This year, Samsung's going to spoil us for choice with its tenth anniversary Galaxy S flagship by launching three different models. Well, maybe spoil isn't the right term, since it will pretty much be the Galaxy S10+ that one will have to choose if they want the best of everything. From screen size through battery capacity to dual front cameras, the S10+, like all previous Plus models of Galaxy S flagships, will be the most feature-packed option.
But it's probably the 6.1-inch Galaxy S10 that will sell more because of a price that sits somewhere above the entry-level Galaxy S10e but is more palatable S10+ (some might even ignore the S10+ just because of that wider screen cutout). And if that turns out to be the case, I really hope it doesn't disappoint with its battery life.
One model with a big battery, two without?
While it's great that Samsung is going to offer different variants, including one with a flat screen, adding a third model means there are now going to be two variants of the newest Galaxy S flagship that don't get a big battery. Based on certifications, we currently know that the Galaxy S10e is going to have a 3,000 mAh battery, the Galaxy S10 is going to have a 3,300 mAh battery, and the Galaxy S10+ will get a 4,000 mAh battery like the Galaxy Note 9. And it's the battery capacity of the Galaxy S10 that is a cause for concern.
It was initially expected that the 6.1-inch Galaxy S10 would have a 3,500 mAh battery like the Galaxy S8+ and Galaxy S9+. But it seems Samsung has decided to go for the same battery capacity as the Galaxy Note 8. As usual, the company will tell us the new processors inside the Galaxy S10 are more efficient, as they will be built on an 8/7nm process instead of a 10nm process like the 2018 Exynos and Snapdragon chips.
However, these efficiency improvements rarely factor into real-world battery performance unless the device is sitting idle with the screen off. I can't help but feel that Samsung is once again trying to push smaller batteries on us and will probably use having three Galaxy S10 models for consumers to choose from as the excuse.
Fingers crossed 6.1-inch Galaxy S10's battery life is respectable
And you might say that the Galaxy Note 8 did well enough with a 3,300 mAh capacity battery so the S10 might as well, and I won't dispute that. I'm not really saying the battery life on the Galaxy S10 will be poor or below respectable levels, because we can't exactly come to a conclusion before we can test the phone out for ourselves.
But I'm surely going to keep my fingers crossed that it does end up surprising us on the endurance front. Or, you know, have a bigger battery than what the leaks and certifications currently tells us so we don't have any reason to worry.
What do you think?
