Samsung Galaxy S10e
FLAGSHIP SPECS AND SOLID CAMERAS AT A DISCOUNT.
THE GALAXY S10E is Samsung’s flagship phone with 2019 specs and features at 2016 prices, giving consumers the opportunity to score all of the cool new features in the Galaxy S10 at a solid discount.
In such a way, the S10e (‘e’ for ‘essential’) has plenty in common with the Apple iPhone 11, and it’s easy to see it as the Samsung budget flagship for its line: both pack the standout perks of their generation in a handset that isn’t quite as svelte or feature-rich as their costlier siblings. Now that Apple’s budget flagship has an ultrawide camera and improved software, the S10e’s list of novel features is a bit shorter, though its smaller size is still appealing for some.
Naturally, there are compromises for the phone’s lower cost. The S10e doesn’t get some of some of the neat features packed in its pricier siblings, like an in-screen fingerprint sensor, curved screen sides or a telephoto lens. These perks have indeed appeared in more handsets in 2019, like the Huawei P30 and OnePlus 7 Pro, so it’ll be curious to see if their exclusion gives you flagship phone envy.
But we doubt you’ll be too jealous. The Galaxy S10e is a one-hand-friendly phone with outstanding specs to match – a combo that will endear the handset to you. 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.
While the S10e doesn’t have its pricier siblings’ fancy in-screen fingerprint scanner, Samsung didn’t leave a biometric fingerprint pad on the back, opting instead to put a small capacitive sensor within an enlarged power button on the top-right side. It’s surprisingly responsive, though it works far better with thumbs. Why? Because you have to cover the whole sensor with your digit, and mashing your fingertip flat enough to envelop the button is tough from any angle.
Just use a thumb.
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.
CAMERA
The S10e comes with two rear-facing main cameras: a dual-aperture f/1.5-2.4 12MP main camera with OIS for smoothing out your shaky footage and a 16MP f/2.2 ultrawide shooter. The S10 and S10 Plus have both of those as well as a 2x optical zoom lens for a triple-lens array that’s become standard on flagships like the Huawei Mate 20 and LG V40 ThinQ. It’s possible that users will miss the telephoto lens, but if the phone was going to ditch any of the three, we’re glad it was one we wouldn’t use as often as the wide and ultrawide.
Even packing two cameras makes the S10e an upgrade over last year’s Samsung Galaxy S9, which had a single dual-aperture shooter. 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.
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 the fellas jealous. Instead, think of it as the best flagship you could get from 2016 phone possibilities that still costs a 2016 flagship price.
That could leave the S10e open to competition from phones that trim features even closer to the bone to save costs, like OnePlus tends to do. We’ll have to see if the upcoming OnePlus 7 puts up a strong fight – but even if it does, the S10e still might come out on top thanks to sheer availability. Nothing’s worse than knowing there’s a slightly better phone out there that you just can’t buy.
THE S10E COMES WITH TWO REAR-FACING MAIN CAMERAS: A DUAL-APERTURE F/1.5-2.4 12MP MAIN CAMERA WITH OIS FOR SMOOTHING OUT YOUR SHAKY FOOTAGE AND A 16MP F/2.2 ULTRAWIDE SHOOTER.