Samsung Galaxy S10 and S10+ Release Dates Set for February Unpacked
The displays will stun.
The next generation of Samsung’s flagship smartphones will arrive in February. The Korean tech company took the opportunity to tap into CES 2019 excitement and revealed Thursday that their next Unpacked event — expected to bring forth the Galaxy S10 and S10+ — will be held on February 20, 2 p.m. Eastern at a special event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.
This handset duo will succeed the S9 and S9+ announced in March 2018, and these successors have both been rumored to be near bezel-less and support high-speed 5G connectivity. The more exciting question, though, is whether the event could also see the launch of Samsung’s much-hyped Galaxy F foldable phone or, failing that, at least some provide updates about the handset-tablet hybrid.
The company published a short teaser video of the event that seemed to show off two smartphones side-by-side with no side bezels whatsoever. That strongly suggests the S10 and S10+ will be the main attraction, casting some doubt on whether we’ll see a Galaxy F launch by February. But the event should still introduce some potentially game-changing phone display innovation.
The notch is so 2018.
Samsung has militantly avoided using the top notch in its handsets ever since Apple popularized the design choice. This year the S10 duo is expected to roll out its new alternative to the notch, something called a pinhole cut out.
Instead of housing its front-front facing cameras in a bezel or notch, Samsung will likely opt for poking a small hole near the top of the screen to accommodate the sensors. This would slightly improve the handsets’ screen-to-body ratio and bring it closer to going totally bezel-less.
Established smartphone leaker Ben Geskin predicts the two handsets will be priced somewhere between $650 and $750. He also believes the S10+ will come with a 6.44-inch OLED screen, six cameras in total, a headphone jack, and an in-display fingerprint sensor.
But we could also hear some updates about Samsung's upcoming Galaxy F foldable phone.
This would be in drastic contrast to the potential debut of the Galaxy F, which will have a 7.3-inch tablet display that can be folded into a 4.58-inch smartphone screen. This device, which would be more revolutionary but could cost as much as $1,900 to $2,500.
Because it’s such a noteworthy launch — foldable phones are emerging as the next big phase in mobile — it’s likely Samsung will host a standalone event of its own, probably in March. That said, we could see hints of the foldable phone as Samsung provides the rest of the details about the the S10 and S10+’s improvements.
The company is setting itself up to stun with its futuristic display designs right off the bat in 2019.
