Galaxy S10 leak reveals how Samsung avoids the iPhone's most controversial feature

This is what Samsung's next flagship smartphone is expected to look like

With two months to go until Samsung unveils its next flagship phone – presumably called the Galaxy S10 – we already know almost everything there is to know.

A slew of leaks and rumours mean little has been left to the imagination about the iPhone rival, with the latest leak revealing the lengths the South Korean electronic giant has gone to avoid the "notch" design.

For several years, smartphone manufacturers have been getting closer and closer to making an all-screen device, though necessary front-facing technologies like cameras and sensors have proved a major obstacle to achieving this goal.

Apple's answer was to include a notch at the top of the screen, which it unveiled pm the iPhone X in 2017 to widespread acclaim. Not everyone was impressed and Samsung took the opportunity to mock its chief rival.

Two separate adverts released by Samsung following the release of the iPhone X showed a man outside an Apple store with a notch-shaped haircut.

A new leak spotted by Dutch website LetsGoDigital reveals a series of Samsung patents for all-screen devices that make use of a hole instead of a notch.

The names of the screens are Infinity-V, Infinity-U, Infinity-O and New Infinity. The Infinity-O screen has already been used on the Samsung Galaxy A8, meaning the other three could be used in the three expected variants of the Galaxy S10.

Previous rumours suggest the three iterations will be called the Galaxy S10 Lite, the Galaxy S10 and the Galaxy S10+.

The three versions are expected to vary in size and price, ranging from £699 for the cheapest and smallest 128GB S10 Lite version, to £1,399 for the biggest and most expensive 1TB S10+ version.

A concept design for the Samsung Galaxy S10 (Creative Commons, mobil-helden)

Other rumours surrounding the Samsung Galaxy S10 suggest it may feature a self-healing screen, which makes use of a protective material to help prevent scratches.

A Samsung patent for the screen describes "an anti-fingerprinting composition having a self-healing property, and a film, a laminate, and a device including the anti-fingerprinting composition," for use in a "portable electronic device such as a smart phone or tablet."

The Galaxy S10 will be unveiled at a Samsung event ahead of the Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona, according to sources at a "major tech retailer" cited by the Gizmodo website.

Samsung has not revealed the exact date of the release, but the smartphone is expected to be released on 8 March 2019.