Samsung’s as-yet-unreleased Galaxy M10 has now been spotted passing through the FCC, hinting at new details about the device and indicating that it could be approaching launch. Shown under the model designation SM-M105F, most of the documentation associated with the handset is still being kept under wraps for now. That will remain the case until summer, based on the confidentiality dates listed at the agency but at least a few new details about the smartphone are shown in test documents. SM-M105F is listed as featuring support for LTE bands 5 and 41 at a minimum and as working on GSM networks. The tests also reveal Bluetooth and BLE version 4.2. Dimensions for the handset are recorded at 155.7 mm x 75.8 mm with an overall diagonal size of 165.5mm compared to a screen that measures 153.2mm diagonally. That means the handset will most likely ship with a display that’s right around 6-inches. Finally, the battery model number is listed as ‘EB-BA750ABN’. A power unit with that same designation was used in Samsung’s Galaxy A8s with a capacity of 3,400mAh.
Shaping up to be a decent budget-friendly device
If prior expectations surrounding Samsung’s Galaxy M10 are accurate, the handset is shaping up to be a fairly solid budget-friendly offering from the Korean tech giant. The device leaked out via Geekbench Browser back in late November followed by a subsequent leak that gave away colors it might ship in and further details. In the former tests, the device showed single core and multi-core scores in line with Sony’s Xperia M5 Dual and Huawei P20 Lite, driven by a Samsung-built Exynos 7870 SoC. The base frequency was shown on the benchmark at 1.59GHz while RAM fell in at 3GB and storage at either 16GB or 32GB. Android Oreo was listed as the operating system.
The device is currently predicted to be one of three new “M” series devices from Samsung, which includes the long-rumored Galaxy M20 and Galaxy M30 devices. Each of those is expected to be slightly more powerful than the last, in succession. The Android 8.1 Oreo-powered Samsung Galaxy M20’s benchmarks have shown an Exynos 7885 SoC with the same base clock frequency and RAM as the Galaxy M10. Conversely, storage is bumped to either 32GB or 64GB in two configurations while the Samsung Galaxy M30 is predicted to ship with both 64GB and 128GB options. All of those are also expected to be made available in either blue or dark grey colors.
Launch could arrive soon or much later
As alluded to above, the launch of this device could happen very soon since FCC listings are generally finalized just before launch. Some aspects of the handset, including images and a user manual, are listed as confidential until the end of June but nothing about that necessitates that Samsung has to wait until summer to reveal the device. With the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S10 expected for MWC 2019 at the end of February, the company could choose to reveal more details at the same time or soon after since the two devices occupy very different niches. Samsung could also decide to launch as early as CES 2019 in just over a week, although that seems less likely at this point.
