Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2019 highlights: Galaxy S10, S10+, S10e, Galaxy Fold make grand debut

After weeks of teasers, world's leading smartphone-maker Samsung hosted a grand Galaxy Unpacked 2019 event in San Francisco on February 20, unveiling a spectacular line of Galaxy S10 series phones and a brand new and if may I call it a game changer, a fully operational bendable smartphone Galaxy Fold.

Samsung Galaxy Fold

Galaxy Fold is Samsung's new class of mobile phone that can work both as a single-hand friendly mobile 4.6-inch HD+ AMOLED-based cover display and also turn in to a full-fledged tablet with 7.3-inch QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED when unfurled.

"Galaxy Fold opens smoothly and naturally, like a book, and closes flat and compact with a satisfying click. To achieve this, Samsung engineered a sophisticated hinge with multiple interlocking gears. This system is housed in a hidden enclosure for a seamless and elegant look", the company claimed.

The demo in the event showed Galaxy Fold seamlessly without any flaws in terms of viewing content on the small cover screen and see the same interface on the wide flexible screen when opened. It also offers an industry first feature that allows users to multi-task three different apps on the same screen. It also has a big battery of 4,500mAh battery, which is more than enough for the whole day of work on the phone. With such a big screen and a cell, you are assured to have the best viewing experience while watching videos on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video.

It has six cameras, one 10MP sensor on the cover display, two (10MP + 8MP depth sensor) inside the wide-screen and three (16MP + 12MP wide-angle +12MP depth) more on the rear-side, thus ensuring consumers can work the phone's camera the same as any other mobile in the market and most importantly, they can capture remarkable images in detail.

Under-the-hood, it comes with Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 octa-core processor with Android Pie OS, 12GB RAM and 512GB storage UFS 3.0.

It will be offered in LTE and 5G support with prices starting at $1,980 in the US on April 26 and later to other global regions. It will be available in four colour options— Cosmos Black, Space Silver, Martian Green and Astro Blue.

Samsung Galaxy S10e

It is the smallest of the lot, but as good as the other S10 series models. The Galaxy S10e has an identical design language as the standard Galaxy S10 except for screen size, battery and camera.

It boasts with Infinity-O Display having a punch-hole camera in the top-left corner. It has 5.8-inch super AMOLED-based flat full HD+ screen, dual primary camera (12MP standard + 16MP wide angle), 10MP selfie camera, 6GB/8GB RAM (LPDDR4X), 128GB / 256GB storage (expandable up to 512GB) and 3,000mAh battery.

It comes with a premium screen and shell made of a good blend of glass and metal with wireless charging capability. It also comes with IP68 certification, meaning you can take it for a dip in the swimming pool and take photos underwater, but not for long, as it can survive for up to 30 minutes for close to 1.5 meters.

Another unique aspect of the Galaxy S10e is that its power button is also the home for the capacitive fingerprint sensor, a first for any Samsung phone to date. You just have to touch the power button to automatically unlock the screen.

Samsung Galaxy S10

The standard Galaxy S10 also comes with punch-hole camera design dubbed as Infinity-O display. It will have 6.1-inch Quad HD+ super AMOLED curved screen having a small hole in the top right corner for the front shooter and the rest will be covered by the working display. Like the Galaxy S9, it will have dual-edge display cascading into the right and left sides and meet at the middle of the frame. On top and the back, there will be bezels, but much slimmer than the predecessor, as the camera has moved little down.

Also, for the first time ever, Samsung will be incorporating ultra sonic 3D in-screen fingerprint sensor little above the base of the screen for easy access to the fingers/thumb for authentication. It can be noted that this is Qualcomm security technology and is more advanced than we see in Vivo or OnePlus phones in the market right now, as the former uses sound to screen all the unique ridges of finger for more accuracy and rest assured, it will be very difficult to fool the Galaxy S10 with fake 2D finger impression.

On the back, it will have a glass-and-metal blended premium shell with three horizontally aligned camera (12 MP standard + 16 MP ultra wide + 13 MP telephoto) module with laser autofocus and LED flash at the top and Samsung engraving below.

Inside, it is said to come with Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset with Android Pie OS-based One UI 6GB/8GB RAM, 128GB/256GB and 3,400mAh battery. Like previous years, Samsung is likely to offer Galaxy S10 in Exynos processor in select markets including India and Snapdragon processor in US and China, among other regions. But, the rest of the features will be same as the Snapdragon variant.

Samsung Galaxy S10+

Samsung Galaxy S10+ is said to have pretty much similar design language as the S10, but one key difference is that it has a bigger 6.4-inch Quad HD+ super AMOLED full view curved display, larger battery capacity and also a dual camera in the front. Everything will remain the same.

It will house a triple camera, one 12 MP wide-angle, 16 MP ultra-wide angle and a 12 MP telephoto sensor with laser autofocus and LED flash. It will come packed with Android Pie-based One UI,  Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset with 8GB/12GB RAM, 128GB/512GB/1TB and 4,100mAh battery.

Like previous years, Samsung is offering Galaxy S10 series in Exynos 9820 processor in select markets including India, but rest of the features will be the same as the Snapdragon 855 variant.

There is also a special edition Galaxy S10+, which is said to boast premium ceramic shell on the back and come with 12GB RAM and 1TB storage. Rest of the features will be same as the original Galaxy S10+.

Another most interesting batter feature shared by all Galaxy S10 series models is the PowerShare. It offers reverse charge capability, meaning if you friend owns a phone with wireless charging capability, but is run out of power, he/she can place it on your fully charged Galaxy S10 series phone to power up the former. It can even charge a smart watch provided it has WPC Qi wireless charging certification.

All the audiophiles will be happy to note that all the three Galaxy S10 series come with 3.5mm jack, making it one of the very few in the market to such feature in a flagship phone.

All three—Galaxy S10e, S10 and S10+ will be available for pre-order this week in several global markets and go on sale on March 8 with prices starting at $749.99, $899.99 and $999.99, respectively. They come in several vivid colours— Prism White, Prism Black, Prism Green, Prism Blue, Canary Yellow and Flamingo Pink. The special Galaxy S10+ edition will come in Ceramic Black and Ceramic White.

Also, Samsung announced to bring Galaxy S10 5G variant (full specs down in the table) in the second quarter of 2019. It will be available first on Verizon first for a limited period and will be later released to Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile. There is no official word on the price of the 5G model but is reported to cost $100 more than the S10+ variant.

Besides the new Galaxy S10 series phones, Samsung pulled the wraps off the new line of fitness gears including Galaxy Watch Active, Galaxy Fit, Galaxy Fit e and also Galaxy Buds, an Apple AirPod rival.

Key specifications of Samsung Galaxy S10 series:

Key specifications of Samsung Galaxy S10+ 5G:

Key specifications of Samsung Galaxy Fold: