As part of the Samsung Unpacked 2019 event, we were generally expecting there to be three announcements, give or take. Everyone predicted the Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+, and the Galaxy Fold was rumoured last night.
While there were early rumours of a 5G variant of the Galaxy S10, they died out fairly quickly, and rumours settled on the main three phones.
However, Samsung hasn’t, and in addition to the three well-leaked members of the Galaxy S10 range, there’s also the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G.
What’s special about the Galaxy S10 5G?
Sharing much in common with the rest of the Galaxy S10 range, there’s probably not too much extra to talk about in respect of the 5G variant. So, let’s focus on what’s different.
For starters, there’s the display – all 6.7-inches of it. There’s also a quad-rear camera setup including 3D depth camera, and a giant 4,500 mAh battery with super fast 25W charging.
This doesn’t come cheap; all this extra hardware has to go somewhere, and it ups the ante over the 175g Galaxy S10+ and reaches almost 200g (198, actually). That’s a sizable phone.
We should also talk about the 5G aspect. Compatible with both the mmWave and sub-6Ghz frequencies, the Galaxy S10 5G should work on most 5G networks when they become more widely available. Of course, you can expect cutting edge 4G performance everywhere else.
The other difference is this: Samsung hasn’t announced pricing yet, nor general availability.
Telstra’s special offer for 5G upgrades
One thing that is for certain, though, is Samsung’s partnership with Telstra to bring the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G to Australia.
For those customers keen to get in early on 5G in Australia, the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G will be offered as a free upgrade in a few months to Telstra customers who buy the Galaxy S10+ today.
When will this happen? Well, we’re not quite sure. We’re told the first half of 2019, so really we could see it any time between now and the end of June. I suspect, however, we won’t be waiting until then.
In the mean time, check out the rest of our Unpacked 2019 coverage, and think about how you’re going to save up for these expensive new toys.
I suppose the 5G network will be limited to only a few key region in the first half though, like Optus 5G fixed wireless