The Galaxy S10+ not only celebrates 10 years of what has de facto become the flagship smartphone of the world (the top variants of the Galaxy series), it also shows that Samsung has evolved the Galaxy series to offer almost everything that even the latest Apple iPhone doesn’t—headphone jack, expandable storage, on-screen fingerprint scanner, and almost no notch (the small cutout at the top of the screen to house the camera, speakers and sensors). Essentially, from being a cheap copy of the iPhone—early-generation Galaxy phones had alleged similarities in packaging and icons for apps—the latest Galaxy (S10+) is a device that can make Apple engineers stand up and take notice.
After using it for almost a week, we try and make sense of what stands out, and what doesn’t.
Design: The Galaxy S10+ looks like a million dollars. The overall build quality is impeccable, and the brilliant colours, realistic pictures and extraordinary contrast ratio of the screen are something you wouldn’t have experienced before, on any device. At 6.4-inch screen size, the S10+ is definitely not a one-handed-usage phone—dare you drop it—so it’s recommended you buy a case (the box doesn’t have one). Also, it doesn’t have a notch, but something called the Infinity-O Display that packs sensors and camera into a hole—it not only maximises the screen area, but also makes the phone look futuristic. And it has IP68 rating for protection against dust and water, i.e., it can withstand a splash or even occasional submersion into water (up to 1.5 metres).
Performance: The phone is fast, very fast. There is no lag even if you open a zillion apps. The battery is rated at 4100mAh, which is quite good for more than a day of ‘regular’ usage. It has a unique feature called Wireless PowerShare, activating which you can charge other Qi-certified smartphones and compatible wearable devices—by placing that device on the back of the S10+. However, with most ‘other’ devices also increasingly getting powerful batteries, this feature is more of a gimmick than utility.
Storage: It can put most modern laptops to shame—internal storage of up to 512GB, and you can add another 512GB via a microSD card (you have to buy one) for 1TB of storage space. In contrast, the iPhone Xs Max maxes out at 512GB.
Camera: The camera system is as advanced as it can get. There are three cameras at the back that give you three different perspectives to the same image—a standard camera, a telephoto camera, and an ultra-wide camera (it sees images almost the same way human eye does). The ultra-wide is unique to the S10+ (neither iPhone Xs Max nor Google Pixel have one). The camera also launches very fast, and focuses even faster. It shoots good images in even low-light conditions (but doesn’t quite match up to the Pixel’s Night Sight mode). For shooting videos, even of professional quality, the S10+ has the Super Steady recording mode.
Security: In the previous Galaxy phones, the fingerprint scanner used to be on the back, side, or at the bottom of the screen; the S10+ has ultrasonic fingerprint sensor (on-screen). It looks cutting-edge, but it’s not as flawless, or as fast, as the traditional capacitive fingerprint sensor; you have to get used to the millisecond lag before the screen comes to life. It also has face-unlock feature, but unlike the iPhone Xs’s acclaimed Face ID that uses advanced scanning, the S10+ simply uses the front camera to look for your face, and, to your horror, will unlock the phone even if someone places your photo in front of the camera. Just don’t use it, stick to biometrics.
Multimedia: The speakers are quite good, and on this vivid and wide screen watching films is an experience.
Gaming: Even ‘heavy’ games are launched quite fast, but on extended usage the phone tends to heat up a bit. Also, in some cases, gaming can go on for hours, and for that the battery power alone isn’t enough—you have to plug it in. If you are a gaming enthusiast, you’ll find the S10+ akin to a Tesla Model S that can go from 0-100kph in a blistering 3 seconds, but has the battery pack of a Mahindra e2o.
UI and AI: It doesn’t run on stock Android but on Samsung’s One UI, which does replicate a few apps, like two app stores (Play Store and Galaxy Store), but works fine overall. The AI in the form of Bixby is in its most advanced version in the S10+, and while you need to train it extensively and get used to it, Bixby is a nice virtual assistant and a friend, a little dumb though.
Pricing: The Galaxy S10+ is available in 1TB (`1.17 lakh), 512GB (`91,900) and 128GB (`73,900) storage variants. It’s expensive, but before the Galaxy Fold comes to India later this year or the next, the S10+ is the most advanced mobile device you’ll hold.
And if you think the S10+ is too big, or too expensive, Samsung also has the slightly smaller S10 (128GB; `66,900) and the S10e (128GB; `55,900).