Know the unknown from Samsung’s latest 2019 flagships
Samsung’s hotly anticipated Galaxy S10 range has just been unveiled — S10e, S10, S10+ and even the S10 5G. But what are the hidden nuances that the tech giant didn’t tell about the 10th-year flagship line-up?
1. S10e Larger Power Button, Larger Bezels
On the entry level side of the S10 range, the Samsung Galaxy S10e misses out on some technically advanced features of its larger, and more expensive, counterparts. Most notably, it doesn’t include an under-the-display ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, instead resorting to a traditional physical sensor discreetly placed on power button at the side. As a result, the double fingerprint scanner/power button combo is sizeably larger than the S10 and S10+ to accomodate the finger scanning feature. This bodes well for one-handed usability and ergonomics, especially when reviews have criticised its larger siblings’ power button being placed too high to reach and too small to operate.
In addition, to allow the cheaper price tag, the S10e features a smaller and less crisp 5.8” Full HD+ Infinity-O Display (2280×1080 resolution), and also doesn’t include any curved glass for the display at the front. However, upon closer inspection, the S10e has ever-so-slightly thicker bezels than other S10s — specifically at the bottom chin and sides (due to the lack of curvatures). It’s still not overly egregious, but something to keep in mind when buying.
And if you’re wondering what the ‘e’ stands for, it means ‘essential’, because why not?
2. The Return of White Accessories
Since the Galaxy S8, the Korean giant transitioned to bundling black-coloured accessories in the box — the charger, every cable and dongle, and AKG earphones. However, after only two years, Samsung has returned back to including white in-box accessories of yesteryear from the Galaxy S7 and before — only if you choose any colour except black. The subdued black shade will exclusively come with matching black accessories. Personally, I prefer this change as white gives a cleaner and fresher aesthetic to match your chosen S10 colour.
Also, as a bonus, all S10 and S10+’s (not S10e) include a pre-installed plastic screen protector on the display as not all third party protectors work with the devices in-screen fingerprint scanner. Moreover, S10s include a handy clear protective case in selected markets. Similarly, this is something which OnePlus, Oppo and Huawei Chinese smartphone makers have done for years, but Samsung has finally caught-up.
3. S10+ ‘Fake’ Wide-Angle Front Camera
Despite tentative first-looks explaining that the largest S10+ has an extra wide-angle selfie camera, resulting in a larger and more intrusive hole-punch display, it is in fact just an extra depth sensor for bokeh portraits. For some absurd reason, Samsung crops the viewfinder using software and surreptitiously gives the functionality of a normal and slightly wider-angle view. Thanks to tech YouTuber, Marques Brownlee, exposing that the S10+ only uses one of the camera lenses — regardless of view mode — it seems like that the double hole-punch is less justified.
4. Iris Scanning No More
The Korean company’s attempt to beat Apple’s ‘Face ID’ hasn’t been too successful with the inferior and more fiddly iris scanning in recent Galaxy’s over the past few years. Ultimately, Samsung has now ditched the iris and prioritise fingerprint scanning as the primary secure unlocking method. Despite this, the S10 range still continues to have a ‘face unlock’ feature — much like many budget smartphone manufactures — that only uses the standard, and significantly less secure, front camera. The Verge’s Dan Seifert even noted that his S10+ was easily fooled by a video of his face on another phone in his review.
5. Wi-Fi 6
All Galaxy S10s now feature the latest 802.11ax Wi-Fi standard, dubbed ‘Wi-Fi 6’. This means that the latest batch of Samsung flagships can attain higher data rates, increased capacity, performance in congested devices and improved power efficiency for the battery to last longer. Of course, you’ll still need a currently rare 802.11ax capable wireless modem, but at least the S10 line-up gives you assurance for the future when it becomes standard.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Overall, the Galaxy S10 range is another impressive line-up from Samsung. From the S10e to S10 5G, there’s a device to suit most, if you have the cash that is. Bringing a first in the industry ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint sensor, standard 128GB storage, wide-angle rear camera, powerful Snapdragon and Exynos processors and a remappable Bixby button (finally), Samsung’s 10th-year Galaxy’s are an impressive foray in the tech industry. And don’t forget the, rather expensive, Galaxy Fold.
The Connected by Henry Man 