APRIL 2019 PCWorld 31the bottom edge. The same chrome
accent also lines the triple-camera
array, which has been rotated to give
your chosen color even more room
to breathe. With so much glass, the
S10+ tends to be a little slippery, but
because Samsung’s new “prism”
palette of iridescent hues is so
gorgeous, you won’t want to cover it
up. I suspect clear cases will be extra
popular this time around.
The receiver has been pushed as
high as it can go so it abuts the top
edge rather than floating in the
bezel, and as a result, it’s barely visible now.
My only complaint is the power button, which
is both shorter and higher than it is on the S9,
making it that much more difficult to reach.
The Bixby button is now in a much better
spot, and it’ll get a lot more use this time, as
Samsung is finally letting us remap it to launch
an app or perform an action. And once again,
the S10+ has a headphone jack, making it
truly among the last of a dying breed.
NO NOTCH, BUT A
HOLE IN TWO
To achieve a near 90 percent screen-to-body
ratio, Samsung had to push the front camera
down into the display in the form of a hole in
the right corner of the screen. Just like the
controversial notches in its competitors’
screens, the hole in the Infinity O display
wreaks havoc on the status bar, upsets
full-screen images, and draws your eye in the
worst way. Despite Samsung’s bold claim of
“no notches, no distractions,” the hole is even
more apparent on the S10+ because
Samsung needed room for two front cameras.
This is why all of the stock wallpapers
Samsung created for the S10+ have a clever
bit of black in the corner to cover up the hole.
It’s the same trickery Apple uses to cover up
the notch on the iPhone XS, and it speaks to
the inherent compromises of so-called
all-screen phones.
I prefer a notch to the uncentered hole
because I dislike the indented status bar, but
neither of the solutions are very elegant.
(Although some of the wallpapers available
(go.pcworld.com/wall) are pretty darn
creative.) Maybe the future is in slide-out
cameras or the complete elimination of the
selfie cam like Chinese companies Xiaomi andThe selfie cam on the Galaxy S10+ is an eyesore when it isn’t
obscured by darkness.