Samsung Galaxy S10

[red-beard]

So, for the first time ever, I signed up to have the phone delivered on "opening day".

The deal, I did the standard S10 with 128MB of storage, direct from Samsung, setup for T-Mobile. Samsung took my old S8 in trade and gave me the S10 with the new Samsung Buds. Net cost was around $650.

General

Compared to the S8, the phone is about 2mm wider and 2mm longer, and maybe 1/2mm thinner. The S10 screen is brighter and even more vivid than the S8. The "edge" is less curved on the S10 than S8, making the grip a bit easier. Screen is almost edge to edge and has a "hole" in the upper right corner for the camera. This is only noticeable if you are using a light background. Buttons are in the same place and it is still using the USB-C, and retains the headphone jack. It has 2-way wireless charging (seems like a gimmick).

The good:

CPU is noticeably faster. I do not detect any lag. The "minimum" storage is 128GB and you can add a 512GB micro-sd card. The triple camera looks funky, but the camera app switches seamlessly between them for the best zoom. Setup was simple with side-synch and the included connector. You do have to re-input the mail settings to get them to work. And I like the new UI. it is not so different from the previous UI. It is not 5G, but it does have access to the 600 band, which is not heavily used, making connections faster if the local tower has 600.

Facial recognition is MUCH BETTER than iris scanning. It opens the phone easily.

Samsung included a plastic screen protector. While not great, it does help and is so thin it seems integrated into the phone.

The bad:

The finger print sensor is now on the front. An icon shows up for where you should press. I setup facial recognition, so I rarely use the fingerprint system. The fingerprint seems slow. There are videos showing the speed on the on-switch S10E vs. the ultrasonic. Personally, I became very used to the rear fingerprint sensor and naturally held the phone with my finger on there. I think Samsung would have better off putting the sensor on the button for every phone.

The price: $899 for a phone seems crazy!

Otherwise, it seems very similar. Is it worth upgrading? It is pretty pricey. My wife is on the fence. She is fine with her S8. She may opt for the 10E. There are definitely some internal upgrades coming for the Note 10 (different RAM and some other faster, lower power things). And of course, 5G. 5G is an option, but it is not out yet, and it is a 4th version of the phone.

Bonus round: Samsung buds.

Good: They work. They are more compact than the air pods. No "stick" dropping out of your ear, so a little less noticeable (although maybe you are supposed to notice the air pods and how cool they are!). They also fit very snuggly, making ambient noise less and allowing lower sound levels. The case has a 2-way wireless charger, wireless charging the buds, but also being able to be wirelessly charged. It also has a USB-C charging port. Sound is excellent. Samsung also gave a wired headset which works great. Honestly, I prefer my large, Bluetooth, noise canceling headphones.

Bad: While cheaper than air pods, they are still $169. I would have preferred an option of a $169 discount than being given the buds. Also, while more compact than the pods, they are still a fair size. Until the batteries are better, we're stuck with these kind of things.

[sammyg2]

$900? that's crazy talk mister.

I bought a new phone today too, a Samsung Galaxy J3 Achieve.
My old S4 was screwing up so i bought the cheapest phone they offered,
shocking I know. under $200.

Hey we all can't be Mr. Moneybags .....

[Racerbvd]

How does it compare to the Note 9?

[LakeCleElum]

RB - Thanks for the review, great info.

I use a County S8 for work weekends and like it better than my Iphone..........If anyone wants to sell my their S8 for more than they would get trade it, I'm looking for a Verizon model.......

[Vipergrün]

I got the S10 on release day, upgrade from an S7. I was initially hesitant with the removal of the home button/fingerprint scanner. The ultrasonic fingerprint scanner was finicky at first, but I blame part of that on me. Otherwise, very fast and snappy with minimal learning curve. Would not want a larger phone because I tend to keep it in my front pocket. Camera(s) are cool and produce good pics. Battery life, so far, is very good...

[VincentVega]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

$900? that's crazy talk mister.

I bought a new phone today too, a Samsung Galaxy J3 Achieve.
My old S4 was screwing up so i bought the cheapest phone they offered,
shocking I know. under $200.

Hey we all can't be Mr. Moneybags .....

Funny, I have a j3 too. I call it the old man phone, I think it was $140 a few years ago.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by VincentVega

Funny, I have a j3 too. I call it the old man phone,

LOL

[stuartj]

Ive been keen on HTC phones, but a few months back, after a shocking run of niggling fails with HTC, the carrier gave up swapped me to Samsung S8.

Have to say the finger print on the back of S8 drives me nuts, other wise this thing has been faultless.

I elected to go for the older S8 rather the later s9 or wait for the 10 because I wanted the 2.5mm audio connector. PITA that all the mfrs are dropping this.

[red-beard]

Stuart, both the S9 and the S10 have the 2.5mm audio connector.

[stuartj]

Originally Posted by red-beard

Stuart, both the S9 and the S10 have the 2.5mm audio connector.

Oh! I must have been confusing with HTC, who said they were retaining it, then dropped it. Thx for that information.

[red-beard]

I don't know how long Samsung will retain it, but it is still there. I honestly like using the wired system. And even though I received a set of the wireless buds, as I noted above, the phone came with a very nice set of the wired earphones.

[stuartj]

Yes, I have so many things I use via the 2.5mm connector - I see some mfrs now have an adaptor USB>2.5mm. Plus I reckon expensive wireless buds after a season of say, bike riding, will be in the bin like most wired sets.

[Jims5543]

I was tempted to get 2 S10's Verizon was offering 2 for 1 2 days ago when I was in there activating a wifi hotspot for my GPS Tablet.

I declined, coincidentally, I was swapping a line off of t-mobile to Verizon and decided on a S9 for now, I do not need the latest greatest I just need it to work.

I carry 2 phones on me, a Tmobile S8 and now this Verizon S9 as well as the hotspot. I like to be covered while in the field , one of the 3 will work..... I hope.

FYI this is the wifi. It cannot be seen by anyone else therefore no hacking in.

I purchased mine used refurbs.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JWGN9TK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[WPOZZZ]

Originally Posted by Vipergrün

I got the S10 on release day, upgrade from an S7. I was initially hesitant with the removal of the home button/fingerprint scanner. The ultrasonic fingerprint scanner was finicky at first, but I blame part of that on me. Otherwise, very fast and snappy with minimal learning curve. Would not want a larger phone because I tend to keep it in my front pocket. Camera(s) are cool and produce good pics. Battery life, so far, is very good...

How is it compared to the S7? I need to upgrade from my S7 edge, but it still works fine, albeit a little slow at times, and I have the pink line on it.

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by WPOZZZ

How is it compared to the S7? I need to upgrade from my S7 edge, but it still works fine, albeit a little slow at times, and I have the pink line on it.

My S7 had a pink line in it too. LOL!! I was told that means it is days away from complete screen failure. Which confused me because had been like that for a year.

[tabs]

J3 here for around 75...it does what I want it to.

So you guys are rich that can blow 100s

[Neilk]

I here the face recognition on the S10 is great.

[red-beard]

https://bgr.com/2019/03/18/iphone-vs-samsung-xs-max-galaxy-s10-plus-speed-test/amp/

Based on the results, it looks like Apple used better storage with a faster interface. But the large amount of RAM in the S10 allows more to be kept in memory, speeding things up over time.

The expectations are Samsung will use highspeed storage on the Note 10.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Neilk

I hear the face recognition on the S10 is great.

It does work very well. I setup both the fingerprint and the face. I just "use" my phone. I don't have to "do" anything to open it up.

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by tabs

J3 here for around 75...it does what I want it to.

So you guys are rich that can blow 100s

I look at it as just another tool that makes my job easier.