Samsung Galaxy S10e review: Making compact flagships great again

Many have been averse to Samsung's insistence on making curved screens the only option on its flagship phones since the Galaxy S8 came out in 2017. And this twelvemonth, Samsung finally relented and brought united states the Galaxy S10e. It's probably non because the company realized there are consumers who want a apartment screen, but considering the Galaxy S10 comes in three variants, giving Samsung an opportunity to salve costs on the smallest model while keeping the curved displays on the Galaxy S10 and S10+.

And it'south not just a lack of curves that differentiates the Milky way S10e from its brethren. The S10e doesn't get the fancy new in-brandish fingerprint sensor, either, with Samsung opting to put the fingerprint sensor on the side, embedded into the power push. The S10e as well gets one less rear photographic camera and makes do with 6GB of RAM on the base model, and all of that combines to make the device a more affordable proposition (it costs a whopping $150 less than the S10 and $250 less than an S10+).

Just does the Galaxy S10e offering a user experience that justifies the flagship tag and go beyond just a compact phone with a flat display? Let's observe out in this Galaxy S10e review.

Galaxy S10e review: Pattern

The Galaxy S10e is a compact phone, as expected, but the new Infinity-O brandish with its dial-hole camera and smaller bezels make it a scrap shorter than the Galaxy S8 or S9 despite the same screen size. The lack of any curves on the display gives you more conviction with ane-handed usage likewise. Not that the S10e isn't a slippery eel. That'due south something you lot can't avert with phones that are fabricated of glass on the front and back. The S10e feels as premium as its larger siblings equally a event of all that drinking glass, merely it's also decumbent to impairment should it ever slip out of your hand and on to the floor below, so at least a basic case is however recommended.

The S10e has the same former physical key setup that we have seen on Samsung flagships in the last couple of years. You lot accept the volume and Bixby keys on the left and a power push button on the right. On the S10e, the power button also holds the fingerprint sensor. The power button is a fleck too high on the trunk so you have to stretch every so slightly to tap that fingerprint sensor. Not everyone volition face that problem, though. And thankfully, the fingerprint reader does a cracking chore despite its new-institute location on the side of the telephone. It detects your fingerprint at the slightest touch, and I found information technology better than the in-display fingerprint sensor on the S10+ as far every bit consistency was concerned.

If you're someone who upgrades to a new flagship phone almost every yr, you'll be surprised by how fresh the Galaxy S10e feels. That flat display is probably the main reason, forth with the fact that you experience the edges of the telephone more than you would with a curved screen. In that location's still no space for a notification LED, sadly, although at that place'southward promise that Samsung will enable the use of the light ring around the camera hole for notifications with a software update.

Display

The 5.8-inch Infinity-O Dynamic AMOLED panel on the Milky way S10e may non be curvy like the S10 or S10+' display, only information technology'south exactly the same in terms of display quality. Samsung is aiming at color accurateness with its tenth-anniversary flagship then the S10e has a warm white balance (yellowish whites) by default. You tin can switch to cooler (bluer) whites from the display settings, or if color accurateness is important for you, you can choose the Natural screen way.

And no, the fact that the S10e has a Full HD+ display and not a Quad Hard disk drive+ panel doesn't brand any perceivable difference to sharpness in twenty-four hours-to-day usage. Samsung hasn't stripped away the Edge screen functionality, either. Only the five.8-inch brandish does feel a scrap cramped at times. Of course, that could just exist something that bothered me, as I always opt for the larger of Samsung'southward flagship models, just those who always buy compact phones may non have whatever issues.

Every bit for that photographic camera hole, I'd say it's easy to outset ignoring it later on a couple of days, peculiarly with Android Pie'southward Night mode enabled. Not everyone may feel that way, and unfortunately, no ane can really give you a proper verdict. The gains in compactness thank you to that display cutout (and hence the smaller bezels) cannot exist understated, but the best thing to do is to exit to a store and play with the Galaxy S10e a bit before making a decision.

Cameras, Software

We're non going to waste time talking about the Milky way S10e'south cameras and the software. The S10e gets the same software features as the S10 and S10+, and then you can bank check out our Milky way S10+ review for details on the software. That goes for the cameras equally well, with the S10e sporting the same primary and ultra-wide rear cameras and the same primary 10MP front photographic camera equally the S10+. The just difference in the camera feel is with Live Focus portrait shots with the forepart camera. The S10e uses software-based Live Focus, and then the quality of portrait selfies is a bit lower, and we've put up some samples of Live Focus selfies below for you lot to check out. You tin also run into how Live Focus selfies differ between the S10e and S10+ here.

Performance

The Galaxy S10e comes with the Exynos 9820 chipset nether the hood like the S10 and S10+, with the Snapdragon 855 fulfilling the processing duties in markets like the US and China. Nosotros tested the Exynos model with 6GB of RAM and can say the S10e's operation matches that of the S10+. The S10+ gets 8GB of RAM past default, but the simply place y'all'll notice that making a divergence is in multitasking, with the S10e more prone to killing background apps (although you won't notice this in twenty-four hour period-to-day usage).

The lower screen resolution no incertitude helps the Milky way S10e chug forth without breaking a sweat. Every bit we had mentioned in our S10+ review, Samsung seems to take thrown in extra optimization on its 2019 Galaxy S flagships, and that results in shine animations and quick app launch times. There's barely any stutter, no affair what y'all try to practice on the telephone. The S10e did heat up quite a fleck during the first twenty-four hour period of use when I was busy installing apps and transferring my data to the phone, merely I didn't confront the heating issue from the second day.

As mentioned in the design section, that fingerprint scanner in the power button does a corking job at chop-chop and accurately detecting your fingerprints. Facial recognition works fast besides, and when you combine it with Android Pie'south Lift to wakecharacteristic, yous can quickly unlock the S10e by simply bringing information technology up in front of your face. Of grade, facial recognition isn't as secure as iris recognition, just that'southward something we will probably have to live with on all Samsung flagships from now on.

Audio quality, call quality

Okay, so you'd look the Galaxy S10e to take the aforementioned sound chops every bit the Galaxy S10 or S10+, but there's 1 key deviation that I noticed betwixt the S10+ and S10e. The S10e's stereo speakers don't seem to be as loud as the S10+. The audio quality is the same, in that in that location is no distortion even at total volume, but the S10e sounds a scrap quieter. It'due south not something you'll notice without having the two side past side, but I noticed something was off the start time I played something on the S10e'due south speakers afterwards shifting to information technology from the S10+.

When you enable Dolby Atmos, the S10+ too sounds fuller. Now, it's unclear if this disparity was present on the Milky way S8 or S9 equally well. When Samsung wasn't doing this all-screen, dial-hole brandish thing, we didn't think the speakers on the smaller Milky way S8 or S9 would be affected because of the smaller size of the phones, then we never tested things when those devices were released. Again, without an S10+ to compare to, the S10e sounds merely fine, and yous get the same AKG-tuned earphones in the box for high-quality in-ear sound.

Calls and network reception didn't pose a problem on the S10e nor do they differ from the S10+. Calls come in loud and clear and the person at the other end never complained, and network reception on both SIM slots is impeccable, even in depression-network areas like underground parkings. The one affair I miss is the selection to add extra volume during calls, though. That was a useful characteristic for a long time on Samsung phones, but it's missing on the S10 lineup.

Battery life

The Galaxy S10e's bombardment life is surprisingly good. It'south not neat, and you can't get to the end of the twenty-four hours on a unmarried charge with heavy usage, but it's certainly meliorate than what we had hoped. With light to medium usage, the phone tin last for around 13-14 hours and offering screen on times of effectually three.5-iv hours very consistently. Once more, the lower-resolution display on the S10e is probably what helps it surprise us with the endurance. Where the Galaxy S10+ falls behind the Milky way Notation ix despite a like chapters bombardment, the S10e holds its own and doesn't make you worry as much as you would think.

Fifty-fifty if you lot exercise discover bombardment life lacking, the pocket-sized battery (iii,100 mAh) means the S10e can charge very speedily. You also get Samsung's usual power saving modes, and I personally found myself enabling the medium power saving mode when going out of the house for extended periods, as that reduces background data usage over mobile data and helps keep the lights on a bit longer. And the Milky way S10e supports Wireless PowerShare like the S10 and S10e, so you lot can wirelessly charge your wearable devices or another telephone when the occasion calls for it.

Conclusion

We were not prepared for how good the Milky way S10e would plow out to exist when nosotros were post-obit all those rumors and leaks earlier the Galaxy S10 lineup's official announcement. Information technology has a few compromises and lacks some features compared to the Milky way S10 and S10+, just like the Milky way S9 did compared to the S9+, but the overall package is a very compelling one. And that's because the essentials are all there.

The display doesn't have whatever curves, simply it's of the highest quality otherwise. You don't get a telephoto photographic camera for lossless 2x zoom, but y'all do become an ultra-broad photographic camera that comes in handy. The battery chapters isn't that high, but the S10e manages to terminal long enough for information technology to not exist a worrisome limitation. And while there'southward no in-brandish fingerprint sensor on the S10e, its traditional fingerprint sensor works very well. Software performance is besides peachy, fifty-fifty though Samsung is withal giving y'all lesser RAM on the smallest version.

The best office is the price tag, of course. At a starting toll of $750, the Galaxy S10e is considerably more than affordable than the S10 or S10+ while offer a virtually like user experience on nearly fronts. Overall, the Galaxy S10e is an fantabulous compact flagship phone and gets our hearty recommendation.

Pros	Cons
Stunning AMOLED display despite the lack of curves	Front camera cutout will put off some people, at least in the starting time few days
Compact design cheers to smaller bezels	Bright Night photographic camera feature for low-light photos is more often than not useless
Flat display enables more confidence in one-handed usage	Lacks some bells and whistles of S10 and S10+, like in-brandish fingerprint sensor and telephoto/zoom camera
Bully all-round camera performance, ultra-wide lens	Display can feel a bit cramped at times
Noticeably faster and smoother than previous Milky way flagships	No iris sensor
Loud stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos	Stereo speakers slightly quieter than on the S10+
A headphone jack!	No notification LED
New software features, like Digital Wellbeing and Bixby Routines
Ability button-mounted fingerprint sensor works swell
Bombardment life is better than expected, supports reverse wireless charging
Great pricing

SamsungMilky way S10e

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Source: https://www.sammobile.com/samsung/galaxy-s10e/review

Posted by: smithpustrythe.blogspot.com

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