Samsung Galaxy S10 FM radio

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quickymart

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#273192 9-Aug-2020 23:29

One phone I'm eyeing for a future purchase is a Samsung Galaxy S10. I saw one in a shop today and it looks nice. However it doesn't have an FM radio by default (a feature I use daily).

Some searching reveals that some S10's have it available and some don't, using an app called NextRadio (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nextradioapp.nextradio&hl=en).

Can anyone with an S10 please confirm if this works or not in New Zealand? It seems to work for some regional variants of this phone - but not all...and if I was to get one, I would purchase it here.

Thanks in advance :)

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#2537539 10-Aug-2020 06:09

That app is not available in the NZ Google Play Store, and an APK I tried stated it wasn't compatible with my phone.

Do you have any specific evidence that the S10s sold in NZ have an FM radio chip?

I had expected to really miss having a built-in radio on my phone when I moved to my previous phone 2-3 years back, but it really has been fine. Depending on the bitrate of the steam of course, internet radio doesn't chew up much data.

Further, in the era of podcasts and offline Spotify it's easy to have more content than you can listen to right on your phone and without using mobile data. I get that is originally a significant charge in listening habits, but there are such advantages too. Personally I don't miss linear radio given I can select exactly what I want and listen to my podcasts at 2x speed, have no or minimal ads, skip boring bits... Win-win.

quickymart

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#2537546 10-Aug-2020 07:20

I have no confirmation, sadly...just what I've found online. I'd settle for streaming but I travel to a few places where there's minimal cell coverage, certainly not enough to stream - yet FM works fine.

This is the page I got my information from:

https://www.slashdigit.com/how-to-enable-fm-radio-on-samsung-galaxy-s10-s10-plus/

jonathan18

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#2537562 10-Aug-2020 07:56

Is there specific content you'd not be able to do without if you relied on downloaded content in those areas without data coverage?

It's just I think it's a problem with many possible solutions or substitutions so to decide on a phone in 2020 based on whether it has a radio is going to be unnecessarily restrictive, and this is only going to get trickier and trickier as fewer phones will feature this.

quickymart

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#2538291 10-Aug-2020 21:22

Not really, but in some places I've been (as well as when roaming) it's nice to have the radio there to pick up local stations. I guess I'm so used to it now; every phone I've ever had - barring a couple of very early model Nokias - have all had an FM radio, and it's something I would seriously look at for my next phone.

mentalinc

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#2538349 11-Aug-2020 07:47

My understanding is that NZ phones from Samsung use the exynos chips which don't have FM radio, but the USA phones use qualcomm (snapdragon) chip which do have FM radio.

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rogercruse

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#2538358 11-Aug-2020 08:11

Why don't you just purchase a small FM radio?

quickymart

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#2538834 11-Aug-2020 20:16

rogercruse:

Why don't you just purchase a small FM radio?

I hear what you're saying, but then I may as well purchase a camera, and a compass, and carry those things around with my phone...which kinda defeats the purpose of what I'm trying to do, really (have it all on one device).

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quickymart

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#3177911 5-Jan-2024 07:56

rogercruse:

Why don't you just purchase a small FM radio?

Thread bump. I think push is coming to shove for me. Hardly any of the new phones have an FM radio these days (something I still use quite a bit) so after years of having one built into my phone, I may have to bite the bullet and pick up something like this: https://www.mobilefun.co.nz/sony-ericsson-mw600-stereo-bluetooth-headset-22693 then look around at what phones are available as eventually I'll probably want one with 5G, and none of the 5G Samsung ones I can find (that aren't enormous) have an FM radio built in, if at all.

I was looking at the S10E but the FM radio implementation seems to be very hit-and-miss, also no 5G.

Pain in the neck but that's what we're coming to, the times they are a-changing.

Oblivian

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#3177979 5-Jan-2024 13:42

It was a pleasant surprise to me when my oppo find x3 which had a headphone port and no mention of radio still come with one pre installed. (Also 5G)

Unfortunately newer have once again dropped them.
Pick up an old nokia dumb for in the pocket? Week+ battery. Use to have one on the wall at work for radio.

Qazzy03

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#3178043 5-Jan-2024 14:35

S2 degrees s10e bought here.
No FM radio function on mine, tried a few different fm apps and no enjoy.

Samsung are going like Apple and removing more and more features. The micro SD slot has gone since the s21.

quickymart

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#3178076 5-Jan-2024 18:05

https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_10_iii-10698.php

I did look at one of these as a possible alternative, however it's missing a few Samsung-like features that I use frequently so was a bit hesitant.

quickymart

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#3178077 5-Jan-2024 18:06

Qazzy03: S2 degrees s10e bought here.
No FM radio function on mine, tried a few different fm apps and no enjoy.

Apparently it's region-dependent - I understand the US variant (ending in U) has it available but all the other ones don't. I daresay the one you got from 2degrees would not have been the US one.

Jase2985

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#3178177 5-Jan-2024 20:22

surely can you just stream it these days?

quickymart

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#3178179 5-Jan-2024 20:28

Oblivian: It was a pleasant surprise to me when my oppo find x3 which had a headphone port and no mention of radio still come with one pre installed. (Also 5G)

Unfortunately newer have once again dropped them.
Pick up an old nokia dumb for in the pocket? Week+ battery. Use to have one on the wall at work for radio.

Interesting as this says no FM radio: https://www.gsmarena.com/oppo_find_x3-10786.php

That screen is a little too big for my liking as well.

If anyone has found the Sony Ericsson device I listed above (or alternatively, this: https://www.mobilefun.co.uk/sony-ericsson-stereo-radio-portable-handsfree-hpm-80-bulk-10740) please let me know. They seem to be rarer than hen's teeth online!

quickymart

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#3178181 5-Jan-2024 20:29

Jase2985:

surely can you just stream it these days?

Yes, but as per above I can often be in places with poor/no mobile signal and good FM signal.

Anyway this is the reason for my question asking about getting a small portable digital FM radio to carry around, like the two examples I listed up the page.

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