3:02 am | January 21, 2019

Author: admin | Category: Cameras | Comments: None

We’re closing in on the Samsung Galaxy S10 release date, with the official Unpacked launch event happening next month in San Francisco, where we’ll be reporting on it live.

You don’t have to wait until the Samsung Galaxy S10 launch date of February 20, however. New Galaxy S10 leaks have potentially given us an early look at what we suspect Samsung’s smartphone for 2019 might look like. 

The Samsung Galaxy S10 is shaping up to be a more significant upgrade compared to last year’s relatively incremental spec bump from the Galaxy S8 to the Galaxy S9. It’s enough of a tempt all of those holdouts who are waiting for the next big thing in order to upgrade their Samsung phone. 

It’s rumored to have a fresh-looking all-screen display with less bezel at the top. Not only that, it may have ‘hole punch’ front-facing camera embedded in the screen’s top right corner.

We may also see Samsung adopt an in-screen fingerprint sensor and be the first to launch a phone with the Snapdragon 855 chipset (in the US variant, at least).

• We’re also expecting to see the bigger Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus

Of course, you may have a few more choices this time around. The Samsung Galaxy S10 is likely to be joined by the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus and maybe even the Galaxy S10 Lite or S10 E, a ‘lite’ version of the new smartphone meant to take on the iPhone XR.

Seems like a lot all at once? We’re a month out there will be even more leaks to pour over. After all, the Galaxy S10 is Samsung’s 10th anniversary Android phone. It has been teasing a few surprises for us in February. Here’s what we know to date.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? Samsung’s next Galaxy S flagship
• What will it cost? It’s sure to be very expensive
• When is it out? February 20 launch event, shipping soon after

Samsung Galaxy S10 release date

Hottest news:

• The Samsung Galaxy S10 launch event is February 20
• Could hit stores on March 8

The Samsung Galaxy S10 launch date is confirmed as Wednesday, February 20, meaning we’ll see the smartphone days before MWC 2019, which takes place from February 25-28.

Samsung itself has revealed the date, along with the time and location: the Galaxy S10 will be unveiled at 11am PT (2pm ET, 7pm GMT) at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.

We’ve heard that date rumored before, so it doesn’t come as a complete surprise, though some other rumors put forward different dates. 

Of course, that’s just when the S10 will be announced – it might not go on sale for another week or two. The only rumor there points to a March 8 sale date in South Korea, and we’d expect to see it in other countries on or around the same day.

That’s for the three main models (the S10, S10 Lite and S10 Plus). However the source adds that the 5G S10 – which might be called the Galaxy S10 X – will land in stores on March 29.

Whenever the S10 range lands, it’s likely to be sold by EE in the UK, as the network already lets you register for updates on it. That said, we’d expect just about all networks to offer one or more models of the S10.

Samsung Galaxy S10 price

Hottest leaks:

• Samsung Galaxy S10 price expected to rise to $779 / £799

When the S10 does go on sale it’s sure to cost a lot, at least for the higher-end models, the most basic version might be fairly reasonable (if still expensive) though. 

One price rumor puts the budget Galaxy S10 Lite model at $650-$750 (roughly £500-£585 / AU$900-AU$1,040), while another rumor has the Samsung Galaxy S10 price rise to £799 which will likely be around $779 (around AU$1,400) for the 128GB variant and £999 for 512GB of storage.

Elsewhere, we’ve heard that the cheapest model (presumably the Galaxy S10 Lite) will cost between around 800,000 won (roughly $710, £550, AU$990) and 900,000 won (around $800, £620, AU$1,110).

The same source claims that the top-end 5G model will cost between 1.6 million won (around $1,430, £1,110, AU$1,980) and 1.8 million won (roughly $1,600, £1,250, AU$2,230), making it around twice as expensive.

Samsung Galaxy S10 vs S10 Plus vs S10 Lite

• Samsung Galaxy S10 – the standard Samsung flagship
• Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus – a bigger screen and potentially better cameras
• Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite – a less powerful, smaller, cheaper model

The Samsung Galaxy S10 is unlikely to arrive alone, with a trio of handsets tipped to launch at the firm’s next Unpacked event.

While we’ve become used to seeing a pair of Samsung flagships launch together each year as far back as the Galaxy S6 in 2015, this time around all the Galaxy S10 leaks are pointing towards three or more phones.

There’s the standard Samsung Galaxy S10 that’s detailed here, along with the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus and a new entry in the Galaxy S10 Lite – a smaller, low resolution and likely lesser powered handsets at a hopefully more affordable price point. A recent rumor suggests that the S10 Lite could actually land as the Galaxy S10 E, though not everyone agrees.

But wait – we could even get a fourth Galaxy S10 handsets, as rumors of a big-screened, 5G variant have also begun to crop up. And, of course, Samsung teasing is almost certainly going to be teasing its foldable phone at the S10 launch event.

• This Samsung 5G prototype phone has a notch… in the corner

Samsung Galaxy S10 design and display

Hottest leaks:

• Three different screen sizes
• A camera cut-out in the screen
• A 19:9 aspect ratio and 1440 x 3040 resolution

The first alleged Samsung Galaxy photo arrived as we rang in 2019, and it shows a more expansive all-screen display, one that displaces the top bezel in favor of a tiny front-facing camera embedded into the top right side of the screen.

This is Samsung’s answer to the notch cut out, and you can expect the company to come up with a clever name for this black hole that disrupts its Infinity Display.

Evan Blass also leaked the image you can see below, showing three Galaxy S10 phones – the S10E, the S10 and the S10 Plus – inside clear cases. You can see a dual-lens rear camera on the cheaper S10E, and a triple-lens rear camera on the S10 and S10 Plus phones.

It also looks like the S10 Plus has a dual-lens front-facing camera – note the wider pinhole cut out in the display – and it looks like all three phones will have fingerprint sensors built into the screen.

We’ve also now seen a render from Samsung itself that possibly shows the phone. You can see this below and note the curved screen, tiny bezels and pinhole camera.

This was posted in an article on Samsung Newsroom, then quickly replaced with a more generic picture, suggesting it was an accident.

These leaks match previous case renders which include parts of the phone. You can see them below and will note that there’s a cut-out in the top left corner of the screen for a single-lens camera, while on the back there are three cameras. That back looks to be glass and the frame is likely metal.

You can also see it alongside the Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite (which sports a similar design) and the S10 Plus, which adds extra cameras.

We’ve also had a closer look at the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, thanks to some leaked renders which you can see below.

The renders, which come from a fairly reliable source (@OnLeaks) show a handset with an angular Galaxy Note-like design, but more importantly it has a camera cutout in the screen.

This is a new idea for Samsung and it’s a bigger cut-out than you might have expected, as it’s housing two cameras. However, the bezels around the screen are tiny at least.

The back of the Galaxy S10 Plus shown here has a quad-lens camera arranged horizontally and is shown in both black and ‘Ice Blue’. Note that originally renders showing a triple-lens camera and larger bezels were leaked, but these were apparently inaccurate.

Other details in the images include a 3.5mm headphone port and it looks like the phone has a glass back and a metal frame. Dimensions meanwhile are apparently 157.5 x 75.0 x 7.8mm, rising to 9mm at the camera bump.

We may also have now seen photos of the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, which you can see below. Two leaked images both show a handset with two rear cameras, but the color of the camera block and possibly the size of the lenses differs.

That might mean only one of these shots is accurate, or we could be looking at the standard Samsung Galaxy S10 in one and the Galaxy S10 Plus in the other.

In any case, cameras aside the back is likely to be similar on both handsets and indeed it looks similar in these shots, with slightly curved edges and a likely glass build.

Another image (also below) shows the possible front of the S10 Plus, complete with a corner notch.

We’d take all of this with a pinch of salt and as this is probably the Plus model it might not be entirely representative of the standard S10, but they’re likely to look similar, and according to Samsung’s own mobile business chief, DJ Koh, the Samsung Galaxy S10 will have some “very significant” design changes and come in some “amazing” colors.

One leak from OnLeaks suggests those colors may be Black, Grey, Blue, Red, Green and Yellow, while in announcing some software Samsung may have hinted that the phone will come in silver, green, black, blue and pink shades and will have a 3.5mm headphone port.

Another source meanwhile says the standard S10 and S10 Plus will come in white, black, green and blue, while the Galaxy S10 Lite will additionally come in yellow. We’ve heard that claim more than once now, along with a suggestion that it might have a glossy finish.

Recently we’ve seen pictures shared by Evan Blass that show the pinhole notch in the center of the screen. You can see the three sizes of display on show for the S10 Lite, the S10, and the S10 Plus too. At this stage it seems no one is really sure where the screen notch is going to be.

Meanwhile, a benchmark for a mystery Samsung phone which could be the S10 points to a 19:9 aspect ratio, which would make it taller than the 18.5:9 Galaxy S9 – benchmarks for the Galaxy S10 Lite and Galaxy S10 Plus have also surfaced suggesting the 19:9 aspect ratio.

Along with that the benchmark suggests a resolution of 1440 x 3040, which would be a slight boost, and there’s every chance that to achieve those things Samsung would slim the bezels, fitting a larger, sharper screen into the same size body.

One thing the Galaxy S10 might not have though, is a notch, because, as noted by T3, Samsung has taken to Twitter to criticize the notch on the Google Pixel 3 XL, so presumably it won’t be going down that route for its next flagship. Having said that, the company has now revealed several new screens, some of which do have notches.

And a source claims that the most basic S10 model will have a flat ‘Infinity-O’ display, which is one of these new screens and has a circular cut-out towards the left edge of the display, rather than a conventional notch. This would be a bit like the hole pictured in the renders above.

We’ve heard similar from another reliable source, saying that at least one model (though in this case it sounds like a higher-end one) will have a “punch hole” style selfie camera cut-out.

The image below gives another idea of how that might look. This is from a patent filed by Samsung, though it doesn’t have the Galaxy S10 name attached.

A pinhole camera of some kind is looking very likely, especially now that Samsung has announced the Galaxy A8S with just such a camera. Though if you’re put off by the size of the camera on that phone, don’t be – another leak suggests the S10’s will be smaller.

It’s possible – if very unlikely – that Samsung will go further though and launch a phone with no bezels, notch or pinhole camera.

Indeed, a leaked screen protector apparently for the Samsung Galaxy S10 shows a design with virtually no bezels, no notch and seemingly no camera cut-out. You can see that below.

Since then, the same source has shared another image showing either the same screen protector or a very similar one, as you can see below.

Once again, there’s no obvious camera cut-out, no notch and basically no bezels.

We’ve also seen a photo, possibly showing a prototype of the Samsung Galaxy S10 (though notably the source didn’t refer to it by name but did say “this may be a design beyond”, and ‘Beyond’ is believed to be the codename of the Galaxy S10).

The image, which you can see below, shows a handset with a curved screen and almost no bezel on any edge. There seems to be less bezel in fact than we’ve seen on any other phone, suggesting the front-facing camera may either pop up or be built into the screen.

You can’t see much else, but in addition to the power and volume buttons it looks like the Bixby button is making a return – if this photo really is showing the S10 and if nothing changes in the design before launch, which are two big ifs, especially as reputable leaker @OnLeaks has poured cold water on the image, claiming it’s fake.

When it comes to the screen though it’s worth noting that there’s sure to be more than one size. In fact, this time around there might be three or even four.

One of these, apparently codenamed ‘Beyond 0’, is said to have a 5.8-inch screen which might be flat. That would be the most basic model, but there’s also said to be ‘Beyond 1’, which apparently has a 5.8-inch curved screen, and ‘Beyond 2’, with a 6.2-inch curved screen.

There’s also said to be differences in the three models’ fingerprint scanners and cameras, which we’ll get to in the relevant sections below.

All of that has been given more credence thanks to people familiar with the matter speaking to Bloomberg. Those sources also confirmed the company is experimenting with a prototype that loses the 3.5mm headphone jack.

However, another source has slightly disagreed on the screen sizes, saying that while the basic ‘Lite’ model will have a 5.8-inch one, the standard S10 will be 6.1 inches and the S10 Plus will be 6.4.

Those sizes have been touted again, with Ice Universe claiming the Samsung Galaxy S10 display will measure 6.11 inches (while the S10 Lite will be 5.75 inches and the S10 Plus will be 6.44 inches).

We’ve additionally heard talk of a possible fourth Galaxy S10 model, which according to reports could have a 6.7-inch screen, along with six cameras total (with the extra rear lens being a Time of Flight one used for judging distances), and support for 5G. One report adds that this model might only land in the US and South Korea.

We’ve heard more about this handset too, with the exact screen size for the Galaxy S10 5G variant said to be a whopping 6.66 inches.

Will Samsung Galaxy S10 be a foldable phone?

One thing you shouldn’t expect is a foldable phone. Not from the flagship Samsung Galaxy S10, at least. 

The Infinity Flex Display concept Samsung showed off on November 7, 2018 made it clear: the company’s foldable phone design is very much that: a concept.

Samsung could launch a foldable variant to the Galaxy S10, however, and the long-rumored Samsung Galaxy X is rumored to launch in 2019. 

Whether it changes its name to bring in more in line with the Galaxy S10 brand remains to be seen, but this is the closest we’ve ever been to a folding phone.

A foldable display is clearly the next big idea for Samsung, but it’s starting from scratch with thick bezels, according to the steeped-in-shadow prototype we saw at the Samsung Developers Conference.

• Samsung Galaxy X: everything we know about the long-rumored folding phone

Samsung Galaxy S10 biometric security

Hottest leaks:

• An in-screen fingerprint scanner
• An improved 3D face scanner

One rumor we have seen pop up numerous times is the presence of an in-screen fingerprint scanner.

This would go nicely with the all-screen design that’s being tipped for the phone, and would see the Galaxy S10 follow in the footsteps of the likes of the OnePlus 6T and Huawei Mate 20 Pro.

A report claims that it will use an ultrasonic Qualcomm scanner, and that Samsung has felt pressured to include it due to Vivo and Huawei both having phones with in-screen scanners.

Reliable leaker Evan Blass has also spoken of an ultrasonic scanner, and multiple separate sources who spoke to The Bell have said as much too, adding that Samsung will also look to ditch the iris scanning tech in the Galaxy S10 in favor of an improved 3D face scanner – much like the one found on the iPhone X.

We’ve heard a similar thing from South Korean media, but it suggests that we’ll only see an in-display fingerprint scanner as the main way of unlocking the Samsung Galaxy S10. Either way, it’s likely the iris scanner will be dropped.

An earlier rumor also talks about an in-screen scanner, stating that while an in-screen scanner wouldn’t be ready in time for the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, it would be ready by sometime next year, making the Samsung Galaxy S10 a candidate for one.

And we now have an idea of why it took so long to be ready – because reportedly Samsung is using an ultrasonic scanner, rather than an optical one, as while the latter could apparently have been implemented years ago it’s said to not be as good.

More specifically, Samsung has been rumored to use a third-generation ultrasonic scanner from Qualcomm. This generation has only recently been announced and not yet used on a phone, but it could mean Samsung’s in-screen scanner is the best found on any phone.

Another recent report has added that while the two top-end Samsung Galaxy S10 models will apparently get an ultrasonic scanner, the most basic model will get an optical one. The difference essentially being that the ultrasonic one can map a 3D picture of your print, making it more accurate than the 2D optical option.

That’s at odds with another rumor though, which claims that the most basic model (the one codenamed ‘Beyond 0’), will have a side-mounted fingerprint scanner instead of an in-screen one. We’ve heard more than once now that the basic model won’t have an in-screen scanner.

The other two models (apparently codenamed ‘Beyond 1’ and ‘Beyond 2’) supposedly have in-screen scanners though.

But Samsung might go even further and also put the speakers in the screen, as just such a display has been shown off by Samsung Display, according to OLED Info.

And the earpiece could go in the screen too, as Samsung is said to be planning a ‘sound-emitting display’ for use in a phone early next year, having already shown off the tech at an industry expo.

All that combined could mean a truly bezel-free look, like the one shown in some of the images above.

Samsung Galaxy S10 camera

Hottest leaks:

• A dual, triple or quad-lens rear camera
• 12MP, 13MP and 16MP lenses
• A dual-lens front-facing camera

An analyst reckons Samsung is considering a triple-lens camera for the Samsung Galaxy S10, along with a 3D sensor for augmented reality content.

Analyst chatter isn’t always that reliable, but it would make sense if Samsung wants to compete with the Huawei P20 Pro and the rumored triple-lens iPhone.

It’s also a rumor that we’ve now heard again, with a source claiming that while the most basic model of the Galaxy S10 might have just a single-lens camera and the middle model might have a dual-lens one, the biggest (and most expensive) version of the Samsung Galaxy S10 would have a triple-lens camera.

More recently we’ve heard more details on the possible specs of the triple-lens camera, with it apparently consisting of a 12MP wide-angle lens, a 16MP super wide-angle lens and a 13MP telephoto lens.

An even newer report echoes those camera specs, but adds that the 12MP one will be an f/1.5-f/2.4 variable aperture lens , just like the camera on the Samsung Galaxy S9, while the 16MP lens will have an f/1.9 aperture and a 123-degree field of view, and the 13MP lens will have an f/2.4 aperture.

Elsewhere, leaker Evan Blass has said to expect a triple-lens camera with one wide-angle lens, one telephoto and one standard lens.

The most recent claims of all say that the S10 Lite and standard S10 will have a dual-lens camera (with a 16MP ultra-wide f/1.9 lens and a 12MP variable aperture standard lens). However, another source says that the standard Galaxy S10 will in fact be triple-lens.

Some or all of the S10 models might also have a dual-lens front-facing camera according to one report, which would give the top model five lenses overall. It’s not known what the extra front lens would be used for, but it’s likely to improve the face unlock feature if nothing else.

That’s a claim that we’ve heard again, with sources in South Korea saying that the top-end S10 model will have two front-facing cameras and three rear ones (a 12MP wide-angle lens, a 16MP super wide-angle one and a 13MP telephoto one). 

They add that the standard S10 will have two on the front and two on the back, and the basic model will have one on the front and one on the back. They also mention a 5G handset with six cameras, which we’ve heard about before, but it’s not clear whether this is an S10 model or something else.

Having said that, the renders of the Galaxy S10 Plus above show six lenses, so it might be accurate. In any case, the standard Galaxy S10 is likely to have either two or three lenses.

Samsung Galaxy S10 battery

Hottest leaks:

• Standard S10 could have a 3,500mAh battery
• S10 Lite could be 3,100mAh, S10 Plus could be 4,000mAh
• 5G Galaxy S10 could have a 5,000mAh battery

One battery rumor reveals possible sizes for the Samsung Galaxy S10, S10 Plus and S10 Lite.

In the image below you can see cases seemingly for the three phones, and along with screen sizes that have been rumored before there are numbers that look like battery sizes.

In which case, if they’re accurate, the Samsung Galaxy S10 has a 3,500mAh one, the Galaxy S10 Plus has a 4,000mAh one and the Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite has a 3,100mAh one.

These battery sizes have now been rumored more than once, so may well be accurate.

We’ve also heard from another source that the rumored 5G Samsung Galaxy S10 could have the biggest battery of all, at 5,000mAh.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 may well benefit from a boost to its wireless charging speeds, with reports linking the upcoming flagship with wireless Quick Charge 2.0.

Samsung Galaxy S10 power

Hottest leaks:

• An Exynos 9820 or Snapdragon 855 chipset
• 6GB or 8GB of RAM
• 128GB to 1TB of fast storage

We also have an idea of what might be powering the Samsung Galaxy S10, as Samsung has announced the Exynos 9820, which is likely to power the phone in most regions outside the US.

This is an octa-core chipset built on an 8nm process. That makes it smaller than the 10nm Exynos 9810 found in the Galaxy S9 and with that size reduction comes a 10% reduction in power consumption.

The Exynos 9820 also offers up to 20% better single core performance, up to 40% better power efficiency, and up to 15% better multi-core performance than the Exynos 9810.

Gamers meanwhile should see an even bigger benefit, with the GPU offering up to 40% better performance or up to 35% more power efficiency.

The Exynos 9820 also has an integrated NPU (neural processing unit), which allows AI-related tasks to happen up to seven times faster than on the 9810.

It also supports video recording at up to 8K at 30fps, displays of up to 3840 x 2400 or 4096 x 2160, single lens cameras of up to 22MP, or dual-lens ones of up to 16MP. Though don’t take that as meaning the S10 will necessarily have those specs.

As for mobile data download speeds, those can apparently reach up to 2Gbps, despite this chip seemingly not supporting 5G. Having said that, there is rumored to be a version of the Galaxy S10 that will support 5G, so that will presumably have to use a different chipset.

We’ve now seen an early benchmark seemingly for the S10 Plus powered by the Exynos 9820 and it has a high score, but not as high as we’d have hoped. It beats any current Android handset, but comes in lower than the latest iPhones and lower than a benchmark for the Snapdragon 855. 

Another benchmark has also now emerged courtesy of AnTuTu, again showing the Exynos chip beaten by the Snapdragon 855. Speaking of which…

In the US? Then you’ll likely get the recently announced Snapdragon 855. This is a 7nm chipset, which is smaller and likely both more powerful and more efficient than the Snapdragon 845 found in many of 2018’s flagships. It’s also smaller than the Exynos 9820.

Qualcomm claims it also offers up to twice the performance of another unnamed 7nm chipset, presumably meaning either Apple’s one used in the iPhone XS range or Huawei’s in the Mate 20 range.

The chipset also supports 5G and has a chip dedicated to processing photos and videos. This is called a ‘computer vision image signal processor’ and it’s a world first.

An early leaked benchmark for the chipset showed it beating any other smartphone chip for power, including the A12 Bionic in the iPhone XS and the Exynos 9820 benchmark mentioned above.

The RAM could also be a big upgrade, as Samsung has announced that it has developed an 8GB RAM chip built on a 10nm process. This, while not confirmed for the Galaxy S10, apparently has a data rate that’s 1.5 times as fast as current flagship RAM chips and can also reduce power consumption by up to 30%.

One odd report has suggested the phone may sport 12GB of RAM too, that’s a claim that we’ve now heard a second time, but it seems excessive, so we’re inclined to believe the above about an 8GB RAM chip. It’s also likely to be reserved for the S10 Plus model if it happens at all.

Even the Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite could have top specs, with a rumor pointing to the same chipset at the rest of the range. That’s backed up by a benchmark seemingly showing it with a Snapdragon 855 chip and 6GB of RAM, though the scores are disappointing. However, that could just be down to the software not yet being optimized.

Onboard storage could also be faster for the S10, as Samsung is set to start using UFS 3.0 storage in early 2019. This is supposedly two times faster than current phone storage modules and takes up less space, so there’s more room for other components.

Plus, the minimum size it comes in is 128GB, so if the S10 uses it then all models will have to have at least 128GB of storage. A couple reports even say that there could be up to 1TB of RAM in the phone, which would be far more than any other handset.

However, the most basic S10 model might have more basic specs, with one source saying it will come with either a Snapdragon 845 or 855 chipset and a choice of 4GB or 6GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of storage.

Elsewhere, we’ve heard that the standard Galaxy S10 will have 6GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of storage, while the Galaxy S10 Lite will have 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

As for the interface, it’s likely that Samsung will use its recently-announced One UI Android overlay. Indeed, exactly that has been rumored.

A rumor also talks about an AI-powered “life pattern” mode, which would automate and adjust aspects of the phone based on how you use is.

Samsung Galaxy S10 name

We’ve also heard talk that Samsung might rename the range, launching the next model as the Samsung Galaxy X rather than the Galaxy S10. 

That might sound unlikely, but Koh Dong-jin, the head of Samsung’s mobile division, has been quoted as saying that “we have been thinking about whether we need to maintain the S moniker or the numbering system” so it’s possible.

More recently, a leak suggests Samsung may revive the ‘Edge’ moniker, which may mean this handset actually launches as the Samsung Galaxy S10 Edge. 

It seems unlikely though, as the ‘Edge’ screen which the moniker denoted is now ubiquitous across Samsung’s flagship range, so it doesn’t make sense to add it to the end of the Galaxy S10 name.

Samsung Galaxy S10: what we want to see

As good as the Samsung Galaxy S9 is, it’s also rather too similar to the Samsung Galaxy S8, so we hope Samsung changes things up for the S10. Here’s what we want to see.

1. A new design

The Samsung Galaxy S9 looks almost identical to the Galaxy S8, so it’s high time we got a new design from the South Korean company.

Whether that means a notch, a new material or even a foldable phone we’ll leave to Samsung, but we want to see something new.

2. Dual or triple-lens cameras on both models

While the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus has a dual-lens camera, the standard Galaxy S9 only has a single-lens one. For the Galaxy S10 we want both models to have two lenses, or better yet, three. After all, the Huawei P20 Pro has landed with exactly that to stunning effect.

Samsung’s been delivering top smartphone cameras for a while now, but this year it has some real competition from Huawei, so for the Galaxy S10 we want to see it take steps to get ahead.

The good news is that a triple-lens camera has already been rumored, though it sounds like only the priciest model will get it.

3. An in-screen fingerprint scanner

In-screen fingerprint scanners have been rumored for various Samsung phones and the Galaxy S10 is no exception, but now that other companies have launched commercially available handsets with them we might finally see Samsung roll one out.

Having a scanner in the screen means it doesn’t need to take up space on the front or be awkwardly placed on the back, plus it looks high-tech enough to make owners of other phones jealous.

This too has been rumored for the Galaxy S10, so there’s a very real chance it will happen.

4. More vibrant photos

While the overall quality of photos taken by the Samsung Galaxy S9 is very high, some lack vibrancy and a few are also more washed out than we’d have expected or liked. This is especially true when there’s background light, so we’d like the Samsung Galaxy S10 to be able to cope with this better.

5. Improved AR Emoji

AR Emoji were one of the more hyped features of the Galaxy S9 range, but they were also one of the least impressive aspects of these phones.

There are a few reasons for this. Beyond their inherently gimmicky nature it can also be hard to create one that looks like you, and when recording a video of yourself using the emoji, the camera’s facial recognition isn’t powerful enough to do it justice.

While AR Emoji will probably never be an essential feature, if Samsung’s going to keep using them we’d like to see them at least rival Apple’s Animoji next time around.

6. Better battery life

Battery life is one thing that doesn’t improve with each new phone generation. In fact, sometimes it gets worse. In the case of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus you’re only really looking at a day of life.

And while that might generally be okay for anyone who doesn’t mind plugging their phone in every night, it’s worth remembering that the battery will start to wear out over time, so a day of life when you buy the phone means less than a day a year or two on.

As such we really want to see improvements to the battery in the Galaxy S10, whether that’s through a larger unit than the frankly small 3,000mAh one in the Galaxy S9, or just through more efficient hardware and software.

7. A totally bezel-free look

We’ve said already that we want a new design from the Galaxy S10, but what we’d really like is a complete absence of bezels. As in no notch either, just an all-screen front.

We’re not expecting this, not least because it would presumably mean building the camera and sensors into the screen, but it’s possible and would surely be less ambitious than a foldable phone, which we might also get from Samsung in 2019.

• The foldable Samsung Galaxy X could land in 2019

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