s10 Plus

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus Hands On Review: Perfection Redefined

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus is here with three companions, the S10, S10e and S10 5G. The S10 Plus has carved a niche of its own in terms of design, features and uniqueness. It sets apart from all its predecessors as well as the Note lineup of devices. When you hold the device in your hand, it is an absolute bliss. The device looks grand and is almost perfect in each and every aspect.

Before getting into the details, let’s see the prominent changes that have been made into the device compared to others:

Galaxy s10 plus

New Features!

Well, S10 and S10 Plus have too much to offer. But here is a sneak peek at the new features. But this is not all. Read the entire review to know more about the elegance and nuances of the technology:

1. Onscreen fingerprint scanner: It comes with an on-screen fingerprint scanner which is the first of its kind in a Samsung flagship model.

2. Ultrasonic fingerprint scanner: The phone deploys ultrasonic pulses to detect the 3D ridges and valleys of your fingerprint, so only you can access your phone. It’s secure and convenient — even allowing you to unlock, drag, and hold to open the app you want.

3. Camera Cutout: The feature is the cutout Samsung calls the Infinity-O display. The dual front facing camera rests on this cutout. The cutout appears to be interfering the humongous flamboyant colorful display, but in reality, it is positioned in such a way that it won’t interrupt your vision. No matter which game you play, or which app you are using, the screen cutout won’t come into your way. 

4. Reverse Wireless Charging: S10 Plus can be used to charge accessories or even other smartphones via reverse wireless charging. I shall discuss it in details in the upcoming section Wireless PowerShare.

What Comes In The Box?

The packaging of the S10+ has been revamped. The box is black with S10+ written in vibrant font and color. Inside the box, you have the grand Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus device along with the accessories. The accessories include a 15W Samsung’s Adaptive Fast Charge standard (QuickCharge 2.0 compliant) charger. It also packs an amazing pair of AKG headsets with braided cables for protection from damage. There are a USB type C, cable, a USB adaptor, a SIM ejector pin, a case and user manual.

s10 plus unbox

Display

There is a lot to talk about the display because S10 Plus has brought revolutionary changes in the display and S10 and S10 Plus both set apart themselves from the other Galaxy flagship lineups. Samsung brings the ultimate AMOLED Infinity O display, which gives the user an uninterrupted cinematic experience. The display of 6.4 inches, expands from the top to bottom chin, and the intricate and precise laser cutting of the camera cutout doesn’t really block any view. The dual camera cutout has been placed smartly. Even though it might distract you in the beginning, but you will not miss out any important stuffs that display on the screen.

The Display is equipped with Dynamic Tone Mapping. Dynamic Tone Mapping makes the display more realistic, crisp and vibrant. The contrast is very prominent, and the overall experience of the display is outstanding. The Outdoor mode is also great, and you will love the device from the performance of the display.

s10 plus display
s10 plus back side

Eye Comfort Display

It supports the Quad HD display. The default resolution set is the Full HD+ display, but you can change it from the Settings application. Another beautiful change, that has been brought in the display, keeping in mind, the health of vision is the Eye Comfort Display. Nowadays, most flagship devices are expected to meet the health requirements of eyes and hence, they often get certified for Eye comfort display to increase credibility of the quality of the devices. Samsung Galaxy S10, S10+, S10e are certified with Eye Comfort Display by the TUV Rheinland certification institute. Eye Comfort Display deploys a unique fluid in the AMOLED display, and the function of the fluid is to reduce the harmful effect of blue light by 42%, without degrading the hue and brightness of the screen. Blue light emerging from the screen backlights is immensely harmful for the brain and eyes. Hence, it is becoming mandatory for all smartphones and laptops to include a blue light filter on the devices.

Design And Dimension

S10 Plus looks absolutely spectacular and royal. The Aluminum frame is sleek and thinner than all its predecessors. The screen is made of Gorilla Glass 6 with IP68 rating for enhanced protection against dust and water. The rear surface is also made up by Gorilla Glass.  The dimensions for S10+ are: 157.6 x 74.1 x 7.8 mm. The Glass model weighs 175 g, whereas the Ceramic model weighs 198 g. The S10+ is available in vibrant colors which can be categorized under two variants- the Prism with iridescent hue effect and the sober ceramic model. The Prism has more color options, such as, Prism White, Black, Green and Blue. The Ceramic variant has Ceramic Black and Ceramic White.

The phone has a camera cutout at the top right corner on the screen. In the bottom chin, there is a multipurpose type C jack for charging. At the top rim, there is the SIM card and a memory card tray. On the right side, there is the Power button, whereas the left side has the Volume button and the Bixby Button. The rear side has a long panel of three cameras and a heart rate sensor. s10plus-5.jpg s10plus-6.jpg s10plus-7.jpg s10plus-8.jpg

Processor And Memory

There is absolutely nothing to complain about the processor and memory. Many laptops do not have this configuration. So, you can be sure of a fast, flawless device with humongous RAM and Storage. The device is powered by Snapdragon 855 (7nm) Octa-core CPU (1×2.8GHz & 3×2.4GHz Kryo Gold & 4×1.7GHz Kryo 485 Silver), Adreno 640 GPU, Exynos 9820 (8nm): Octa-core CPU (2×2.7GHz Mongoose M4 & 2×2.3GHz Cortex-A75 & 4×1.9GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G76 MP12 GPU.

Here are the details of the Storage:

8GB RAM with 128GB internal storage, 8GB RAM with 512GB internal storage (Ceramic models only), 12GB RAM with 1TB internal storage(Performance Edition only).

Camera

S10 Plus is surely going to take your breath away with the image quality and photography skills. The primary camera comes with a triple camera combo, that is, instead of one, there are three primary or rear cameras. The cameras are equipped with Dual Optical Image Stabilization, 0.5m out and 2x in optical zoom, 10x digital zoom and HDR+ recording. Individually, each of the three cameras has different specifications, so as to provide you a complete photographic experience.

Primary Camera

Camera 1: A 12 MP Telephoto camera, equipped with PDAF, Optical Image Stabilizer, Pixel size of 1.0μm, FOV 45˚, F. No (aperture) F2.4

Camera 2: A 12 MP Wide Angle Camera with Super Speed Dual Pixel AF, OIS, Pixel size of 1.4μm, FOV 77˚ and Dual Aperture F1.5 mode/F2.4 mode

Camera 3: A 16MP Ultra Wide Camera with Pixel size 1.0μm, FOV 123˚ and F.No (aperture) F2.2

Selfie Camera

The front facing or selfie camera is equally commendable. The selfie camera is a combination of two cameras that facilitates live focusing and many other enhancements.

For selfie camera, the first camera is a 10 MP selfie camera with Dual Pixel AF, Pixel size of 1.22μm, FOV 80˚, F.No (aperture) F1.9.

The second camera is an 8MP RGB Depth Camera with Pixel Size 1.12μm, FOV 90˚, F. No (aperture) F2.2.

Video recording:

  • 4K UHD video recording at 60 fps (3840×2160)
  • 1080p FHD video recording at 60 fps (1920×1080)

Below are some sample shots taken with S10+

Captured with the Telephoto Camera Mode
Captured with the Telephoto Camera Mode
Captured With Wide Angle Camera Mode
Captured with Ultra Wide Angle Camera Mode
live focus selfie s10 plus
Captured With Selfie Camera Live Focus Mode

Sound

The cinematic display experience would be worthless, if not complemented with an amazing audio quality. Samsung fits Stereo Speakers by AKG which boosts the audio experience even more with Dolby Atmos technology including Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus. It leverages high quality, ultra playback with the aid of UHQ 32-bit & DSD64/128 support, and PCM of up to 32 bits, DSD: DSD64/128.

Sensors

The fingerprint scanner is an ultrasonic scanner which captures the Ultrasound pulses emitting from the finger of the user. Thus, a minimal touch is sufficient to unlock the device. Ultrasonic scanners make the on-screen fingerprint scanner invisible, so as to provide an added vault like security. S10 also has ultrasonic scanner, whereas S10e still sticks to a capacitive fingerprint scanner. Other sensors present in S10 Plus are pressure sensor, accelerometer, barometer, gyro sensor, geomagnetic sensor, Hall sensor, Proximity sensor, RGB Sensor, etc.

On screen, ultrasonic fingerprint scanner

Battery

S10 Plus packs a powerhouse of energy within a 4100mAh battery. It supports Fast charging 2.0 and compatible to both wired and wireless charging.

Wireless PowerShare For Reverse Charging

Wireless PowerShare is another important addition to the device. What is this Wireless PowerShare? It enables any Qi-compatible smartphone or smart gadget to charge itself wirelessly by touching the S10 Plus device. In such scenario, the S10 device acts as a charging station. As the device supports reverse charging, you can charge any device by making the device in contact with the S10 Plus. Now, there are two methods by which you can use PowerShare, one is charging the Qi-compatible device from S10 Plus, when the S10 Plus itself is charging and the other method is to change the Qi-compatible device when the S10 Plus is not charging. In the latter case, the charging will be slow because the battery will be drained from the S10 Plus. This situation is ideal in case of emergency, and you should use small gadgets like the Galaxy Buds, or any smartwatch. The former method can be used for dual charging a plethora of gadgets including Qi-compatible smartphones. Since, the S10 Plus is connected to power, there is no dearth of charge in the battery and hence hefty batteries of smartphones can also be charged.

Cons

1. Even though the device comes in many colors, the colors with Prism tag, come with an iridescent hue, that is a multi-color reflection on the body of the phone. It is new for a Samsung flagship device, but the look might not impress everyone. Because iridescent hue gives the device a glittery and glam look which many people may not like. But this is not a negative aspect, as users may then opt for the ceramic colors. 

2. Another change that did not appeal me is the re-positioned power button. If your hand size is big enough, you may not face any difficulty in getting hold of the power button, but for a hand size like me, to reach out to the new position of the power button, I have to crawl my fingers up, which is not quite comfortable. 

3. The ultrasonic fingerprint scanner will not work with a glass screen protector shield. It only works with dome tampered glass screen protector, which is costly in many countries due to lack of availability. 

4. The onscreen fingerprint scanner works based on reception of ultrasound pulses from the users’ finger. For this reason, the fingerprint scanner will work even when the screen backlight is off. But when the screen backlight is off, you may find it difficult to locate where exactly to place the finger. Well, with repeated use, you may get accustomed ultimately, but for beginners, it is a problem. 

Overall, the phone is near perfection and it would be a great possession for tech lovers!

A blogger with a zeal for learning technology. Enchanted to connect with wonderful people like you.