Culture

Everything You Need To Know About The Samsung Galaxy S10

by Rae Johnston  21 February 2019
Samsung Galaxy S10

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It’s been 10 years since the very first Samsung Galaxy smartphone, the i7500. It cost $749 and came with a single 5-megapixel camera.

Today, 2 billion Galaxy smartphones later, the company that started by selling noodles announced its latest – the S10, which comes in four variations. It costs up to $2,399 and has up to 5 cameras.

Speaking at a super-secret unveiling we attended in San Fransisco this week, Samsung’s Sun Yong Kim told us that by this stage, we all pretty much know what we want from a phone. Apparently, it’s a whole lot of options and choices, which we are quite well educated on. So rather than stick to a couple – we’ve got the lot, all at once. I’m not kidding.

There’s the S10 (“the next generation premium Galaxy experience”), the S10+ (that, but bigger, and more cameras), the S10e (don’t have giant hands? Or a huge budget? This one is for you!) and a 5G-enabled version which I have not physically touched, and to this point only seen on a screen.

Samsung Galaxy S10

The Samsung Galaxy S10+, S10 and S10e

So what exactly is a “next-generation-premium-Galaxy-experience”? Garry McGregor, Vice President of IT and Mobile at Samsung Electronics Australia says it basically boils down to a “re-engineered dynamic display, camera technology that makes it easier to take amazing photos and performance that’s optimised for the way we use our phones today.”

Okay, but what does that mean? How is this actually going to be any better than what we currently have? And when we talk about options, what does that mean? I’m tired, have total choice paralysis, and just want to know if I will end up with an Instagram good enough to become a Diet Tea influencer. Don’t tell Jameela Jamil.

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DJ Koh, President and CEO of IT and Mobile Communications Division at Samsung says the four phones are “each built for a unique consumer in mind.” Generally speaking, the S10 is the standard model. The S10+ is slightly larger, slightly weightier, slightly pricier, and makes improvements on the camera, performance and features. The S10e is smaller, with just the basic features, fewer camera lenses and a regular flat screen.

There’s also a 5G model, but I’m yet to be convinced it’s anything but a hologram in a glass cube at this stage. I’ll report back when I’ve seen one in the flesh. Here are all the details on the three models I have physically held in my hands.

My Eyes

Samsung Galaxy S10

The 6.1-inch S10, 6.4-inch S10+ and 5.8-inch S10e all come with the brand-new Samsung-patented Dynamic AMOLED screen. For those not into reading spec sheets for fun, this means the screen’s colours will be super accurate to real life. The world’s most accurate on a mobile device, in fact, even in bright sunlight. There’s blue light reduction, too, for those worried about their eyes – but there’s no impact on picture quality and there’s no filter on top of the images. It’s basically magic (but science, really).

This range is also the first to feature HDR10+, which is made by Samsung, but available to all manufacturers, and been popping up in TVs for a while. It stands for “High Dynamic Range” 10+, and means the contrast in videos can be adjusted one scene at a time, so it always looks ace.

Now, because size matters (anyone who says otherwise is a liar, sorry) the laser-cut Infinity-O display also makes an appearance in the S10 and S10+. It’s like the Infinity pool of phone screens, a Fyre festival model’s latest holiday snap cascading over the curved edges, the whole thing screaming “you can’t afford me!”

All of the sensors and cameras are in “the hole” off to the right-hand side, so there’s no big notch blocking the middle top of the screen anymore.

Your Prints, Please

Samsung Galaxy S10

Now, to get into your phone there are the usual options – pin, swipe pattern, iris scan. This one is new, though — an Ultrasonic Fingerprint Scanner built right into that fancy AMOLED screen. It uses sound vibrations to read every nook and cranny of your fingerprint in 3D, and make sure you are who you say you are. It’s pretty legit, and is the world’s first smartphone to be FIDO Alliance Biometric Component certified, so there’s more chance of someone having to actually sever your thumb to get into your phone.

Only to S10 and S10+ models have this feature, the S10e has a regular fingerprint scanner on the power button.

Heads up that if you use an unauthorised screen protector, you might have some problems getting this to work. Samsung obviously can’t test them all, so there are no guarantees.

Pretty Pictures

Samsung Galaxy S10

All three phone models have both 12-megapixel wide-angle and 16-megapixel ultra-wide camera lenses on the back. The ultra-wide lens has a 123-degree field of view, which is super close to what the human eye sees. It’s the one you want for big, sweeping landscape shots and panoramas. There’s also a 10-megapixel selfie camera on the front.

The S10 and S10+ come with an extra 12-megapixel telephoto lens on the back, and the S10+ has an extra 8-megapixel selfie lens, too. So that’s 2 on the back and one on the front for the S10e, three on the back and one on the front for the S10, and three on the back and two on the front for the S10+. That’s a whole lot of lenses and a long way from the single 5-megapixel camera we were introduced to a decade ago.

There are a whole bunch of built-in features to make sure you take a great shot, thanks to the new “brain” of the camera, the Neural Processing Unit (NPU). Scene Optimiser has you choose the category of photo you’re taking (food, landscape, etc) and adjusts the settings accordingly. There are even shot suggestions if you need a little more guidance on things like framing and composition.

It’s not just stills, either – video has been given an upgrade with a new Super Steady video mode. The aim is to make your usually crappy snapchat videos of yourself skateboarding to your local to watch your cousin’s housemate’s new band look like Lords of Dogtown. Both the front and rear cameras can shoot in Ultra-High Definition quality, and the rear camera can record in HDR10+, too.

Share The Power

Samsung Galaxy S10 Power Transfer Wireless Charging

Powershare with the Galaxy Buds – check out the cool star-speckled phone case on that S10+!

Wireless Powershare is a cool new feature that turns your phone into a wireless charging pad for other devices. You can use your phone battery to charge your Galaxy Buds, another phone, anything that uses Qi-wireless charging – which is super common. If you have a device that wirelessly charges, chances are it’s through Qi charging.

You can also charge another device using your S10 while it is plugged into the wall charging itself. Chargeception. This feature is super handy and means an end to the days of carrying two chargers around with you.

There are some limitations to this feature. If you are charging two devices at the same time, Fast Wireless Charging 2.0 might not work, and you can’t charge devices that another type of wireless charging.

Super-Smart Wi-Wi, Artificial Intelligence, Dropping Your Phone In The Toilet

There’s an Intelligent Wi-Fi feature that means the phone will switch between a Wi-Fi network and your regular 4G network without you even noticing, or it interrupting what you’re doing. You’ll also get an alert if you’re on a dodgy Wi-Fi network.

You can also use Wi-Fi 612, which is essentially a VIP pass to four times faster Wi-Fi in crowded public areas — like a packed stadium.

The S10 uses Artificial Intelligence to adjust how the phone operates, based on how you use it, and as it gets to know you better, it improves. Battery life, speed, even launching apps faster if you use them a lot.

Oh, and in case you use Bixby — there will be automated routines and personalised recommendations available. There are routines for Driving and Before Bed routines, customized based on your habits. Bixby knows.

Oh, and good news — the S10 range is IP68 rated for water and dust resistance. So if you do happen to drop it in a 1.5 metre deep, sparkling clean toilet, it can stay there for 30 minutes no worries. But don’t take it to the beach. Or purposely drop it in the pool.

A Bit About 5G

Samsung Galaxy S10

The whole family – minus the 5G

There will be more to come on this in a few hours, but I can tell you now the Galaxy S10 5G is Samsung’s first flagship 5G smartphone. If you’re not familiar, 5G is the next generation mobile network that Telstra and Optus are racing to build all over the country. Depending on who you ask and what you’re doing, it will be 20 to 1,000 times faster.

For the Galaxy S10 5G, this means downloading a full season of Game of Thrones in minutes, Clash of Clans with virtually no lag, Virtual and Augmented reality that works well and you’ll actually want to use, and 4K video calling.

The phone will have a massive 6.7-inch display (Infinity-O, of course), a 3D camera, 4,500mAh battery and 25W super fast charging. In short: it’s a beast. The only downside at this stage seems to be that, well, despite holding and touching and using all the other models, I haven’t held one in my hands — yet.

How Many Kidneys You Have To Sell

Samsung Galaxy S10

Maybe only half a kidney for the 10Se

While the Galaxy S10, S10+ and S10e will be on sale from March 8, you can pre-order from 9am February 21. That’s this morning.

If you jump on board before midnight of March 7, you will score the new $249 wireless Galaxy Buds, too. I can attest to their comfort, and they boast AKG sound as well as enhanced ambient sound so you can hear what’s going on around you while you’re listening to music or taking a call. The battery lasts for 6 hours, and the case stores another 7.

Anyway, back to S10 – you can choose between Prism Green, Prism Black and Prism White colours for the Galaxy S10e and S10,

The Galaxy S10e 128GB model will set you back $1,199. The Galaxy S10 128GB model will be $1,349, and the 512GB $1,699.

The Galaxy S10+ 128GB costs $1,499.

Now we get fancy. The Galaxy S10+ 512GB is available in Ceramic Black and Ceramic White. You can really feel the weight on these, they are quite lovely, and they also cost $1,849.

Then there’s the Galaxy S10+ 1TB model, which also comes in Ceramic Black and Ceramic White and will set you back a sweet $2,399.

There will be further information about the 5G model later today, but if you’re keen to sink your teeth into some further info and specs, you can head here.

Junkee travelled to San Fransisco as a guest of Samsung.