After months of various teasers and leaks, Samsung’s newest flagship Galaxy S10 family officially launches today. One of the things that you may be looking for after this is how do the S10 lineup differ with its predecessors. If you already have the Galaxy S9+ or the Note 9 and you wonder if it’s worth upgrading to the Galaxy S10+, then you’re in the right place. Check out their differences below.
Here are their detailed specs:
Specs | Samsung Galaxy S10+ | Samsung Galaxy S9+ | Samsung Galaxy Note 9 |
---|---|---|---|
Display | 6.3-inch 19:9 WQHD+ Infinity "O" Dynamic AMOLED HDR+ display @ 3040x1440px, 522pi (800 nits) | 6.2-inch Super AMOLED WQHD+ display @ 2960 x 1440px, 531ppi | 6.34-inch Super AMOLED WQHD+ display@ 2960 x 1440px, 514ppi |
Screen protection | Gorilla Glass 6 | Gorilla Glass 5 | Gorilla Glass 5 |
CPU | Exynos 9820 8nm (2x 4th-Gen Custom CPU + 2x Cortex-A75 + 4x Cortex-A55) octa-core / Snapdragon 855 8nm (8x Qualcomm Kryo 485) 2.84GHz octa-core (US) | Samsung Exynos 9810 octa-core 4 x 2.9GHz Custom CPU + 4 x 1.9GHz ARM Cortex A55 | Exynos 9810 Octa octa-core (4x2.7 GHz Mongoose M3 & 4x1.8 GHz Cortex-A55) CPU |
GPU | Mali-G76 MP12 / Adreno 640 (US) | Mali G72-MP18 | Mali G72-MP18 |
RAM | 6GB/8GB/12GB (LE) | 6GB | 6GB/8GB |
Storage | 128GB/512GB/1TB (LE) | 64GB/128GB/256GB | 128GB/512GB internal storage |
Expandable Storage | expandable via microSD up to 512GB | expandable via microSD up to 400GB (uses SIM 2 slot) | expandable via microSD up to 512GB (uses SIM 2 slot) |
Rear Camera | 12MP Wide (77-degrees), Dual Aperture f/1.5-f/2.4, Dual Pixel, OIS 16MP Ultra Wide (123-degrees), FF 12MP Tele (45-degrees), Zoom, OIS, AF | 12MP f/1.5-f/2.4 dual pixel, OIS, 2x optical zoom, telephoto 12MP f/2.4 dual pixel, OIS, wide-angle Dual-tone, dual-LED flash | 12MP f/1.5-f/2.4 dual pixel, OIS, 2x optical zoom, telephoto 12MP f/2.4 dual pixel, OIS, wide-angle Dual-tone, dual-LED flash |
Front Camera | 10MP f/1.9 main 8MP f/2.2 Live focus 4K, Dual Pixel AF, UHD Selfie, Depth | 8MP f/1.7 front-facing camera | 8MP f/1.7 front-facing camera |
Connectivity | 4G LTE Cat. 20 8CA 2Gbps DL | 4G LTE Cat. 18 6CA 1.2Gbps | 4G LTE Cat. 18 6CA 1.2Gbps 256QAM 4x4 MIMO |
SIM | Dual SIM (nano, hybrid) | Dual SIM (nano, hybrid) | Dual SIM (nano, hybrid) |
Wi-Fi | WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ad/ay/ax-ready | WiFi 802.11ac | WiFi 802.11ac |
Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE, aptX | Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE, aptX | Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE, aptX |
NFC | NFC | NFC | NFC |
GPS | GPS with aGPS, GLONASS, BeiDou,QZSS,Galileo, Dual-frequency GNSS | GPS with aGPS, GLONASS, BeiDou | GPS with aGPS, GLONASS, BeiDou |
USB | USB Type-C | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
Sensors | -Ultrasonic fingerprint scanner -Heart-Rate Sensor -Face Recognition | -Fingerprint Scanner -Iris Scanner -Heart-Rate Sensor -Face Recognition | -Fingerprint Scanner -Iris Scanner -Face Recognition -Heart-rate Scanner |
Audio | - Dolby Atmos - AKG Headphones & Speakers | - Dolby Atmos - AKG Headphones & Speakers | - Dolby Atmos - AKG Headphones & Speakers |
Features | -Bixby Vision 2.0 -IP68 dust and water-resistance | -Bixby Vision 2.0 -IP68 dust and water-resistance | -Bixby Vision 2.0 -Heatpipe cooling -IP68 dust and water-resistance -S-Pen with Bluetooth remote control capabilities -Samsung Dex built-in |
Audio Port | 3.5mm audio port | 3.5mm audio port | 3.5mm audio port |
OS | Samsung One UI (Android 9 Pie) | Samsung Experience v9.0 (Android 8.0 Oreo) | Samsung Experience v9.5 (Android 8.1 Oreo) |
Battery | 4,100mAh battery w/ Fast charging, Wireless Power Share fast charging 2.0 | 3,500 Li-Po battery USB Type-C Fast Charge, Wireless Charging | 4,000mAh battery w/ Fast Charge, Wireless Charging |
Here are the advantages of each smartphone:
Samsung Galaxy S10+
- Larger screen size than S9+
- HDR10+ display
- Corning Gorilla Glass 6
- Best performing CPU
- Best performing GPU
- The largest maximum RAM capacity
- Larger maximum storage capacity than S9+
- Ultra Wide-angle lens
- Captures HDR10+ videos at 30fps
- Dual front camera (Main + Live Focus) setup
- LTE Cat. 20
- Ultrasonic fingerprint scanner
- Samsung One UI
- Android 9 Pie out-of-the-box
- Wireless power share fast charging 2.0
- Largest battery capacity
- Largest screen size
- S-Pen w/ Bluetooth remote control
- Samsung Dex built-in
- Largest battery capacity
There are a lot of improvements with the S10+ as seen in the advantages but let’s start with the design. Unlike its predecessors, it now has a punch-hole design at the front for the cameras while you won’t see any rear-mounted fingerprint scanners anymore as it is now located under the screen.
For the display, The S10+ comes with a larger screen size than the S9+ but is almost as tall with Note 9. Without the S-Pen, you could confuse yourself with Aside from the slightly improved aspect ratio, the S10+ also comes with an HDR10+ display which is better than the usual HDR10 on existing flagship devices.
One major upgrade of the S10+ is the chipset. It now uses either an Exynos 9820 processor or Snapdragon 855 (for the US) instead of the Exynos 9810 or Snapdragon 845. There is not much data yet on how the new chipsets perform but rest assured that they are the best that the companies offer today. What’s more, is that the S10+ offers a wider variant of RAM capacities ranging from 6GB to a whopping 12GB. I also noticed that the company ditched the 64GB storage variant and just went straight ahead with a 128GB one.
Unlike with the predecessors, the new S10+ comes with a triple rear and dual front camera configuration. Aside from the usual wide-angle and telephoto lenses, we now get an additional ultra-wide angle lens to add flavor to the photos. As for the front shooter, there is now a 10MP main and 8MP live focus lenses which should enhance the depth-of-effect further when taking selfies.
The Galaxy S10+ also raises the bar in terms of mobile data speed as the new chipset now brings an LTE Category 20 which could reach up to 2Gbps of a downlink.
As for the other features, Samsung finally ditched their physical fingerprint scanners with the S10 and S10+ and instead, replaced it with an Ultrasonic fingerprint scanner which is the in-display scanning technology of the company. One thing to note as well is that they already implemented the Samsung One UI based on Android 9 Pie which gives a cleaner, more optimized, and a more refreshing look as compared with the S9+ and Note 9’s Samsung Experience V9.5.
Lastly, the Galaxy S10+ carries the largest battery capacity among the three and with it also comes a new generation of wireless charging called Wireless Power Share fast charging 2.0. We’ll know more about how it performs once we test its performance very soon.
Now, to answer the question that has been raised at the start. Should you upgrade to the Galaxy S10+ given that you’re an S9+ or Note 9 user? The answer would be yes. Not only would you get a more powerful device, but you’ll also get to experience the new design showcased by Samsung with its punch-hole displays and more camera capabilities.
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