The Samsung Galaxy S10+ was one of the more well received smartphones when it first hit the market in 2019, but now that more than a year has passed, the S10+ has significantly more competition. Since the Samsung Galaxy S20+ was released in early 2020, many are wondering whether or not it’s even worth upgrading. I decided to go back and review the Samsung Galaxy S10+ and see how well it stands up against the S20+, the S20 Ultra and other current flagships.
Design: Water-resistant and durable
The Galaxy S10+’s design is sleek and manages to be both modern and timeless. of time. The 6.4-inch AMOLED infinity display screen is just the right size, and the phone feels right in the hand. One thing the Galaxy S10+ has that many other phones don’t have is an actual 3.5 mm headphone jack, which you won’t find on the iPhone 11 series or even the Galaxy S20 series. This allows you to connect a basic pair of third party earbuds or headphones, and this is a huge perk. Keep in mind that you can, however, purchase an adapter if you really want to connect a pair of 3.5 mm headphones or earbuds. Like the S20 series and many other modern Android phones, the Galaxy S10+ also has a USB-C connector, which a lot of people really like. The Galaxy S10+ is durable, with aluminum along the perimeter, Corning Gorilla Glass 6 on the front of the phone, and Gorilla Glass 5 on the back to help promote cleanliness, scratch resistance, and maximum strength. The iPhone 11 series also utilizes Gorilla Glass 6, so Samsung’s S10+ is right on track. I often test products in my garage, and I dropped the phone on the concrete floor several times without a case or screen protector and the screen and glass backing remained completely intact. The phone has a water resistance rating of IP68, which means it has protection from dust, dirt, and sand, and you can submerge it in up to 1.5 meters of water for up to thirty minutes.
Performance: Snapdragon 855
The Galaxy S10 has a clean interface that’s easy to use and customize to your liking. The octa-core processor, Snapdragon 855, has a 2.84 GHz clock speed. It’s powerful enough to handle any task you’d perform on a mobile device including productivity and gaming. You’ll get more processing power from the newest iPhones, as the Apple A13 Bionic is a faster chip. The Galaxy S20 series also outperforms the S10+ slightly, but the Galaxy S10+ is still a workhorse. I can multitask, keeping numerous windows opened simultaneously without seeing any noticeable lag. The Galaxy S10+ I tested came with 8 GB of RAM, which I found sufficient. Other models come with 12 GB though. Storage is expandable through microSD, and you can add up to 512 MB. You can expand your storage up to 1 TB with the S20 series. However, with cloud storage so easily accessible, expandable storage isn’t as much of a necessity as it once was. Overall, the Galaxy S10+, while not as powerful as the S20 and iPhone 11 series phones, is exceptionally fast and has ample power for everyday tasks and work applications. You won’t feel like your phone is lagging behind by any means, as the differences will be relatively minute. The Galaxy S10+ scored a 10,289 on PC Mark Work 2.0, which was only about 450 points lower than the Galaxy S20. On GFXBENCH, it scored a respectable 2,376 frames (40 FPS) on Car Chase.
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6
The Galaxy S10 is compatible with 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax and it works on 2.4G and 5GHz networks. It’s Wi-Fi 6 compatible too. I have a Wi-Fi 6 router in my home, and I was able to get insanely fast wireless speeds. My home network maxes out at 400 Mbps, and I was able to consistently get over 300 Mbps in every area of my home on the Galaxy S10+. I live in a suburb of Raleigh, NC, and on the T-Mobile 4G network, I was able to clock speeds of between 15 and 20 Mbps download, and upload speeds maxed out at 6 Mbps. On some occasions, when I was in a clear area outdoors, I could get as high as 36/8. Unfortunately, not all versions of the S10+ support 5G. But, depending on which phone you’re looking at, it may not support 5G either. For instance, the iPhone 11 series doesn’t support 5G. The Galaxy S10+ takes a Nano-SIM (4FF) and is compatible with Bluetooth version 5.0.
Display Quality: Better than the iPhone Pro
The display on the Galaxy S10+ is impressive, even in 2020. The 6.4-inch infinity display wraps around the edges for a bezel-less finish. The front camera creates a strange, cutout-like portion in the upper right-hand corner. But, the Quad HD+ dynamic AMOLED display has vivid color and exceptional contrast, boasting 522 pixels per inch and HDR10+ certification. The display quality on the Galaxy S10+ outshines the iPhone 11 series, as even the iPhone 11 Pro sports 2436 x 1125 resolution with 458 pixels per inch. The Galaxy S20 and S20+ do have a higher pixel density than the S10+, boasting 565 and 525 pixels per inch, respectively.
Sound Quality: A 3.5mm headphone jack
The Galaxy S10+ has a speaker on the bottom, and the earpiece serves as a loudspeaker as well. This allows for stereo sound. The Galaxy S10+ sounds decent when playing music out loud, but it doesn’t sound as good as a good pair of headphones or a connected speaker. Fortunately, you have a 3.5 mm jack, which makes it even easier to connect audio devices.
Camera/Video Quality: Better in the daytime
The S10+ has three rear cameras— a 16-MP ultrawide (f/2.2), a 12-MP dual-pixel wide (f/1.5, f/2.4), and a 12-MP telephoto (f/2.4). It takes excellent daytime photos, with vivid detail and dark blacks. The nighttime photos aren’t as great, and the image isn’t as bright as it could be. The two front cameras—a 10-MP dual-pixel camera and an 8-MP depth-sensing camera— take excellent selfies. There’s a portrait mode, as well as other software enhancements. But again, daytime images are superior to nighttime images. The video quality is top-notch, with support for UHD (3840x2160) resolution at up to 60 frames per second. You can also take advantage of a number of tools like slow motion, hyper-lapse, and more.
Battery: Power-sharing
The Galaxy S10+ has a decent battery life, and you can get a full day’s use out of the phone before needing to charge the battery. The 4100 mAh battery lasts for up to 39 hours of talk time. Where the S10+ really shines is in its charging technology. It has Wireless charging, fast charging, and you can charge the device in about an hour. If you turn on the power share feature, you can even use your Galaxy S10 as a charger and wirelessly charge other devices with your phone.
Software: Android 10
The Samsung Galaxy S10+ has the latest version of Android, Android 10. Even if you purchased the phone a while back, you can upgrade to the latest Android version. You can learn more about Android versions here. Among other native apps, Samsung also offers Samsung Pay and its virtual assistant Bixby on the S10+. You can use Bixby for a number of everyday tasks, especially if you have Samsung connected products in your home. Even if you don’t use Samsung smart home products, you can use Bixby kind of like you’d use Siri, and the assistant will learn your patterns over time and become a more effective assistant. The S10+ features an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, pin, password, facial recognition, and pattern locking capabilities, so you have options for how you want to secure your phone. When the Galaxy S10+ first came out, some people complained that the fingerprint sensor didn’t work seamlessly, and it was kind of hit or miss. Since the update to Android 10, this seems to have improved, and the sensor works reliably.
Price: More affordable in 2020
When the S10+ first came out, it had a starting price of $800. Now that some time has passed by, and the S20 has come out, you can find the S10+ at a much more reasonable price. You can purchase an unlocked, refurbished version of the phone for $435. This means you get a phone with most of the latest and greatest features without paying any monthly lease fees…not a bad deal.
Samsung Galaxy S10+ vs. Samsung Galaxy S20+
The Galaxy S20+ has some specification improvements over the S10+, including a slightly larger screen (6.7 inches instead of 6.4 inches) and a faster refresh rate of 120Hz. The Galaxy S20+ also has a better rear camera and the more advanced Exynos/Snapdragon 865 processor with more RAM. When you compare it side by side with the Galaxy S10+, it’s marginally better on paper. But, the Samsung Galaxy S10+ is still technologically advanced for a smartphone in 2020. The Galaxy S10+ is still one of the better smartphones on the market in 2020.
