The Samsung Galaxy S10+ might be the most beautiful 4G phone you see this year. But it's a big, expensive 4G phone on the cusp of 5G, and that may not be the best play when you look at the next two to three years.

The 6.4-inch screen has an oval cutout at the top right for the two front-facing cameras, a 10-megapixel main shooter and an 8-megapixel depth camera. The space next to the cutout is used for status information, so it's no more bothersome than a notch; on the other hand, when you see the standard Galaxy S10's smaller single-camera cutout, this one suddenly looks a lot more noticeable.

The Galaxy S10 has three cameras on the back: a 16-megapixel, 123-degree ultra-wide camera, a 12-megapixel standard camera, and a 12-megapixel "2x telephoto" camera.

If you're making your decision based primarily on camera quality, ask yourself whether you're a day person or a night person. In good light, the Galaxy S10+'s three cameras offer more options than any camera phone other than the LG V40. At night, if you want the best camera phone possible, you're still going to have to get a Google Pixel 3 XL because its Night Sight mode will rock your world.

The Galaxy S9+ (at left) has a controversial fingerprint sensor under its dual-camera array. The S10+ (at right) moves the fingerprint sensor to the front and turns the camera array on its side.

Samsung reduced the bezels from the Galaxy S9+ (at left) on the Galaxy S10+ (at right), allowing a slight increase in screen size without increasing the size of the phone.

The Galaxy S10+ comes in 128GB ($999.99), 512GB ($1,249.99), and 1TB ($1,599.99) capacities. The base model comes in black, blue, pink, or white, with colored aluminum under a glass back. The 512GB and 1TB models come with black or white ceramic backs. All models have a microSD card slot, in with the SIM card.

On the bottom, you'll find the speaker, USB-C port, and—hurrah!—a headphone jack. The phone is IP68 waterproof.

There's still a dedicated Bixby button on the left side of this phone, but at least you can remap it to almost anything—anything except Google Assistant, apparently, because Samsung is trying to make a point.

The Galaxy S10+ has a 6.4-inch, 3,040-by-1,440-pixel Dynamic AMOLED screen that's been rated as the best smartphone display available by Ray Soneira at DisplayMate Labs. According to Soneira's comprehensive tests, the screen is amazingly bright, colorful, and power-efficient, delivering the best handheld experience possible.

The Galaxy S10+ is the first US phone with an under-display, ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. It's more accurate than the OnePlus 6T's optical sensor. With a dry finger, if you hit the screen at the right spot, I found it to be 100 percent accurate in testing.

To use the fingerprint sensor, you have to hit the screen at the exact right spot. Hitting it off-center results in rejected touches. There's no visual guideline to do so when the screen is off, and no physical guide (like the ridge of a physical sensor) at all.