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The newest Samsung flagships are almost here. The Samsung Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10 Plus, and Galaxy S10e will be announced on Wednesday, but due to leaks we already know what we’re going to see. This year Samsung will introduce a trio of devices for the first time. All of the phones will come with a familiar design and improved, but there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the new phones. Here are just ten of the reasons why I’m pumped for the Galaxy S10
No Notch
Samsung is one of the only major Android device makers that haven’t succumb to a notch on its flagship devices. Last year we saw LG and Huawei finally follow others like Apple into the land of display cutouts, much to our chagrin. But, if the leaks are accurate, the Galaxy S10 family will eschew the notch for something different– a display cutout.
Counterpoint: The punch hole is just as bad as the notch
The difference is subtle but noticeable. Instead of a notch that connects to the top of the display and takes a large portion of the notification shade with it, we’re getting a smaller cutout for the front-facing camera(s). The cutout is actually smaller than the camera sensor(s) that sit behind it which means we lose less screen real estate than if the S10 was rocking a notch. While the cutout isn’t an ideal solution, it does seem to be the best we’ll get until under display sensors, much like….
Under display fingerprint sensor
No-one is going to say that Samsung is the first to do the under-display fingerprint scanner but hopefully, they’ll do it the best. The OnePlus 6T and Huawei Mate 20 Pro are already on the market with under display scanners, but they have their problems. I have a lot of issues with my OnePlus 6T due to misreading my fingerprints. It can be slow and will routinely just refuse to read my fingerprint at all.
I’m confident this will not be an issue with the Galaxy S10 lineup. I don’t have any inside info on the topic, but Samsung has been rumored to bring this type of fingerprint scanning technology to market since as far back as the Galaxy S7 which means the company has been working on it for more than three years. Samsung wouldn’t include the tech at this point unless it was completely happy with its performance.
While some will still opine the loss of the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, I am excited about the future. Every time I unlock my phone just by touching the screen, it feels like I’m living in the future. Hopefully, Samsung can take it to the next level.
One UI
I’ve taken the opportunity to bash Samsung’s software pretty much any chance I’ve had since the release of the Galaxy S3. TouchWiz, then Samsung Experience, was pretty awful from an aesthetic standpoint and was packed full of features that no-one really asked for.
But One UI, the name of Samsung’s current software skin, has made great progress where the previous iterations fell flat. No longer do we have obnoxious colors, huge buttons, and out of place menu elements. There’s a lot more thought put into the software everywhere from the menu selections in the bottom half of the screen to the system-wide dark mode. While pure Android is still my personal preference, One UI has helped Samsung’s devices do a lot of growing up and I’m excited to see how it is presented on the Galaxy S10.
Those cameras
For a long time, you could count on Samsung’s phones to have the best cameras on the market. Then Apple upped its game and suddenly Samsung had a rival. Throughout the years LG, Google, and others have figured out how to provide a first class camera experience and Samsung’s lead evaporated.
But, Samsung is back with an extremely aggressive camera lineup on its newest flagships. The Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10 Plus will both feature a triple camera setup on the rear of the device with a main 12 MP shooter at f/1.5, a 12 MP f/2.5 zoom lens, and a wide-angle 16 MP at f/2.2. The less expensive Galaxy S10e should rock a dual camera set up with a 12 MP f/1.5 main shooter next to a 16 MP f/2.2 wide-angle lens.
Read more: Samsung Galaxy S10 hands-on video published early | Galaxy S10 commercial airs on TV before official launch
And as we discussed in the notch section, we’re getting a new and improved selfie camera setup as well. The S10 and S10e both feature a single 10 MP f/1.9 shooter while the Galaxy S10 Plus has a larger cutout that holds a dual 10 MP f/1.9 + 8 MP f/2.2 for better depth sensing.
Even if you’re not a fan of Samsung or plan to buy these devices, you should be excited about these cameras too. There’s no doubt in my mind that Samsung will release the best cameras on the market in the Galaxy S10 lineup (save for maybe the Pixel 3) and it’ll push the industry forward.
Another flat display
One of Samsung’s calling cards in recent years has been the “Infinity” curved display on its flagships. Since the Galaxy Note 4 Edge, we’ve had either a partially or fully curved display lineup. And while the displays may look nice to some people, I’m not in that group. I prefer flat displays because they don’t break as easy, they’re easier to navigate and rarely have the color banding at the edges like curved displays do.
That’s why I’m so excited that we’re getting a flagship phone from Samsung with a flat display! The Galaxy S10e will feature a flat 5.8-inch display but maintain the 1440p resolution and saturated colors we’ve come to love from Samsung’s display division. We don’t know yet if the display is completely flat like the Galaxy S7 (non-edge variant) or if we’ll see some gentle sloping like we see on other 2.5D glass displays. Either way, I couldn’t be more excited to get my hands on one of these bad boys. Many have likened the Galaxy S10e to the iPhone XR, a low-cost version for the masses with a few compromises made in the display department but I would consider a display that can be used one-handed a major plus.
The headphone jack remains
While everyone is busy getting rid of the headphone jack, Samsung is continuing its commitment to the universal standard for wired headphones. No-one will deny the popularity of Bluetooth headphones in 2019, but there are some of us who still love plugging in a nice pair of headphones and not worrying about the battery life of two devices. Plus, music from wired headphones just sounds better. I’m grateful for the likes of Samsung and LG for not removing the headphone jack because frankly, it’s anti-consumer. It’s an especially impressive move given that Samsung is expected to also announce a brand new pair of wireless earbuds that pair nicely with….
Reverse wireless charging
First coming to market in the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, reverse wireless charging is a neat little trick that allows your phone to charge other devices wirelessly. Up until now, we’ve seen phones accept wireless charging, but never dole the power out.
With reverse wireless charging, you can help a friend keep their phone alive without any cables required. Or, like Samsung is hoping you’ll do, you can pick up a pair of the new Galaxy Buds, a pair of wireless earbuds that have a case with wireless charging. Simply rest the case on the back of your Samsung Galaxy S10 and it’ll refill the cells. While wireless charging has its faults, we do love the convenience of it. Giving us the option to turn our phones into a charging pad is the next logical step.
Better battery life
I know there are some that disagree, but I think the Samsung Galaxy S10 lineup is going to get fantastic battery life. Sure, the Galaxy S9 was a disappointment in this area, but Samsung proved that it gets it when it stuck a 4,000 mAh battery into the Galaxy Note9. Now, the Galaxy S10e features a 3,100 mAh battery while the Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus have 3,400 mAh and 4,100 mAh batteries respectively.
Now, those batteries on their own are bigger, but I expect a huge advantage in battery life will come from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC under the hood. We’ve heard from multiple sources that the SD855 is far more power efficient while granting anywhere from a 25 to 45% boost to CPU performance and anywhere from a 10 to 15% boost to GPU performance. That’s some seriously impressive stuff from Qualcomm who moved its flagship processors to the new 7nm process.
Spec monster
If you want the very best device on the market and you have an unlimited amount of cash to spend, there are a few devices out there to meet your needs. The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus is throwing its hat into the ring as well with a 12 GB of RAM/1 TB of storage version. This surpasses pretty much everything on the market right now in the US. We’ve seen 12 GB of RAM in a few phones, but no-one has yet put 1 TB of internal storage into a device. The Galaxy Note9 is the closest we’ve seen, with 512 GB of internal storage and support for up to 512 GB microSD cards as well. Few people will need this device, and with an expected $1,500 price tag even fewer will be able to afford it, but we do love Samsung pushing the envelope.
Better deals
The Galaxy S10 lineup is a nice iteration on the Galaxy S lineup, but it’s just that, an iteration. There are some great new features that are certainly worth paying for, but if you’re fine with last year’s model, the deals are about to get better.
Get yours now: Reserve your Galaxy S10 or S10+ now to score big savings
Samsung has already reduced the price of its Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S8 smartphones, but expect the deals to get even better. We have zero problems with the Galaxy S9 devices in our household and the new One UI update has even breathed new life into them. When you consider that the Samsung Galaxy S6 is still getting security updates (albeit very slow ones), you begin to wonder why you’d pay a premium for this year’s hardware and go with a cheaper option that can do 95% of the same things.
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