Samsung Galaxy S10 Review: Intro
The Samsung Galaxy S10 is part of the phone five device line up that is: S10e, S10+, S10 5G and S10 Lite unveiled as a celebratory series of the 10th anniversary of the Samsung Galaxy S flagship line and the successor to the Samsung Galaxy S9. The Galaxy S10 is by definition the best one ever, so let’s see just how good the best is.
Contents
Page Contents
Samsung Galaxy S10 Review: Specs
- OS/Software: Android 9.0 Pie, Samsung One UI
- Rear Camera: 16MP + 12MP + 12MP
- Front Camera: 10MP
- Display: 6.1 inches | 3,040×1,440 pixels’ resolution
- Chipset: Exynos 9820 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 octa-core processor
- RAM: 8GB
- Storage: 128/512GB
- Battery: 3,400mAh, 15W fast wired charging, 15W Fast wireless charging
- Colors: Black, White, Peach, Blue
Pros
- Gorgeous Infinity-O display
- Blazing-fast performance
- Triple-lens camera system captures every angle
- Wireless PowerShare perk
Cons
- Average battery life
- Stunning price hike
- No autofocus with ultra wide cam
Samsung Galaxy S10 Review: Display
The 6.1-inch Galaxy S10 is a powerful and compact smartphone with a beautiful display. This device boasts of a Super AMOLED display panel, looking better than anything Samsung sells its rivals, and it’s been crowned the most color accurate smartphone display ever.
This phone comes with a 1440 x 3040 resolution. 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.
Samsung Galaxy S10 Review: 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.
Samsung Galaxy S10 Review: Camera
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.
In daylight, we’re seeing predictably great photos from the main camera – detailed and clean, with Samsung’s signature, highly-competent noise suppression leaving pretty much no trace of noise while preserving detail.
The telephoto camera is also a proven player, and we’ve come to expect solid results from it in bright light. In such conditions it captures images with very similar quality to ones from the main cam. The ultra-wide camera isn’t always sharp and you’ll have to watch out for unnatural fisheye look at the edges.
On the video side, the software has been upgraded to record offer Digital Video Stabilization. Samsung says that this is meant to make all of your Ultra HD video as smooth as an action cam. There’s also HDR10+ video recording, which is significant the previous S9 didn’t offer HDR recording at all.
Samsung Galaxy S10 Review: Performance
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.
It also comes with 8GB of RAM, a serious upgrade over the 4GB of RAM from the 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.
Samsung Galaxy S10 Review: Software
The OneUI software on the Galaxy S10 is streamlined as promised and fairly easy to use. The settings menu, for example, presents a lot fewer options than previous Galaxy phones.
By default, there’s a Recent Apps, Home Button and Back button along the bottom of the display. But you can switch to full-screen gestures. You’ll swipe up from the bottom left to see recent apps, up from the bottom to go home and up from the right to go back.
The Galaxy S10 also now offers some of the more compelling software features of the Galaxy Note 10. These include Live Focus video for applying bokeh effects to your footage and Samsung DeX for PC, which allows you to see notifications and send and receive messages on your laptop without having to fire up your phone.
ALSO READ: Samsung Galaxy A73 Review
Samsung Galaxy S10 Review: Battery and Charging
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.
Price and availability
Following the Galaxy S20’s launch, Samsung began offering the 128GB Galaxy S10 for $749 and the 512GB model for $899. Those models cost $899 and $1,149, respectively, before the S20 entered the picture.
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, the phone has a triple-lens camera so you can now take ultra-wide photos, and inside you’ll find a bigger battery surrounded by beefier specs.
