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Samsung Galaxy S10, S10+ and S10e telco price plans compared

By Vijay Anand - 11 Mar 2019

Samsung Galaxy S10 telco price plans

Note: First published on 23rd February 2019 and revised again on 25th February after M1 has pushed out its price plan offerings, the article has been updated again to factor in updated offers, Singtel's new XO plans and Galaxy S10e price plans!

Who's got the best plan on the Samsung Galaxy S10 series?

With telcos gearing up for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S10 and S10+, we find out who's got the best telco price plan deal with a contract and the phone offered at a discounted rate. If you're more keen on a SIM-only, no-contract plan and getting the phone yourself, then hop over to our SIM-only, no-contract plan comparison.

At a glance, these are the retail prices for the various Galaxy S10 models:-

  • Galaxy S10e 128GB - S$1,078
  • Galaxy S10 128GB - S$1,298
  • Galaxy S10+ 128GB - S$1,398
  • Galaxy S10+ 512GB - S$1,798
  • Galaxy S10+ 1TB - S$2,198

The Galaxy S10e, S10 and S10+ (128GB ) will be available in Prism White, Prism Black and Prism Green. The Galaxy S10+ (512GB and 1TB) will be available in Ceramic White and Ceramic Black.

We've reviewed the Galaxy S10 and S10+ in detail, plus some key details on how the Galaxy S10e differs here. Meanwhile, the video below will get you up to speed on all the basic differences between the various models:-


Note: At the point of publishing this article, no telco provider seems to be offering the entry-level Galaxy S10e model. Also, M1 has yet to publish its price plans. So for now, we're strictly looking at Singtel and StarHub's offers for Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ and we'll fill in the blanks as soon as we get more details.

First off, we'll compare the S10 price plans, followed by the S10+ models on the next page and lastly, the S10e.
 

Galaxy S10 (128GB) Price Plans Compared
 

Value plans comparison 

Data Plan M1 Singtel
Name Lite Combo 1
Samsung Galaxy S10 Price

S$948

S$948

Monthly Subscription S$28 S$27.90
Local Outgoing Mins 100 100
Local SMS 500 500
Local Data Bundle 300MB 100MB
Other Notes
  • No activation, and SIM card fees.
  • Free Caller Number Display (Caller ID) and International Roaming.
-
Total Cost Over Two Years

S$1,620

S$1,617.60


 

Basic plans comparison 

Data Plan M1 M1 Singtel Singtel StarHub
Name Lite+ mySIM(e) 40 Combo 2 XO 48 S$50 2-year plan
Samsung Galaxy S10 Price S$678 S$678 S$798 S$678 S$829
Monthly Subscription S$42 S$40 S$42.90 S$48 S$50
Local Outgoing Mins 200 100 200 100 100
Local SMS 1,000 100 1,000 100 Pay per use at 5.35 cents/SMS OR purchase 500 SMS for S$3
Local Data Bundle 3GB 5GB + 10GB 2GB + 2GB Singtel WiFi 5GB
(+ 5GB/month if you sign up before 31 March)

3GB + unlimited weekend data (+10GB/month if you sign up before 29 March)

Other Notes
  • No activation, and SIM card fees.
  • Free Caller Number Display (Caller ID) and International Roaming.
  • No activation, and SIM card fees.
  • Free Caller Number Display (Caller ID) and International Roaming.

-

Free 1 month of HBO Go

  • No activation, and SIM card fees.
  • Free Caller Number Display (Caller ID) and International Roaming.
Total Cost Over Two Years S$1,686 S$1,638 S$1,827.60 S$1,830 S$2,029

 

Mid-tier plans comparison 

Data Plan M1 M1 Singtel
Name Reg mySIM(e) 70 Combo 3
Samsung Galaxy S10 Price S$428 S$328 S$468
Monthly Subscription S$62 S$70 S$68.90
Local Outgoing Mins 300 100 Unlimited* (10,000)
Local SMS 1,200 100 Unlimited* (10,000)
Local Data Bundle 4GB 15GB + 20GB 3GB
+ 2GB Singtel WiFi
Other Notes
  • No activation, and SIM card fees.
  • Free Caller Number Display (Caller ID) and International Roaming.
  • No activation, and SIM card fees.
  • Free Caller Number Display (Caller ID) and International Roaming.
-
Total Cost Over Two Years S$1,916 S$2,008 S$2,121.60

 

Mid-high-tier plans comparison

Data Plan M1 Singtel StarHub
Name Reg+ XO 78 S$75 2-year plan
Samsung Galaxy S10 Price S$328 S$378 S$329
Monthly Subscription S$82 S$78 S$75
Local Outgoing Mins 400 300 300
Local SMS 1,500 300 Pay per use at 5.35 cents/SMS OR purchase 500 SMS for S$3
Local Data Bundle 5GB 30GB
(+ 10GB/month if you sign up before 31 March)
30GB + unlimited weekend data
(+10GB/month if you sign up before 29 March)
Other Notes
  • No activation, and SIM card fees.
  • Free Caller Number Display (Caller ID) and International Roaming.
Free 24 months of HBO Go
  • No activation, and SIM card fees.
  • Free Caller Number Display (Caller ID) and International Roaming.
Total Cost Over Two Years S$2,296 S$2,250 S$2129

 

High-tier plans comparison 

Data Plan M1 M1 Singtel Singtel StarHub
Name Max mySIM(e) 90 /
mySIM(e) 118
Combo 6 XO 108 S$105 2-year plan
Samsung Galaxy S10 Price S$228 S$228 S$238 S$168 S$169
Monthly Subscription $102 S$90 /
S$118
$95.90 S$108 $105
Local Outgoing Mins 800 100 /
Unlimited* (10,000)
Unlimited* (10,000) 500 Unlimited
Local SMS 2,000 100 /
Unlimited* (10,000)
Unlimited* (10,000) 500 Pay per use at 5.35 cents/SMS
Local Data Bundle 7GB 50GB /
Unlimited*
(50GB)
6GB
+ 2GB Singtel WiFi
50GB
(+ 20GB/month if you sign up before 31 March)
60GB + unlimited weekend data
(+10GB/month if you sign up before 29 March)
Other Notes
  • No activation, and SIM card fees.
  • Free Caller Number Display (Caller ID) and International Roaming.
  • No activation, and SIM card fees.
  • Free Caller Number Display (Caller ID) and International Roaming.
- Free 24 months of HBO Go
  • No activation, and SIM card fees.
  • Free Caller Number Display (Caller ID) and International Roaming.
Total Cost Over Two Years S$2,676 S$2,388 /
S$3,060
S$2,539.60 S$2,760 S$2,689

 

Premium plans comparison 

Data Plan  M1 Singtel StarHub
Name Max+ Combo 12 S$238 2-year plan
Samsung Galaxy S10 Price

S$128

$0

S$0

Monthly Subscription S$228 S$239.90 S$238
Local Outgoing Mins Unlimited Unlimited* (10,000) 10,000
Local SMS 5,000 Unlimited* (10,000) 10,000
Local Data Bundle 13GB 12GB
+ 2GB Singtel WiFi
100GB + unlimited weekend data
(+10GB/month if you sign up before 29 March)
Other Notes
  • No activation, and SIM card fees.
  • Free Caller Number Display (Caller ID) and International Roaming.
$500 yearly phone voucher
  • No activation, and SIM card fees.
  • Free Caller Number Display (Caller ID) and International Roaming.
  • $500 yearly phone voucher
Total Cost Over Two Years

S$5,600

S$5,757.60

S$5,712

 

 

Analysis

On a cursory glance, StarHub's new plans seem to stand out with generous data and a reasonable price point, but our comparison deals with absolutes and not real-world network usage, coverage and other factors. As such, our analysis purely deals with who offers a good deal based on what's put on the table and nothing more. M1 has updated with their price plan offerings on 25th February, so here are our thoughts:-

Value plan category:- It's probably time that the telcos retire these entry-level plans. At their price point and limited talk time and data bundles, you could be better served with a pre-paid card or a SIM-only plan. Not only that, but because the overall two-year cost comes up to be very close to the next category of plans, we don't recommend anyone to get these. 

Basic plan category:- This is an interesting category with many different options at play depending on if you need a lot of data or more talk time. StarHub's S$50 2-year plan looks most tantalizing with the bonus data offered (up to 13GB per month) if you sign up before 17th March. However, it's also the most expensive option in this set of plans.

The real winner here is M1. Need a lot more talk time and SMS but you can live with 3GB of data? Their Lite+ plan does the job. However the MySIM(e) 40 springs an even better offer - get 15GB of data and although the default talk time is limited, the top-up for more minutes are just S$2.50/S$5/S$7.50 respectively for +200/+800/Unlimited talk time minutes. There's even an option top up S$5 for an extra 25GB of data - that's a whopping 40GB of total data for just S$45 a month. Factor that into the total two-year cost of ownership and M1's MySIM(e) 40 is the best option here.

Mid-tier category:- Singtel's Combo 3 plan doesn't look as worthwhile as its XO 78 plan in the next tier. Plus, the total two-year ownership cost pans out to be similar to StarHub's plan in the next tier. M1 is an easy recommendation here. Go with their Reg plan if you need a decent balance of talk time and 4GB of data that is fairly sufficient for the average user. Need more data than anything else? M1's MySIM(e) 70 will surely fit your needs and don't forget the talk time add-on options covered above. Corporate plan sign-ups usually don't entertain SIM-only plans, and if you're in such a fix go for the M1 Reg plan and add upsized data at just S$5.90 per month to net you a total of 7GB of data - plenty enough for most users.

Mid-high-tier category:- Singtel's new XO 78 seems like an easy recommendation with plenty of data and free HBO Go subscription, but StarHub's S$75 2-year plan is our current best overall plan in this category of offerings. What's clear is that M1's Reg+ plan is not competitive anymore.

High tier category:- Singtel has the overall lowest price, however it also has the smallest data bundle; in fact, you're better off getting the Singtel XO 78 plan compared from the above tier if you don't need a crazy amount of talk time and SMS. If you're a heavy data user, you may want to consider StarHub thanks to its 60GB data bundle, unlimited weekend data and unlimited talk time.

Premium plan tier:- StarHub's extra generous 100GB data bundle and unlimited weekend data, makes it a clear pick for data heavy users in this category. However, 12GB is still plenty of data for many consumers and if you can appreciate Singtel's Combo 12's overall proposition combined with the yearly S$500 handset voucher, this could be a good proposition too. M1's Max+ is the cheapest, but given that the savings is just S$100+ over two years on an overall spend well beyond S$5k, its value isn't as apparent.


In addition to the above analysis, here are telco specific offers that are tied in with the Samsung Galaxy S10 series:- M1, StarHub and Singtel.

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