Samsung is getting ready to launch its long-awaited Galaxy S10 5G, according to a new report. But should you be one of the first to get your hands on this phablet, or should you wait?
Evan Blass, who has been one of the more prolific — and reliable — leakers in recent memory, has tweeted that Samsung is planning to launch its Galaxy S10 5G on May 16. He said in the tweet that the handset will be exclusive to Verizon's network.
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S10 5G in February alongside 4G LTE models. The Galaxy S10 5G comes with a very large 6.7-inch screen and features a triple-lens rear camera system with a depth sensor to cap things off. It also has a 4,500mAh battery pack, which should translate to solid battery life.
MORE: Verizon Just Launched Mobile 5G: Everything You Need to Know
For comparison, the Galaxy S10 Plus has a 6.4-inch display and a 4,100 mAh battery, which lasted an excellent 12 hours and 35 minutes on our web surfing battery test. However, it remains to be seen how much juice the 5G connection will use.
Blass' tweet comes just a day after Verizon announced that it had turned on its 5G network in Chicago and Minneapolis. And at least so far, it's getting strong, but not necessarily unblemished reviews.
Tom's Guide conducted a speed test in Chicago on Wednesday (Apr. 3) to see just how fast the network performed. The test was conducted on the Moto Z3, the handset that's compatible with Verizon's 5G network. In the first round of tests (using the Ookla.net Speedtest app), we saw that the Verizon 5G network delivered download speeds of 641Mbps. On the upload side, speeds hovered at around 24Mbps.
While that's fast — and notably faster than 4G — it's far from the 1Gbps Internet some 5G boosters had promised.
There's also the problem of availability. As nice as 5G might be, Verizon and other carriers need to roll it out across the U.S. For example, Verizon will reach just 30 cities by the end of this year, while AT&T has plans to cover at least 21 cities.
T-Mobile is aiming to get 30 cities launched by the end of this year and says it will offer nationwide 5G by 2020. Sprint will have four cities in May with more to come.
In other words, if you're living in an area that won't get 5G anytime soon, there's no rush to get the Galaxy S10 5G.
For its part, Samsung hasn't commented on its plans for the Galaxy S10 5G and has stopped short of providing a launch date. The company's Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S10, and Galaxy S10+ are all available now.
We'll be sure to let you know when the 5G version's launch date is made official.
