, and considering the
size of the screen is nestles surprisingly well in the palm.
It's possible to use the S10 one-handed, with the curved edges on the
front and rear helping to give the effect that the phone is narrower
than it actually is.
That
said, the glass and metal body doesn't offer up a huge amount of grip,
so if you're accident prone we'd recommend picking up a case - even if
it's just a slim silicon job - to provide extra traction in your hand.
Also
invisible – this time around the front – is the fingerprint sensor.
While a lot of Android phones have used a rear-facing fingerprint
sensor, Samsung stuck with the front-facing physical sensor pad all the
way up to the Galaxy S7.
So the switch to the back felt foreign
on Samsung phones – but it’s come back to the front in the S10, this
time tucked underneath the glass.
This is an ultrasonic
fingerprint sensor, different from the optical sensors on the OnePlus 6T
and Huawei Mate 20 Pro, for example.
Samsung uses
Qualcomm-backed tech that’s said to be better, and more secure, by
making a 3D scan of your print, plus it'll work if your fingers are wet
or cold - two scenarios optical scanners struggle with.
It works reasonably well, but it's not a fast as an optical
fingerprint scanner. You won't be left waiting - it still takes less
than a second to read, register and unlock the S10, but it lacks the zip
of scanners not embedded in the display.
There also seems to be a
slightly higher failure rate too. You need to be precise with your
finger placement, and you'll need to apply a little pressure for it to
work. It takes a little getting used to, but things do improve.
And here’s a welcomed classic that hasn’t changed since the first S phone a decade ago: the 3.5mm headphone jack.
Samsung
is one of the few phone makers that includes the standard headphone
jack in 2019 – and it’s doing it despite introducing the wireless Galaxy
Buds and reducing the thickness of the Galaxy S10.
Camera, Battery, Specs and Early Verdict:
Samsung wants you to take photos at any angle, so the Galaxy S10 has a
triple-lens camera on back with a 12MP regular lens, 12MP optically
zoomed telephoto lens, and a brand new 16MP ultra-wide lens.
We’re going to take a hard look at the camera, how it compared to the
class-leading Pixel 3, and determine how good the ultra-wide photos
look. Samsung’s 123-degree field of view is rather wide, which serves
the purpose of not having to back up to get everything in a shot. But
that may result in an unnatural fisheye look. This ultra-wide camera
also lacks OIS compared to the other two lenses.
On the front, we have a single 10MP camera with dual auto-focuses. If
you upgrade to the S10 Plus, you’ll also get an 8MP camera meant for
enhancing depth in portrait photos.
Scene optimizer gains 10 new categories, with Samsung’s camera AI now
able to tell the difference between a cat and dog to fine tune things
like white balance. Shot Suggestions is a new feature that uses the
neural processor engine to nudge you to properly level your shots or
frame subjects better.
On the video side, the software has been
upgraded to record in HDR10+ and offer Digital Video Stabilization.
Samsung says that this is meant to make all of your Ultra HD video as
smooth as an action cam. Shots fired, GoPro Hero7 Black.
Battery life
The Samsung Galaxy S10 packs in a 3,400mAh battery, an upgrade over the 3,000mAh capacity of the Galaxy S9.
However,
because of the increase in screen size, Samsung is still quoting the
same "all-day" battery life for the S10 as it did for its predecessor,
and we found this to be true.
We
regularly got to the end of day with around 20% left in the tank, with
our usage including a couple of hours of Spotify streaming, another two
hours of video, a range of social messaging, an hour or two of gaming
and a smattering of emails, web browsing and camera use throughout the
day.
With
more reserved use, it’s possible to get a day and a half from the
Galaxy S10 before you have to considering finding a charger.
Running
the TechRadar battery test, where we play a 90 minute full HD video
with the screen at full brightness and accounts syncing over Wi-Fi in
the background, the Galaxy S10 lost just 11%.
That’s the same result as the iPhone XS,
and a marked improvement over the Galaxy S9 which dropped 17% in the
same test. It means you’ll be able to knock back a couple of movies on
the S10 and still have plenty of juice left in the tank.
The
Galaxy S10 supports wireless charging, like the previous generation,
but Samsung has added a new feature here too. It’s called Wireless
PowerShare and allows you to use the Galaxy S10 as a wireless charging
mat for your other wirelessly charging devices.
Any device which
supports the Qi wireless charging standard can be charged by being
placed on the rear of the S10, including the new Samsung Galaxy Buds as well as the most recent iPhones.
Charging
speeds are slow, but if your friend is in desperate need of some power
and there’s no charger in sight, you could potentially become even more
popular.
Specs
The Samsung Galaxy S10 gets proper under-the-hood upgrades, touting
the new top-of-the-line Snapdragon or Exynos chipsets, depending on
which country you live in.
It's plenty fast. The Qualcomm
Snapdragon 855 chipset we benchmarked came back with a record-breaking
multi-score speed... for Android. The iPhone XS is still a bit faster,
but Samsung is very close at 11,002 to Apple's 11,481.
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It
also comes with 8GB of RAM – a serious upgrade over the 4GB of RAM in
last year’s S9 – and includes options for 128GB or 512GB of internal
storage. There’s no 64GB version to worry about here, and Samsung still
supports expandable storage.
Also onboard is next-gen Wi-Fi 6,
which will support seamless transition between Wi-Fi routers and is four
times faster than 802.11ax. It should deliver a 20% speed boost, but
you’ll need a new router to really get any use out of this feature.
What
you won’t get on this phone is the S10 Plus and Note 9-exclusive vapor
chamber cooling. If you’re a gamer, you may want to upgrade to the
larger phone for more than just the bigger screen.
Early verdict
The
Galaxy S10 is a deserved 10th anniversary phone for Samsung and its
storied S series. Its new display type lays out more pixels across less
body, has a triple-lens camera so you can now take ultra-wide photos,
and contains a bigger battery surrounded by beefier specs.
You’ll like all of these features, while your friends will like the
new Wireless PowerShare perk. The S10 marks an anniversary, but it also
marks something a bit different among smartphones. It disrupts the
sameness of smartphones just enough to become a tempting upgrade.
The price, however, may give you second thoughts. That’s where the Galaxy S10e plays an important role.
Our
Galaxy S10 hands-on review isn’t finished yet. This phone requires a
lot more testing and day-to-day use to determine if the three-eyed rear
camera is the best in the world and the ‘punch-hole’ Infinity-O display
is the style of screen we want to stare at in 2019.
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