Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus Reviews: A killer phone except for a little thing

The Galaxy S10 Plus is fantastic. Its 6.4-inch AMOLED display, battery that lasts all day, its wireless power sharing function and its three rear cameras are stellar. The S10 Plus is the only four new Galaxy S10 phones to have a 1TB storage option and a ceramic finish for the 512GB and 1TB models. The S10 Plus will be perhaps one of the first smartphones in 2019, but there is no doubt that it will remain one of the best choices for most buyers, despite the increasing pressure of competing devices and the flow of 5G and foldable phones. know will come. As always, do not forget that the ratings of our products are subject to change as we perform more tests and software updates are released.

Although it may not be as exciting as the contortionist Galaxy Fold or Huawei Mate X, the S10 Plus is a phone that you can buy today, without emptying your bank account or waiting for the start of 5G networks. Make no mistake, at $ 1,000 for the 128GB model, at $ 1,250 for 512GB and at $ 1,600 for the 1TB storage option (!), It's a costly device . (It starts at £ 1,099 in the UK and $ 1,499 in Australia.) But even the most expensive version still costs hundreds of dollars less than the $ 1,980 Galaxy Fold in April, and you will not pay more for 5G service than on the Internet. Galaxy S10 5G, a phone whose undisclosed price will be even higher than the S10 Plus thanks to its larger screen, its additional 3D cameras and of course its 5G capacity.

I did not have the chance to test the Galaxy S10 5G (I went convenient, though), and I'm waiting for it Galaxy S10 ($ 900) and "value" S10E ($ 750) Review the units to get to my desk, so keep in mind that I will have to wait for any final comparison before I can test these other S10s. I will also continue to update this review with more impressions, while continuing to use the phone for the long term.

However, the S10 only saves you $ 100 and loses a second front camera, a bit of space for the screen and a small battery life. It does not seem like a great economy on paper. The S10E interests me as a value proposition, even though it's even smaller and equipped with fewer cameras. This should help guide you, but if you do not know which of the S10 phones you want, I suggest you wait until the exams are complete.

Lily: Four new Galaxy S10 phones, here's how to make the difference

Regarding comparisons with other phones, I would not update the Galaxy S9 Plus, but I would do it from an older Galaxy phone. The bottom line is that you have greater flexibility with shooting on the S10 Plus than with the Pixel 3 ($ 789 at Walmart). Night mode is an exception and Huawei's Pixel 3 and Mate 20 Pro (989 $ on Amazon) Dedicated night modes easily outperform the Galaxy S10 Plus. If night photography suits you, you can wait until next month for the Huawei P30 Pro, that of October (probably). Pixel 4, or cross your fingers so that Samsung can offer a software upgrade.

The low-light shots are not a compromise, especially compared to the other benefits of the Galaxy S10 Plus, but being able to match those night-time modes would make the S10 Plus the undisputed champion of all.

In the current state of things, the S10 Plus is an excellent device that I would be happy to use every day – and I think you would feel the same way in the same way.

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Nice to look at, but a slippery devil

Samsung favors glossy finishes that reflect light in an unusual way. My control unit is the 128GB prism white version, and it reflects the iridescent shades of pale blue, mint and pink in the light. This color is beautiful and subtle. Flamingo Pink, Canary Yellow, Prism Green and Prism Blue are more daring – there is also prismatic black.

I immediately noticed that the S10 Plus tended to slip off of the hands and surfaces, especially if they were not perfectly level. He has fallen many times between my fingers and usually lands on my purse, a table or my knees. He also slipped off my nightstand, a couch, a chair, but he came out unscathed. I like to see the phones as they come out of the box, but I will want a case for this one.

Brilliant display, but, O, this "notch"

The Galaxy S10 Plus has a "notch" Infinity-O that is really a hole in the display to make room for two cameras. Its oval shape attracts more attention than the unique Galaxy S10 and S10E lens, but I'm not really too sticky about notching.

More concretely, there is the feeling of having a big screen with thin glasses. Most of the time, this is confused with the background, without attracting too much attention to itself. But when the screen is very bright, as with a white background, the asymmetry of a pill-shaped cut becomes more noticeable. I wonder if the Infinity-U screen, like the one that Samsung placed on the medium Galaxy A50 and A30would look better, even though it would look more like an eyebrow-like cut than that. The solution to the dilemma of all the screens may already be there.

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The screen itself is beautiful, with a 6.4-inch AMOLED display and a resolution of 3,040 x 1,440 pixels. The readability outside is fantastic. When I wake up in the middle of the night and read the phone to fall asleep, the screen is actually as well bright, even when the brightness is low and the blue light filter is on. Heck, he's even too bright using the Android Wind Down mode that shifts the colors to grayscale.

Android pie and a user interface

There are two words to describe the One UI design: big and sparkling. Icons are large flat circles that take a while to get used to, as many models have been changed from the color of the Gallery icon to the shape of the Galaxy Notes application. I really think so: these icons are huge. Their use on the home screen made me feel like a kid. I immediately jumped to a smaller icon size (hence, a larger grid of apps on the Home screen) to embed more favorite apps without rummaging around. in folders or drag additional screens.

Even though I like the icons of my smaller screen, seeing the larger icons in the application drawer was fine – these are easier targets to reach. I've also liked the fact that some larger menus and "cards" are easier to read without wringing their necks or squinting. This is particularly visible in Bixby Home, which you access by sliding to the left of the Home screen.

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Bixby Routines: I'm not a big fan of Bixby and I only call him by accident, but Bixby Routines might change his mind. I've been impressed by the IFTTT type flexibility to set up routines, and the presets are easy enough for novices to become familiar with the water. For example, I have set up a morning routine that starts at 6 am and turns on the screen Always On (yes, you can turn it off), displays specific shortcuts to the screen. lock screen and disables the blue light filter that I will activate. for a bedtime routine.

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I have tested the Galaxy S10 Plus while using it to cover the CMM conference in Spain. So I did not have a defined routine to understand how well it works. This is difficult when bedtime and wake alarms are erratic and you can not set a real "home" to use as a basic test. I will be able to dive deeper once I am back in San Francisco.

Gesture navigation: The navigation buttons are enabled by default, but you can unlock even more space by activating gesture navigation in the quick settings menu. Turn it on and the bottom of the screen enlarges, leaving you three horizontal dashes in place of the buttons. To navigate, tap lightly to use them (they "bounce" down). It's not a difficult adjustment and it's always nice to have alternatives.

House of children: There is a new mode in the notification setting called Kids Home, which opens a contoured / wall-mounted garden for kids to take photos and download apps. Young children, that's it. The older ones rolled their eyes and mocked, then found the password and changed all the language settings.

Wireless PowerShare really works

I love this feature, which will load any other Qi compatible device when you place it on the back of the Galaxy S10. Samsung is not the first to implement this, but it's a real plus, especially to complete the accessories or give a boost to your friend's phone. Wireless charging is not as fast and efficient as wire charging, but it allows you to leave more cables at home, especially for small getaways. I can see a scenario in which you charge your phone at night and charge a second device over it.

Your phone will turn it off automatically when it reaches 30%. Since the life of the battery is so good, it should allow you to spend the day well.

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I had accidentally needed to use the new wireless power sharing feature when I noticed that my Galaxy S9 Plus was down 7% and that it was going die while I was still configuring the Galaxy S10 Plus. I was having dinner, with my cables in my hotel room, and that's exactly what the movie was designed for. So I turned it on and went back and watched as my battery climbed to just 13%.

As the phones were back to back and the Galaxy S9 Plus was up, I could still type and type, as long as I did not change its position on the back of the Galaxy S10 Plus. I'm happy with this one.

The ultrasonic screen fingerprint reader is in the right place

The fingerprint reader moves from the back of the phone to fit the screen. It's a good thing. It's much more convenient than a fingerprint reader looking to the back, especially when it's about using Samsung Pay or Google Pay for mobile transactions. (The Galaxy S10E has a fingerprint sensor in the power button just like the Galaxy Fold.)

This fingerprint scanner is a big problem because it's the first to use Ultrasonic technology from Qualcomm. This means that it uses sound waves to get a 3D image of your print. It is considered much more secure than an optical sensor, which basically takes a 2D picture of your finger. but that seems to apply more to the natural movies of gunk and goo. When I pressed an oily (and delicious) churro between my fingers and then tried to unlock the phone, I was wrong 20 times in a row. It turns out that there is a limit.

I've had problems with accuracy and speed in the beginning, but it's more accurate since Samsung has released an update for reviewers. It seems like it works best if you focus on placing your thumb. It will take you a good second to unlock and you need to make sure you tap the screen, not just on the screen. I also recommend scanning four fingers so that you have backups. I used my right thumb twice, my left thumb once and my right index finger.

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Another note: there is no scanning of the iris, a feature of the brand since the Galaxy S7. This is a strange gesture for Samsung, who is generally a fan of More Features. You will still have Android's built-in face unlock, but I do not recommend using it because it's not secure enough for mobile payments. You can use it if you want something fast and convenient, but I will stay with security.

The real question is where is Samsung's version of Apple's Face ID by Samsung. It's been two years now since the iPhone is no longer in this feature, which Samsung really hates, really. Now, without scanning the iris, the brand does not have any facial recognition feature secure enough for mobile payments (the Android face unlock option is not available). ). The rumor is that Android Q, the next version of Google's software, will incorporate a code for unlocking secure faces in the code.

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Maybe Samsung is waiting for or retains a feature for the Galaxy Note 10. We know that it accepts 3D cameras at the front and back of the phone. The Galaxy S10 5G will receive one each. At the moment, Samsung claims that this information is intended for RA and portraits, not for face unlocking, but you never know if it's a secret feature that Samsung would turn on if and when the rumor regarding the secure unlocking of the face by Android Q would happen.

Three rear cameras are fine

Testing a camera is a huge undertaking in itself, and Samsung has added many elements. There are three cameras on the back of the S10 Plus (12-megapixel, 12-megapixel telephoto, ultra-wide 16-megapixel angle) and two in the front (10 and 8 megapixel, respectively).

The quality of the photos is very good overall, but I have already complained about the low light mode in a section below. We will have a lot of comparisons and deep dive camera shots in the next few days, but here is my overall assessment for the moment.

Let's start with this handy chart to compare the S10 Plus cameras to other S10 phones.

Specifications of Galaxy S10 Camera

	Samsung Galaxy S10E	Samsung Galaxy S10	Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus	Galaxy S10 5G
12 megapixel wide angle lens (double aperture)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
16 megapixel wide angle lens (fixed focus)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
12 megapixel telephoto lens	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
10 megapixel front camera (double aperture)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
8 megapixel front camera	No	No	Yes	No
3D depth detection camera (rear)	No	No	No	Yes
3D depth detection camera (front)	No	No	No	Yes

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Three cameras, three viewsYou can take a picture with any of the three lenses by simply touching the icon on the screen. I shoot mainly with the standard lens of 12 megapixels, switching to telephoto zoom (2x) on a distant detail, such as the statue at the top of a fountain, or toward the ultra-wide lens for adapt to most of my friends or the scene in the shot. The ultra-wide angle has a field of view of 123 degrees. It therefore slightly distorts the image. You may notice that your friends are a bit stretched.

Best photos in portrait mode: Called Live Focus, the photos in portrait mode have three other effects on the Galaxy S10. In addition to the normal blur cursor, you can also apply accompaniment colors and effects called "Zoom" and "Rotate". Even better, you can adjust the intensity of these effects before or after shooting, even if you change the effect. There are still minor issues. The accompaniment color does not always work well and the flying hairs can still be dimmed in these portraits, but the pictures are beautiful overall and the effects can be striking. Unlike the Galaxy S9 of last year, the S10 only records live focus photography, not portrait mode or standard photo.