At an "Unpacked" event in San Francisco, California, Samsung today unveiled its 2019 device lineup, with a range of smartphones that will be competing with Apple's 2018 and 2019 devices.
Samsung's biggest announcement was the impressive Galaxy Fold, that can transform from a 4.6-inch smartphone to a 7.3-inch tablet for $1,980, but Samsung also had a whole line of other smartphones, including the Galaxy S10 and S10+.
Both devices use an "Infinity-O" display with smaller camera cutouts. The 6.1-inch Galaxy S10 has a super small hole punch cutout at the top of the display for the 10-megapixel camera, while the 6.4-inch Galaxy S10+, which has two cameras (8 and 10 megapixels) and an RGB depth sensor for adjusting depth of field, has a slightly larger oval-shaped cutout.
The display maxes out at 1,200 nits of brightness, which beats the iPhone, and it offers 60 million colors at 100 percent accuracy. It supports HDR10+ and cuts down on blue light by 44 percent for more comfortable viewing.
Underneath the display of the S10 and S10+ is an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner for biometric security. Samsung says that because it uses ultrasonic technology, it works well in bright light and in wet conditions. Samsung is using "vault-like security" for more protection.
The new smartphones come in different glass finishes, and there's also a premium ceramic option in black or white.
There's a triple-rear camera system in the S10 smartphones, with a 12-megapixel wide-angle lens, a 12-megapixel telephoto lens, and a 16-megapixel ultra-wide 120 degree lens for wider-angle landscape shots. It's able to record video in HDR10+ and features advanced stabilization.
The Galaxy S10 features a 3,400mAh battery, while the S10+ has a 4,100mAh battery. The S10 has 128 and 512GB storage options, as does the S10+, but the S10+ also has a premium tier 1TB storage option.
Samsung's new devices feature a Wireless PowerShare option that lets a Samsung smartphone wirelessly charge another device such as a second Samsung phone or Samsung's upcoming earbuds.
A battery with the power to share power. #GalaxyS10 #SamsungEvent
Learn more: https://t.co/KdYo6bVPFk pic.twitter.com/WXUpzsE90o — Samsung Mobile (@SamsungMobile) February 20, 2019
Pricing on the S10 starts at $900, while the S10+ starts at $1,000.
Along with the Galaxy S10 and S10+, Samsung is introducing two other smartphones that are lower and higher-end. The Galaxy S10e, a lower-cost device that sounds like an iPhone XR competitor, features a 5.8-inch display and a $750 price tag. It features just two rear cameras and a 3,100mAh battery.
On the high end, Samsung debuted the Galaxy S10 5G, a smartphone that features a 6.7-inch display, 5G connectivity, and all of the other bells and whistles of the S10 lineup. It features 256GB of storage and a 10-megapixel front-facing camera with a 3D depth sensor, and instead of three rear cameras, it has four: a telephoto, a wide-angle, an ultra wide-angle, and a 3D Depth camera.
Samsung will accept pre-orders for the Galaxy S10e, S10, and S10+ starting on February 21, with the smartphones set to launch on March 8. The higher-end Galaxy S10 5G will launch in the second quarter of 2019, with pricing not yet announced.
