Samsung inaugurates 2019 run with a galaxy of launches

When it comes to smartphones, few brands can rival the popular appeal and overall quality of Samsung handsets. The South Korean brand has also spent the last few years readjusting itself to a changing tech landscape, dominated as it is by Chinese players. Last year, a number of big Samsung launches made it clear that Samsung was not willing to cede any ground to its competitors, and was more than prepared to put all its engineering might against them. In this very spirit, the brand has opened its score of product launches for 2019. The Galaxy Unpacked event, held earlier this week in San Francisco, saw the unveiling of a few stellar additions to the Galaxy family listed here.

Galaxy S10 series

With this new premium line, Samsung has launched not one but four smartphones, which include the Galaxy S10+, S10, S10e and S10 5G. Three of these models, S10+, S10 and S10e, come with Infinity-o displays, where maximum space is given to the display panel and even the cameras are virtually hidden. These three handsets are fitted with AMOLED 6.4 inch, 6.1inch and 5.8-inch displays respectively. The S10+ being the top-tier model of the lot, it comes with a dual punchhole camera, 10MP+8MP resolution. The other two standard models come with single punch-hole cameras of 10MP as well. The

S10 and S10+ are equipped with in-display ultrasonic fingerprint scanners, while the S10e sports the fingerprint sensor on the power button on the side that unlocks your phone.

All models come with one wide-angle camera and an ultra-wide-angle camera, 12MP and 16 MP respectively, but in the premium handsets (S10 and S10+), you will also get an additional 12MP telephoto camera which is capable of capturing more detailed snaps.

One highlight that did catch our eye was the “wireless power sharing” feature. With this, you can simply transfer power between devices (the feature works for Qi-certified devices and Galaxy wearables) by placing the device to be charged on top of your phone.

The S10 model is powered by 8GB RAM and 512GB internal storage and in the star model, the S10+, you get a whopping 12GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. The S10e has 8GB RAM and 256GB of internal memory.

The S10+, S10 and S10e are all powered by Android 9(Pie) operating system and have 4100mah, 3400mah and 3100mah battery capacity respectively.

Not much has been revealed about the S10 5G yet, but Samsung has revealed a few details. According to the official website, “Galaxy S10 5G features the largest-ever Galaxy S series display, the 6.7-inch Infinity-o Display; in prism white, prism black, prism green, prism blue, canary yellow and flamingo pink colours. In addition to these, the S10+ model is available in two ceramic finish design models—ceramic black and ceramic white.

Galaxy Fold

The one product that stole the San Francisco show was Samsung’s foldable phone, the Galaxy Fold. Undoubtedly, this breakthrough device is one of the biggest innovations of the decade in the smartphone segment. It comes with 7.3-inch Infinity Flex display which can be folded into half. In this mode, your phone becomes a compact device with a working 4.6-inch secondary display.

This phone is also great for multitasking. You can open and work on up to three apps simultaneously. The device is fitted with 12GB RAM and 512GB of internal storage, and it runs on a 4,380mah battery.

It seems like Samsung has paid extra attention to this phone›s cameras. In addition to the dual front cameras, the Galaxy Fold has three rear cameras, all laced with hi-tech optics. It also comes with one more front camera on the secondary cover screen.

You can expect this model in four colour variants— space silver, cosmos black, martian green and astro blue. Going by the American price tag, the Galaxy Fold is clearly super expensive at $1,980. It will be available in select markets from 26 April.

Galaxy wearables

Alongside the smartphones, Samsung unveiled a couple of new wearable devices at the San Francisco event. The first was the Galaxy Watch Active, which has an integrated heart-rate monitor and can read stress levels as well as issue health alerts when needed.

The second product launched in this segment was Galaxy Buds. These wireless earbuds can be charged by using Samsung›s new power sharing feature. You can place them in their case and put that on any S10 series phone, which will recharge the battery of the earbuds.

Other than these highlights, and a better, more compact design, the new earbuds are the same as the previously launched Iconx. Galaxy Buds are available in black, white and neon yellow colours.

The new Samsung wearables will hit the stores on 8 March.