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100 days with Samsung Galaxy S10+: no unpleasant surprises

androidpit samsung galaxy s10 plus 100 days hero
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We got our hands on the Galaxy S10+ at the end of February just after the Unpacked event and, as often happens, time flies and three months have already passed since its arrival on the market. It is therefore time to reflect once again on the potential of this smartphone and tell you about our impressions in the medium to long term.

When Samsung is mentioned in this period, all we can do is think about the delay of the Galaxy Fold, but in reality the folding smartphone project is an only marginal aspect of the smartphone sector of the South Korean company. In fact, even today the company's business is based on sales of its flagship devices and the new Galaxy S10 line is no exception.

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More and more positive than negative sides

After three months with the Galaxy S10+, the positive column is still considerably longer than the negative column. What makes me a happy owner of this smartphone are Samsung's greatest strengths, namely the design, hardware and, finally, great software. How can we forget one of the best features of this device: a display so bright, clear and defined that it certainly deserves a round of applause.

The hardware experience still works without any problem today and confirms once again the fact that Samsung has fully managed to avoid any kind of slowdown due to a poorly optimized software. In the past, I've never missed an opportunity to criticize the company's devices because of their slowdowns over time, but that's absolutely not the case when it comes to the Galaxy S10+. One of the merits is certainly to be attributed to the efficiency of the new SoC Exynos 9820 and 8GB of RAM to support.

androidpit samsung galaxy s10 plus 100 days display
The display is still the strong point of this smartphone today. / © NextPit

Benchmark: Galaxy S10+ against all

  Galaxy S10+ Huawei P30 Pro OnePlus 7 Pro
3D Mark Sling Shot Extreme ES 3.1 4371 3990 5374
3D Mark Sling Shot Vulkan 4276 3995 4758
3D Mark Sling Shot ES 3.0 4503 3220 6958
3D Mark Ice Storm Unlimited ES 2.0 56128 35981 65808
Geekbench 4 - single/multi 4175/10031 3283/9750 3419/10773
PassMark Memory 19777 30190 31375

Remaining on the hardware theme, you will surely be wondering how the battery will behave after all this time: well, I can say that the performance from this point of view has not changed at all and I still manage to complete my day with an abundant 30% residual charge after spending at least 4 hours and 30 minutes in front of the screen between WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, Facebook, web browsing, e-mail and streaming music.

The camera continues to amaze

Despite the fact that a few days after the launch of Galaxy S10+, Huawei has shown a clear evolution of the photographic sector dedicated to smartphones with its P30 Pro, Samsung's camera is absolutely not to be criticized and satisfies the majority of users, especially since there has been a marked improvement over previous generations. The main sensor tends to be the same, but it's obvious that the manufacturer has worked a lot from a software point of view.

Samsung Galaxy S10 06
Galaxy S10+'s triple camera ranks among the best in the industry. / © NextPit

In fact, although the potential of the Galaxy S10+ camera was already good from the beginning, the software updates received in recent months have confirmed the intention to improve from this point of view. The night mode dedicated and activated manually is an example: its absence, strongly criticized by users (and in the front line by me), had no justification, but it seems that in the end Samsung has realized the error and has returned to its steps, integrating this feature in the April update and improving it later in May.

Of course, it is still legitimate to recognize the defeat of the Galaxy S10+ in the face of the potential of Pixel 3 XL and Huawei P30 Pro, which is why it is necessary for Samsung to go a little 'more' in the development of the next generation Galaxy S.

Samsung Galaxy S10 08
The 2x telephoto lens is not at the level of the competition, but the other two sensors offer great results. / © NextPit

Apart from that, the shots are always sharp, bright and rich in color, although I have to say that the Samsung software sometimes acts a little too aggressively and tends to overlight the images. However, the overall look of each photo is extremely pleasant and you hardly ever need to make any changes before sharing them on social media.

Anyone who knows me will know that lately, I was able to try the zoom experience offered by OPPO and its Reno 10x Zoom, which is why the 2x telephoto lens from Samsung did not seem at all appropriate to the rest of the hardware. In short, after seeing the potential of the periscope from Huawei and OPPO, I immediately thought that the telephoto lens of Galaxy S10+ does nothing but take up useless space.

Constant updates and new features

As for the software, the One UI on Android 9 Pie basis on board the Galaxy S10+ is undoubtedly the best Samsung software to date and proves to be a significant step forward compared to the proposals of other brands. It's also true that even today there are some features and options that require some "training" to make them work properly, but if we were to talk about real problems, then I can safely say that I have never encountered them.

androidpit samsung galaxy s10 plus 100 days fingerprint scanner problems
The fingerprint sensor is the Achilles' heel of this smartphone. / © NextPit

One of the aspects of the Galaxy S10+ that remains consistently weak in terms of experience is the ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. Despite various updates (via OTA and not), this sensor is not absolutely as fast as the optical ones we are used to. The biggest problem is the time it takes to recognize the impression, which is uncertain in most cases and has forced me to use 2D facial recognition.

androidpit samsung galaxy s10 plus 100 days fingerprint scanner
Samsung has not been able to improve its speed through various software updates. / © NextPit

First impressions strengthened

In conclusion, after three months, my opinion on the Galaxy S10+ has not changed since the first impressions of March, on the contrary, it has simply strengthened my approval. The few and relatively small defects of this smartphone are nothing compared to the excellent features and functionality that it can offer. Moreover, thanks to its traditional price drop months after its official launch, the Galaxy S10+ is definitely the ideal candidate to buy if you are looking for a top of the range.

The current best Samsung phones to buy

  Editor's choice S23 with a bigger display 2023 flagship 2023 foldable flagship 2022 fodlable flagship 2023 compact foldable 2022 compact foldable Affordable flagship The popular mid-ranger
Product
Image Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Product Image Samsung Galaxy S23+ Product Image Samsung Galaxy S23 Product Image Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Product Image Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 Product Image Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Product Image Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 Product Image Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Product Image Samsung Galaxy A54 Product Image
Review
Review: Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Review: Samsung Galaxy S23+
Review: Samsung Galaxy S23
Review: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
Review: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4
Review: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5
Review: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4
Not yet tested
Hands-on: Samsung Galaxy S23 FE
Review: Samsung Galaxy A54
Price
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Offer*
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  • Emmanuel Godwin 3
    Emmanuel Godwin Jun 16, 2019 Link to comment

    Samsung being making great device since 19AD


  • David Martrano 29
    David Martrano Jun 16, 2019 Link to comment

    My s10+ remains simply a pleasure to use. It's definitely the swiss army knife of all phones with all the premium features. The display, cameras & battery are excellent. Honestly it doesn't get much better. Yes, it's pricey but for myself it's definitely worth it, hands down.