APRIL 2019 PCWorld 35commands. A powerful and useful
system of shortcuts, Bixby Routines
isn’t so much about voice
commands as it is about
intelligence. For example, you can
set your S10 to conserve battery by
turning off the always-on display if
you forget to put it on the charger
at night. Or you can limit auto-
rotate to certain apps, such as
YouTube and Netflix. Samsung
provides a few routines to get
started, but the combinations are
basically endless, especially when compared
to the relatively limited options with Google
Assistant or Amazon Alexa.A GREAT CAMERA GETS
BETTER
Samsung has returned the S10 and S10+ to
photo parity after making the dual lens an S9+
exclusive last year. Both phones gain the new
triple-camera array that finally lets you capture
ultra-wide images. Here are the specs:
Camera 1: 12MP telephoto Camera,
f/2.4, OIS
Camera 2: 12MP wide-angle, dual
f/1.5-f/2.4, OIS
Camera 3: 16MP ultra wide, f/2.2
The result is a camera that can take
different photos than the S9 does, though not
necessarily better ones. That’s not so much a
criticism as it is a recognition that the Galaxy
S9+ already offers one of the bestextra few millimeters of space afforded by the
elimination of the navigation bar gives the
phone a real full-screen feel. I’d like to see
Samsung experiment with more advanced
gestures as One UI evolves, but the simple
approach absolutely works. My only question
is: Why’d we have to wait so long?
Night mode is also a standout on the
S10+. Like a light switch for the S10+,
Samsung’s Dynamic AMOLED display
generates deep blacks that accentuate text
and buttons even more than on the S9. The
curved corners of boxes and windows
perfectly reflect the S10+’s refined design,
and the barely-there bezels make phone and
the UI blend like never before. Even Bixby
Home is better, with smarter card selections
and engaging animations.
Speaking of Samsung’s digital assistant,
Bixby has learned some new tricks on the S10
in the form of if-this-then-that-style
Night mode on the S10+ is gorgeous.