Galaxy S10 enters mass production as release date nears, 'detachable' screen protector in tow
Korean media is spilling the beans on the Galaxy S10 today like never before, stating that the trio of handsets we are expecting to be announced at the February 20 Unpacked event, has already entered mass production at full throttle. Samsung better start cracking, indeed, as the same local sources have pegged March 8 as the global release date for the handsets, just two weeks after its announcement.
Galaxy S10 5G release date
The Galaxy S10 5G, however, which will be the largest and most powerful handset in the 2019 S-series, hasn't entered mass production yet, the officials claim. It's the only one out of the S10 portfolio that will be produced in the home turf factory of Gumi, while the S10E, S10 and S10+ are being produced mostly abroad, in Samsung's sprawling Vietnam plants.
The S10 5G is scheduled for a later release, though, on March 29th, so there is plenty of time for Samsung to put it into production. The Gumi plant is also said to produce Samsung's first foldable phone, so that one and the S10 5G model could be released at one and the same time, more than a month after their announcement on February 20th.
Samsung foldable phone pricing
Unfortunately, while the locally-made Galaxy S10 5G and foldable Flex phone (or whatever it gets names) will undoubtedly be the most glorious handsets Samsung has ever released, they won't be cheap. The S10 5G is said to hit the $1500 tag in the 12GB RAM/ 1TB storage version, while the flexible flagship is going to push north of that, to the tune of 2 million Korean won, tips the publication. That is about $1789, and we doubt that the phone will be much cheaper when it arrives stateside.
Galaxy S10 specs
As to the added value that the S10 trio will bring to the Samsung fan's table, the Korean media report said it will be the superior camera set in-display fingerprint scanner, both of which will be unlike anything we've seen so far. The second-gen Qualcomm ultrasonic reader is above and beyond anything currently available, as the existing in-display scanners, even ultrasonic ones, create a two-dimensional scan. The Galaxy S10 and S10+ readers will apparently get into the 3D fingerprinting business, making unlocking your phone faster and easier compared to the current fairly clumsy implementations. The cheaper S10E, on the other hand, will make do with an optical one.
Galaxy S10 official 'detachable' screen protector
Most of this information we already knew and just get it reiterated from another source, but there is a brand new piece of info in today's report that claims Samsung will supply a "detachable" screen protector in the Galaxy S10 box. That would be an unprecedented move but is not hard to imagine, given all the reports how the in-screen finger scanner might have trouble working with third-party screen protectors.
Samsung's official protector for the S10 will reportedly cover the side edges fully, too, and the "detachable" part might simply mean that it could come preinstalled, as a lot of Chinese phone brands do. The most affordable member of the trio - the flat screen S10E - is said to come with an optical fingerprint reader, so it might not have sensitivity issues through a screen protector, and it's not clear if an official one will be included with it. As one supply chain official puts it, the added value of the new Galaxy S10 trio will be a three-pronged approach:
All three S10 smartphones will house a fingerprint sensor beneath the screen allowing users to identify themselves in a more convenient manner than before. The triple-lens camera, the on-screen fingerprint identification and even the pre-installed screen protector will be able to best cater to the needs of consumers.
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