Galaxy S10+ or Huawei P30 Pro

[TheWanderer]

Hi. 

 

I'm looking for an upgrade for my mobile, a trusty 30 month old Galaxy S8+ to something a bit more up to date so I have whittled the choice down to two. 

 

The Galaxy S10+ and the Huawei P30 Pro. 

 

These both have a significant upgrade on the internal memory and both have the ability to expand the memory via a memory card, but I'm torn between the two. 

 

If any of you have either of these can you give me some help on trying to make a decision on this. 

 

TIA

[MarkyG82]

As an anti-samsung android fan, and seen my mates p20 pro, I'd go for the p30 pro. It's amazing and he says the battery is better now than it was new due to the ai gubbins.

[TheWanderer]

I've been looking through the reviews all day and all its done is confuse me even more. 

 

The S10+ has a much better screen and sound, but slightly worse camera, but it does have the advantage of being able to use a now pretty much standard micro sdxc card. 

 

The P30 Pro has a slightly worse screen and sound, but far superior camera system, it also has a hard to get and quite expensive new memory card system (NM cards). 

 

I use the camera fairly often, but I find myself asking how much I will need all of the functionality of the P30 compared to the S10+. I also watch video on my phone and listen to music on it too, but I'm not sure if the speaker on the P30 would suffice and you need to have an adaptor to use earphones or go Bluetooth, compared to the 3.5mm socket on the S10+. 

 

Some very good but mixed reviews and feelings about these two at the moment. 

[MikeTheThinker]

16 minutes ago, TheWanderer said:

new memory card system (NM cards). 

 

Just FYI there seem to be plenty available on aliexpress.com (listing here) although I haven't compared prices with those being offered in the UK.

[MarkyG82]

I now have a pixel 3 and also use it to watch video and listen to music. The lack of 3.5mm jack has meant I now use bluetooth almost exclusively. The jaybird tarah pro sound great and are better than any wired earphones I've had. For better sound in have a usbc adapter and big cans. 

 

As far as the screen goes, any modern device with 1080 or over will offer a good viewing experience. What I'm trying to say is you won't be disappointed with either. 

 

If photos are your thing then I'd be concentrating on that rather than what minor differences there are in what are probably the best phone screens on the market.

 

Not familiar with the new memory card but as an early adopter of tech past and present, in my experience you will find support for hardware for the life of your phone at least.

[TheWanderer]

44 minutes ago, StickyMicky said:

 

Just FYI there seem to be plenty available on aliexpress.com (listing here) although I haven't compared prices with those being offered in the UK.

 

Yeah, I just had a look there and I'm somewhat skeptical about the authenticity of the cards that come from sites such as flea Bay, Ali Express etc. 

 

They have a nasty reputation for being fakes. Also a 256gb card is nearly £90, a similar sdxc card is from £28-60. If I really want to push the boat out I can get a 512gb one for £100.

 

I'm also having fun trying to find a case for the P30 Pro which is not only good & robust to take some knocks, but also allows me to use wireless charging without having to resort to removing the case every time, I don't have to with my S8+, I just put it on the wireless charger and it charges it up very quickly. 

Edited 12 May, 2019 by TheWanderer

[Aspman]

From what I've read there isn't much a of a leap between the P20 Pro and the P30. Might be worth considering the P20p and pocket the saving.

 

I've  a P20Pro and never found it lacking. I use the camera extensively and have a lot of music stored on the phone but I've never run out of memory or even got close.

 

You can get the P20 Pro sim free for under £500. Mate 20 pro is on good offer now as well. Unless you need or really want the latest might be better options there.

[cheezemonkhai]

10 hours ago, Aspman said:

From what I've read there isn't much a of a leap between the P20 Pro and the P30. Might be worth considering the P20p and pocket the saving.

 

I've  a P20Pro and never found it lacking. I use the camera extensively and have a lot of music stored on the phone but I've never run out of memory or even got close.

 

You can get the P20 Pro sim free for under £500. Mate 20 pro is on good offer now as well. Unless you need or really want the latest might be better options there.

 

This...

 

A p9 can still hold its own vs plenty of others out there and the p20 pro and mate 20 pro are good.

 

one thing that might make your decision is the requirement for a 3.5” headphone jack.

 

 

[Aspman]

On 13/05/2019 at 21:39, cheezemonkhai said:

 

one thing that might make your decision is the requirement for a 3.5” headphone jack.

 

 

 

I haven't missed it as much as I thought. Where it's a problem is where bluetooth isn't available. In my Mini, no bluetooth for music (phone works fine) but I need to use a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter to listen to music. That rules out charging the phone as well as listening.

 

The rest of the time it's fine. I did invest in some wireless earbuds (Chinese no-name) and they work fine for me.

[MarkyG82]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Joyguard-Headphone-Supporting-Charging-Earphone-8-Black/dp/B07P9W93BG/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=usb+c+3.5&qid=1557932467&s=gateway&sr=8-10

 

One of these might help.  Not gone that route myself and there are versions that are carp but hunt through reviews etc and you should be ok.

[Confused_Cheese]

If you're looking at those, I'd recommend looking at the OnePlus 7 pro. It was only announced yesterday and early reviews are really good. Had two oneplus phones in the past and they were both excellent. They're the only manufacturer I'd purchase from at the moment other than Google (Pixel 3 user here) as fast security/feature updates are important to me without all the clutter Samsung provide.

[TheWanderer]

37 minutes ago, Confused_Cheese said:

If you're looking at those, I'd recommend looking at the OnePlus 7 pro. It was only announced yesterday and early reviews are really good. Had two oneplus phones in the past and they were both excellent. They're the only manufacturer I'd purchase from at the moment other than Google (Pixel 3 user here) as fast security/feature updates are important to me without all the clutter Samsung provide.

 

Already looked and discounted (eliminated) it from the choice, as it has no sd card slot, it's also too big. 

 

Looking more towards the S10+ now as it has an sd card slot (I can use my existing 256gb card), it seems to have a slightly better UI than the P30, the screen is better and I have a headphone jack whereas the p30 doesn't and you have to use an adapter to use earphones unless you want to use wireless earbuds. 

 

Also decent heavy duty cases for the S10 are more plentiful than the P30 Pro. 

Edited 15 May, 2019 by TheWanderer

[JohnRS]

I got a an S10+ just after release after having Xiaomi phones for a few years and realised how much I hate Samsung's UI. Although the screen resolution and quality is exceptional the resolution is pants, but Huawei is the same.

As others have said the Mate 30 Pro isn't much of an upgrade to the Mate 20 Pro, in fact it's only the camera so you could probably get a good deal on a Mate 20 Pro. 

The only feature I really like on the S10 is the super slo mo.

 

For me, after this I'll stick with Xiaomi, to be honest I may even sell the S10+ and buy a used Mi Mix 3 Forbidden Palace, assuming there are any around, in the near future.  

[TheWanderer]

Xiaomi are another company that fell by the wayside early in that they don't have any memory card facilities and most don't have any NFC either, both of them are mandatory for me to even consider a phone. 

 

Edited 15 May, 2019 by TheWanderer

[cheezemonkhai]

1 hour ago, JohnRS said:

I got a an S10+ just after release after having Xiaomi phones for a few years and realised how much I hate Samsung's UI. Although the screen resolution and quality is exceptional the resolution is pants, but Huawei is the same.

As others have said the Mate 30 Pro isn't much of an upgrade to the Mate 20 Pro, in fact it's only the camera so you could probably get a good deal on a Mate 20 Pro. 

The only feature I really like on the S10 is the super slo mo.

 

For me, after this I'll stick with Xiaomi, to be honest I may even sell the S10+ and buy a used Mi Mix 3 Forbidden Palace, assuming there are any around, in the near future.  

 

Don’t confuse the P, mate and honor lines of phones.

 

mate 20 for example has many of the toys in the p30 range but not all.

[MarkyG82]

13 hours ago, TheWanderer said:

 both of them are mandatory for me to even consider a phone. 

 

 

Can I ask why you need a memory card?  Genuinely interested as I have done away with then for quite some time now.  If for music then most phone's memory is big enough for local storage or there is the option of uploading owned music to google play for free* streaming (* requires data).  Also google photos is great for online backup and freeing up space on your device.

I've had a 64gb capacity in my last 3/4 devices covering 5/6 years and never wanted for more space.

[TheWanderer]

I have a 256gb memory card on board because I like to have a few HD videos (ripped BDR/DVDs) on board for the quiet times, then there's the video that I occasionally shoot + photos add on the 4000 tracks of music that I have in my collection, plus apps and ringtones/notifications and the memory is soon used up. 

 

You can never have too much memory. 

[MarkyG82]

3 hours ago, TheWanderer said:

I have a 256gb memory card on board because I like to have a few HD videos (ripped BDR/DVDs) on board for the quiet times, then there's the video that I occasionally shoot + photos add on the 4000 tracks of music that I have in my collection, plus apps and ringtones/notifications and the memory is soon used up. 

 

You can never have too much memory. 

 

I get that.  Always good to have some spare.  HD vids don't necessarily have to take up too much space.  Photos can be handled by google photos as above.  You'd need to check on the files requirements for shot video on google photos but it definitely saves short vids I've taken of the boy.  4000 track would be anywhere between 10 and 20gb.  None of that is a deal breaker for me.

 

You obviously want to keep the memory card function but I just wanted to explain for anyone else reading this that there are possible options if you are interested in a device that doesn't have a card slot.

[Aspman]

I didn't know this but you can get USB flash drives for phones. These ones are compatible with the Huawei Mate 20 (so I guess the P20p as well)

 

https://www.mymemory.co.uk/huawei-mate-20-pro-usb-flash-drives.html

 

So you could have 128Gb of films on a removable drive and save forking out for phone memory.

Edited 16 May, 2019 by Aspman

[TheWanderer]

Call it overkill but I just bought a 512gb micro sdxc card from mymemory, for £70 so I can transfer the existing 256gb card into my trusty old Tab S2 for a few months, at least until the Tab S5 gets released. 

[Aspman]

20 hours ago, TheWanderer said:

Call it overkill but I just bought a 512gb micro sdxc card from mymemory, for £70 so I can transfer the existing 256gb card into my trusty old Tab S2 for a few months, at least until the Tab S5 gets released. 

 

 

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/05/16/1tb_sandisk_microsd_arrives/

[TheWanderer]

35 minutes ago, Aspman said:

 

 

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/05/16/1tb_sandisk_microsd_arrives/

 

I think that 0.5Tb is enough for me for the foreseeable future and I hope that the one I have bought will be a good and reliable one. 

 

I'll still back up all of the information though and photos will be sent to the cloud asap where network coverage permits. 

[TheWanderer]

I've decided to go with the S10+, but now which version? 

 

I've been looking at WondaMobile for it and there are two options:

 

1. Snapdragon 855 

2. Exynos 9820.

 

Option 1, would give me a better performing phone with slightly better battery life and slightly better quality camera, however it's a HK/Chinese market phone and although the bootloader is unlocked, there are currently no different FW available for it and I'm concerned about whether Google Pay or PayPal will work with it. 

 

Option 2, would give me a slightly worse device, however it gives me a more flexible device, where I have the ability to get more FW updates and Google Pay & PayPal are pretty much assured to work. 

 

Does anyone have an imported S10/S10+ with the Snapdragon 855 chipset and do you have any issues with PayPal or Google Pay using UK banks or UK bank cards or issues paying using NFC. 

 

Thanks. 

[Chris GB]

Something to consider, Samsung Android 9 has had some insurmountable blue tooth connectivity issues with some car audio systems at the moment.

 

For me, Oneplus is making the best current android phones, purely because the operating system implementation is so good.

[TheWanderer]

I'm glad that I didn't choose the P30 Pro and for those who have a Huawei phone, I'd consider a change PDQ. 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48330310

 

It looks like there's no more security or software updates for you now. 

 

https://www.xda-developers.com/google-revoke-huawei-android-ban-blacklist/

Edited 20 May, 2019 by TheWanderer