Get the Samsung Galaxy S10+ now through Telstra, and it'll replace it with the Galaxy S10 5G by mid-year.

Back at CES 2019, Telstra CEO Andy Penn stated that 2019 would be the "year of 5G", and to back up that claim, he promised that the nation's largest carrier would deliver 5G capable handsets from "some of the world's biggest vendors" before "any other Australian mobile operator".

Telstra has today announced that one of those phones will be the 5G-enabled variant of the Samsung Galaxy S10, the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G.

What's more, if consumers purchase a Samsung Galaxy S10+ through Telstra, the company promises that you'll be able to upgrade to the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G at no additional cost when the handset becomes available. We're yet to see full terms and conditions, but we suspect that will involve you keeping the Samsung Galaxy S10+ in reasonable working order for the relatively brief period you'd actually have the handset.

That's not just a question of swapping out a premium phone with 4G for one with 5G, either. The Samsung Galaxy S10 5G features a 6.7 inch display compared to the 6.4 inch display on the S10+. The battery is bigger too, with 4,500mAh of power compared to the 4,100mAh on the Galaxy S10+. Finally you get an extra camera, with Samsung's first quad-array camera in play. That's the same triple-camera as the Samsung Galaxy S10+, as well as a 3D Depth sensing lens that adds live focus sensing to video as well as a measurement capability.

Kevin Teoh, Telstra's Consumer Segment Executive stated that "Under the partnership, the Galaxy S10 5G will be available through Telstra before any other Australian mobile operator when it is released in the first half of 2019".

That means you'd be able to use a Galaxy S10 5G before the end of the financial year, but it also means that we should well and truly see Telstra 5G mobile plans before then as well. Telstra won't just be looking to offer the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G to upgrade customers, after all. It will want to sign up as many new customers as it possibly can as well.

If the prospect of an upgrade appeals to you, the Samsung Galaxy S10+ goes on pre-order from 9am on 21 February 2019, which just so happens to be today. We're yet to see Telstra plan pricing for the Samsung Galaxy S10+, but you can compare the specifications of the Galaxy S10+ and Galaxy S10 5G below:

Product Name Samsung Galaxy S10+ Samsung Galaxy S10 5G Display size 6.4 6.7 Operating system Android 9 Android 9 Height (mm) 157.6 162.6 Width (mm) 74.1 77.1 Depth (mm) 7.8 7.94 Weight (g) 175 198 Battery size (mAh) 4,100 4,500 Front camera (1) megapixels 10 10 Rear camera (1) megapixels 12 12 Rear camera (2) megapixels 12 12 Water Resistance IP68 IP68 Wi-Fi connectivity 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Network Category Speed Category 20 Category 20 Buy at Kogan