Samsung Galaxy S10: all the latest news about the Unpacked event

Just as it did with the Galaxy S10, Samsung is making a 5G version of the Galaxy Note 10. And just like the Galaxy S10 5G, the Galaxy Note 10 Plus 5G will start off as a Verizon exclusive in the United States. (It’ll be available internationally, as well.) A 256GB model will cost $1,299.99 (or $54.16 per month over 24 months) and the 512GB Note 10 Plus 5G will run $1,399.99 ($58.33 / month). As with the standard Note 10 and Note 10 Plus, the 5G-compatible version will be available starting August 23rd and goes up for preorder starting at 12:01AM ET on August 8th.

The Note 10 Plus 5G will come in the same three colors as the other Note 10s: white, black, and “aura” — the super reflective and colorful one.

Samsung’s Galaxy S10 lineup is now available, and you can now place an order for one online or at your local retailer. If you want to read what we think of them before buying, we have a full review of the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, and a first look with the new S10E. What’s the S10E, you ask? Like Apple did with its more affordable iPhone XR, Samsung is trying to tempt those who might be reluctant to upgrade to do so with a cheaper Galaxy S10 phone.

If you preordered the S10 or S10 Plus, you’ll have until April 4th to redeem a $130 gift card. You can do so through the Shop Samsung app, and once you receive the e-gift card, you can use it toward a purchase until it expires on September 1st, 2019. Samsung has confirmed that it can be applied to any item on Samsung’s online store.

Samsung is one of the first major smartphone makers to include a cryptocurrency wallet in its latest flagship Galaxy S10 phones. The wallet lets users store bitcoin, Ethereum, and a beauty-related cryptocurrency called Cosmo Coin. It’s a cold storage wallet, meaning it’s not connected to the internet.

The Galaxy S10 phones also support select decentralized apps (“Dapps”). Currently, Samsung’s main Dapp that’s available is called Cosmee, and it lets users earn Cosmo tokens in exchange for leaving beauty reviews in the app. Cosmochain, the South Korean blockchain startup behind Cosmee, describes its app to The Verge as a blockchain-powered beauty review app — the blockchain is supposed to be a useful way to record all the reviews reliably.

Samsung says that its newest Galaxy Watch will be able to measure blood pressure, which could be a big deal for doctors and consumers alike — but it’s still unclear how useful the feature will actually be.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is linked to increased risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and other conditions. Unfortunately, not only do many people have high blood pressure without knowing it, accurately measuring blood pressure is tricky because it changes so much at different times of day and in response to different emotional and physical events. “If more people wearing watches are more aware of their blood pressure in general, that would be great,” says Ann Marie Navar, a cardiologist at Duke University. An easy way to continuously monitor blood pressure would help patients check their stats between doctor’s visits. It could also allow researchers to better study the relationship between blood pressure and health.

Yesterday, responsible tech journalists across the web did an important job: they warned readers that it might be a little bit premature to spend $1,980 on a completely unproven, entirely new category of phone-computer.

That’s justified. Nobody gets it right on the first try. And there are already keen hints, if you know where to look, that Samsung’s Galaxy Fold may not have gotten it right.

Samsung’s Gear VR is one of the most popular virtual reality headsets, but recently, its future has seemed uncertain. Samsung didn’t mention the mobile headset during this week’s Unpacked event, and it hasn’t significantly updated the hardware since 2017. Despite this, the company said that all four of its new Galaxy S10 phone models will work with the Gear VR, using an adapter that ships with the headset.

The Gear VR doesn’t seem to be facing imminent extinction. In fact, it seems to be in near-stasis, which is frustrating if you’d like to see Samsung fix its many problems, but it might make the most practical sense.

Samsung has introduced its new lineup of Galaxy S10 phones with all the razzle-dazzle that can be expected from a major manufacturer. If you’re already the owner of a Galaxy S8, S8 Plus, S9, or S9 Plus, it’s time to sit down, take a breath, and think hard — is it time to trade in your old phone for a new one?

When you’re considering upgrading, there are always a variety of factors to look at. Are the design and display of the new phone demonstrably better than your current model? Will your photos look better? How is your battery life now compared to what you’ll get? Are there new features that you really don’t want to do without?

Samsung has made a tradition of releasing two flagship Galaxy S smartphones simultaneously each year, but in 2019, we’re getting three: the Galaxy S10, S10 Plus, and S10E. (If you count the S10 5G that’s coming out in a few months, it’s actually four.)

How are consumers supposed to make sense of the new lineup and find the option best for them? The most important thing to know is that these phones are all very similar when it comes to the fundamentals. Buying the $750 Galaxy S10E doesn’t mean you’re sacrificing any of the crucial improvements and hardware upgrades. But there are perks to going all out and dropping $1,000 on the S10 Plus.

Wi-Fi is about to get faster. That’s great news: faster internet is constantly in demand, especially as we consume more bandwidth-demanding apps, games, and videos with our laptops and phones.

But the next generation of Wi-Fi, known as Wi-Fi 6, isn’t just a simple speed boost. Its impact will be more nuanced, and we’re likely to see its benefits more and more over time.

The foldable Galaxy Fold phone-tablet hybrid is Samsung’s Google Glass: an exciting technical showcase that is hitting the market far too soon and risks souring everyone on the entire nascent category.

Pardon me for being such a strident skeptic, but I’ve seen this pattern too many times before. It happened with the first iteration of 3D cameras on phones (RIP HTC EVO 3D), it happened with modular phones (RIP Project Ara), and it happened with Android Wear smartwatches (which are trudging on as unloved, purposeless zombies). The failed hype cycle has a common basic structure: take an application of technology that has universal, self-explanatory appeal, build a few prototypes, get to a stage where the product doesn’t look hideous, and then dump it on a market of eager consumers. Then the inevitable letdown comes, everyone starts discovering the faults and pain points, and what was once a super exciting category of sci-fi tech becomes a wearying parade of inadequacy.

Two years ago, Samsung’s virtual reality ambitions were big enough to produce a bizarre, award-winning commercial featuring an ostrich who learns to fly, thanks to a Gear VR headset and the music of Elton John. But 2017 was also the last year that Samsung produced a new Gear VR device, much less a TV spot. Just like in 2018, today’s Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event featured a whole bunch of new phones — but not a single mention of VR.

But Samsung hasn’t stopped supporting the tech quite yet. The new lineup of Galaxy S10 phones is still compatible with an existing Gear VR headset, a Samsung spokesperson tells me. “Yes, the latest model Gear VR will work. Gear VR comes with an adapter that will work with S10,” he wrote. Road to VR reports that all four Galaxy S10 variants will be compatible.

Along with the new $899 Samsung Galaxy S10 and $999 Galaxy S10 Plus, Samsung is introducing a slightly more budget-friendly phone: the Galaxy S10E. While not the most surprising thing ever, following the release of Apple’s popular iPhone XR in late 2018, it’s encouraging that Samsung isn’t entirely pushing high-end smartphones out of reach.

Both the Galaxy S10E and iPhone XR start at $749, which is probably no coincidence on Samsung’s part. (That’s actually a higher starting price than the $720 Galaxy S9 last year, which had a higher-res curved screen.) But whether you’re focused on the design, or the specs inside, both of these phones have most of the selling points of their more expensive counterparts. Of course, there are plenty of compromises made to achieve a lower price in both cases, but they might not matter to you — even as a phone enthusiast.

The Galaxy Fold was the most exciting announcement at Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event by a long shot. While the new S10 and its variants look like top-tier phones, it was the Fold that captured everyone’s imagination. As Samsung CEO DJ Koh proudly declared at the event, the Fold “sets this industry on a new path.” And apparently, it’s a path that — unlike the rest of the phones Samsung announced today — doesn’t include a 3.5mm headphone jack.

It’s a sour note on what otherwise looks like a really interesting product. And if the Galaxy Fold is the future of Samsung’s smartphones, then it might be time for users to start saying goodbye to the beloved headphone jack.

Samsung’s very fancy foldable phone, the Galaxy Fold, will be available on two carriers when it launches in the US in a couple months: AT&T and T-Mobile. As for everyone else? Samsung hasn’t said, but for now, it sounds like the initial model of the Fold won’t launch on Verizon and Sprint.

It’s not clear if that means the Fold outright won’t work on those two carriers, but that may be the case. Verizon and Sprint rely on a different mobile technology for their 3G networks, and it’s possible the Fold just doesn’t include support. Sometimes, unsupported phones can still access LTE on Verizon and Sprint, but it isn’t guaranteed.

Where the Samsung Galaxy S9 phones last year felt mostly iterative, the latest S10 devices are some of the company’s biggest changes yet, with the company’s modus operandi being to win over customers that didn’t shell out for an upgrade last year.

The latest S10 flagship phones are packing a punch — they have more RAM, larger storage options, newer Snapdragon processors, better screen resolution, and Wi-Fi 6 support. That means that for almost the same weight and dimensions, these phones should be faster and better for streaming Netflix in HD while on the go. There are three rear cameras rather than two and the S10 Plus has dual selfie cameras as well — along with a built-in Instagram mode.

Samsung made an exclusive Fortnite skin for people who buy the new Galaxy S10, S10E, or S10 Plus phone. It’s K-pop-themed, and it’s modeled after Jung Chan-woo, a member of South Korean boy band iKon.

You may not have heard of iKon, but just know it’s a seven-member band from YG Entertainment, which also brought bands like Big Bang and 2NE1 to fame. Like their predecessors, iKon mostly performs hip-hop, from catchy ballads to more straight-up rap. Chan-woo is known as the group’s youngest member, or the maknae, who’s usually unofficially responsible for bringing more cuteness to a group.

Samsung will allow buyers of its new Galaxy S10 smartphones to use the Bixby key to open whatever app they want. The Verge has confirmed that with the S10, the company has added settings that allow you to customize the button beyond what has been allowed previously. You can assign the Bixby button to open a third-party app with either a single or double press of the button.

Whichever option you don’t assign to a different app will continue to open the Bixby feed. So for example, if you choose to open Instagram, Google, Spotify or some other app with a single press, a double press will trigger Bixby. Holding down the button still opens Bixby voice no matter what.

After announcing it last summer, Samsung is nearing the release of its Bixby Home smart speaker. The device, meant to compete with the Amazon Echo, Google Home, Apple HomePod, and Sonos speakers, will launch by April. That’s according to co-CEO DJ Koh, who spoke to CNET today.

The Galaxy Home uses Samsung’s own Bixby virtual assistant to respond to a user’s voice commands. Its sound performance is tuned by the company’s AKG division. Samsung first revealed the Galaxy Home during its Note 9 event back in August, but has stayed relatively quiet on launch details ever since. The Home can act as a hub for SmartThings and control any smart home gadgets compatible with that platform by voice.

Samsung’s voice assistant Bixby now knows British English, German, Italian, and Spanish from Spain. That’s over double the number of languages it supported before — only three — American English, Korean, and Mandarin Chinese.

Samsung has long said it’s working on upgrading Bixby for the better and its announcement today at the Unpacked event means a lot more people will be able to use Bixby, if they want to. Interestingly, today’s announcement doesn’t include French, another romance language commonly learned alongside Italian and Spanish. The European languages were previously in beta. Users in Europe are also going to see Bixby become compatible with more third-party services.

Today Samsung announced several new Galaxy S10 flagship phones, but there’s one out of the three that stands out. The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus with 1TB of upgraded storage is their most expensive Galaxy S phone to date, at $1,600. If you’re on a 30-month contract plan, like what’s available from AT&T or US Cellular, that’s $53.34 per month, on top of your service plan, making the 1TB S10 Plus one of the most expensive smartphones you can buy from a US carrier.

Except, of course, Samsung’s $1,980 foldable phone, the Galaxy Fold, if carriers sell it too. Or if Samsung’s 5G-equipped Galaxy S10 5G winds up costing even more.

Samsung officially announced multiple wearables today, including its newest smartwatch, the Galaxy Active, which it says is designed to make “pursuing wellness goals more convenient, more stylish, and more fun.” The watch monitors blood pressure, in addition to heart rate, which is the biggest functional change for the company’s watch. It also underwent an aesthetic overhaul. It has an aluminum body with a new strap material, as well as a new watch face interface.

The watch has 4GB of storage and also supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and mobile payments via NFC. It can track more than 39 activities, monitor sleep, count steps, and has GPS built in. The company also says its new S10 phone line will charge the watch wirelessly. Of course, the watch also includes Samsung’s smart assistant Bixby to make calls or send messages. Additional specs include:

Samsung is partnering with Instagram to add a new “Instagram mode” directly to the native camera app on the newly announced Galaxy S10. “We’ve worked together to rethink the experience of Instagram on the S10,” said Instagram’s head of product Adam Mosseri onstage at the Galaxy Unpacked event.

The new Instagram mode is built right into Samsung’s stock camera app, and is selectable just like you would choose the panorama or pro shooting modes. Instagram mode lets users shoot and upload directly to their Instagram stories, complete with stickers, Instagram’s editing tools, text, hashtags, and more, for what Samsung is calling the “best Instagram experience on a smartphone.”

Samsung CEO DJ Koh has announced that the company has sold over 2 billion Galaxy phones since it started selling them back in 2010, marking one of the first times that the company has ever put a number on sales for the line. The news came at Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event, where it announced the new Galaxy Fold and Galaxy S10 devices.

Now, Samsung didn’t say what phones it was including in that count — certainly, the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note lines are included, but Samsung does also sell numerous other Galaxy phones in different markets like the Galaxy A, Galaxy C, Galaxy J, and other variants over the years that may count toward that total, too. But no matter how you slice it, it’s certainly an impressive milestone for the company.

Samsung is bumping the storage up to 1TB in its new Galaxy S10 Plus. It’s the first handset to use Samsung’s new 1TB eUFS (embedded Universal Flash Storage) solution, and it’s the same physical size as last year’s 512GB version. While Samsung marketed the Galaxy Note 9 as “1 terabyte ready,” it needed an additional 512GB microSD card to reach that storage capacity. Samsung’s Galaxy S10 Plus comes with up to 1TB of storage on board, putting it ahead of the storage of most modern laptops.

Samsung’s latest chips are designed for the very purpose of laptop-like tasks. Samsung first unveiled its 1TB chips earlier this year, promising a “more notebook-like user experience [for] the next generation of mobile devices.” Samsung’s DeX docking station already converts its phones into a PC experience, and it’s the closest thing we have to transforming phones into PCs now that Microsoft has given up on its Windows Phone ambitions.

They might not be the flashiest features, but Samsung’s new Galaxy S10 line has a subtler pair of upgrades that could meaningfully improve the experience of using them day in and out. All three new phones, the S10, S10 Plus, and S10E, include support for Wi-Fi 6 as well as 2 gigabit LTE speeds, up from 1.2 gigabits last year. The upgrades offer the potential for faster internet speeds, whether you’re connected to a cell network or just your home router.

Now, there are some big caveats here. For one, you’re never actually going to hit 2 Gbps on your wireless network — that figure is the phone’s theoretical maximum speed. But the higher figure reflects various speed-boosting improvements, which ought to translate to at least some real-world speed gains on networks that are equipped to take advantage of them.