The ASUS ZenFone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S10+ are the most powerful smartphones from their respective companies, well, not counting the 5G-enabled Galaxy S10 5G, of course. In any case, these two phones do differ quite a bit, when it comes to pricing, design, specifications… they’re basically quite different overall.
The ZenFone 6 is the newer of the two devices, and both phones are already available for purchase. The ZenFone 6 is not officially available in the US, at least it was not at the time of writing this article, but it will be soon, and it may actually be a good choice if you’re trying to save some money.
As it usually goes with our comparison, we will compare these two smartphones in a number of categories, ranging from design and display, to their performance and battery life… and that will hopefully help you make a decision on which phone to get.
Specifications
Design
Both of these phones are made out of metal and glass, and both of them ship with curved backs. Both of them also have thin bezels below the display, but that’s basically where similarities end, at least when it comes to the front and back sides of these two phones.
The ZenFone 6 does not include a display notch or a display hole, while the Galaxy S10+ does, a rather noticeable display hole in the top-right corner of its panel. The Galaxy S10+ features a curved display, while the ZenFone 6’s is flat, which contributes to dimensions of the two devices, even though their display sizes are identical.
Things are also quite different on the back, the ZenFone 6 includes two cameras back there, with a dual-LED flash in-between them. Those two cameras flip up when you switch to a front-facing mode in the camera app, and they become the phone’s front-facing units. The ZenFone 6 also has a regular, capacitive fingerprint scanner on the back.
The Galaxy S10+, on the other hand, features three horizontally-aligned cameras on the back, and next to them sits an LED flash, and a heart-rate sensor. A fingerprint scanner is included below the phone’s display, so it is not present on the back of the device.
It is also worth noting that both phones include a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is not something we get to see often these days. We’ll give this category to the ASUS ZenFone 6, as its design looks more appealing to the eye, at least for us… those two cameras on the front of the Galaxy S10+ are a real eyesore.
Winner: ASUS ZenFone 6
Display
The ASUS ZenFone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S10+ both feature 6.4-inch displays, but that’s basically where similarities end. The ZenFone 6’s display is flat, while the Galaxy S10+’s panel is curved.
The ZenFone 6 includes 19.5:9 display aspect ratio, which is a higher aspect ratio than what the Galaxy S10+ has to offer, as it comes with a 19:9 display aspect ratio. The ZenFone 6’s display is fullHD+ (2340 x 1080) IPS LCD panel, while the Galaxy S10+ offers a QHD+ (3040 x 1440) Dynamic AMOLED display.
Both displays are protected by a sheet of Gorilla Glass 6, while the ZenFone 6’s panel supports HDR10 content. The Galaxy S10+’s display is HDR10+ certified, and it has an upper hand in that regard.
Both of these displays are really good, but the ZenFone 6’s panel cannot match the one on the Galaxy S10+. The Galaxy S10+’s display is much sharper, while the fact it’s an OLED panel gives you more pronounced colors, and those deep blacks that OLED displays deliver. The Galaxy S10+’s display is actually really well tuned in general, and is one of the best panels in the business.
Having said that, the ZenFone 6’s panel is one of the best IPS LCD displays that we’ve seen to date, so if you don’t mind the fact it’s a fullHD+ panel, and an LCD one at that, it’ll serve you just fine.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy S10+
Performance
Let’s just say, straight away, that you will not have issues when it comes to performance with either of these phones… unless unexpected bugs crawl in, of course. Both devices are plenty fast, which is not surprising considering their internals.
Both phones are fueled by the same SoC, the Snapdragon 855, one of the most powerful mobile chips in the market at the moment. Both devices come with plenty of RAM, and their UI’s are well optimized.
Speaking of which, the ZenFone 6 comes with an almost stock build of Android, as the company decided to dump a bunch of bloatware from the previous version of ZenUI. ZenUI 6 that comes pre-installed on the device is fast, responsive, and nice-looking. It does include some features on top of stock Android, but nothing that bogs down the phone.
The Galaxy S10+, on the other hand, comes with One UI, Samsung’s very own implementation of Android which is heavier than ZenUI 6, but it works great on the Galaxy S10+. Samsung doesn’t really have a great track record when it comes to maintaining that performance for longer periods of time, but One UI could make all the difference, we’ll see. At the moment, though, it flies through everything without a problem.
Performance on both devices is stellar, and we really don’t have any major complaints. The two phones are basically on par in this regard, so we’ll call this one a tie.
Winner: Tie
Battery Life
Both of these phones pack in large batteries, though ASUS went a step further and included an even larger battery in the ZenFone 6 than Samsung did in the Galaxy S10+. The ZenFone 6 comes with a 5,000mAh battery, while you will find a 4,100mAh unit in the Galaxy S10+.
So, is the difference notable in usage, or does the Galaxy S10+ trump the ZenFone 6? Well, both offer really good battery life, but the ZenFone 6 is a step above the Galaxy S10+ in this regard. It will provide you with more juice during the day, though, of course, everyone’s usage is different. Both devices should be more than enough for the vast majority of people, though.
When it comes to charging, the ZenFone 6 supports 18W (Quick Charge 4.0) fast charging, while the Galaxy S10+ comes with 15W (Quick Charge 2.0) fast charging. The Galaxy S10+ also offers 15W fast wireless charging, and 9W reverse wireless charging. The ZenFone 6 does not include wireless charging, but it does offer reverse wired charging (10W), so you can use it as a power bank.
All in all, the ZenFone 6 seems like a better choice here, not only will it provide you with more battery juice, but it also offers faster charging compared to the Galaxy S10+. If you want wireless charging, though, the Galaxy S10+ should be your choice.
Winner: ASUS ZenFone 6
Cameras
These two phones offer considerably different camera setups. In addition to a 48-megapixel camera on the ZenFone 6, ASUS included an ultrawide camera. The phone’s main camera uses pixel-binning technology, and the result are really, really good.
Still, in comparison, the Galaxy S10+ samples turned out better in most scenarios. During daylight, both are more than good enough, but the Galaxy S10+ does better in low light, while you also get the added benefit of a telephoto lens, which is not included on the ZenFone 6.
If you’re one that uses selfie cameras often, though, the ZenFone 6 is a far better choice in that regard, as it uses its main cameras as front-facing ones as well. The ZenFone 6 even allows you to manually control the angle of those two cameras, and it can take automated panorama shots.
Still, we’ll go with the Galaxy S10+ here, overall, as it does offer better results overall, especially in low light, even though the ZenFone 6’s camera capabilities are nothing to scoff at, far from it.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy S10+
Conclusion
One area that we did not talk about above is audio. We did note that both phones include a 3.5mm headphone jack, and that is true, but there’s more to it than that. Both phones also come with stereo speakers, and the Galaxy S10+ actually has an advantage in that regard.
The Galaxy S10+’s speakers did seem to provide a fuller sound, and less distortion when the volume is all the way up. Both are quite compelling, though. Samsung’s flagship also has an advantage when you plug in your headphones, as it comes with Dolby Atmos and AKG sound, it can provide you with 32-bit/384kHz audio, compared to the ZenFone 6’s 24-bit/192kHz audio.
Fingerprint scanners are really good on both devices, though truth be said, the ZenFone 6’s is more convenient to use as it is a regular capacitive unit, and it will make less mistakes than the ultrasonic one on the Galaxy S10+.
When we consider everything that was said here, the Samsung Galaxy S10+ is the winner, but surprisingly enough, the ASUS ZenFone 6 is not far behind, at all. If you’d like a phone without a display camera hole, and a phone with better battery life, the ZenFone 6 may be a better choice for you. The Galaxy S10+ does win in the camera, display, and audio departments, though. It is worth saying that the ZenFone 6 is considerably more affordable, though, so… it’s up to you.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy S10+