Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

Samsung just told us the Galaxy S10 won’t have 5G support

Published Aug 13th, 2018 7:45AM EDT
Galaxy S10 Release Date
Image: Zach Epstein, BGR

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

The 10th anniversary of Galaxy S smartphone is coming soon, and Samsung will celebrate it by launching a Galaxy S10 that’ll feature a bunch of new features and innovations compared to this year’s Galaxy S9.

But, sadly, while 2019 will be the year when commercial 5G networks light up around the world, the Galaxy S10 won’t support the new standard. That’s not a rumor at this point, as it comes directly from the chief of Samsung’s mobile division.

DJ Koh talked to reporters after the Galaxy Note 9 press conference last week, ZDNet reports, revealing that Samsung still wants to launch the world’s first foldable phone.

The president of Samsung’s mobile business also said that the Galaxy S10 won’t be the company’s first 5G phone and that a separate model will. It’s unclear at this time what that device will be, as he did not elaborate, but there are two potential candidates. That’s the Galaxy F foldable phone that’s supposed to arrive at some point in the first half of the year, after likely being unveiled in late 2018 or early 2019 or the Galaxy Note 10 that will debut next August or September.

Koh made it a point to say that the foldable phone is intended to become a phone series, rather than being just a “one-time thing.”

But Koh also said that the Galaxy S and Note families of devices won’t merge in the near future, as it had been previously suggested.

“For the immediate future, there won’t be a change in launching the S series in the first half and Note series in the second half of the year,” he said.

ZDNet explains that South Korean carriers are planning to launch their 5G networks in March, with Samsung working with local operators to become the first vendor to launch a 5G phone.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.