For those who ordered a Galaxy S10 or S10 Plus, Samsung just confirmed that it's shipping out units with a screen protector preinstalled.
The free screen protector won't be made of glass, though. Instead, the units will have a plastic protector installed over the display.
Made For The Ultrasonic In-Display Scanner
Unlike glass protectors, which are tougher and thus provide more protection, Samsung's factory preinstalled screen protector is only made of plastic. While some may think it's a pretty flimsy material that's a lot more prone to scratches, Samsung has a good reason for choosing plastic over the sturdier glass.
For the uninitiated, the Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus comes with an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner that's embedded right under the device's screen.
Third-party glass variants could be way too thick for the in-display scanner. For this very reason, using them over the screen can render the ultrasonic sensor useless. The South Korean tech company already anticipated this issue, so it's now including a plastic screen protector for S10 and S10 Plus units.
Users who want an additional plastic protector can get it from Samsung for $29.99 apiece.
The cheaper S10E variant won't come with a free screen protector, though, for the obvious reason that it doesn't have an ultrasonic scanner under the display. S10E's fingerprint scanner is located at the device's power button instead.
The Galaxy S10 Lineup
The Galaxy S10, S10 Plus, and S10E were unveiled in late February, during Samsung's Unpacked event in San Francisco. Samsung's current flagship lineup boasts of bumped-up specs, bigger screens, and more cameras.
The S10 phones also feature Samsung's infinity-O display, IP68 water and dust resistance, and, thankfully, a headphone jack. All variants are powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor under the hood, with 8 GB to 12 GB RAM, depending on the variant.
The Galaxy S10, S10 Plus, and S10E retails for $899.99, $999.99, and $749.99, respectively. Units will ship starting March 8.
