Tech Advisor - UK (2020-01)

JANUARY 2020 • TECH ADVISOR 145

ability to focus quickly in extremely low light, the

pictures I snapped had far less detail than the ones

I took with the Pixel 3. In some instances, it looked

as though Samsung’s post-processing engine applied a

smoothing filter rather than even trying to suss out

finer details that were clearly visible with the Pixel 3.

I’d love to see a Pixel-style Night Mode for Samsung

phones at some point, maybe even later this year as

part of the Note 9’s feature set.

Around the front, Samsung has augmented the

standard 10Mp f/1.9 lens with a second 8Mp RGB

depth camera with a wider 90 FOV. If you take a lot of

selfies you’ll appreciate the edge detailing and depth-

of-field adjustments, but there’s nothing here that

isn’t also available on the S10’s single front camera.

I didn’t have a standard S10 to compare it to, but

the S10+ definitely outperformed the S9’s front camera

in basically every facet, as you can see opposite.

However, as it stands, the second front camera seems

like a missed opportunity. I would have rather seen an

ultra-wide second camera like on the Pixel 3 or a 3D

camera for facial recognition.

Verdict

There’s no denying that the Galaxy S10+ is the absolute

cream of the premium Android phone crop right now.

It has the fastest processor, the most RAM, the most

storage, and the best display money can buy. And it’s

all wrapped in a beautiful package that’s hard to find

much fault with.

But there are definitely places where it falls short.

The fingerprint sensor remains a point of contention,

JANUARY 2020 • TECH ADVISOR 145

abilityto focus quickly in extremely low light, the
pictures I snapped had far less detail than the ones
I tookwiththePixel3.Insomeinstances,it looked
asthoughSamsung’spost-processingengineapplieda
smoothingfilterratherthaneventryingtosussout
finerdetails that were clearly visible with the Pixel 3.
I’dlovetoseea Pixel-styleNightModeforSamsung
phonesatsomepoint,maybeevenlaterthisyearas
partoftheNote9’sfeature set.
Around the front, Samsung has augmented the
standard 10Mp f/1.9 lens with a second 8Mp RGB
depth camera with a wider 90 FOV. If you take a lot of
selfies you’ll appreciate the edge detailing and depth-
of-fieldadjustments,butthere’snothingherethat
isn’talso available on the S10’s single front camera.
I didn’t have a standard S10 to compare it to, but
the S10+ definitely outperformed the S9’s front camera
in basically every facet, as you can see opposite.
However, as it stands, the second front camera seems
like a missed opportunity. I would have rather seen an
ultra-widesecondcameralikeonthePixel3 ora 3D
camerafor facial recognition.

Verdict
There’s no denying that the Galaxy S10+ is the absolute
cream of the premium Android phone crop right now.
It has the fastest processor, the most RAM, the most
storage, and the best display money can buy. And it’s
all wrapped in a beautiful package that’s hard to find
much fault with.
But there are definitely places where it falls short.
The fingerprint sensor remains a point of contention,