Samsung Galaxy S10+ review

Synthetic benchmarks

Samsung's fresh new S10 lineup is once again powered by the best the industry can offer - the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 or Samsung's in-house Exynos 9820 chipset, depending on the market.

Our S10+ review unit is the Exynos variety. The 8nm chip's CPU is in a 2+2+4 configuration with two big Mongoose M4 cores clocked at 2.7 GHz, two Cortex-A75 cores ticking at 2.4 GHz, and 4 Cortex-A55 cores running at 1.9 GHz for less demanding applications. The GPU is Mali-G76 MP12. Mass-market S10+ units like ours ship with 8GB of RAM, while a Performance version with 12GB will also be available.

The M4 cores offer the highest per-core performance in the Android world with the Kryo Gold in the Mi 9's Snapdragon 855 a distant second. Even so, the Galaxy S10+ can't match the single-core performance of the current iPhone XS Max.

GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone XS Max
  4777
• Samsung Galaxy S10+
  4522
• Xiaomi Mi 9
  3503
• Huawei Mate 20 X (perf. mode)
  3404
• Huawei Mate 20 Pro (perf.)
  3390
• Sony Xperia XZ3
  2486
• Xiaomi Pocophone F1
  2438
• OnePlus 6T
  2431
• Xiaomi Mi Mix 3
  2429
• LG V40 ThinQ
  2408
• Google Pixel 3 XL
  2363

In the multi-core test, the Mi 9 steals the lead - the Snapdragon 855 is more powerful than the Exynos 9820 in the Galaxy under such loads. The S10+ still manages to inch ahead of the Kirin 980-powered Mates.

GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone XS Max
  11432
• Xiaomi Mi 9
  11181
• Samsung Galaxy S10+
  10387
• Huawei Mate 20 X (perf. mode)
  10118
• Huawei Mate 20 Pro (perf.)
  10110
• Xiaomi Mi Mix 3
  9065
• Xiaomi Pocophone F1
  9003
• OnePlus 6T
  8977
• Sony Xperia XZ3
  8607
• LG V40 ThinQ
  8568
• Google Pixel 3 XL
  8088

In Antutu, the Mi 9 beats the S10+ but also the iPhone XS Max. The Galaxy does still post higher scores than the Kirin bunch and the Snapdragon 845s of yesteryear.

AnTuTu 7

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 9
  372006
• Apple iPhone XS Max
  353210
• Samsung Galaxy S10+
  333736
• Huawei Mate 20 Pro (perf.)
  308050
• Huawei Mate 20 X (perf. mode)
  304403
• OnePlus 6T
  293994
• Xiaomi Mi Mix 3
  292353
• Sony Xperia XZ3
  284555
• Xiaomi Pocophone F1
  265314
• Google Pixel 3 XL
  258244
• LG V40 ThinQ
  254304

In offscreen tests of GFXBench the Mi 9 and S10+ post largely the same fps numbers, and the two have a lead to the tune of 20% over the S845 devices and about 30% more than the Kirin 980s.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone XS Max
  99
• Xiaomi Mi 9
  70
• Samsung Galaxy S10+
  69
• OnePlus 6T
  60
• Xiaomi Pocophone F1
  60
• Xiaomi Mi Mix 3
  60
• Sony Xperia XZ3
  56
• LG V40 ThinQ
  56
• Huawei Mate 20 X (perf. mode)
  55
• Huawei Mate 20 Pro (perf.)
  54
• Google Pixel 3 XL
  44

GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone XS Max
  60
• Samsung Galaxy S10+
  42
• Xiaomi Mi 9
  42
• OnePlus 6T
  35
• Xiaomi Pocophone F1
  35
• Sony Xperia XZ3
  35
• Xiaomi Mi Mix 3
  35
• LG V40 ThinQ
  34
• Huawei Mate 20 Pro (perf.)
  33
• Huawei Mate 20 X (perf. mode)
  33
• Google Pixel 3 XL
  28

Onscreen tests put a heavier strain on the Mali in the higher-res Galaxy than the 1080p display of the Mi 9 exerts on the Adreno inside it. Hence, the fps scores are significantly higher on the Snapdragon device than what the S10+ can output.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone XS Max
  60
• Xiaomi Mi 9
  56
• OnePlus 6T
  53
• Xiaomi Pocophone F1
  53
• Xiaomi Mi Mix 3
  52
• Huawei Mate 20 X (perf. mode)
  49
• Samsung Galaxy S10+
  37
• Sony Xperia XZ3
  31
• LG V40 ThinQ
  29
• Huawei Mate 20 Pro (perf.)
  27
• Google Pixel 3 XL
  24

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone XS Max
  47
• Xiaomi Mi 9
  35
• OnePlus 6T
  31
• Xiaomi Pocophone F1
  31
• Xiaomi Mi Mix 3
  30
• Huawei Mate 20 X (perf. mode)
  29
• Samsung Galaxy S10+
  23
• Sony Xperia XZ3
  19
• Huawei Mate 20 Pro (perf.)
  16
• LG V40 ThinQ
  16
• Google Pixel 3 XL
  12

The Exynos Galaxy S10+ performs to a very high standard, delivering the highest single-core CPU results among fellow droids and demonstrates similar raw graphics power to what we got out of the only S855 device we've tested so far. It will be interesting to see how Galaxy S10/S10+ units with the Snapdragon SoC compare to their Exynos stablemates, and we'll be sure to check that when we get a chance.

Additionally, we have to point out that under sustained load the Galaxy S10+ does heat up considerably, and throttles a bit (think 10% drop in Antutu scores after 6 runs and no more in subsequent runs). The entire device becomes warm, which means it's dissipating heat efficiently, but also that it's generating a lot of it. Again, we're eager to compare against a S855 version.