It seems like Samsung had a 5G prototype on display at CES 2019, but almost nobody noticed it. As you can see in pictures provided by the Business Insider, the phone was there, in plain sight, somewhere in the midst of Samsung’s gigantic booth at CES 2019 in Las Vegas. Now, to be clear, this is just a prototype device, and is not the phone that the company plans to unveil as its first 5G-enabled device, which is probably why very few people are interested, but still, CES has been going on for days at this point and this is the first time that we’re hearing about this device. This is the phone that Verizon and Samsung used to show off 5G capabilities back in December, during Qualcomm’s event. So, as you can see, the displayed unit is actually protected by glass, it’s basically in its glass cage / box, though this prototype unit seemed to be operational, it had all the buttons on it as well, including the Bixby button on the left. The phone’s display cycled through a canned demo which showed off some of its functions, though it did not show its 5G capabilities in the process, which is probably why very few people were interested in it. Now, the interesting thing is, this prototype has a notch in the top-right corner, which is something the final unit almost certainly will not have, as it will be a part of the Galaxy S10 lineup, more on that later. That’s actually quite funny, because this prototype device is the company’s first smartphone with a display notch, and chances are it will stay that way, as Samsung doesn’t seem to be interested in notched phones, it’s moving straight to display holes.
Samsung’s 5G-Enabled Phone, The Story Thus Far
Samsung is planning to unveil its 5G-enabled phone in the first half of this year, it seems, and that device will be a part of the Galaxy S10 series of devices, at least according to rumors. Samsung will unveil its Galaxy S10 series of smartphones either in February or March, though chances are those phones will arrive in February during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. Now, the 5G-enabled Galaxy S10 will probably be the only variant of the Galaxy S10 that will not launch at that time, as rumors are claiming that Samsung is planning to wait a bit with this launch, so we don’t know exactly when will it arrive, but it’s possible it will come in March or April. The 5G-enabled Galaxy S10 is also referred to as the premium Galaxy S10 unit, a phone that will come with a ceramic back, compared to glass backs on all the other Galaxy S10 variants. The 5G-enabled Galaxy S10 will be fueled by either the Snapdragon 855 or Exynos 9820, depending on where you live, while it is rumored to ship with a whopping 12GB of RAM, though it remains to be seen how accurate those rumors are. The phone is also said to ship with four cameras on the back, and two cameras on the front, while a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED, curved display is also rumored for the device, which will make this smartphone the largest Galaxy S10 unit out there. On top of everything, the phone will also include an in-display fingerprint scanner, and ship with Android 9 Pie out of the box, with Samsung’s brand new One UI Android overlay.
Other Galaxy S10 Models
Samsung is rumored to release four Galaxy S10 models in total, the Galaxy S10 Lite (which is rumored to launch with the Galaxy S10E name), S10, S10+, and 5G-enabled Galaxy S10. The Galaxy S10 Lite / S10E is rumored to sport a 5.8-inch display, 4GB / 6GB of RAM, two cameras on the back, and a single camera on the front. This will also be the only Galaxy S10 device to sport a flat display, and is rumored to ship with a side-facing fingerprint scanner. The Galaxy S10 will include a 6.1-inch curved display, at least 6GB of RAM, two cameras on the back, and one camera on the front. The phone will sport an in-display fingerprint scanner, just like the Galaxy S10+. Speaking of which, the Galaxy S10+ is rumored to sport three cameras on the back, and two cameras on the front, while it will be larger than the Galaxy S10, with a 6.4-inch display, quite probably. All the Galaxy S10 unit will sport display camera holes, and all will look the same in terms of the design, though will be different in size.
