Samsung Galaxy S10e Review: Best Choice For The Money

It appears that smartphone giant brands are focusing more on the price side as they are feeling the threats from OnePlus, Xiaomi, and other Chinese phone makers offering phones with a flagship-tier performance for a much lower price tag. With Apple launching the more affordable iPhone XR and now Samsung with its Galaxy S10e, users now have more choices. The Galaxy S10e’s price is just slightly higher than the Galaxy S9. It is the cheapest one in the Galaxy S10, but it still comes with the same display as the other two, great camera quality, powerful performance with the Snapdragon 855 SoC, and also solid build quality.

If you are really into the Galaxy S10 or Galaxy S10+, but you don’t really want to spend that much on just a phone, then the Galaxy S10e could be a great option for you.

Check out our review of the Galaxy S10e to know more about it.

Galaxy S10e: Design

Personally, I find the size of the Galaxy S10e is perfect for my taste. I could hold its 5.8-inch display perfectly, and all of its buttons are also quite easy to use and access.

Additionally, it is also the only Galaxy S10 phone that doesn’t come with a curved edge display which means its sides are both flat and it is way easier to hold on hand. With that, I could use the phone without being annoyed by accidentally touching a part of the display with my palm while holding the handset. So again, if you don’t like Samsung’s Edge display, the Galaxy S10e is the way to go.

The front design of the Galaxy S10e is attractive with slim and uniform bezels surrounding its display. There is also a small cut-out on top of the screen at the top right corner, which is the place for a selfie camera. That new Infinity-O design is the main reason that Samsung can achieve these thin bezels, which allows for a higher screen-to-body ratio. If you are not a fan of the punch hole, you can still hide it or use specific wallpapers to mask it on your lock and home screen.

Despite a stunning front, the rear panel of the handset is somewhat disappointing. Yes, it has, but the camera module is the thing that I can love about it. I don’t know why Samsung doesn’t just color it black just like that of the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+. However, that is the only thing I don’t like about its rear panel. The Prism Blue finish looks stunning. There are also three more colour options you can choose, and they are Prism White, Flamingo Pink, and Prism Black.

However, if you are planning to own Galaxy S10e or you already have one, you should immediately grab a case as it’s very slippery.

Moving to the side, it comes with a fingerprint scanner mounted on the power button instead of an ultrasonic one like its siblings. But even without the new and cooler tech, the physical fingerprint scanner is still just as fast or even faster, and I have also found that the capacitive sensor on the S10 is also more reliable. However, there are still some downsides with it:

• It is mounted on the power button which is on the right side of the handset, so it may cause some troubles for left-handed users.
• It is also placed a bit too high for me personally. I have to adjust to ensure that I can reach it every time I pick the phone up.
• You also have to cover the entire fingerprint sensor with your finger thumb or else it won’t work. Trust me, it will take you more than just a few days to get used to.

Face ID is another security measure that you can use to unlock the phone, but it is not as secure and can only be used for unlocking the smartphone only. If you need to use Samsung Pay, the fingerprint is the only option.

The headphone jack presence is another thing that I’m happy about the phone. I can both charge it and listen to my favorite music at the same time without having to buy an additional adapter for it.

Galaxy S10e: Display

The Galaxy S10e comes with the same Dynamic AMOLED panel just like its Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ siblings. The only differences are its size of 5.8 inches instead of 6.1 and 6.4 inches on the other two and its FHD+ resolution instead of WQHD+. Will it worth upgrading to the Galaxy S10 or S10+? Not really. The display still gets plenty of dim and bright, and I have had no issues with outdoor visibility. So, if you are a big fan of large display or QHD+ resolution, the Galaxy S10e display will do just fine. Moreover, I would say the display quality of the Galaxy S10e is better than that of the iPhone XR.

Galaxy S10e: Performance & Software

The Galaxy S10e has a lower price doesn’t mean that Samsung sacrifices its performance. It is powered by the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 855 SoC or Samsung’s Exynos 9820 SoC which is just as powerful. Memory is where Samsung cuts down on the Galaxy S10e. The base option of the S10e packs 6GB of RAM while it is 8GB of RAM on the S10 and S10+. Moreover, you only get 128GB of internal storage, but Samsung still allows users to expand the storage up to 512GB if needed. However, Samsung goes for hybrid slots on all Galaxy S10, so you have to choose either the second SIM card or microSD card.

Will having 2GB less RAM affect your experience? I doubt it. During my time with the handset, I haven’t experienced any lag or issue with it. I can play PUBG Mobile or Breakneck without any problem. Currently, Samsung only offers a single variant of the Galaxy S10e with 6GB of RAM in India, but there should be an additional 8GB of RAM option coming to the country.

As for playing games, the S10e is a very reliable companion. I have tested it with PUBG Mobile at max settings, and it was just a flawless experience. The fps was very stable with some insignificant dip during my gaming session. The same goes for the Asphalt 9 Legends which is another intensive title and some other games as well .

Moving to the software, Samsung’s UI 1.1 is based on the latest Android 9.0 Pie thought it aesthetically doesn’t share anything with the design direction of Google. Scaling is the first noticeable thing as the UI elements on the phone are quite big by default, with larger text, and an emphasis on squircles as well as most of the interactions are placed closer to the bottom side of the screen on every single menu to maximize the reachability.

Therefore, it’s easier to navigate on the Galaxy S10e with just one handset compared to the stock iOS or Android, which is surely a good thing. Moreover, Samsung also integrates a very simple gesture interface yet too clever that I can get used to very easily with much better efficiency compared to the traditional three-button navigation bar. I also love that there is a system-wide dark theme that you can use at all time or only during night time. I also love the look of the notifications and setting menus though it may be subject to personal preference.

However, there are still a few things I don’t like about the Galaxy S10e’s software such as Bixby. It will recommend some themes for your devices or show users some annoying advertisements for games that you will not play. I doubt that anyone would want to see such things on their home screen. Fortunately, you can still disable Bixby if you don’t want to see it.

Galaxy S10e: Cameras & Battery

Cameras are also where the Galaxy S10e and the other two Galaxy phones differ the most. While the more affordable S10e comes with a dual camera system, the Galaxy S10 and S10+ sport a triple camera setup. However, only the Galaxy S10+ has dual selfie cameras.

All three phones have the same primary rear sensor which is a 12MP camera with a variable aperture from f/1.5-f/2.4. The Galaxy S10e also only has a secondary 16MP ultra wide-angle lens with an aperture of f/2.2 while the other two have an additional telephoto camera. During my time with the phone, I personally find that its cameras are enough for my usage.

Moreover, I would say all three phones deliver similar photo quality. The cameras on the S10e are capable of taking excellent HDR photos, never over or under-exposing a picture. Photos taken in the daylight are saturated, detailed. However, the contrast is somewhat lacking so photos may look slightly washed.

Additionally, it seems the S10e is having issues with low-light photography. Photos taken under that condition quickly get muddy, especially taken by its wide-angle lens though it still has a good noise reduction. However, don’t expect good low-light photography. The Night Sight on Pixel 3 is still the king of capturing photos in low-light conditions.

Moving to the selfie camera, the Galaxy S10e only comes with a single sensor while the S10+ has an extra depth sensor. The selfie camera on the S10e is a 10MP camera with an aperture of f/1.9, which can record 4K UHD videos. The selfies taken by the camera is at good quality, but the ones from the S10+ is slightly more natural as well as better contrast.

Apple went for a bigger display and also a larger battery on its more affordable iPhone XR over the top-end iPhone XS. However, Samsung actually did the opposite thing which is giving its Galaxy S10e the smallest battery and display which actually holds it back.

Still, its small 3,100mAh cell can still be enough to power the handset for nearly a day with medium usage. But if you are planning to stay for work at bit late, you would need a portable charger with you.

I have done some tests with the S10e’s battery. It managed to last 9 hours and 30 minutes in the video playback test with Wi-Fi and max brightness setting while under the same condition, the S10+ could last for 10 hours and 14 minutes. That is a significant difference considering the fact that you could increase the battery life by reducing the brightness and turn off Wi-Fi which can get you much more time.

Galaxy S10e: Price & Availability

The more affordable Galaxy S10e will be priced at Rs. 55,900 for the single variant with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It will come in two colour variants, Prism White and Prism Black. It has another option with 8GB of RAM, but we are not sure if Samsung will offer it in the Indian market or not.