It’s been 10 years since Samsung first introduced its Galaxy S line, and what a difference all those years make. Samsung proudly boasts its innovations throughout the years, sticking to its guns for a lot of elements it’s chosen to include in its devices. And this year’s models don’t stray that far from the formula. Here’s what you need to know about the 10th anniversary Galaxy S10 series.
No notch in sight
Samsung refused to add a notch to its flagship devices in the past few iterations, despite almost everyone in the industry succumbing to the trend. And with the Galaxy S10, S10+, and S10e, Samsung skipped the notch entirely and went straight into what it’s called the Infinity-O display, or these punch-hole displays that house the front-facing cameras. This allowed the company to provide a 90 percent screen-to-body ratio and kept the bezels on all three phones as thin as possible. Samsung said these phones sport Dynamic AMOLED displays, which it claims are supposed to be brighter than displays on its previous phones. These displays support HDR 10+ with Dynamic Tone Mapping, have better color accuracy, and less blue light even before the Blue Light Filter is activated.
As seen in the leaks, the Galaxy S10 comes with 6.1-inch WQHD+ display, the S10+ comes with a 6.4-inch WQHD+ display, and the S10e comes with a 5.8-inch FHD+ display. The S10 and S10+ both have curved edge displays, while the S10e has a flat edge screen.
All the cameras
While it isn’t about how many cameras but what they can do, Samsung makes sure you have plenty to work with. The Galaxy S10 and S10+ have a triple camera system at the back, which lets you toggle between telephoto and wide angle. The camera setup at the rear of the S10 and S10+ remind us a bit of Cyclops from X-Men’s visor with its horizontal setup. The phones have a 12-megapixel telephoto lens with zoom, optical image stabilization, and autofocus; a 12-megapixel wide lens with dual aperture, dual pixel, and OIS; and a 16-megapixel 123-degree ultra-wide lens with fixed focus. Meanwhile, the S10e loses the telephoto lens. Samsung wants its users to get as much as they can in a shot, so it’s kept the ultra-wide-angle lens on all its devices.
For the front shooter, the S10 and S10e both get a 10-megapixel camera. Meanwhile, the S10+ gets a 10-megapixel + 8-megapixel front camera that can shoot UHD videos and what the company calls “artistic Live Focus effects.”
Security boost
To improve security on the Galaxy S10 and S10+, both phones sport ultrasonic fingerprint sensors. These sensors are designed to be more secure than optical fingerprint sensors as these create a 3D impression of your fingerprint. It doesn’t just use an image, like with optical sensors. It’s also designed to work better in different kinds of conditions, whether it’s humid or hot out or there are any changes in ambient temperature. If you have greasy hands, this is supposed to work, too. Unfortunately, the S10e only gets a side fingerprint sensor, which doubles as the power button. We’ve noticed though that Samsung’s placed the power button unusually higher than usual, making it a bit tougher to reach.
Performance upgrade
As expected, these phones get a performance upgrade. The S10 now has an 8nm mobile chipset, which Samsung claims have better CPU and GPU performance but uses less battery at the same time.
Samsung is also introducing its first 12GB RAM model with a whopping 1TB of storage for the S10+. This can be expanded up to 1.5TB via microSD. This model also has an 8GB/128GB variant, which is what the S10 comes in with as well. Meanwhile, the S10e has 6GB/128GB configuration.
The phones also get bigger batteries with the S10+ sporting a 4,100mAh battery, the S10 has a 3,400mAh battery, and the S10e has a 3,100mAh battery. Samsung claims these phones can automatically optimize battery depending on what you’re using the phone for.
While not a performance upgrade, in case you needed the confirmation, all the S10 phones still have their headphone jack.
Time for a recharge
Samsung isn’t the first to bring this technology to its smartphones, but the series is the first to offer wireless charging not just for Qi-compatible devices but for Samsung accessories like its new smartwatch and Galaxy Buds. If you want to save on charging ports, you can even charge your smartphone and a secondary device at the same time.
Specs rundown
If you want to take a look at each device’s spec sheet quickly, here’s the quick rundown.
Samsung Galaxy S10+
Display: 6.4-inch WQHD+ Dynamic AMOLED Infinity Display
SIM: LTE Hybrid Dual
Operating system: Android 9.0 Oreo
Processor: 8nm octa-core
Memory: 8GB/12GB RAM
Storage: 128GB/1TB internal, expandable up to 512GB via microSD
Cameras: Rear – Dual Pixel 12MP wide, OIS, f1.5/f2.4 aperture + 16MP ultra-wide, f2.2 aperture + 12MP telephoto, OIS, f2.4 aperture; Front – Dual Pixel 10MP AF, f1.9 aperture + 8MP AF f2.2 with Live Focus
Security: Ultrasonic fingerprint, face recognition
Other features: IP68 water- & dust-resistance, Dolby Atmos Stereo speakers, Bixby, USB Type-C
Battery: 4,100mAh with Fast Wireless Charging 2.0; Wireless Power Share
Price: P55,990 (128GB), P89,990 (1TB)
Samsung Galaxy S10
Display: 6.1-inch WQHD+ Dynamic AMOLED Infinity Display
SIM: LTE Hybrid Dual
Operating system: Android 9.0 Oreo
Processor: 8nm octa-core
Memory: 8GB RAM
Storage: 128GB internal, expandable up to 512GB via microSD
Cameras: Rear – Dual Pixel 12MP wide, OIS, f1.5/f2.4 aperture + 16MP ultra-wide, f2.2 aperture + 12MP telephoto, OIS, f2.4 aperture; Front – Dual Pixel 10MP AF, f1.9 aperture
Security: Ultrasonic fingerprint, face recognition
Other features: IP68 water- & dust-resistance, Dolby Atmos Stereo speakers, Bixby, USB Type-C
Battery: 3,400mAh with Fast Wireless Charging 2.0; Wireless Power Share
Price: P49,990
Samsung Galaxy S10e
Display: 5.8-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED Infinity Display
SIM: LTE Hybrid Dual
Operating system: Android 9.0 Oreo
Processor: 8nm octa-core
Memory: 6GB RAM
Storage: 128GB internal, expandable up to 512GB via microSD
Cameras: Rear – Dual Pixel 12MP wide, OIS, f1.5/f2.4 aperture + 16MP ultra-wide, f2.2 aperture; Front – Dual Pixel 10MP AF, f1.9 aperture
Security: Side fingerprint scanner, face recognition
Other features: IP68 water- & dust-resistance, Dolby Atmos Stereo speakers, Bixby, USB Type-C
Battery: 3,100mAh with Fast Wireless Charging 2.0; Wireless Power Share
Price: P39,990
[…] the S20, Samsung completely ditches what we called Cyclop’s X-men visor camera layout back in the S10 but instead goes with the rounded vertical box on the left side […]