Visually Reviewed rate the Samsung Galaxy S10 a 9/10
Quick Summary
The Samsung Galaxy S10 brings many new and upgraded features over last year’s Samsung Galaxy S9. The two biggest upgrades we’ve seen with the new S10 is the amazing Infinity-O display, and the three rear cameras: wide, telephoto, and ultrawide. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S10 is an amazing all-round phone and is without a doubt one of the top smartphones this year.
Pros
- Amazing display
- Embedded fingerprint scanner
- Clean hole-punch camera design
Cons
- Good camera, but could be better
- Curved edges can sometimes cause accidental presses from your palm
Samsung Galaxy S10 review
Samsung is one of the biggest names when it comes to the technology industry, for everything from smartphones to microwaves, there’s even a good chance you have multiple Samsung products in your house right now. When it comes to smartphones, Samsung’s best-selling series is the Samsung Galaxy S series, the main rival to Apple’s iPhones. This Samsung Galaxy S10 review weighs in the pros and the cons and highlights whether or not the Samsung Galaxy S10 is worth buying.
Samsung Galaxy S10 specifications
| Release Date: | 4 March 2019 |
|---|---|
| Price (at release): | £799 / $899 |
| Colours: | Prism White, Prism Black, Prism Green, Prism Blue, Prism Silver, and Cardinal Red |
| Storage: | 128GB or 512GB |
| Display: | 6.1-inch Dynamic AMOLED (550 PPI) |
| Processor: | Snapdragon 855 or Exynos 9820 |
| Memory/RAM: | 8GB |
| 5G Technology: | No |
| Cameras: | 12MP telephoto, 12MP wide, 16MP ultrawide rear cameras, 10MP front camera |
| Battery: | 3,400mAh |
| Operating System: | Android 10 |
| Weight: | 157 grams |
Samsung Galaxy S10 review: Design
The Samsung Galaxy S10 comes in a range of colours: Prism White, Prism Black, Prism Green, Prism Blue, Prism Silver, and Cardinal Red. We’re a little disappointed with this selection as there isn’t really a standout colour and it seems Samsung went for the safe colours.
The front side of the Samsung Galaxy S10 features an Infinity-O display, an uninterrupted near bezel-less display made possible with a hole-punched front camera and an edge-to-edge curved display. The front camera has been placed discretely in the top right corner. Along with this, unlike the Samsung Galaxy S9, you’ll no longer find a fingerprint scanner on the back, instead, there’s an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner embedded in the display, allowing for a cleaner look on the back of the Samsung Galaxy S10.
Speaking of which, the rear side of the Samsung Galaxy S10 has a nice and simple design to it. On the back, you’ll find the wide, ultrawide, and telephoto rear cameras placed horizontally inside a black, rounded rectangle.
Along with this, the Samsung Galaxy S10 has dust and waterproofing to the IP68 standard and includes a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Samsung Galaxy S10 review: Display
The Samsung Galaxy S10 boasts quite an impressive display. The 6.1-inch Dynamic AMOLED Infinity-O display is a great improvement over last year’s Samsung Galaxy S9 and introduces a near bezel-less display thanks to the new hole-punched front camera.
Firstly, the S10 includes three different resolutions: HD+ (1520 x 720), FHD+ (2280 x 1080), and WQHD+ (3040 x 1440). By default, the display will be set in the middle ground of FHD+ as this is a solid balance between great quality and good battery life. However, if you’re wanting to get the best quality display, you’ll need to go into the settings and change the resolution to WQHD+.
Another feature about this year’s display is that it has HDR10+ support. HDR10+ is a High Dynamic Range video technology that allows dynamic metadata to continuously tweak the display settings to ensure you’re always seeing the most and best colour possible. This only works on supported content.
Along with a 19:9 aspect ratio, the Samsung Galaxy S10 also has 550 PPI (pixels per inch) and generally speaking, the higher the PPI, the more detail you can see on your display. In addition to this, the S10 has a 93.1% screen-to-body ratio, this is much better than the S9’s 83.6% screen-to-body ratio and is made possible with the introduction of the hole-punch front camera. The Samsung Galaxy S10 display has also been named as one of the most colour accurate displays ever.
The front camera sits nicely in the top right corner, and although it may look odd at first, you’ll quickly forget it’s even there. Although the Samsung Galaxy S10 uses the hole-punch design, there are still small bezels on the top and bottom of the device. Another thing worth noting is the curved edges on the display can sometimes cause accidental presses and can get quite annoying. Using a case can eliminate this problem, but if you don’t like using cases, this could get on your nerves. You’ll also find an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner embedded in the display.
Samsung Galaxy S10 review: Cameras
The Samsung Galaxy S10 comes with three rear cameras and one front camera. The three rear cameras include a 12MP wide lens, 12MP telephoto lens, and a 16MP ultrawide lens. The new addition here is the ultrawide lens which wasn’t on last year’s Samsung Galaxy S9. The rear cameras are placed horizontally in a very slightly raised black rounded rectangle.
The optically stabilised wide lens is 12MP and has an aperture that can change between f/1.5 and f/2.4 depending on the environment. This standard wide lens also has a 77-degree angle of view. The telephoto lens is also 12MP and is optically stabilised, has a 2x optical zoom, and has an aperture of f/2.4 and a 45-degree angle of view. The ultrawide lens is 16MP and is capable of 0.5x zoom, along with an aperture of f/2.2 along with a 123-degree angle of view. This allows you to essentially zoom out without having to move, making it great for tight environments such as the indoors where you may not have any room behind you. The front camera also saw some improvements over last year’s Samsung Galaxy S9. This year’s S10 front camera is 10MP and has an aperture of f/1.9.
Along with the Samsung Galaxy S10 comes some new features. The first new feature is called Live Focus which records depth information allowing you to blur the background or perform colour isolation. Another new feature is called Shot Suggestions which uses machine learning to identify the best composition for your pictures.
The Samsung Galaxy S10’s video recording capabilities are also pretty impressive. The rear cameras are capable of recording 4K up to 60fps, as well as being able to record 1080p up to 240fps, and 720p up to 960fps. Not only this, but the front camera can also record 4K at 60fps.
What are the camera specs of the Samsung Galaxy S10?
- The wide lens is 12MP, f/1.5-2.4, 26mm, 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS.
- The ultrawide lens is 16MP, 123-degree view, f/2.2, 12mm, 1/3.1″, 1.0µm.
- The telephoto lens is 12MP, f/2.4, 52mm, 1/3.6″, 1.0µm, AF, OIS, 2x optical zoom.
- The front camera is 10MP, f/1.9, 26mm, 1/3″, 1.22µm, Dual Pixel PDAF.
Samsung Galaxy S10 review: Battery
The Samsung Galaxy S10 comes with a 3,400mAh battery. This is a great sized battery and is bigger than most of the Samsung Galaxy S10’s competitors, such as the Apple iPhone 11 which comes with a 3,110mAh battery, check out our Apple iPhone 11 review. To accompany this, in the box you will find a charger capable of going from 0-100% charge in about 90 minutes.
According to Samsung, the Samsung Galaxy S10 is capable of up to 18 hours of video playback. However, this should be taken with a grain of salt as battery life depends on a wide range of factors. For the average user, the Samsung Galaxy S10 battery life will easily last a full day.
Samsung Galaxy S10 review: Performance
The Samsung Galaxy S10 comes with either one of two system-on-chips, depending on your location. If you live in the USA, Canada, China, Japan or Latin America (except Brazil), your Samsung Galaxy S10 will come with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855. If you live elsewhere, your Samsung Galaxy S10 will come with Samsung’s own Exynos 9820.
The Samsung Galaxy S10 comes with 8GB of RAM, a great upgrade over last year’s 4GB of RAM from the Samsung Galaxy S9. Along with this, there are also two different storage options to choose from, either 128GB or 512GB. It’s worth noting that the Samsung Galaxy S10 has microSD support of up to 512GB.
When the Samsung Galaxy S10 was first released, it came installed with Google’s Android 9 operating system, along with Samsung’s One UI 1.1. However, since its release, these have been upgraded to Android 10 and One UI 2.1, currently the latest versions of each.
Samsung Galaxy S10 review: Pricing
The Samsung Galaxy S10 was released on 4 March 2019. At release, prices started from £799 in the UK, and $899 in the US. Since the release of the Samsung Galaxy S10, the prices have dropped and below are some of the best deals from Amazon.
Quick Answers
How much does the Samsung Galaxy S10 cost?
The Samsung Galaxy S10 was released on 4 March 2019. At release, the Samsung Galaxy S10 started from £799 in the UK, and $899 in the US.
What are the differences between the Samsung Galaxy S10 and the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus?
The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus has a bigger display, features a second front camera, and includes a larger battery size.
Is the Samsung Galaxy S10 worth buying?
If you're looking for a great all-round flagship smartphone, we recommend the Samsung Galaxy S10. The Samsung Galaxy S10 brings many new and improved features and it is easily one of the best smartphones released in 2019.
Is the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G?
The Samsung Galaxy S10 is available in both 4G and 5G models.
Samsung Galaxy S10 review: Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy S10 is easily one of the best phones released in 2019 and has introduced many new and improved features over the Samsung Galaxy S9. As always with Samsung phones, the Infinity-O display is absolutely amazing, and the hole-punch camera design makes it even better. The Samsung Galaxy S10 also includes three great rear cameras: a standard wide, telephoto, and ultrawide lens. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S10 is an incredible all-round phone with very little to complain about.
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