New render envisages the Galaxy S10’s dual camera

It has been renders galore this week for Samsung’s upcoming flagship smartphone. The latest envisages the Galaxy S10’s dual camera. At least one variant of the Galaxy S10 is expected to come with a dual camera system at the back.

If earlier reports are any indication, this might be the entry-level Galaxy S10 model. It will be cheaper than the rest with lower specs. This model is thus believed to have a single front and dual rear camera.

Galaxy S10’s dual camera visualized in a render

The render has been posted online by prolific Twitter leaker @UniverseIce. It’s not uncommon to see renders based on CAD files surfaced a few months before launch. That’s most likely what this is.

It provides an idea of how the dual camera system might be positioned on this model. Samsung is reportedly going to opt for a horizontal placement for the camera setup on all Galaxy S10 variants. Samsung’s other two Galaxy S10 variants are expected to feature triple and quad rear cameras in the same orientation.

Don’t be alarmed by the absence of a fingerprint sensor at the back. In case you haven’t been following the news, the Galaxy S10 will feature an in-display fingerprint sensor. Qualcomm has already unveiled the relevant component this week. What this render suggests is that even the cheapest Galaxy S10 model could offer the ultrasonic display-based fingerprint sensor.

No further details are available as yet about the Galaxy S10 camera specs. However, we will likely hear more about them in the coming weeks. The rumors and leaks will only pick up the pace from here on out. Samsung is due to unveil the Galaxy S10 at the Mobile World Congress 2019 in Barcelona. The event takes place in February. It may then release the handset in the following month.

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Galaxy S10 Snapdragon variant beats Exynos variant in AnTuTu benchmark

The Snapdragon variant of the Galaxy S10 may end up offering better performance than the Exynos model, if the AnTuTu benchmark scores for both variants are anything to go by. Both models were benchmarked on AnTuTu and managed to trump the Snapdragon 845 and Kirin 980, but the Snapdragon Galaxy S10 had a noticeable lead over the Exynos variant.

The Galaxy S10s tested were not the final retail units, so there is a chance the Exynos variant will offer higher scores later on. However, that may be achieved by Samsung artificially limiting the Snapdragon Galaxy S10, as the Snapdragon 855 offers better theoretical performance gains thanks to its 7nm manufacturing process. The Snapdragon version even manages to come close to the scores achieved by the Apple A12 processor powering the latest iPhones, so it seems Qualcomm has done an excellent job with its newest flagship chipset.

Of course, for the regular customer, these benchmark scores are unlikely to matter as both the Snapdragon and Exynos chips are well equipped to handle the heaviest of tasks with ease. Android Pie will help make the regular user interface faster as well, as suggested by the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note 9 Pie beta releases, so the performance differences between the two Galaxy S10 processor variants shouldn’t ultimately be a cause for concern.

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Alpine White Galaxy Note 9 and Polaris Blue Galaxy S9+ launched in India

Samsung launched an Alpine White color variant of the Galaxy Note 9 late last month in Taiwan, where it is called “First Snow White”. The company also announced a dual-tone Polaris Blue variant of the Galaxy S9 and S9+. Samsung has now launched these two new color variants of its latest flagship phones in India. It’s worth noting that only the Galaxy S9+ will be available in Polaris Blue in the country, not the regular Galaxy S9.

The addition of the new color means the Galaxy Note 9 will now be available in five color options in India. Along with Alpine White, the Note 9 also comes in Ocean Blue, Metallic Copper, Lavender Purple and Midnight Black. The Galaxy S9+, meanwhile, is now available in Coral Blue, Lilac Purple, Midnight Black, Sunrise Gold, Burgundy Red and Polaris Blue.

New color variants available with select storage configurations

Just as it did in Taiwan, Samsung is selling only the 128GB model of the Galaxy Note 9 in Alpine White in India. The company has priced the phone at Rs 67,900. The Galaxy S9+ Polaris Blue will cost Rs 64,900 and is available with 64GB storage option. Both new color variants will be available for pre-orders through Samsung Online Shop and select online platforms starting December 7. The devices will be reaching offline markets on December 10.

Launch offers include an exchange bonus of up to ₹9,000 for select old smartphones. Buyers can also avail a cashback worth ₹6,000 if they pay using an HDFC Bank credit or debit card. In addition to these offers, Samsung is also offering an instant cashback of ₹3,000 on the Galaxy S9+ Polaris Blue.

Would you be interested in picking one of these up?

Galaxy S9+

• Model: SM-G965F
• Dimensions: 157.7 x 73.8 x 8.5 mm
• Display: 6.2” (158.1mm) Super AMOLED
• CPU: Exynos 9810
• Camera: 12 MP, CMOS Dual OIS (F1.5/F2.4) & Telephoto: 12MP AF F2.4)

More specifications

Galaxy Note 9

• Model: SM-N960F
• Dimensions: 161.9 x 76.4 x 8.8mm
• Display: 6.4" (162.5mm) Super AMOLED
• CPU: Exynos 9810
• Camera: 12 CMOS Dual OIS (F1.5/F2.4) & Telephoto: 12MP AF F2.4)

More specifications

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Samsung Exynos 9820 vs the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855

Yesterday, Qualcomm announced its flagship chipset for 2019, the Snapdragon 855. Naturally, this new Snapdragon chip will be employed on some variants of Samsung’s next Galaxy S flagship, the Galaxy S10. How do overall specs and capabilities of the Exynos 9820 and Snapdragon 855 compare?

Well, this year, Qualcomm has a leg-up over Samsung in the manufacturing process, as the Snapdragon 855 is built on a 7nm process and not an 8nm process like the Exynos 9820. While the average consumer won’t care whether it’s 7nm or 8nm, the Galaxy S10’s Snapdragon variant has been seen getting higher benchmark scores than the Exynos variant. Samsung will probably resort to artificially restricting the performance of the Snapdragon variant, but battery life may turn out to be slightly worse on the Exynos variant.

The Exynos 9820, like previous Exynos chips, has better video recording capabilities than the competing Snapdragon chip. The 9820, for example, can record 8K videos at 30 fps (frames per second) and 4K videos at 150 fps. The Snapdragon 855, meanwhile, seems to only support 4K recording at 60 fps like the Snapdragon 845, which means Samsung is unlikely to offer 8K@30 fps or 4K@150 fps in any market. The 855 does, however, get the ability to record HDR videos, something Samsung isn’t confirming or denying for the 9820 just yet.

Again, the 855 and 9820 are also similar in some ways. Both have dedicated NPUs (neural processing units) for artificial intelligence tasks, support UFS 3.0 storage (the 9820 also has backward compatibility for UFS 2.1) and LPDDR4x RAM, and come with 2Gbps download and 316 Mbps upload speeds over mobile networks. 5G support is missing, sadly, but these chipsets will run on 5G networks with an additional modem.

Here’s a table with the Exynos 9820 and Snapdragon 855 specs side-by-side. Also check out how the Exynos 9820 compares to its predecessor, the Exynos 9810.

Exynos 9820 vs Snapdragon 855 specs comparison

	Exynos 9820	Snapdragon 855
Process	8nm LPP FinFET	7nm FinFET
CPU	Octa-core custom CPU: Dual-core (Custom CPU) + Dual-core (Cortex-A75) + Quad-core (Cortex-A55)	Octa-core semi-custom Kryo 485 CPU: Single-core (Cortex A76 @ 2.84GHz) + Tri-core (Cortex-A76 @ 2.42GHz) + Quad-core (Cortex-A55 @ 1.8GHz)
GPU	ARM Mali-G76 MP12	Adreno 640
Dedicated NPU	Yes	Yes
Display	WQUXGA (3840×2400), 4K UHD (4096×2160)	Up to 4K, HDR and 10-bit color depth
LTE Modem	LTE-Advanced Pro Cat.20 8CA 2Gbps (DL) / Cat.20 3CA 316Mbps (UL)	X24 LTE 2 Gbps (DL)/316 Mbps (UL), Optional X50 5G Modem
Storage	UFS 3.0, UFS 2.1	UFS 3.0
Memory	LPDDR4x	LPDDR4x
Camera	Rear 22MP, Front 22MP, Dual-camera 16MP+16MP	Up to 20 MP dual cameras, up to 32 MP single camera
Video Capture	8K @ 30fps or 4K @ 150fps	4K HDR @ 60fps. Supports shooting in HDR10+, HDR10, HLG
Video Playback	10-bit HEVC(H.265), H.264, VP9 codec	8K 360 degree VR, HDR10+, HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision, 10-bit color depth, H.265, VP9 video decoder

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Samsung SM-A505F (Galaxy A50) benchmarked with Android Pie, Exynos 9610

Samsung has a slew of new Galaxy A smartphones under development alongside a new Galaxy M lineup, as we had revealed in our exclusive report. One of those new Galaxy A smartphones has now shown up on the Geekbench benchmark database. The Samsung SM-A505FN, which may launch as the Galaxy A50, runs Android 9 Pie and is powered by the Exynos 9610 SoC.

Android Pie on a mid-range Galaxy

Both of those specs are interesting. We are yet to see any Samsung phone with the Exynos 9610 SoC nor a non-flagship device running Android Pie. Now, Samsung prefers launching its flagship Galaxy S models with the latest version of Android out of the box before any other device. Android Pie, therefore, suggests the SM-A505F would hit retail sometime after the Galaxy S10. However, with the Korean giant now looking at ways to revive sales and also bringing software consistency across different segments, the Galaxy A50 may break tradition and launch ahead of Samsung’s next flagship.

As for the Exynos 9610, it’s a slight upgrade over the Exynos 7885 that powers phones like the Galaxy A8 (2018). Its performance isn’t better than the 7885’s, but even the Galaxy S9 doesn’t perform that well on the first Android Pie beta, so the Galaxy A50’s performance may improve at a later point in its development process. The Exynos 9610 is accompanied by 4GB of RAM, and storage options should include 64GB and 128GB from what our sources have told us.

The Galaxy A50 is also likely to come with one of Samsung’s new Infinity displays. It remains to be seen if it will have a notch in the center or a hole in the corner, but we can expect some details to surface in the coming weeks to give us a clearer picture.

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Samsung is finally changing the earpiece design on Galaxy smartphones

Not everyone has taken kindly to Samsung finally embracing the notch (or at least a form of obstruction in a phone’s display) in an attempt to get the highest screen-to-body ratio possible. The Galaxy A8s will be the first Galaxy phone with Samsung’s Infinity-O display, which has a hole in the left corner for the front camera. Now, this hole-in-a-display solution may not be an ideal one, but we think the design of the earpiece has benefitted from Samsung’s new approach to its Infinity displays.

The earpiece is getting a redesign after nearly 10 years

Changing the design of the earpiece is pretty much a necessity brought about by the higher screen-to-body ratio. But we feel it looks cooler than what we have on Samsung’s current smartphones. This isn’t actually completely new, of course. It’s how the earpiece was located on Samsung’s first Android phone, the I7500 Galaxy, so this is the company returning to its roots, in a manner of speaking.

And it’s something we feel Samsung could have done much earlier. The current placement of the earpiece grill has been around for nearly 10 years at this point. While having the earpiece in line with the camera sensor makes for a more consistent look on devices with Infinity displays, it could have made a difference to the visual appeal of Galaxy phones with traditional displays.

Yes, we know this may be something too minor to be dedicating an entire article to. It’s certainly nothing compared to bigger design changes like the shift to metal and glass phones. However, as longtime users of Samsung smartphones, it’s something that stood out to some of us here at SamMobile.

What do you think about this little design change that’s coming up for Galaxy smartphones?

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Galaxy J5 (2017) gets December 2018 security patch

Samsung’s security updates have picked up considerable pace in recent months. Earlier this week, Samsung updated the Galaxy Xcover 4 with the December 2018 security patch in Luxembourg. The company has now released an update for the Galaxy J5 (2017), bringing the latest security patch to the device.

Galaxy J5 (2017) gets December security patch in Austria

The latest update for the Galaxy J5 (2017) seems to include only the new security patch. The update is based on Android 8.1 Oreo and comes with software version J530FXXU3BRK. Samsung is currently rolling out the update over-the-air (OTA) in Austria.

If you own a Galaxy J5 (2017), you can check for the update by tapping the Download updates manually button under the Software update menu in the phone’s Settings app. However, if you don’t want to wait for the OTA update to reach your device, the update file is also available for download from our firmware section.

The December 2018 security patch includes fixes for six critical Android OS vulnerabilities. It also fixes as many as 40 Samsung Vulnerabilities and Exposures (critical vulnerabilities that only affect Samsung’s software). This includes a vulnerability which allowed unauthenticated access to the Secure Folder app and the Gallery app. Therefore, more Galaxy devices should get the update in the next few days.

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We missed Samsung’s biggest hint at Galaxy Note 9 Android Pie beta program

For a long time, Galaxy Note 9 owners had been wondering whether Samsung would be including the device in the One UI/Android Pie beta program. Samsung has never offered beta testing for a Note flagship before so there was no precedent for it. The first hint we received at the possibility of a Galaxy Note 9 Android Pie beta was through test firmware discovered on Samsung’s servers, but we realize the company may have offered us a hint right at the announcement of One UI and Android Pie at the Samsung Developer Conference.

Samsung’s hint at Galaxy Note 9 Pie beta program came at SDC 2018

When Samsung took the stage to talk about One UI and Android Pie, it said that the update would be coming to both the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note 9 in January. Before Pie, every new Android version was first released for the Galaxy S flagship, with the Galaxy Note from the previous year having to wait a month or two to get the same update. So for Samsung to officially say both the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note 9 would be updated to Pie in January was pretty much the only hint we needed that Samsung might bring the Note 9 into the One UI beta program.

Of course, it’s easy for us to say this in hindsight. No one picked up on the possibility of Samsung finally bringing its Note lineup into the fold with its beta tests, but it’s great to see the company finally treating owners of both its flagships equally. Now we just need to wait and see how long it will take Samsung to bring the official Pie update to every country once the beta tests are over. The initial release will most likely be for countries where the beta program is available, but there are signs that things could be much faster overall this time around.

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