I am in love with the Galaxy S10e. No, really, I am in love with this phone. Samsung has finally made a worthwhile compact flagship again. My colleagues Danny and Daniel had talked about how they liked the Galaxy S10e the most when they went hands-on with the three Galaxy S10 models before Samsung's Unpacked event, and I can see why.
First off, that flat display makes the phone feel rather different. The main reason for that is basically the fact that we haven't seen a Galaxy flagship with a flat display after the Galaxy S7, so the S10e feels quite fresh. The phone's quite compact, more so than the Galaxy S8 or S9, thanks to the new Infinity-O display and smaller bezels. That and the lack of any curves make you feel much less worried when using the phone without a case. And what's also surprised me is the battery life on the S10e.
A winner of a compact flagship?
With a 3,100 mAh battery under the hood, the Galaxy S10e isn't expected to be an endurance champ. But it manages to last considerably long for its battery capacity. While the Galaxy S10+' endurance isn't that great for its battery size, the Galaxy S10e was the exact opposite. I'm assuming the lower-resolution display is helping things here. And perhaps Samsung should have done this earlier, as the Galaxy S10e's lower display resolution doesn't make its presence felt because of the small screen size. It may affect the virtual reality experience on Samsung's Gear VR, but I'd say the trade-off is worth it because, after all, not many people use the Gear VR that often.
The only thing I'm truly missing on the S10e is a telephoto lens in the rear camera setup. The ultra-wide sensor is great to have, but the camera experience is still an area where Samsung's smallest flagship misses out compared to the larger model(s). It also misses out on an in-display fingerprint sensor. I wouldn't say that's much of an issue, though, since the traditional capacitive fingerprint sensor on the Galaxy S10e is quicker and more consistently accurate being a tried and tested technology compared to the ultrasonic reader on the Galaxy S10 and S10+.
Overall, the Galaxy S10e is in a league of its own in Samsung's tenth-anniversary Galaxy S lineup, and it's a surprisingly excellent phone despite some of the shortcomings. We'll talk more about those shortcomings in our Galaxy S10e review, so hang on just a little longer if you still haven't been able to make up your mind about whether the S10e is a phone worth purchasing or not.
