Samsung Galaxy S10 and S10+: the last cry of a generation?
8.3.2019
After a week with Samsung's new flagships, the Samsung Galaxy S10 and S10+, we can say that the devices are good, but have some noticeable flaws.
"Do you have an iPhone or a Samsung?" This was once the question that was asked in playgrounds, in front of the supermarket or at the bus stop. That's how dominant Samsung's Galaxy S series smartphones were. That could end now. But the Samsung Galaxy S10 and its bigger sister, the S10+, are not to blame. The differences between the two devices are limited. Essentially: The S10 is smaller, the S10+ is bigger. Really, in case. The comparison shows that the differences are essentially limited to the physical size of the device.
After a week of testing, video producer Stephanie Tresch and I summarise two thirds of a generation of smartphones that we will probably soon no longer know. Because the future will be foldable.
A small note before we start the review: The two devices we have could be pre-production models. They showed up on my desk about a week before launch without any other notes. The hardware is final, as far as I can tell, the software... Well, the software. We'll get to that later.
One eats battery, the other doesn't
A look back a year. Stephanie and I test the S9 series. The S9 eats up the battery like crazy, the S9+ a little less. That was our main criticism. Naturally, our main focus is therefore on the battery power and general performance of the S10 series. Samsung has polished the software a lot. Bixby has been integrated even deeper and pops up in places you wouldn't expect. Samsung Experience has been replaced by One UI. Gestures have replaced the three buttons at the bottom on request.
Samsung has realised this with the S10. The phone easily survives a working day with above-average usage. Spotify, Netflix, Signal, WhatsApp and so on. The S10 does it all and still has juice at the end of the day.
But it's a different story with the S10+. After 13 hours of Plex, Spotify, Netflix, Signal, WhatsApp and so on, the battery is at 15% and the smartphone complains that it needs to be recharged. So the Power Sharing feature, which allows you to charge other smartphones wirelessly, makes little sense. This is because the function is at least implicitly based on the fact that you don't need the battery itself to get through the day.
Where Huawei makes devices that last 36 hours or more with similar consumption, Samsung's S10+ just about drags itself through the day. That would be okay in and of itself if Samsung stood up and said "Guys, our batteries are designed to get you through a working day. We put so much power into the phones that sometimes it's a bit tight, but we've got it under control". But boasting about a large battery and then somehow underperforming, especially in comparison with last year's flagships, leaves a somewhat bland aftertaste.
The good heaviness
However, Stephanie and I both agree: the devices feel extremely good in the hand. Both the S10 and the S10+ are easy to grip and - and this is a big part of the charm of the device - have a really nice weight. The 165 and 175 grams without SIM card really hit a sweet spot with the respective form factors, where you feel like you're holding something robust in your hands without it dragging you down. I've actually pegged the sweet spot of smartphone weight at somewhere between 190 and 210 grams, except for rugged phones, but Samsung surprises here.
The choice of colour is similarly surprising. Stephanie's S10 is green. Exciting. She has packed her phone in a case as a precaution. Black. Boring.
Her S10 with the case seems heavier than her normal phone, the Note 9 in an Otterbox. It is obvious that this cannot be true. That's why the video producer has given it some thought. The reason is that the S10 can easily be used with one hand, even with small hands, so you tend to hold it in one hand. Plus the grip, which is not lost even with a case.
One-handed operation comes into play when making calls, among other things. Yes, every now and then we make calls with smartphones. There should be. That's one of the places Samsung has been working on. The call quality is so good that it rivals that of the Cat S61. Even in the loudest noise of an open-plan office or in commuter traffic at Zurich's main railway station, conversations are possible without a lengthy "Huh?" or "What did you say?". Samsung, you should advertise that. Sure, it's a bit cheesy, like "you can make great phone calls with our 1,000 euro flagship", but it has to be mentioned. Because we both make noticeably more calls with the devices.
Notch or hole punch? Does it make a difference at all?
Stephanie's Note 9 impresses with its really beautiful and well-lit screen. Films, series, Pornhub and YouTube videos and the like look impressive. Samsung has continued this in the S10 series. If the front of the phone is largely made up of a screen, then it should also be good. This screen is not just good, but very good. The colours are vibrant, the Amoled black is not.
If you set the menus and everything to dark mode, then the contrast is even more present and impressive. So if you like watching videos on your phone, take a look at the Galaxy screen.
But when you look at it, you'll quickly notice the thing with the selfie cam. This is because both phones have the Infinity-O form factor patented by Samsung.
This one is kind of weird. I'm not sure if the hole in the screen is better than a notch. Neither actually bothers me in everyday use, but it hardly makes a difference either. Unless, of course, the hole is actually just a temporary solution to the camera under the screen. With the Infinity-O, you now have a few pixels at the top and right. What's the point? You can't do anything with them. I'm pretty sure that a lot of knowledge and development went into the round cut-outs on the screen, but it's not really that great. Infinity-O is okay. Nothing more.
The fingerprint sensor under the screen, which uses ultrasound to read the grooves in your finger, is far less OK. But, before I describe the pitfalls and difficulties with this thing, the pre-production model comes into play. It is possible that our devices do not yet have the final software. If you can't reproduce the problem, let us know in a comment.
The fingerprint sensor is weak. Both Stephanie's thumb and my thumb and index finger are sometimes simply not recognised. "No Match" lights up on the screen. Then press five times, the system insists on "No Match" and at the end you have to enter the PIN. Not like that. But: On 1 March, a software update was installed that improves the performance of the sensor. We still haven't reached an acceptable level of performance, but the whole thing is better. Therefore: Do the updates that Samsung sends you.
The AI with the aggressive eye
The camera. Oh, the camera. Stephanie in particular, who likes to film with her smartphone, struggles here. The camera's artificial intelligence (AI) is simply too aggressive. During film clips in the studio, the almost white tabletop - which is actually a bit grey - is simply turned yellow. Not a yellow tint, but a yellow colour like you know from an egg yolk. Or the colour of meatloaf. Something like that. Not very sexy. Nevertheless, I'm hungry now.
In general, the camera AI is a bit strange. It either recognises a subject perfectly, interprets colours and elements without fault, or it completely blows it. However, it does a great job in strange light. In the lift, for example. Rule of thumb: there is always light in the lift that is not particularly suitable for photos, even if there is a nice big mirror. The S10, like the S10+, goes there, looks around, thinks of something and counters the light wonderfully.
However, these problems are on the software side and not hardware issues. The engineers at Samsung can work on the AI and install it via an update. Or even better: an option like Huawei's that allows you to switch off the AI completely. That would be perfect.
In conclusion, we will both miss our Galaxies when we have to return the test devices. They are reliable in everyday use, but have their quirks. Even if the revolution from Samsung becomes foldable this year, the S10 series is definitely worth a look.
So, that's it. By the way, the green colour of the phone is really spectacularly shimmering. Just as a tip.
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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