Samsung Galaxy S10e
SAMSUNG FLAGSHIP CAMERAS AND SPECS AT A LOWER PRICE.
THE GALAXY S10E is Samsung’s flagship phone with 2019 specs and features at 2016 prices, providing consumers an option to snag all of the cool new features in the Galaxy S10 at a notable discount.
In this way, the S10e (‘e’ for ‘essential’) has a lot in common with the Apple iPhone XR, and it’s tough not to see it as the Samsung ‘budget flagship’ of the iPhone XS line: both pack the best aspects of their generation in a phone that’s not quite as svelte or feature-rich as their pricier siblings.
But the real competition isn’t between either lower-cost device – it’s between them and their costlier siblings. We found the S10e to be robust enough to forgo the extra perks in the S10 ($210 more) or the S10 Plus ($350 more). As a bonus, the S10e’s smaller dimensions will certainly appeal to folks who don’t appreciate the expanding size of flagship phones.
There are compromises for that lower cost, of course. The S10e doesn’t get some of some of the neat features in its pricier siblings, like an in-screen fingerprint sensor, curved screen sides or a telephoto lens.
But we doubt you’ll be too jealous. The Galaxy S10e is a lovely one-handfriendly phone. Its 5.8-inch all-screen display is easy to hold and its chipset is fast enough that it’ll compete with other flagships for years to come, even if its compromises in display resolution and camera fall short of the Samsung Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10 Plus.
DESIGN
As previously stated, one of the Galaxy S10e’s more attractive features might, ironically, be its smaller size. As main flagships get ever-larger, a contingent of consumers have steadily gone for smaller phones – just look at the popularity of the iPhone SE (RIP) – and the S10e is as manageable as top-tier phones get with a width of 2.75 inches. (Curiously, the iPhone XS is the smallest of its generation, and the S10e is smaller than that phone by a hair.)
The S10e otherwise looks like a shrunken version of its pricier siblings, with a few exceptions. Samsung didn’t include the Galaxy line’s Infinity Edge tapered display in this less expensive model, so you’ll have to accept a flat front screen with more noticeable bezels. As it’s the smallest of the S10 line, the S10e is also the lightest, coming in at 150g – which is another feather in its cap when compared to the 208g iPhone XR.
DISPLAY
The 5.8-inch AMOLED display lives up to the Galaxy S name, with bright colors and crisp detail. If you don’t quite like the color balance, you can tinker with an easy fix called Vivid Mode, which does what it says on the box and lets you further tweak it to be a warmer (more red) or cooler (more blue) picture. If even that isn’t enough, you can tinker with the RGB levels individually. Side-by-side with an iPhone XS Max, the S10e’s screen kept up gamely, losing out only on the darkest scenes in a media comparison (the ‘Blackwater’ episode of Game of Thrones is good fodder for this, just saying), where backgrounds of varying blacks average out into dark gray smudges.
This is somewhat expected, as the S10e has a single 2280 x 1080 (438 ppi) resolution setting. Samsung sets this as the default for its flagship phones, but both the S10 and S10 Plus max out at 3040 x 1440 for a higher ~550 ppi. One other minor difference between the models: the S10e has Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on front and back, while its bigger siblings have had their front display’s glass upgraded to Gorilla 6.
CAMERA
Even packing two cameras makes the S10e an upgrade over last year’s Samsung Galaxy S9, which had a single dual-aperture shooter.
XS MAX, THE S10E’S SCREEN KEPT UP GAMELY, LOSING OUT ONLY ON THE DARKEST SCENES IN A MEDIA COMPARISON (THE ‘BLACKWATER’ EPISODE OF GAME OF THRONES IS GOOD FODDER FOR THIS, JUST SAYING), WHERE BACKGROUNDS OF VARYING BLACKS AVERAGE OUT INTO DARK GRAY SMUDGES.
Taking wider shots is great for sheer functionality: the main camera has a 77-degree field-of-view, but the ultrawide has 123-degree FOV, which captures a surprising amount of extra context on the sides of a shot. Best of all, while dialing up or down zoom increments, switching between wide and ultrawide lenses is virtually seamless – which is a departure from the clanky transition when doing the same with the Huawei Mate 20 Pro.
ORMANCE & PERFORMANCE
The S10 phones are the first in many markets to feature the new Snapdragon 855 chipset, and will be for some time into 2019. Sure, it would be a surprise if Samsung gimped its ‘essential’ model with an older processor, but it’s still nice to see it get a leading chip, especially after Apple did the same for the iPhone XR. The S10e managed a blistering 10,523 average score on Geekbench 4, if you wanted its performance put to numbers.
The phone’s baseline 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage will be more than enough for most people – we zipped around the UI swapping apps with abandon and didn’t see a snag. You can upgrade to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of space for a modest price bump (at least in the US), but that’s probably only necessary if you absolutely need more space. If the higher tier isn’t available in your region, you can expand storage with a MicroSD card.
As for the battery, the S10e packs a 3,100mAh unit, which was plenty to get through the day while managing chat apps, email and listening to music. Recharging is quick with up to 15W fast charging (and 15W wireless charging), which isn’t the fastest-wattage charging on the market, but it gets the job done.
VERDICT
It’s hard not to recommend the S10e to anyone who prefers a smaller phone. Size queens, look elsewhere – this smartphone is for folks who want to text and browse apps one-handed.
Considering also the handful of top-shelf perks cut to save costs, the S10e isn’t the trophy flagship you flaunt to make your friends jealous. Instead, think of it as the best flagship you could get from 2016 phone possibilities that still costs a 2016 flagship price.