Samsung Galaxy S10: Specs, pros, cons and cost in South Africa [video]

Samsung Galaxy S10: Price and Specs

Price: R 15,999 – 18,999
Weight: 157 g
Dimensions: 149.9 x 70.4 x 7.8 mm
OS: 9.0 (Pie); One UI
Screen size: 6.1 inches, 93.2cm² 
Resolution: 1440 x 3040 pixels, 19:9 ratio (~550 ppi density)
CPU: Exynos 9820 Octa (8 nm
RAM: 8 GB
Phone Storage: 128 and 512 GB
Card slot: microSD, up to 512 GB (uses SIM 2 slot) – dual SIM model only
Battery: Non-removable Li-Ion 3400 mAh battery
Charging: Fast battery charging 15W; fast wireless charging 15W; power bank/Reverse wireless charging 9W
Main camera: 2 MP, f/1.5-2.4, 26mm (wide), 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS
12 MP, f/2.4, 52mm (telephoto), 1/3.6″, 1.0µm, AF, OIS, 2x optical zoom
16 MP, f/2.2, 12mm (ultrawide), 1.0µm
Selfie camera: 10 MP, f/1.9, 26mm (wide), 1.22µm, Dual Pixel PDAF
Special features: Fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, proximity, compass
Fingerprint (under display), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, heart rate, SpO2
Bixby natural language commands and dictation

The pros

• High screen-to-body ratio
• In-screen fingerprint sensor
• Wireless PowerShare a nice bonus
• A flagship phone with a 3.5mm headphone jack

The cons

• A steep increase in price
• Bixby button still there

Also read – Cellphone giants Apple and Samsung fined for slowing down phones

The design

The S10 has a glass front and back with the obligatory aluminium chassis. The ommission of the fingerprint sensor on the back gives the phone a clean look with the three-camera array protruding ever so slightly on the back.

The curved sides give the phone a narrower feel than it’s size suggest but beware with glass everywhere people with low dexterity levels should probably get some kind of case.

The addition of the 3.5mm headphone jack will also be a bit of a relief for anyone who’s already invested in pricey wired headsets.

Also read: iPhones galore: Tech giant Apple now worth $1 trillion

The camera

The S10 boasts three cameras: a 12MP regular lens, 12MP optically zoomed telephoto lens and a brand new 16MP ultra-wide lens.

The three-camera array gives the phone a very impressive 123-degree field of view. On the front, there’s a 10MP camera with dual auto-focuses.

The dispay

The S10 incorporates the Infinity-O display foregoing the notch in favour of a laser cut punch-hole for the front-facing camera.

The S10 has a bigger display significantly larger screen to body percentage at 93.1% than the S9 (83.6%) giving the flagship significantly more screen real-estate available than previous models.

Battery

The battery capacity has increased for 3000mAh from the S9, but that’s probably to compensate for the larger display as the handset still lives up to the claim that it will last all day.

With conservative use, you could probably stretch the battery out to a day and a half before needing a charger. The phone supports wireless fast charging and also is able to charge other devices wirelessly thanks to the new feature Wireless PowerShare.

This is meant to assist in charging accessories like the Samsung wireless earbuds and will even charge devices while the phone is plugged in.

Performance

With the Qualcomm Snapdragon, 855 chipset and 8Gb of RAM under the hood performance is excellent and should be a worthy competitor to the iPhone XS.

Verdict

Overall there’s not really much not to like about the latest Samsung flagship. The Korean company has managed to keep up with the offerings from competing companies while still staying true to their design and innovation principles.

If you loved your S9, the larger-screened S10 would just give you more of what you’ve come to expect from Samsung albeit at a steeper price.

Watch: GSM Arena’s Official review

[h/t GSM Arena]