As often happens, however, especially for top-of-the-range devices, over the course of the weeks the South Korean company has released some software updates that have intervened on the few critical issues we had encountered during the test days. One of these is certainly autonomy.
I had in fact defined it "only in the media", so as to include it also in the "cons". Moreover, the Galaxy S10 + is equipped with a 4.100 mAh battery, so an important capacity. Despite this, however, the autonomy had not made me shout to the miracle: with my usual use (mixed between LTE and Wi-Fi, 2 mail accounts in push, hundreds of notifications from social and instant messaging app, over 2 hours of phone calls), I had reached 21 hours away from the electrical outlet with more than 4 hours of screen on (as you can see in the screens below).
A good result, the working day was always brought home, but it was reasonable to expect something more considering the battery capacity. Punctually, there has been improvement, thanks to software updates. Currently the Galaxy S10 + is based on the G975FXXU1ASCA build with security patches from March 2019. The latest update, in chronological order, was released in Italy about ten days ago, but it was not the only one this month of marketing.
In any case, with the current software version and taking as a reference the same use, the hours of screen turned on increased to about 6 , with some days in which I managed to touch even 7 hours. Merit above all of a better ability of the Galaxy S10 + to consume very little energy in standby, so as to reserve it for actual use. Not only that, I also noticed better energy management when the display is on, with a decidedly more homogeneous consumption curve.
We are not yet at the level, for example, of the autonomy guaranteed by a device such as the P30 Pro which, from this point of view and in the range of the top of the range, remains a reference point. Today, however, the Galaxy S10 + undoubtedly guarantees a more solid and convincing autonomy than it did 1 month ago with the previous builds. Therefore, an excellent optimization work done by Samsung. But that is not all.
Another aspect that had not fully convinced me in the review was the biometric sensor. This year the South Korean company chose an ultrasound solution integrated directly into the screen. In general, regardless of the Galaxy S10 +, it is a technology that I personally do not like much, as I believe it does not guarantee the same feedback offered by a physical component, beyond that it can be placed on the front or back of the smartphone.
During the first test period, the biometric sensor of the Galaxy S10 + showed fluctuating behavior. For long periods he was able to recognize the impression on the first stroke, quickly unlocking the device. From time to time, however, he was in trouble, forcing me to turn on the numeric PIN to enter the Home. A criticality that in any case did not invalidate its daily use (so much so that I had not included it in the "cons"), but was nevertheless completely eliminated with subsequent software updates.
For the rest, the judgment on the Galaxy S10 + has not changed. We are in front of one of the best smartphones of 2019 , which Samsung is still continuing to refine: the display remains a reference point, the photographic sector is of the highest level as well as the build quality and performance (the AnTuTu benchmarks have improved slightly, final score over 335,000 compared to 333,000 in previous builds). In short, a top-of-the-range top-of-the-range product which, among other things, can be purchased today at lower figures than the list price (1,029 euros).
I've been using Samsung's Galaxy S10 + for over 1 month. On March 5 we published our review , for what will certainly be one of the best smartphones of the year. As often happens, however, especially for top-of-the-range devices, over the course of the weeks the South Korean company has released some software updates that have intervened on the few critical issues we had encountered during the test days. One of these is certainly autonomy.
I had in fact defined it "only in the media", so as to include it also in the "cons". Moreover, the Galaxy S10 + is equipped with a 4.100 mAh battery, so an important capacity. Despite this, however, the autonomy had not made me shout to the miracle: with my usual use (mixed between LTE and Wi-Fi, 2 mail accounts in push, hundreds of notifications from social and instant messaging app, over 2 hours of phone calls), I had reached 21 hours away from the electrical outlet with more than 4 hours of screen on (as you can see in the screens below).
Galaxy S10 +
A good result, the working day was always brought home, but it was reasonable to expect something more considering the battery capacity. Punctually, there has been improvement, thanks to software updates. Currently the Galaxy S10 + is based on the G975FXXU1ASCA build with security patches from March 2019. The latest update, in chronological order, was released in Italy about ten days ago, but it was not the only one this month of marketing.
In any case, with the current software version and taking as a reference the same use, the hours of screen turned on increased to about 6 , with some days in which I managed to touch even 7 hours. Merit above all of a better ability of the Galaxy S10 + to consume very little energy in standby, so as to reserve it for actual use. Not only that, I also noticed better energy management when the display is on, with a decidedly more homogeneous consumption curve.
We are not yet at the level, for example, of the autonomy guaranteed by a device such as the P30 Pro which, from this point of view and in the range of the top of the range, remains a reference point. Today, however, the Galaxy S10 + undoubtedly guarantees a more solid and convincing autonomy than it did 1 month ago with the previous builds. Therefore, an excellent optimization work done by Samsung. But that is not all.
Another aspect that had not fully convinced me in the review was the biometric sensor. This year the South Korean company chose an ultrasound solution integrated directly into the screen. In general, regardless of the Galaxy S10 +, it is a technology that I personally do not like much, as I believe it does not guarantee the same feedback offered by a physical component, beyond that it can be placed on the front or back of the smartphone.
During the first test period, the biometric sensor of the Galaxy S10 + showed fluctuating behavior. For long periods he was able to recognize the impression on the first stroke, quickly unlocking the device. From time to time, however, he was in trouble, forcing me to turn on the numeric PIN to enter the Home. A criticality that in any case did not invalidate its daily use (so much so that I had not included it in the "cons"), but was nevertheless completely eliminated with subsequent software updates.
For the rest, the judgment on the Galaxy S10 + has not changed. We are in front of one of the best smartphones of 2019 , which Samsung is still continuing to refine: the display remains a reference point, the photographic sector is of the highest level as well as the build quality and performance (the AnTuTu benchmarks have improved slightly, final score over 335,000 compared to 333,000 in previous builds). In short, a top-of-the-range top-of-the-range product which, among other things, can be purchased today at lower figures than the list price (1,029 euros). Amazon, for example, proposes it already below 900 euros, you can find it at this link.
We are working in these weeks on a complete comparison between Galaxy S10 + and P30 Pro, which we will publish in the coming days. A challenge that will focus mainly on the photographic sector, which has now become the real balance in the purchase phase in the smartphone market. In any case, Samsung has done a great job in these four weeks, and the hope is that it will continue to support its top of the range even in the coming months.