Introduction:
It’s been over 5 years since the Galaxy S10 was officially launched, so I think it’s a very good time to re-review it.
An updated review on this phone can help determine if, right now in 2024, it is still a viable and usable phone.
Design:
Now we’re going to start by talking about the exterior design, which, as you can see, is quite similar to the previous model, the Galaxy S9,
With only a few small differences on the front side that make it look more modern and up-to-date with the latest models. I’ve already said this many, many times, and I will say it again: without a doubt, this is one of the most beautiful designs that Samsung has ever created for one of their phones.
In my personal opinion, it is between the S10 and the S23 in terms of just raw beauty of the phone. On top of that, it is also the perfect size because at 6.1 inches, which is funny enough the exact same size as the iPhone 15 and 14, it is super comfortable to hold with one or two hands.
It fits in your pocket, it is not too heavy, and it just feels like the right phone size to use.
This is something you should remember because I see a lot of people just go for the Ultra model because it has more features and is a better phone.
But they forget they’re not Shaquille O’Neal; you don’t have larger hands than average, so you’re not going to be able to use that Ultra phone with one hand. Trust me, from experience,
I’ll tell you that when you need to take the phone out of your pocket in the middle of the street and use it with only one hand, you’ll thank me for advising you to get the more comfortable, compact phone.
Processor:
But anyways, let’s move on. Let’s talk about the internal components. More specifically, let’s talk about the processor, which is the best processor you could get for an Android phone 5 years ago.
In this case, the Snapdragon 855, which, although has already been surpassed by the A65, 888, Gen 1, Gen 2, and Gen 3, is still a very capable processor. It is very well optimized and is going to give you a very speedy and fluid experience with day-to-day apps like TikTok or Instagram and your day-to-day phone games.
Of course, it is not going to be able to play the latest Assassin’s Creed or the latest Resident Evil like the latest iPhones can, but for absolutely everything else, all of your day-to-day apps, all of the things just average people do with their phones, it is going to give you a very pleasant experience.
This is very impressive when you take into consideration that it’s kind of old.
By the way, do you know what is also very impressive? The price of the Galaxy S10 on Amazon. It is absurd. At this point, it is priced as an entry-level phone, but it brings you a way better experience and feature set than a basic-level phone.
Processor Specifications:
- Chipset: Exynos 9820 (8 nm) – EMEA/LATAM Qualcomm SM8150 Snapdragon 855 (7 nm) – USA/China
- CPU : Octa-core (2×2.73 GHz Mongoose M4 & 2×2.31 GHz Cortex-A75 & 4×1.95 GHz Cortex-A55) – EMEA/LATAM
Octa-core (1×2.84 GHz Kryo 485 & 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 485 & 4×1.78 GHz Kryo 485) – USA/China
- GPU: Mali-G76 MP12 – EMEA/LATAM Adreno 640 – USA/China
- Performance: AnTuTu: 328366 (v7) GeekBench: 10174 (v4.4) GFXBench: 23fps (ES 3.1 onscreen)
Battery Life:
Let’s talk about the battery life, a very positive feature on this phone. As you can see in the test, it is almost as good as the Galaxy S20 and S21, which is great considering that those two are very good phones in terms of battery capacity and durability.
More specifically, it is going to give you 6 to 7 hours of use depending on the things you do with it, which I believe is more than enough for the majority of people watching this.
Unless you spend the entire day outside of the house and you spend the entire day using the phone.
BATTERY
- Type: Li-Ion 3400 mAh, non-removable, Charging 15W wired, PD2.0 ,15W wireless (Qi/PMA), 4.5W reverse wireless
Display:
But hey, let’s talk about the most impressive feature on the S10: the display. This is insane considering the age of the S10. It has a 1300 nit brightness display with a 1440p resolution, which is absolutely absurd. It is actually a higher resolution than the S23 and S24, which kind of doesn’t really make any sense.
But I guess Samsung decided that it didn’t really make sense because people couldn’t tell the difference and they were just burning a lot more battery than they should unnecessarily, so they lowered it to 1080p.
But if you really care about sharpness, technically you can get a better, sharper display with the S10 than you would get with an S24 that’s like five or six times more expensive. So yeah, it’s kind of like a little exploit. You can get a technically better phone for less money.
Well, the only real downside of the S10 is that it doesn’t have 120 Hz like the newer models, so you can’t really have that buttery smooth, fluid experience when you’re scrolling through an app. But I don’t think this is such a big deal considering the price and considering that the latest iPhone 15 doesn’t have 120 Hz either, and people don’t really care.
People don’t even notice. So yeah, if you’re a normal user, I wouldn’t worry about this because most likely you’re not going to notice anyways.
Display Specification:
- Type: Dynamic AMOLED, HDR10+
- Size: 6.1 inches, 93.2 cm2 (~88.3% screen-to-body ratio)
- Resolution: 1440 x 3040 pixels, 19:9 ratio (~550 ppi density)
- Protection: Corning Gorilla Glass 6
- Features: Always-on display
Camera:
But anyways, it’s time to talk about the most important component on the Galaxy S10, which is the camera.
Now with the main sensor on the S10, and it is very impressive in a lot of ways. It looks very similar to the latest phone, the S24. It has a lot of detail, there’s a lot of dynamic range, and the colors are great.
The only main difference between this camera and the camera on the latest models is that it has a slightly smaller sensor. But besides that, I mean, it’s crazy identical in all those other aspects.
More specifically, we get three cameras on the back of the S10. We get a main sensor with 12 megapixels.And we get a zoom camera with 2x telephoto and also 12 megapixels. Then we get a 16 MP ultra-wide camera.
I have to say, my friends, in my humble opinion, especially the main camera, is incredibly impressive. The colors, the dynamic range, the detail. I mean, sure, we’ve evolved from the S10 to the S24, but I think it’s mainly based on the size of the sensor. But in every other aspect, it’s, I mean, I don’t want to say it’s the same, but it is very close to the same.
So if you were worried about the S10 not having good enough quality, it’s good. It’s pretty good.
I mean, and that also applies to the selfie camera, which, as you can see, is the one that I’m using right now, and that is also very good. Surprisingly good for a tiny sensor. Usually, that’s what we get on selfie cameras. It has a ton of dynamic range, maybe not as much detail as the main sensor, but we get pretty good colors. It also works very well. It adapts to lighting in a very fast and smooth manner.
So yeah, I mean, very solid set of cameras on the S10. If you were worried, don’t be. They are very good, especially considering the price.
Camera Specification:
MAIN CAMERA
- Triple: 12 MP, f/1.5-2.4, 26mm (wide), 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS 12 MP, f/2.4, 52mm (telephoto), 1/3.6″, 1.0µm, AF, OIS, 2x optical zoom 16 MP, f/2.2, 12mm (ultrawide), 1/3.1″, 1.0µm, Super Steady video
- Features: LED flash, auto-HDR, panorama
- Video: 4K@60fps (no EIS), 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+, stereo sound rec., gyro-EIS & OIS
SELFIE CAMERA
- Single: 10 MP, f/1.9, 26mm (wide), 1/3″, 1.22µm, dual pixel PDAF
- Features: Dual video call, Auto-HDR Video 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30fps
conclusion:
So, conclusion: is the Galaxy S10 worth it in 2024? Well, yes, it is very worth it. I mean, it is a very, very cheap phone and it offers better features than similarly priced mid to low-end phones. So yes, it is a very good phone. And you can buy it if you like it.
So that’s for today. See you in the next blog..