Samsung Galaxy S10 preview: Everything we know so far
The rumour mill is already churning for next year's Galaxy
PERFECT 10?
After last year’s bold reinvention of the Samsung Galaxy S8, this year’s Galaxy S9 didn’t have quite the same impact. It’s still one of the best phones you can buy today, but it’s tougher to get excited about a super-expensive smartphone that feels… samey. But surely the Galaxy S10 will go big again. Not only does it mark the “tick” part of the Apple-esque tick-tock release cycle that Samsung’s followed the last few years, but it’s also the big #10 for the brand. And we saw what Apple did with the iPhone X to mark its own legacy last year. It’s early still, but the rumours are already flying about what to expect from the Samsung Galaxy S10. If you’re an eager Samsung fan, here’s what you need to know so far.
WHEN WILL THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S10 BE OUT?
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S9 (shown) and Galaxy S9+ in February this year at Mobile World Congress, and then released them the following month in March. That was a month earlier than the Galaxy S8 models on both sides of the equation, but it sounds like Samsung may stick with that new approach in 2019. In July 2018, noted leaker Ice Universe tweeted that Samsung will debut the Galaxy S10 at MWC 2019 in February, following a launch of the supposed foldable Galaxy X phone at CES 2019 in January.
HOW MUCH WILL THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S10 COST?
We haven’t heard any solid rumours about the Galaxy S10’s price tag so far, but we can’t imagine that it’ll be cheap. Samsung has continually pushed upwards with its smartphone line, and with Apple raising the price bar with the iPhone X, we don’t see Samsung stopping anytime soon. The Galaxy S9 sells for £739/$720 with the Galaxy S9+ at a wallet-pummeling £869/$840. Don’t be surprised if both Galaxy S10 models push past those marks a bit.
HOW MUCH POWER WILL THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S10 PACK?
We’re expecting a new Exynos chip for 2019, of course, packing even more power than before. Earlier this year, Ice Universe suggested a new chipset that’ll put more emphasis on artificial intelligence, with a dedicated neural processing unit – much like Huawei does with its Kirin processors. We should see an upgraded version of Bixby first in the Galaxy Note 9 very soon, so that would undoubtedly end up in the Galaxy S10 as well, plus the S10 will surely run on a skinned version of Android P.
WHAT WILL THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S10 LOOK LIKE?
Samsung’s recent pattern suggests a design reinvention for the Galaxy S10. It happened with the Galaxy S6 and S8, and the Android market has shifted quite a bit over the last year. Will the Galaxy S10 start fresh? Will it pack an iPhone X-esque notch, like many of its Android competitors? One purported leak (seen above) showed a full-face curved screen almost completely devoid of bezel and without a notch, but it was later pegged as a fake. As of now, we’re still waiting for a proper leak that looks like the real deal. But we’re hoping to see something that really stuns us again, like the Galaxy S8 did last year.
WHAT KIND OF CAMERAS WILL THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S10 HAVE?
Remember when putting three cameras on the back of the Huawei P20 Pro seemed downright silly? Well, the P20 Pro ended up stunning us with its camera setup, and now competitors seem ready to follow in their footsteps. KB Securities analyst Kim Dong-won believes that Samsung will follow suit with the Galaxy S10 and put their own triple-camera setup on the back (via SamMobile). ET News suggests that the top-end 6.2in Galaxy S10 (likely Galaxy S10+) will feature three cameras, while one 5.8in model will have one back camera and the other 5.8in model will have two.
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE I SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S10?
The Galaxy S9 thankfully moved the back fingerprint sensor to a more comfortable location, but the Galaxy S10 may do something else entirely: put it in the display. How? According to ET News, Samsung has confirmed that it plans to put a Qualcomm-produced ultrasonic fingerprint sensor in the Galaxy S10, and it’ll sit under the display and read your fingerprint for security. Samsung’s sensor wouldn’t be the first on the market, as a couple options are already out there – but it would be the highest-profile one, assuming other major makers don’t add a similar sensor in the next few months. And that could force a wider shift towards this technology.
