Samsung officially launched its 2019 smartphone lineup during its Unpacked event held on Feb. 20 in San Francisco. Alongside the famous Galaxy Fold foldable smartphone, Samsung also revealed its Galaxy 10 series smartphones. Among them is the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, the Galaxy with the most interesting features.
Although it shares a name with other Galaxy S10 phones, the Galaxy S10 5G is a different beast entirely. With the Galaxy S10s, Samsung got rid of the top bezel and stretched the AMOLED display to the top edge. This is called the Infinity-O display, and discounting the Galaxy Fold, the Galaxy S10 5G has the largest one, coming in at 6.7″ filled by a QHD resolution. Infinity-O displays are also rated for HDR10+ certified.
Having the biggest display means a bigger body, and a bigger body means more room to increase battery capacity. The Galaxy S10 Plus has a 4,100mAh battery, but the Galaxy S10 5G has a much larger, 4,500mAh battery. Considering that it supports reverse wireless charging, a bigger battery means more run time for both the galaxy and your phone.
As with all Samsung Galaxy S10 phones, the Galaxy 5G comes with system on chips (SoC) built using 7nm transistors. Samsung has yet to disclose which processor will be available in North America, but it’s a good guess that it will be Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855. The powerful chip will be paired with 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage. That feels a bit constraint considering the Galaxy S10 Plus can reach up to 1TB.
On the back of the phone is four rear cameras. In addition to the telephoto, wide, and ultra-wide lenses, the Galaxy S10 5G also features a depth sensor for AR.
As its name implies, the Galaxy S10 5G features a 5G modem, likely the Qualcomm Snapdragon X50. The Snapdragon X50 is compatible with mmWaves as well as frequencies below 1GHz, and boasts a top data rate of 5Gbps. In addition, because it’s a standalone chip, it can be optionally integrated into phones that will be available in markets with 5G connectivity.
The last bit is disappointing because Canada won’t be getting 5G until at least 2020. Therefore, Samsung has axed the Galaxy S10 5G from Canadian release. Given the popularity of the Galaxy Note series, Canadians may want a larger Galaxy phone.
None-the-less, the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G will be available sometime in June. Pricing has yet to be determined, but don’t expect it to be below the Galaxy S10 Plus, which starts at US$999.
