Since last year, 2018, there had been noises and rumors everywhere about the Samsung ‘ most anticipated smartphone, the Galaxy S10. Lots of rendering, suggestions, leaks and so ofrth but not until Wednesday, 20th of February 2019, the device went public officially for the first time and actually most of our thoughts and rumors were true…to some extent.

But this is a massive upgrade to the previous version aside it’s design, which some people still think of as it’s “BUT”. Never mind as this is a really nice device.

While Samsung celebrating the Galaxy S product line’s 10 years anniversary, the Galaxy S10 is really brightened device with a big potential to move the mobile market this year and stand out of the many. Although other big competitors such as Apple and Huawei are yet to announce their devices, we keep our hands crossed to see what the year has in stock for us all. But let’s talk about Samsung Galaxy S10 here shall we.

The device comes in 4 variants which are S10 which goes for about $900, then the S10 Plus which is a whooping $1000 smartphone, the S10 5G which hasn’t gotten a price tag yet and then the lower end Galaxy S10E which is sold for $750.

Samsung as we know had always been relentless in it’s attempt to dominate the mobile world of smartphones. The innovation of this company can be seen in it’s devices and while the S10 vividly showcase that innovation, one can deduce that Samsung is a company worth the investment.

The Galaxy S10 with it’s beautiful design, a tiny bezel, a wireless charging capability, an Infinity-O display which turns double to house the dual cameras of the S10+ variant, and a powerful memory space built to about 1TB and then One UI built ontop of Android 9.0 and 5G technology, seriously, we might not be preparing for these in 2019.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 is a really sleek device which doesn’t feel new at all as it still felt like the gold ol’ Galaxy smartphones we’re used to. The edge-to-edge design appears natural and the punch-hole on the display wasn’t intrusive as much as some smartphone’s notch would.

One obvious thing is how Samsung was able to make the punch-hole fit well with the notification area by pushing the notification area content to start from the left rather than being split in the middle as we have it on Huawei smartphones with top notch or even the iPhone XS.

Feature wise, the device is a real upgrade not just on the looks, it’s also a great upgrade in the software. Touching the device during the launching was really amazing. Despite the 5G variant being unavailable at least for me to hold and feel, the Galaxy S10 Plus which I was opportune to hold was really great.

We got reports that the 5G version will have a 3D Depth-Sensing camera on both back and front of the device which will help its AR and photo quality rather than being a face unlocking assistant considering the fact that the device already has an in-display fingerprint scanner.

Preorders for all but the 5G phone begin on Feb. 21, for a March 8 release date. Each preorder comes with a free set of Galaxy Buds as a gift so you might want to be among the early adopter of the device.

Keep reading for details on the four new Galaxy S10 phones, how wireless power sharing works, some new camera features and software changes like the in-screen fingerprint reader and One UI. You’ll find the full specs comparison at the very end. Let’s go!

The “Standard” Galaxy S10 ($900)

This is what I’d call the normal or default Samsung Galaxy S10 because it doesn’t have anything else added on to it’s name of course. Having a larger screen of 6.1 inch is how far smartphone makers have gone to fitting large screens within small device body frames.

Mind you, the device boasts of it’s HDR10+ certification which Samsung claimed it’s the first device to ever receive such accolade. The HDR10+ is Samsung’s format that competes with Dolby Vision.

It has a triple rear cameras which span from a 16 MegaPixel UltraWide sensor with fixed focus while the main camera lens is a 12 MegaPixel dual aperture wide-angle lense with OIS and then another 12 MegaPixel telephoto lens with an OIS that can achieve a 2X optical zoom. That means you’re able to take portrait photos and photos from any of the sensors, just by toggling on the screen.

As for the front facing camera, there is a 10 MegaPixel camera with dual aperture which could be found on the previous Galaxy S9 which automatically lets in more light when it senses your environmental lighting.

The “Standard” Galaxy S10 comes in two version with the memory being the obvious difference here. There is the S10 with 128 GB while the other is a higher 512 GB storage capability but both have a 8 GB RAM. To expand the device using external memory slot, it can take up to 512 GB MicroSD card.

The Galaxy S10 also has a 3400 mAh battery with a curved Gorilla Glass 6 on the front and Gorilla Glass 5 on the back with a support for wireless charging.

As for color, the Galaxy S10, S10E and S10 Plus comes in Flamingo Pink, Canary Yellow, Prism Green and then Prism Blue as well as Prism Black and Prism White. But not every country gets every color: US buyers will have to pine away for Canary Yellow and Prism Green, for example.

Then the Galaxy S10 Plus 1TB for ($1,000)

As usual, Samsung always keep all the goodies for the Galaxy Plus variant and that’s the same with the Galaxy S10 Plus which comes with a whooping 1TB storage which is why it has a slight price increase of $100 making it hit the $1000 smartphone hallmark.

The Galaxy S10+ is quite different in it’s outward design from the “Standard” Galaxy S10 version. For example, the device comes with a triple rear camera setup but then it has a dual front facing cameras (10 and 8 MegaPixel lenses) right within it’s punch-hole.  Many might find that disturbing especially when we heard the rumor and saw leaks, eventually, it wasn’t bad as thought.

There are definitely the 128 GB and 512 GB storage versions of the Galaxy S10 Plus but the 1TB is such a monstrous space version which puts your memory needs to a halt unless you’re hosting cloud system on your smartphone.

As for the build quality, Samsung kicks in a supposedly more durable ceramic backing option in white and black if you buy the 512GB or 1TB models.

The “Compact” Galaxy S10E for ($750)

This is a little less expensive version of the Galaxy S10 family which comes with a smaller 5.8 inch display. The difference with this version is the absence of the third camera though there are wide and ultrawide sensors but no telephoto lens. Then there is a single camera lens at the front of the device just as we have on the Galaxy S10.

The front design is flat rather than edge-to-edge curved design. It’s fingerprint scanner is placed on the power button at the right side of the device which to me is very fine.

As for battery capability, there is a decrease here with just 3100 mAh battery and it’s storage span from 128 GB to coupled with a 6 GB RAM up to the 256 GB and 8 GB RAM version with a Gorilla Glass 5 on both front and back of the device.

The device also uses the same Snapdragon 855 chipset as the other S10s. Samsung isn’t just going after the iPhone. It’s also aiming its harpoon at OnePlus’ traditionally cheaper flagship phones.

Galaxy S10 5G: The deluxe edition (price TBA, but likely over $1,000)

This version would be like the “Deluxe” version considering the implementation of the new 5G Technology on it. The Galaxy S10 5G will have a large 6.7 Inch display and a number of cameras. Yeah more cameras than those on the Galaxy S10 Plus already.

It has two cameras at the front and then four at the back; the reason for this being that the 5G model gets a 3D depth-sensing camera in addition to all the lenses on the S10 Plus. But here’s the thing. This camera is only for fancy photo tricks and AR, and not for securely scanning your face like Apple’s Face ID. Just to set your expectations.

As for the battery, it will have a larger 4500 mAh battery and thanks to it’s big screen, it needs big battery to make it work well. The memory with just the 256 GB and 8 GB RAM version but it doesn’t utilize the memory slot.

While there isn’t an official pricing on this device yet, we assume that it’s going to go for about $1000 and above. In the US, it’ll come first to Verizon in Q2 — that’s as early as April — before arriving at AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Xfinity Mobile later in Q2 — that is, by the end of June. Samsung will tune the Galaxy S10 5G to each carrier’s 5G bands.

Wireless PowerShare: Pretty great so far

Let’s talk about the PoweShare. Just as the name implies, it allows you to share some power with other devices that supports Wireless charging  by placing the device’s back on other wireless charging smartphones to share them some power.

Seeing this made me scoff unapologetically because Huawei Mate 20 Pro already did this last year and it was ultra-amazing. I’m not disputing that this isn’t worth praising, after all, that’s why I’m writing this section on it.

But to do this, you just swipe down on the notifications shade and tap on “Wireless PowerShare.” Then turn the phone over on its face and place the back of a friend’s phone, for example, or the new Galaxy Buds in their case, onto the back of the Galaxy S10 to give it a boost; simple as that.

Sharing is caring, right? But let’s not overdo it. Samsung has set a threshold so that your phone will stop giving up its reserves when it hits 30 percent.

Up to 6 camera sensors

All the Galaxy S10 phones have at least two rear cameras and one front-facing camera, but the more you spend, the more lenses you get. (See the chart below.)

• 12-megapixel wide-angle lens: This is the main rear lens. There’s optical image stabilization (OIS), and a 77-degree field of view (FOV). It’s dual-aperture, which means it automatically lets in more light for low-light shots. Apertures are f1.5 and f2.4.
• 12-megapixel telephoto lens: 2x optical zoom, OIS, 45-degree FOV, f2.4.
• 16-megapixel ultrawide-angle lens: Fixed focus, no OIS, 123-degree FOV (close to the human eye), f2.2 aperture.
• 10-megapixel front-facing camera: f1.9 aperture.
• 8-megapixel front-facing camera for depth-sensing (f2.2) or a 3D front-facing camera (see below).
• 3D rear camera: Time-of-flight sensor, aka ToF. For depth-sensing and AR, not security.

New camera tricks

When you take a selfie on the Galaxy S10 Plus: The edges around the front-facing camera light up so you know where to aim your eyes. It’s pretty clever.

Better photos with AI: Lots of phones use AI to identify photo subjects and scenes and automatically adjust the settings to get you better pictures of food, a landscape or your pets. All the S10 phones can identify 30 different scenes and adjust the settings accordingly. Samsung improves the Galaxy Note 9’s camera AI by making it easy to turn on and off in the viewfinder screen.

Shot Suggestions: Turn on this optional mode to get help lining up a photo. When it’s perfectly aligned, the camera will automatically take the shot. If you have shaky hands or take a lot of one-handed shots, that’s a good thing.

Bright Night low-light mode: Samsung says this automatically applied feature will make low-light photos crisper. Unlike the Pixel 3’s astounding Night Sight mode, this is built-in, not something you have to tap to turn on. I didn’t get a demo, but my colleagues in London did, briefly. I look forward to seeing it in action.

Video: The Galaxy S10 phones support super steady video that’s designed for action shots, like skateboarding, basketball games and so on. The phones can also shoot in HDR10 video, and both front and rear main cameras support UHD video recording.

In-screen fingerprint sensor, One UI and Bixby

In-screen fingerprint reader: The Galaxy S10 is the first phones to use Qualcomm’s ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. It’s a technology that uses sound waves to unlock the device. Ultrasonic sensors are supposed to be harder to trick than optical sensors, the other technology used in fingerprint unlocking.

One UI over Android Pie: Samsung’s new One UI is a custom layer that runs over Google’s Android 9 Pie software. It’s already rolling out for Galaxy S9 phones, but the S10 family is the first  to get One UI baked in. With it, Samsung embraces a more simplified look and feel with bigger icons that are designed to be easier to use one-handed. Note that you’ll still need to reach to the top for the notifications tray.

Fierce Mobile War Ahead

The point here is that there would be a fierce competition in the mobile phone market this year considering the  way technology keeps increasing on the daily. OnePlus is known for always disrupting those innovative techs we find in whatever smartphone we fall in love with especially from the top OEMs in the world.

In the terms of pricing, Galaxy S10E will contend with less expensive flagships such as the iPhone XR and the OnePlus 6T (and eventually the future OnePlus 7).

The Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus are so close in price, I suspect they’ll almost compete with each other, and then with every other $1,000-ish phone or 4G flagship model, from the forthcoming LG G8 and Huawei‘s next P30 and Mate phones, to whatever follows the iPhone XS and XS Max.

While Huawei is currently battling with getting it’s 5G technology accepted in many western nations of the world, Samsung could be seizing this as an opportunity to improve and make a great smartphone with that. The Galaxy S10 5G version would be a good bet in this spectrum.

While we still await the likes of LG, Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, Apple, I’d advise anyone seeking to purchase a nice smartphone to keep the wait a little bit until those are finally out just that the timing for each launching could span through the entire year. Apple is usually towards September and that time might not be very cool to some.

All eyes will be on it, which means that phones like the Galaxy S10 Plus and even the S10 5G could look ho-hum by comparison.

Together, the Galaxy S10E, S10 and Galaxy S10 Plus will shoulder the heavy burden of fending off competitors and holding people’s interest until 5G and foldable phones become much more vital to the mainstream.