Most people know me to be a little anti-Samsung. Unlike HTC, Brave Browser, Barilla, or Chick-fil-A, Samsung doesn’t have homophobic CEOs funneling money into anti-LGBTQ causes like HTC, Barilla, and Brave, and they don’t directly fund anti-LGBTQ causes like Chick-Fil-A. However, they often employ child labor, they steal ideas from other companies, sold devices they knew were fire hazards, they spend more on marketing than any other company, they’ve displayed sexism, and they’ve made employees terribly sick and harmed generations of workers. It’s not clear if Samsung has improved or if we just haven’t caught them in another conspiracy yet.
However, Samsung is a company we should all be paying attention to. This week, Samsung revealed their fastest, best looking, and most interesting Galaxy devices ever. Like Apple, who released the 10th anniversary edition of their smartphone with a bang, the iPhone X, Samsung pulled out all the stops. The Samsung Galaxy S10 lineup includes the fastest Snapdragon processors, larger batteries, more RAM, fresh designs, triple cameras, punch out displays, ceramic, and even wireless charging of other devices. There will even be a 5G one supposedly rolled out this year. They’re impressive phones on their own. On paper, they crush the iPhone XS.
But these weren’t Samsung’s only innovations. Samsung also revealed the Galaxy Fold. This is, as the name suggests, a folding phone. It’s not the first folding phone we’ve seen, but it is the first to make it to a wide global market. It’s also the best imagining of a folding smartphone that we’ve seen. It’s not unsightly or extremely awkward to use. In fact, it seems seamless. Though it’s obviously a first generation product.
Finally, smartphones are getting interesting again.
In This Article:
The Galaxy S10, S10 Plus, and S10e
Yeah, I’m getting the least surprising devices out of the way first. Listen, if you came just for the Galaxy Fold, I detail it below. However, the Galaxy S10, S10 Plus, and even the S10e are not consolation prizes. They’re good phones all on their own. In fact, they represent a larger leap forward for Samsung than the iPhone XS was over the iPhone X.
The Specs
These phones will come in a variety of configurations. The S10 has a 6.1″ display, the S10 Plus a 6.4″ display. The S10 has a single front facing camera, which is a small punchout on the screen in the upper right corner. It’s barely noticeable, definitely better than a notch. The S10 Plus also has a punchout, but for a secondary depth sensor.
Ultrawide, wide, and telephoto cameras.
The rear cameras are a standard wide angle lens with variable aperture, still exclusive to the Samsung lineup. Then there’s a telephoto lens and an ultra-wide angle lens. All but the ultra-wide angle have optical image stabilization.
The S10 lineup will feature the Snapdragon 855, Snapdragon’s latest and fastest processor. They’ll come with 8GB of memory, with the option to upgrade to an extremely high-end model that features a ceramic back and 12GB of RAM. Storage goes up to 1TB internally, with an option to add up to 512GB via a micro SD card.
The phones also come with an in-display ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. This means it doesn’t need to shine a light on your finger. It’s faster and more secure than other in-display fingerprint sensors. The S10e has a standard optical fingerprint sensor in the power button.
The S10e is Samsung’s answer to the iPhone XR. It has “only” two cameras on the back, doesn’t have the in-display fingerprint sensor, and it’s smaller than the other devices. However, this still makes it a good phone. It’s an upgrade over the S9, without quite being as big of an upgrade as the S10 and S10 Plus.
S10 5G
Samsung didn’t say much about this phone. They didn’t even let anyone use it, turn it on, or even touch it. Journalists speculated that the one on display was simply a dummy unit. Samsung promises it’ll launch in Q2 of this year (April-June), but hasn’t given many other details.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold
Details of the Samsung Galaxy S10 were all over the web. Many people already had design mockups and dummy units before Samsung revealed them on stage. It was a poorly kept secret. Perhaps that’s because Samsung was working hard to keep a better secret: the design of their folding smartphone/tablet.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold is a bit small for a tablet, but outside of “phablet” range. It features a 7.3″ screen for the tablet mode. This screen can be folded closed, like a book. There, users will find a small (with massive bezels) 4.6″ display. This is Samsung’s “cover” display. They suspect you’ll use this when using your phone with one hand or to check on notifications.
The phone will have two batteries, one in each half, six cameras in total, 12GB of RAM, and a 7-nanometer processor. It’ll be fast and usable in any orientation. Switching between “phone mode” and “tablet mode” is as seamless as you’d expect.
The Galaxy Fold is, by far, the best looking folding tablet/phone design we’ve seen. The hinge design, which folds the device into a triangular shape (it cannot fold flat) is wonderfully simple, yet elegant and beautiful.
Samsung says the screen will withstand hundreds of thousands of folds before it breaks. It could eventually show a crease though. Without testing it in the field over a few months, we can’t be sure how long Samsung’s new technology will last. This is definitely “early adopter” material. Anyone who needs to have the latest and greatest tech before anyone else will jump on this.
The Galaxy Fold will go on sale on April 26th, and will start at a whopping $1,980. Are people ready for the $2,000 smartphone?
Samsung’s Bold Leaps
As the iPhone and other smartphones get boring, many Android manufacturers have struggled to find something to make them unique. Huawei popularized three cameras before anyone else. LG, Motorola, and Essential attempted modular phones. Razer and Asus have focused on gaming. Now Samsung’s going with design and folding displays. A sort of tablet and phone all in one.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold is neither a good phone nor a good tablet. It’s a little bit of both though, and the company hopes that it can help them make the design mainstream. The next Samsung Galaxy device may have a folding display in a more manageable package and price range. Maybe it’ll even fold flat and feature a real screen on the front. This could be the first step in making folding phones mainstream.
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