The ultimate Android phone is here

Update of February 28th: We added photo comparisons with the iPhone XS Max.

Representing the tenth anniversary of the Galaxy range, the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus is not a radical reinvention of the smartphone. (That would be the flexible Galaxy Fold.) But Samsung's new flagship product lacks neither innovation nor ambition.

The S10 Plus is the first phone in the world to feature an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor built into Samsung's new 6.4-inch Infinity-O display. It is also the first Galaxy S phone with five cameras, including an ultra-wide shooter in the back.

With Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 855 processor, it's the fastest Android to date. I also like the PowerShare feature that allows you to use the back of the S10 Plus to wirelessly charge other phones and gadgets, as well as the epic 12.5 hours d & # 39; autonomy. Is this all worth $ 999? Based on our tests, yes.

Galaxy S10 Plus Quick Reference: What you need to know

• The built-in ultrasonic fingerprint sensor works well as long as you hold your finger on the screen briefly instead of a brief press.
• The S10 Plus's 4,100 mAh battery lasted 12 hours and 35 minutes of Internet testing, surpassing all the major phones of the past year.
• The Infinity-O display looks great, but the two holes for the front cameras can be annoying. You can hide them if you want.
• Wireless PowerShare lets you charge other phones on the back of the S10 Plus and Galaxy Buds.
• It's the fastest Android phone to date, thanks to the Snapdragon 855 processor.
• The new ultra-wide camera produces impressive results, but the Pixel 3 offers better low-light image quality.

Galaxy S10 Plus Price and Availability

The Galaxy S10 Plus will be on sale March 8, but is available for pre-order now. It starts at $ 999 for 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. But you can also order the S10 Plus with 512 GB of storage for $ 1,249 or get a gigantic 1 TB of storage and 12 GB of RAM for $ 1,599. (The good news is that you can get up to $ 550 with repossession offers.)

The Galaxy S10 Plus is available from all major carriers, including AT & T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon, as well as the United States. Cellular and Xfinity Mobile. You can also buy the unlocked phone. Be sure to check out our updated list of the best deals for the Galaxy S10 to date.

Design: refined and elegant, but about these holes

The quest for the all-screen phone is almost complete. The Infinity-O display of the Galaxy S10 Plus really goes from one side to the other. With the exception of a narrow chin on the bottom, the S10 Plus has virtually no glasses. Samsung was able to do this because it used a laser cutter to punch holes in the top right of the screen for the front cameras.

Now that I live with the S10 Plus, I would say that holes can be annoying, especially when using an application with a white background like Gmail. It's like two little eyes are watching you. And that's one of the reasons why Samsung has created darker wallpapers for this phone in the upper right corner: to help hide these holes.

Are the perforations better or worse than those of the iPhone XS? This is a wash for me, because even if the notch is larger, it comes down from the top of the screen and is not an interruption, unlike camera holes. Interestingly, you can completely hide the front cameras if you want a black bar to appear above the screen, but this seems like an even bigger waste of real estate. (You have entered the Settings-Display-Full Screen applications.)

Camera holes in the S10 can be annoying, especially when using an application with a white background like Gmail.

Measuring 6.2 x 2.91 x 0.3 inches and weighing 6.17 ounces, the Galaxy S10 Plus is not a one-handed phone, at least not for me. I had to move the device in my hand to try to reach the Recent Apps button on the left side with my thumb.

However, Samsung's phone is much lighter and narrower than the iPhone XS Max (6.2 x 3.05 x 0.3 inches and 7.34 ounces). In addition, you can switch to one-handed mode by sliding your finger diagonally up and to the left of the lower right corner of the screen.

We tested the Galaxy S10 Plus on Prism White, with a futuristic atmosphere and hiding fingerprints. You can also get it in Prismatic Black, Prismatic Blue and Pink Flamingo. If you prefer a more durable ceramic finish at the back of the glass, you can spend $ 250 more for Ceramic White or Ceramic Black finish.

Good

• Infinity-O Immersive Screen
• The ultrasonic fingerprint sensor works well
• Excellent cameras
• Very fast performance
• Excellent battery life and can charge other wireless gadgets
• Headphone jack

The bad

• Holes in the display can be annoying
• Expensive
• Confusing gestures

Verdict

The Galaxy S10 Plus is one of the best phones on the market, with fast performance, an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, improved cameras and a very long battery life.

Specifications of Galaxy S10 Plus

Price	$ 999
Display Resolution)	6.4 inches (quad wide HD +)
Rear camera (s)	Ultra-fast 16 MP (f / 2.2), 12 MP Dual Pixel Telephoto (f / 1.5, f / 2.4), 12 MP Telephoto (f / 2.4)
Front camera (s)	8 MP (f / 1.9) 8 MP (f / 2.2) Dual Depth Detection
CPU	Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
RAM	8 GB, 12 GB
Storage room	128 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB
microSD	Yes, up to 512 GB
Drums	4,100mAh
Colors	Prism Black, White Prism, Blue Prism, White Ceramic, Green Prism Green (except United States), Flamingo Pink (except UK)
Cut	6.2 x 2.91 x 0.3 inches
Weight	6.17 ounces

Ultrasonic fingerprint: fast and convenient

This is the biometric security made easy. The Galaxy S10 Plus's ultrasonic fingerprint sensor is built-in to the screen and is easy to set up and use. Unlike Apple's facial identity, you do not have to look at your phone and slide your finger to unlock the device; you simply hold your finger on the designated area of ​​the screen and you are moved.

Unlike the 2D optical fingerprint sensors that we find on other phones like the OnePlus 6T, the ultrasound reader of the S10 Plus creates a 3D map of your finger, which is more secure . It's also fast because I've never waited more than a second to connect.

I have encountered some false negative messages "No correspondence" during my initial tests. But I got much more consistent results once I remapped my finger and made sure to position my thumb from several angles during the recording process. Since then, I have successfully logged in almost every time. Sometimes I get an alert saying "keep your finger on the sensor a little longer". It is therefore important to press briefly while unlocking the S10.

I've also tried unlocking the Galaxy S10 with a wet finger; I spent my hand under the sink, then I placed my thumb on the screen and unlocked the phone. The ultrasonic fingerprint scanner even worked after I had crumbs between my fingers.

Cameras: Wide angle camcorders and fascinating double selfies

The Galaxy S10 Plus contains the largest number of cameras we have ever seen on a Samsung phone, with a total of five. Three at the back, including a 12 MP two-pixel main shooter with variable aperture (f / 1.5, f / 2.4), a 12 MP (f / 2.4) telephoto lens with a 2x optical zoom and a wide 16 MP (f / 2.2) camera that gives you a 123 degree view.

At the front, the Galaxy S10 Plus has two cameras: a 10 MP (f / 1.8) dual pixel shooter and a second 8 MP (f / 2.2) depth detection lens.

MORE: Samsung Galaxy S10 Cameras: What You Need to Know

The ultra-wide-angle lens of the S10 Plus can produce spectacular photos, offering a more captivating view of almost every scene. Take this picture of the Grace Building in New York, which features a unique curved design. With the standard camera, you can distinguish the curve, but with the ultra-wide lens engaged, you can see the other flat buildings that surround it, making the curve more pronounced.

If you like to have fun with portraits, you'll appreciate the new Live Focus effects that Samsung has added to the mix. You can choose from the Blur, Rotate, Zoom, and Color Point options. My favorite is Color Point, which puts the main subject in color and the background in black and white. The effect worked very well for this photo of me in San Francisco, standing in front of a cable car. You can also apply these effects to portraits or selfies after shooting.

With the help of a dedicated neural processing unit and an AI, the Galaxy S10's camera can recognize 30 different subjects, compared to 20 on the Galaxy Note 9. This n & # 39; 39; is not instantaneous, because it took a few seconds for the dog icon to appear in the live view of the camera when I took a picture of my golden retriever.

The ultra-wide-angle lens of the S10 Plus can produce spectacular photos, offering a more captivating view of almost every scene.

To see the performance of the Galaxy S10 Plus camera, we compared it to Pixel 3, and the Google phone came in first. But the S10 Plus has won a few rounds. Take this picture of some colorful hats. The image of the S10 Plus is brighter and sharper, even if some parts of the photo are a little blown away from the picture taken by Pixel 3 of the same scene.

In this cupcake photo, the Pixel 3 wins for a more realistic chocolate, even if the image of the Galaxy S10 Plus is brighter and warmer. The shot of S10 Plus is rather yellow.

If you wonder if the Galaxy S10 Plus can take good pictures in the dark, it can really. They are just not as amazing as what Pixel 3 can do, as evidenced by this picture taken in our video studio almost without light. You can simply distinguish more objects on the shelf with the Night Standby mode of the activated Pixel 3.

When shooting side-by-side with the iPhone XS, the Apple camera provides a brighter picture of flowers and a little more detail when I zoom in, but I preferred the contrast of the shot from the S10.

Front cameras give you the option to take a normal or wide-angle selfie and you can apply all the same fun effects of Live Focus when taking portraits. The S10 Plus made the blur effect on the background (which the S10 can not do with its unique lens), but the overall image seemed a little too smooth and over-processed compared to the one of the Pixel 3.

Unfortunately, the camera of the Galaxy S10 Plus has struggled in the portrait of my colleagues Sherri and Mike. You can see that their faces have been swept by the sun, a problem that I have encountered on other Galaxy phones. The image of Pixel 3 has a much more uniform exposure.

The Galaxy S10 Plus is redeemed with this shot of macaroons on the inside; It is sharper and brighter than the picture of the iPhone XS.

Video recording: Super Steady works fine

In terms of video recording, one of the main new features of the Galaxy S10 is the Super Steady recording. Samsung promises an improved stabilization rate for activities such as skiing and cycling. But it can even help when you film while walking, as I discovered while walking in Bryant Park in New York.

With Super Steady off, I noticed that each of my steps was causing a slight instability when I was heading towards a fountain. When Super Steady is activated – you activate the function by pressing the icon representing a shaking hand on the left side of the screen of the S10 – the action has been much more fluid. It was almost as if you saw in a film a fluid follow-up.

Interestingly, the Super Steady video started with a reduced view compared to the clip taken without the feature enabled. That's because Super Steady takes advantage of the ultra wide-angle lens on the back of the Galaxy S10 Plus.

Performance: Android fastest to date

The first phone with Qualcomm's 7-nanometer Snapdragon 855 processor in the US, the Galaxy S10 Plus is the fastest Android phone we've ever tested, though the iPhone XS is faster on some tests.

I played the Asphalt 9 racing game without the slightest sluggishness. And in Mortal Kombat X, the graphics were so bloody that when I punched a hole in someone else's chest, I felt like I was playing on a console.

On Geekbench 4, which measures overall performance, the S10 Plus has a multi-core score of 10,732, better than Galaxy Note 9 (8,876), OnePlus 6T (8,972) and Pixel 3 ( 7,316). All three phones use the Snapdragon 845 from last year.

The iPhone XS, powered by a Bionic A12 chip designed by Apple, has exceeded 11,420 units on Geekbench 4.

However, the Galaxy S10 Plus took advance in the graphics tests, getting an excellent score of 5,648 points for 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme (on the OpenGL ES 3.1 test). That exceeds the iPhone XS (4,339), the Galaxy S9 of last year (4,634), the Pixel 3 XL (4,396) and the OnePlus 6T (5,183).

The first phone with Qualcomm's 7-nanometer Snapdragon 855 processor in the US, the Galaxy S10 Plus is the fastest Android phone we've ever tested – though the iPhone XS is faster on some tests.

In our video editing test, which involves transcoding a 4K clip to 1080p and applying a filter in the Adobe Clips application, the Galaxy S10 Plus is fine. The phone took 2 minutes and 26 seconds to convert the video, against only 39 seconds for the iPhone XS. The Galaxy S10 Plus, however, was faster than other Android phones. It's important to note that a new video editing application is coming soon to the Galaxy S10 Plus in Adobe Premiere Rush, which is optimized for the phone.

The Galaxy S10 has loaded the game Asphalt 9 in 7.95 seconds, against 7.08 seconds for the iPhone XS. But the Galaxy S10 was faster to load Mortal Kombat X at 11.3 seconds versus 12.87 seconds for the iPhone.

Display and audio

The Galaxy S10 Plus's new HD + Dynamic AMOLED quad display is certainly Samsung's best screen yet, but it's still a step ahead of the iPhone XS Max's OLED panel.

On the plus side, there are a lot of improvements here. Dynamic tone mapping provides improved brightness and a wider color gamut. Samsung is working to reduce the emission of blue light, which can be harmful to the eyes.

The lab results were quite good, with the S10 Plus screen recording 136.5% of the SRGb color gamut. He also achieved a Delta-E color accuracy score of 0.29 (better 0). Pixel 3 climbed 170.2%, but its Delta-E value was worse at 0.35. The iPhone XS Max screen has a 123% lower sRGB rating, but offers even better accuracy than the S10 Plus at 0.22.

The panel of the Galaxy S10 Plus is very bright at a maximum brightness of 625 nits, but that's when we turned on a flashlight to its sensor. The iPhone XS has recorded 606 nits but produces a brighter picture when we compare the same landscape photo on both screens side by side. The screen of Pixel 3 is much brighter at only 362 nits.

As far as audio quality is concerned, the S10 Plus's speakers are quite powerful, but they do not match the stereo sound of the iPhone XS Max. Playing in Portugal. "Feel It Still" of the Man on Spotify, the S10 Plus has become powerful, but the iPhone offers more robust bass and a richer sound.

Battery life and power sharing

The Galaxy S10 Plus's 4,100 mAh battery is one of the largest you'll find on any Android device. In the Tom's Guide battery test, which consists of surfing the 4G LTE Web at a brightness of 150 nits, the S10 Plus lasted 12 hours and 35 minutes.

This execution time exceeds the already excellent 11:26 of the 4000 mAh battery of the Note 9 and 10h38 of the iPhone XS Max. Last year, the Galaxy S9 + lasted 10:59 and the Google Pixel 3 XL only 9:30.

In the Tom's Guide battery test, which consists of surfing the 4G LTE Web at a brightness of 150 nits, the S10 Plus lasted 12 hours and 35 minutes.

With all this capacity, you can even charge other devices with the S10 Plus. Thanks to the Wireless PowerShare feature of the phone, you can use the back of the S10 Plus to charge other phones compatible with the wireless standard Qi – yes, including the iPhone. You can also charge Samsung Galaxy Buds.

OneUI software

The good news is that the OneUI software on the Galaxy S10 is streamlined as promised and relatively easy to use. The settings menu, for example, has far fewer options up front, but it's still a kid's game. It is also easy to activate various features without having to search through the settings; I like being able to access the shortcuts for Wireless PowerShare and Blue Light Filter when I slide your finger from the top of the screen down.

However, the round icons of the S10 look a bit too much like "my first smartphone". At least they are colorful and easy to see at a glance. I am even less impressed by the implementation of gestures by Samsung in Android 9.0.

By default, recent apps, the Home button, and the Back button are at the bottom of the screen. If you decide to switch to full-screen gestures, you'll see three options at the bottom of the screen: Swipe up to see recent apps, down to go home and up to return backward. . I prefer the way Apple handles this; just swipe up to go home and stop halfway if you want to see the recent apps.

And, yes, AR Emoji is always a thing. You can create avatars of yourself on the fly and they now have better facial tracking. There is also a whole body tracking system and you can even create stickers from your AR Emoji to put them in photo. But I found the results as scary as before.

Galaxy S10 Plus vs Galaxy S10

The Galaxy S10 Plus at $ 999 and the regular Galaxy S10 at $ 899 share the same processor and the same trio of rear cameras, but there are some key differences. The S10 Plus has a 6.4-inch screen larger than the 6.1-inch version, making it a better option for those looking for a more user-friendly device. The other big difference is that the S10 Plus adds a second camera to the front, which is good for taking portraits with various bokeh effects.

MORE: Galaxy S10 vs Galaxy S10 + vs Galaxy S10e: What should you buy?

The S10 Plus also offers you a bigger battery than the S10 (4100 mAh against 3400 mAh) and the option for a capacity up to 12 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage. Take a look at our detailed comparison to find out which S10 is right for you, including the S10e, which is more economical.

Bottom line

If you do not need the Galaxy Note 9's stylus, the Galaxy S10 Plus is the ultimate Android phone for heavy users. It offers an immersive fullscreen experience, high performance cameras and fast performance in a sleek design that gives the Pixel 3 XL a downgraded look. The 12.5 hours of battery life also make the S10 Plus the longest lasting Samsung phone and one of the most durable phones ever.

Samsung also deserves credit for the flawless operation of the ultrasonic fingerprint sensor and Wireless PowerShare features. The company is moving away from gadgets and concentrating on innovations that make your life easier, which is nice to see.

If you value camera quality first, the cheapest Pixel 3 XL ($ 899, $ 699 on sale) remains your best choice, especially in low light. And the iPhone XS Max ($ 1,099) is even more powerful and offers a brighter screen. Where the S10 Plus has both phones beat is the battery life. As great as it may be, the Galaxy S10 Plus has not changed the competitive landscape for smartphones.

Some may prefer to wait for the Galaxy S10 5G, which will offer unprecedented speeds and an even larger 6.7-inch screen when shipped later this spring (though it will certainly cost more). But if you're a Galaxy user and have not upgraded for two generations, the S10 Plus should be worth it.

Credit: Tom's Guide