Samsung has launched the Galaxy S10 series in San Francisco, and the most premium variant - the Samsung Galaxy S10+ sports a large display, a total of five cameras, and an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. The device was launched at the Galaxy Unpacked 2019 event alongside the vanilla Samsung Galaxy S10, the small Samsung Galaxy S10e, and the Samsung Galaxy Fold. There's also a Samsung Galaxy S10 5G variant that will arrive sometime later this year. Samsung Galaxy S10+ is up for pre-booking in the US, with shipping expected to begin from March 8. The new series marks as Samsung's ten-year anniversary since the launch of the 'Galaxy S' series.
Samsung Galaxy S10+ will compete with Apple's iPhone XS Max in the premium flagship segment, and we pit the two against each other to see which one fares better on paper.
Samsung Galaxy S10+ vs iPhone XS Max price
The Samsung Galaxy S10+ price starts from $999.99 (roughly Rs. 71,000), and will be available in Prism Black, Prism Blue, Prism Green, and Prism White colour variants, as well as Ceramic Black and Ceramic White. Shipping in the US is said to begin from March 8 with pre-orders already underway. Its India pricing and availability hasn't been revealed yet.
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In the US, the iPhone XS Max has a starting price of $1,099 (roughly Rs. 79,000) for the 64GB variant, $1,249 (roughly Rs. 89,800) for the 256GB variant, and $1,449 (1,04,200) for the 512GB variant. In India, buyers will have to shell Rs. 1,09,900, Rs. 1,24,900, and Rs. 1,44,900 for the 64GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage options of the iPhone XS Max. The phone comes in Gold, Space Grey, and Silver colour options.
Samsung Galaxy S10+ vs iPhone XS Max specifications
Coming to the hardware and software, the Samsung Galaxy S10+ runs Android 9.0 Pie with One UI on top. However, the Apple iPhone XS Max runs iOS 12, more precisely iOS 12.1.4.
The Samsung Galaxy S10+ features a 6.4-inch QHD+ Curved Dynamic AMOLED Infinity-O Display, with 19:9 aspect ratio and a pixel density of 438ppi. The iPhone XS Max, on the other hand, gets a large 6.5-inch OLED Super Retina panel with a 1242x2688 pixel resolution, and a traditional display notch.
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Apple has powered its latest offerings with latest 7nm A12 Bionic SoC paired with 4GB RAM, while the Samsung Galaxy S10+ is powered by the 7nm octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC (2.8GHz+2.4GHz+1.7GHz) in some regions, and the 8nm octa-core Samsung Exynos 9820 SoC (2.7GHz+2.3GHz+1.9GHz) in other regions such as India. It features 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM.
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There is a triple rear camera setup on the Samsung Galaxy S10+, and the setup consists of a 12-megapixel 77-degree lens wide-angle camera coupled with 2PD autofocus, a variable aperture ranging from f/1.5 to f/2.4, and OIS; a 12-megapixel 45-degree lens telephoto (0.5x and 2x optical zoom) camera with autofocus, an f/2.4 aperture, and OIS; apart from a 16-megapixel 123-degree ultra-wide lens camera with fixed focus and an f/2.2 aperture. The setup also provides up to 10x digital zoom.
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On the front, the Samsung Galaxy S10+ features a dual selfie camera with one 10-megapixel sensor coupled with 2PD autofocus, an f/1.9 aperture, and 80-degree lens. The second one is an 8-megapixel fixed focus RGB depth sensor featuring an f/2.2 aperture and a 90-degree lens.
The iPhone XS Max, in comparison, have a 12-megapixel wide-angle sensor (f/1.8 aperture) and another 12-megapixel telephoto secondary sensor (f/2.4). The rear camera gets a 6-element lens and 2x optical zoom. There is also an improved TrueTone quad-LED flash at the back. On the front, the iPhone XS Max gets a 7-megapixel RGB camera sensor with f/2.2 aperture.
The Galaxy S10+ comes in three inbuilt storage variants - 128GB, 512GB, and 1TB - all three of which are expandable via microSD card (up to 512GB). Inbuilt storage options include 64GB, 256GB, and 512GB for the iPhone XS Max. There is no microSD card slot support on the Apple device.
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The Samsung Galaxy S10+ packs a 4,100mAh battery and supports Fast Wireless Charging 2.0, Wireless PowerShare, and fast wired charging. Apple hasn't revealed the battery capacity of the iPhone XS. However, there is wireless charging support based on the Qi standard.
Connectivity options on the Samsung Galaxy S10+ include 4G VoLTE (LTE Cat. 20), Wi-Fi 802.11ax, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS/ A-GPS, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a USB Type-C port. The iPhone XS Max has 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS/ A-GPS, NFC (for Apple Pay), and a Lightning connector.
Dimensions of the Samsung Galaxy S10+ are set at 157.60x74.10x7.80mm along with 175 grams of weight. The iPhone XS Max, on the other hand, measures 157.50x77.40x7.70mm and weighs 208 grams.
Samsung Galaxy S10+ vs Apple iPhone XS Max comparison
 |  | |
| Ratings | ||
| Overall NDTV Rating | - | |
| Design Rating | - | |
| Display Rating | - | |
| Software Rating | - | |
| Performance Rating | - | |
| Battery Life Rating | - | |
| Camera Rating | - | |
| Value for Money Rating | - | |
| GENERAL | ||
| Release date | February 2019 | September 2018 |
| Dimensions (mm) | 157.60 x 74.10 x 7.80 | 157.50 x 77.40 x 7.70 |
| Weight (g) | 175.00 | 208.00 |
| Battery capacity (mAh) | 4100 | - |
| Removable battery | No | No |
| Fast charging | Proprietary | - |
| Wireless charging | Yes | Yes |
| Colours | Ceramic Black, Ceramic White, Prism Black, Prism Blue, Prism Green, Prism White, | Space Grey, Silver, Gold |
| IP rating | - | IP68 |
| DISPLAY | ||
| Screen size (inches) | 6.40 | 6.50 |
| Aspect ratio | 19:9 | - |
| Resolution | - | 1242x2688 pixels |
| Protection type | - | Other |
| Pixels per inch (PPI) | - | 458 |
| HARDWARE | ||
| Processor | 1.9GHz octa-core | hexa-core |
| Processor make | Samsung Exynos 9820 | Apple A12 Bionic |
| RAM | 8GB | - |
| Internal storage | 128GB | 64GB |
| Expandable storage | Yes | No |
| Expandable storage type | microSD | - |
| Expandable storage up to (GB) | 512 | - |
| CAMERA | ||
| Rear camera | 12-megapixel (f/1.5) + 12-megapixel (f/2.4) + 16-megapixel (f/2.2) | 12-megapixel (f/1.8, 1.4-micron) + 12-megapixel (f/2.4) |
| Rear autofocus | Phase detection autofocus | Yes |
| Front camera | 10-megapixel (f/1.9) + 8-megapixel (f/2.2) | 7-megapixel (f/2.2) |
| Front autofocus | Yes | - |
| Rear flash | - | Yes |
| SOFTWARE | ||
| Operating system | Android 9.0 | iOS 12 |
| Skin | One UI | - |
| CONNECTIVITY | ||
| Wi-Fi standards supported | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac |
| Bluetooth | Yes, v 5.00 | Yes, v 5.00 |
| NFC | Yes | Yes |
| USB Type-C | Yes | - |
| Number of SIMs | 2 | 2 |
| Active 4G on both SIM cards | Yes | Yes |
| Lightning | - | Yes |
| SIM 1 | ||
| SIM Type | Nano-SIM | Nano-SIM |
| 4G/ LTE | Yes | Yes |
| SIM 2 | ||
| SIM Type | Nano-SIM | eSIM |
| 4G/ LTE | Yes | Yes |
| SENSORS | ||
| Face unlock | Yes | Yes |
| Fingerprint sensor | Yes | No |
| Compass/ Magnetometer | Yes | Yes |
| Proximity sensor | Yes | Yes |
| Accelerometer | Yes | Yes |
| Ambient light sensor | Yes | Yes |
| Gyroscope | Yes | Yes |
| Barometer | Yes | Yes |
| 3D face recognition | - | Yes |
