BRIEF REVIEW
The
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus is the almost-everything-included Samsung phone
you really want - if you can afford it and handle its massive display.
We
were immediately drawn to it as the bigger and better version of the
Galaxy S10 and cheaper Galaxy S10e. It redefines what a 'phablet' is in
2019, with a 6.4-inch edge-to-edge screen so big it displaces the front
camera to a hole in the top corner. It's Samsung's marginally better
answer to the iPhone XS notch.
With a 93.1% screen-to-body ratio,
the pixels now stretch from the small top speaker down to the thin
bottom chin, and spill over the curved left and right edges. This is the
best looking screen in a smartphone. Hidden under the glass is an
ultrasonic fingerprint sensor on the front, and the new Wireless Power-share feature on back, allowing you to Qi-charge other devices.
The
back has a triple-lens camera that takes normal, telephoto, and new
ultra-wide photos. You can capture more of what's in front of you -
without having to back up. This isn't the best camera phone next to the
Pixel 3, but Samsung offers a fun-to-use, versatile camera.
We've
seen some of these ideas before from Huawei and LG. But the S10 Plus is
an amalgam of hallmark features in rival handsets with a dose of
first-to-launch features like faster Wi-Fi 6 and an HDR10+ screen. It's
the best overall package in among big pricey, smartphones.
The S10
Plus is best Samsung phone of the moment, if you can handle the price
and size, and aren't interested in new Galaxy phones on the horizon.
While expensive, the S10 Plus with 128GB remains cheaper than its closest rival, the iPhone XS Max.
The
6.4-inch Super AMOLED display on the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus makes this
the biggest S phone screen to date - bigger than 5.8-inch Galaxy S9
Plus and matching the Note 9 screen size. It's also a lot better.
PROS
-
Excellent screen-to-body ratio
-
In-screen fingerprint sensor
-
Wireless PowerShare perk
CONS
-
Sizable price hike
-
Bixby button still exists
-
Slippery design
DISPLAYThe main draw for us is the 93.1%
screen-to-body ratio that fits more pixels across a tighter body.
Samsung's new Infinity-O display avoids using a notch by opting for a
laser-cut hole in the top-right corner for the front camera.
The
hole in this 'punch-hole' display is extra-large, as Samsung dropped in
two front cameras to take better portrait selfies than the single-lens
Galaxy S10 and S10e front cameras. Good news, I've not found it too
distracting.
The default resolution is Full HD+, but you can crank
it to QHD+ and it's pin sharp, with HDR10+ for superior contrast and
color. That's an important perk if you're a movie-watcher on your phone -
an idea which isn't so crazy its size.
One drawback to Samsung
chipping away bezel: I found my encroaching palms making false touches
on the sensitive screen (especially when typing), often flipping my
on-screen keyboard between letters and numbers to output a bunch of
gobbledygook in embarrassing messages. iPhone owners accustomed to more
otherwise-ugly bezel and better palm rejection software, beware.
The
Infinity-O display is Samsung's new look for 2019, and it's enough of a
change if you've been demanding something new. It looks fantastic, with
bright, colorful reproduction making the best of images, icons, apps,
games and video.
DESIGN
The S10 Plus design
is full of surprises, new and old. Its aluminum frame is thinner than
that of the S9 Plus, and still sandwiched between smooth Gorilla Glass
6. Color choices are 'Prism' white, black and green, while the 512GB and
1TB versions are backed by ceramic in either white or black.
The
back of the Galaxy S10 Plus almost flush, with a triple-lens camera
array that has a very subtle bump outlining it, and you won't be able to
see the reverse wireless charging module is located below this.
FINGERPRINT SENSOR
The
fingerprint sensor is another feature that performs an invisible trick,
taking a 3D scan of your print. It's more accurate than the Huawei Mate
20 and OnePlus 6T optical in-screen fingerprint scanners, even when our
print was a bit wet. Its downside is a slower speed and the fact that
more pressure is required.
CAMERA
The
Samsung S10 Plus, like the S10, includes a robust triple-lens rear
camera array, comprising a 12MP regular lens, a 12MP optically zoomed
telephoto lens, and new 16MP ultra-wide lens.Samsung's dual-aperture
lens allowed us to capture vibrant-looking photos and even fairly good
low-light pictures. The quality isn't always consistent (advice: take
lots of the same photo), and it lacks something like the Google Pixel
3's dedicated long-exposure Night Vision mode.
It ranks among the
best camera phones for 2019 because it takes photos with bright, punchy
colors. iPhone photos look rather muted compared to the S10 Plus.
Side-by-side with the Pixel 3, though, its low-light capabilities are
good, but not the best. In particular, it tends to denoise nighttime
images, almost smoothing skin people's faces in an effort to reduce
low-light graininess.
16MP ultra-wide camera
Samsung's
ultra-wide lens does something Google can't do: capture photos with a
123 -degree field of view. It's great for cramming more into the frame.
When
you're posing in front of tall buildings and iconic statues, whoever's
lucky enough to be taking your picture won't be forced to cross the
street in order to do so. Your welcome, kind photo-taking stranger.
Be
warned: the wide angle does have a fisheye effect, distorting people
and objects at the edges of shots, appearing stretched compared to those
in the middle. This lens is stunning for sweeping landscape photos and
group shots in which people are tightly packed into the center of the
frame to avoid the barrel-like warping.
Live focus portrait photos
Live
Focus is more fun with the Galaxy S10 Plus, with Samsung's portrait
mode now offering a few different options. There's still the standard
background blur effect - the amount of which can be easily toggled with
an on-screen slide - but there are now three other options.
Spin
and Zoom offer different blur effects for a more arty shot, but it's the
final option, Color Point, which is our favorite. This keeps your
subject in the foreground in color, while turning the background black
and white.
It works extremely well, and the results are striking -
and you can also select this option when using the front-facing
cameras, for striking selfies that allow you to 'pop' in color while the
background is turned mono.
The front-facing cameras are 10MP and
8MP, with the latter coming into play for enhancing depth. This allows
for better Live Focus portrait photos, and it's exclusive to the S10
Plus variant of Samsung's new phones.
Images from the front
cameras look good in everything but low light, where things become
soft-looking as the software attempts to aggressively smooth out the
noise, although of course this is an issue that isn't limited to Samsung
phones.
Do you really need a dual-selfie camera? No. The
difference in between S10 and S10 Plus selfie quality is minimal. It's
the least convincing upgrade, and the ability to take closer and wider
zoomed front photos is a software trick not limited to the Plus.
Camera app
Samsung's
fully-loaded, yet easy-to-navigate app is where it makes up ground next
to Google's more barebones camera app. We love returning features, like
being able quickly flip between the main and front cameras by swiping
up on the screen - it's like a big button. Taking a selfie with a
gesture is also simple; you open your hand and then form a fist, and
it'll start a countdown timer.
New is Scene Optimizer's 10
additional categories, enabling the AI to tell the difference between a
cat and dog, for example, in order to fine-tune image settings. We found
it to be smart enough to recognize the main subject in a busy scene,
and brighten things up a little as appropriate.
Shot Suggestions
hints at how to fix photos using the phone's neural processing unit
(NPU). We found its real-time tips on leveling shots and framing
subjects helpful, with an on-screen reticle to properly center group
shots. Sure, its suggestions are at times way off, but for the most part
it's a helpful addition to the camera UI.
Video quality
Video
sees a healthy amount of upgrades in 2019. The S10 Plus offers new
Digital Video Stabilization on the rear camera and, for the first time,
HDR10+ recording.
Samsung new stabilization technology is designed
to make your Ultra HD video look as smooth as footage from an action
cam, and while the handset doesn't have the same durability, it rival
the stabilization of the GoPro Hero7 Black. As as close to a gimbal-like
experience using only a smartphone, though the tiny DJI Osmo Pocket
remains our favorite for silky smooth crane-esque video.
HDR10+
video recording is a big upgrade because Samsung's prior phones lacked
the ability to record support HDR. When turned on, we found HDR10+ kept
scenes from overexposing care of additional contrast, but it also turned
off saving to the newer HEVC format, which produces smaller file sizes.
HDR10+ is tagged with a 'Labs' label, so it seems to be a work in
progress.
BATTERY
The Samsung Galaxy S10
Plus battery hits a new high for the S series with a 4,100mAh capacity.
Last year's S9 Plus was above average for Android flagships, delivering
all-day battery life from its 3,500mAh unit, but the S10 Plus performed
better for us in our tests.
Samsung still claims "all-day battery
life or a bit more", maybe because of the bigger screen here, or maybe
just to play it safe. With moderate use - a couple of hours of Spotify
streaming, a healthy amount of messaging and social media, an hour or
two of Netflix and a smattering of gaming - we found it easy to end the
night with an impressive 10% to 30% battery left.
Start enabling
some of the additional features on the Galaxy S10 Plus and the battery
will of course take a hit, namely the always-on display and changing
Full HD+ to QHD+.
The Galaxy S10 Plus does come with a host of
power saving modes with the most aggressive - maximum power saving -
locking down the interface to just a few key apps (of your choosing),
ensuring you still get hours from you final few percent.
WIRELESS POWERSHARE
Samsung's
new Wireless PowerShare feature turns the back of the S10 Plus into a
big Qi charging mat, which is great if you're feeling generous when your
friend runs low on battery and feel comfortable sparing some of your
hefty 4,1000mAh capacity.
It worked flawlessly during our tests,
enabling us to charge the Galaxy Buds in their case when we placed them
on the lower third of the back of the phone.
Samsung hasn't showed
favoritism here either: any Qi charging phone worked in our tests,
including the iPhone XS Max. We used this feature more than we thought
we might during our time at MWC 2019 - and we became quite popular.
Knowing
that PowerShare turns off when your phone drops down to 30% battery
life is comforting - as is realizing that your iPhone XS-owning friend
has a 2,658mAh capacity for the price of your S10 Plus.
Reverse
wireless charging is found in the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, but Samsung makes
it much easier to access Wireless PowerShare via the quick settings menu
in the notification shade, whereas Huawei buries its feature in a
forest of settings submenus.
INTERFACE
One
UI is Android 9 Pie with Samsung's own twist, making it easy to navigate
menus by lining options on the bottom half of the screen - where your
thumb can reach. It's well-designed. Gone are the days of Samsung's
congested TouchWiz UI; One UI is more lightweight, although still
clearly different from stock Android.
The interface is clean, but
it still has a double or even triple doses of the same pre-installed
apps from Samsung, Google and Microsoft. And Samsung's won't win us over
with Samsung Notes if it doesn't have a desktop edition. Compared to
Apple, it lacks robust continuity software to make switching between
devices easier
PERFORMANCE
The Samsung
Galaxy S10 Plus is powerful enough to compete with today's best gaming
phones, and that means it has top-of-the-line specs inside.
Its
octacore chips are paired with 8GB of RAM (12GB in the Ultimate
Performance Edition) to provide plenty of grunt. In fact, with a
Geekbench multi-score of 11,002, it's the fastest Android phone we've
ever tested, though the Exynos chip scored a slightly lower 10,385 and
the camera app seems a tad slower.
Samsung comes very close to
matching the iPhone XS score of 11,481 - outright speed has long been
one advantage Apple has held over its chief rival. And storage makes the
S10 Plus a wholly better value, starting at a healthy 128GB, of which
around 110GB is actually available to you out of the box. If that's not
enough space, there's a microSD slot which supports cards up to 1TB in
size, or the 512GB and 1TB internal storage sizes - for an additional
cost, of course.
This is the first phone with next-gen Wi-Fi 6,
which allows you to seamlessly transition between Wi-Fi routers and is
four times faster than the 802.11ax standard. It should deliver a 20%
speed boost compared to the S9, although you'll need a new router to get
any use out of this feature.
WHO IS IT FOR?
Entertainment seekers
The
big 6.4-inch screen is the best in the world thanks to its 93.1%
screen-to-body ratio and punchy colors. And there's an actual 3.5mm
headphone jack. What's not to love?
Selfie takers
Although
we like the Google Pixel 3 main cameras better, the selfie photos out
of the S10 Plus look great in everything but low-light. The Color Point
mode makes it so fun to use.
You're a power user
Battery
is dramatically better on the S10 Plus vs prior Samsung phones. Its
'all-day battery life' plays it safe - it can go a day and a half and Qi
charge other devices via Wireless Power Share.
WHO IS IT NOT FOR?
You're on a budget
The
price is not for the faint of heart, or wallet. Yes, it's cheaper and a
better value than the iPhone XS Max, but costs as much as a Note 9.
There are phones with better value if the don't need the absolute best.
You tend to drop phones... a lot
This
is a big and slippery phone made of glass. You're going to want to get a
case for it if you're a butterfingers with devices, and maybe even
invest in a warranty. Its pricey to replace.
You want the absolute best camera phone
This
camera is great, but it's not the best. That crown belongs to the Pixel
3. Google's phone isn't as stylish or as feature-packed, so Samsung is a
better overall pick, but know there's a better point-and-shoot
replacement out there.
ALTERNATIVE
Samsung Galaxy S10
If
you want all the flagship features of the Galaxy S10 Plus in a more
manageable form factor and slightly cheaper price, the Samsung Galaxy
S10 is the answer.
Its smaller 6.1-inch display still packs a QHD+ resolution, although there's just a single punch-hole camera embedded into it.
You
still get the same three rear cameras, Wireless PowerShare feature and
in-display fingerprint scanner - plus plenty of power and storage under
the hood.
