Samsung Galaxy S10e

Is Samsung’s cut-price flagship a cheap knock-off or a way to go high-end without the high cost?

While the Galaxy S10+ (reviewed last issue) showed Samsung at the height of its technical prowess, the S10e shows how well it can balance price and features. Coming in cheaper than the regular S10 devices, the ‘e’ apparently stands for ‘essential’, which is fair. In fact, no essentials have been skimped on here, and a lot more has been thrown in.

A to E

That includes design and build. The S10e feels high quality, especially the moulded glass of the front, and the Infinity-O display with the circle for the front camera. That display is 5.8 inches, compared with 6.1 inches on the S10 and 6.4 inches on the S10+. It’s much better for one-handed use, though there’s less space for apps.

Even by Samsung’s standards the OLED screen is special. It might be smaller and a lower resolution (1080x2280 pixels) than other S10 phones, but it still looks fantastic: vibrant colours, deep blacks and excellent brightness. Videos look ace too, especially with HDR10 support.