The Galaxy S10 launches in less than a month, but we already know everything there is to know about the handset. Samsung’s next flagship will introduce a bunch of exciting features, including the Infinity-O display, a sophisticated in-display fingerprint sensor, upgraded multi-lens camera systems (that were reportedly created at the behest of Samsung’s heir), next-gen chips, more storage, and 5G support (at least in one version).
But the Galaxy S10 won’t be the only smartphone you should be aware of in the first half of the year. Samsung’s biggest Android rival will launch a brand new Android phone soon as well, and it’s rumored to pack a feature the Galaxy S10 won’t get.
You might think the Galaxy S10 will set the tone when it comes to new features for Android phones this year. But, in many ways, it’ll play catch up to the Mate 20 Pro that launched back in October. The Huawei flagship (not available in the USA) has a bunch of features that are not available on any other 2018 device, including a 7nm processor, triple-lens primary camera, in-display fingerprint sensor, facial recognition support, and reverse wireless charging, to name just a few.
Just as the Samsung will match some of those features with the help of the Galaxy S10 series, Huawei will launch a brand new competitor, the P30 series, which will debut either at MWC 2019 or soon after that.
A report from China (via PlayfulDroid), says all the P30 models, including the P30 flagship, will feature OLED displays complete with optical in-display fingerprint scanning technology. Samsung, meanwhile, is said to use ultrasonic sensors under the OLED screen of the Galaxy S10.
The P30 phones will reportedly incorporate triple-lens cameras on the back, but Huawei may include a periscope camera in the mix, the kind that allows Oppo to boast having achieved 10x zoom on phones. Given what we already know about the Galaxy S10 series, periscope cameras aren’t in the cards for this year’s Galaxy S flagship.
The report also notes that the Huawei P30 phones won’t have 3D facial recognition support, as is the case for the Mate 20 Pro. Instead, the phones may feature waterdrop notches, just like the regular Mate 20. This is one design decision that will favor the Galaxy S10. The Infinity-O display looks a lot better than a notch.
The P30 phones should all be powered by Huawei’s 7nm Kirin 980 processor and feature 22.5W fast charging support, the report notes. The cheaper P30 is tipped to have 8GB of RAM, while the Pro model may go up to 12GB of RAM. Samsung’s Galaxy S10 phones will ship in different versions when it comes to RAM, from 6GB all the way up to 12GB of RAM. They’ll get either 7nm Snapdragon 855 chips or 8nm Exynos 9820 processors. As for fast battery charging tech, it’s unclear whether the Galaxy S10 will come with faster wireless charging, as there’s one solid piece of evidence that says the phone will ship with 15W chargers.
These are just rumors, but, separately, Huawei did confirm at a press conference in China this week that its first foldable phone will be unveiled at MWC, featuring the newly unveiled Huawei 5G chip. The company also said that it’d have a 5G phone priced at less than €1,000 in Europe. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that a version of the P30 Pro would come with 5G support for an entry price of less than €1,000.
