 "Galaxy S10 E vs iPhone XR: A spec war between two 'budget' flagship smartphones")
The Galaxy S10 series has been finally unveiled by Samsung on 20 February even though leaks had given us a clear picture of the device before that launch had even happened. This time, like Apple last year, Samsung has unveiled three smartphones in the S-series lineup namely the S10, S10 Plus, and S10 E.
While the S10 and S10 Plus are the premium flagship devices from Samsung, the S10 E is what you could call as a budget version of those two. Although it is by no means cheap with a starting price of $749, the S10 E does offer nearly all the features of the S10 while having only a few tradeoffs.
These tradeoffs include a flat Infinity O display instead of the curved one. Lower RAM and storage for the starting variant. Dual-cameras instead of triple cameras on the back and a capacitive fingerprint reader instead of an in-display one. The screen size of the S10 E is also 5.8-inch as compared to the 6.1-inch and 6.4-inch on the S10 and S10 Plus respectively. Apart from that the internals of the phones are more-or-less the same
A certain phone from Apple was also launched with certain tradeoffs to keep the price low. The iPhone XR was the budget iPhone in 2018 and even it retails for a price of $749. The XR doesn’t have the AMOLED display, dual-camera and the stainless steel finish of the expensive iPhone XS and XS Max. It also comes with lower RAM and storage options. However, the internals of the phone were the same as that of the iPhone XS .
It makes sense for us to compare the budget flagship from the tech giants. So we have a spec comparison for both the phones below.
| Smartphone | iPhone XR | Samsung Galaxy S10E |
|---|---|---|
| Display Size (inch) | 6.1 | 5.8 |
| Resolution (pixels) | 828 x 1792 | 1080 x 2280 |
| Pixel Density (PPI) | 326 | 438 |
| Display Type | LCD | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Dimensions(mm) | 150.9 x 75.7 x 8.3 | 142.2 x 69.9 x 7.9 |
| Weight (gm) | 194 | 150 |
| Dual SIM | Yes | Yes |
| SIM Type | Nano-SIM + eSIM | Hybrid Dual |
| Connectivity Types | GSM / HSPA / LTE/ VoLTE | GSM / CDMA / HSPA / EVDO / LTE |
| Processor | A12 Bionic | Exynos 9820 |
| CPU Cores | Hexa-core | Octa Core |
| CPU Clock Speed (GHz) | 2x2.5 GHz Vortex + 4x1.6 GHz Tempest | 2x 2.7 GHz Mongoose M4 & 2x 2.3 GHz Cortex-A75 & 4x 1.9 GHz Cortex-A55 |
| GPU | Apple GPU | Mali-G76 MP12 |
| RAM | 4 GB | 6. 8 GB |
| Ruggedness | IP 67 | |
| On-Board Memory | 64, 128, 256 GB | 128//.256 GB |
| Expandable Memory | No | Yes, up to 512 GB |
| Sensors | Face ID, Accelerometer, Gyro, Proximity, Compass, Barometer | Fingerprint (side-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer |
| Primary Camera | 12MP f/1.8 | 12 MP, f/1.5-2.4 and 16 MP. f/2.2 |
| Optical Image Stabilization | Yes | Yes |
| Camera Array | Single Camera | Dual-camera |
| Autofocus System | Phase detection autofocus | Dual Pixel PDAF |
| Secondary Camera | 7 MP f/2.2 | 10 MP, f/1.9 |
| Video Capture | 2160p@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@480fps | 2160p@30fps, 1080p@30fps |
| Flash | Quad-LED | LED Flash |
| OS Version | iOS 12 | Android 9.0 Pie/ One UI |
| AI (Smart Assistant) | Siri | Bixby, Google Assistant |
| GPS | Yes | Yes |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | v5.0, A2DP | 5.0, A2DP, LE, aptX |
| NFC | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared | No | No |
| Fingerprint Scanner | No | Yes, side-button |
| 3.5mm jack | No | Yes |
| Radio | No | No |
| USB Type | Lightning Port | Type-C Reversible connector |
| USB Standard | USB 2.0 | v 3.1 |
| Battery (mAh) | 2942 mAh | 3100 |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes (support wireless fast charging as well) |
| Colors | Black, Red, Yellow, Blue, Coral | Prism White, Prism Black, Prism Green, Prism Blue, Canary Yellow, Flamingo Pink |
| Prices in India | Rs 76,900 | “>$749.99 |
In terms of display, the S10 E seems to be a winner with its 505 ppi AMOLED display. The dual-camera is also a bonus although we shall have to test the phone thoroughly to make a final verdict. For now, both Samsung and Apple have released decent ‘budget’ versions of their flagship devices and we shall see if the S10 E sells as much as Samsung hopes it would. Stay tuned for a detailed review of all the S10 devices released by Samsung.
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