After releasing just one flagship iPhone model each year since the original iPhone debuted in 2007, Apple switched things up in 2014 when it launched the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Then, three years later in 2017, Apple make a big change to its release schedule once again. The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus debuted as successors to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, but Apple also released a third new iPhone model, the tenth-anniversary iPhone X. In 2018, Apple stuck with three new iPhone models and this time, they were all similar. The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max hit store shelves as the company’s top-tier iPhones, and then a third model called the iPhone XR was introduced as an entry-level model since Apple’s other two iPhones were so expensive.
It might have taken Apple 11 years before it decided to launch a new iPhone series that consist of an entry-level model and two higher-priced flagships, but it didn’t even take Samsung one year to decide it would use the exact same strategy. Yet another coincidence in a veeeeeeery long line of coincidences, we’re sure. Whether or not Samsung was inspired by Apple’s 2018 iPhone lineup, it will indeed debut three different Galaxy S10 models in two weeks during its first Unpacked press conference of 2019. And now, a new leak gives us a much closer look at the model that go head to head with Apple’s iPhone XR.
Apple and Samsung both had the same the big problems impact flagship smartphone sales in late 2018. The first is difficulties in China, the second is the fact that both companies released new flagship smartphones in 2018 that were incredibly boring, and the third is that both companies released new flagship smartphones in 2018 that were incredibly expensive. Prices at the top of their smartphone lineups maxed out at nearly $1,500, and consumers simply weren’t receptive to the increases. The issue hit Samsung hardest, perhaps in part because Apple also released the slightly less expensive iPhone XR alongside its pricier iPhone XS and XS Max models.
In 2019, Samsung will do the exact same thing. The Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ will be Samsung’s top-of-the-line handsets, while a third “Galaxy S10e” will launch alongside them at a more affordable price point. It’ll still be expensive, but it’s expected to be priced in line with flagship phones from a few years ago, before prices skyrocketed to $1,000 and beyond.
We first saw photos of Samsung’s upcoming new Galaxy S10e leak earlier this week, showing the company’s response to the iPhone XR in the real world as opposed to just renders. Now, however, additional images have leaked and they get up close and personal with the entry-level version of Samsung’s next-generation Galaxy handset. The photos were posted on Weibo, and they show everything from the new flat display — the Galaxy S10 and S10+ will have Samsung’s signature design with edges that curve down toward the back of the phone — to the hole-punch screen with a single selfie camera in the top-right corner.
Here are all five of the newly leaked images:
