All Samsung Galaxy S10 phones will ship with pre-applied screen protector

At the official Samsung Members website, a posted notice explains that every iteration of the Samsung Galaxy S10 across the world will ship to consumers with a pre-applied screen protector. This is the first time Samsung has done this with a flagship smartphone.

In the notice, Samsung explains that it made this decision in order to “increase overall customer experiences with the improved screen durability and full functionality of the Ultrasonic Fingerprint Sensor on Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10 Plus.”

Later on in the notice, Samsung encourages consumers and suppliers to only use Samsung-branded screen protectors on the Samsung Galaxy S10 if they plan to replace it now or in the future.

Leading up to the launch of the Galaxy S10 lineup, several stories broke related to screen protectors. One company said it will not make a screen protector for the device due to its designs not working with the device’s in-display fingerprint sensor. Additionally, a behind-the-scenes video at some sort of Samsung event showed a bizarre punch-hole screen protector on a Galaxy S10.

It’s likely Samsung is pre-emptively applying a screen protector that it knows will work with the fingerprint sensor to prevent people from buying a cheap protector that will cause them fingerprint-scanning issues. The screen protector is covered by a 90-day warranty with an MSRP of $29.99.

It is not clear why Samsung is doing this for all variants of the Galaxy S10, considering the Galaxy S10e has a side-mounted sensor.

Although this is the first time Samsung is pre-applying a screen protector to a flagship phone, this practice is not uncommon. OnePlus, for example, has shipped many of its phones with pre-applied protectors, including the latest OnePlus 6T.