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  • SPECS
  • THE GOOD
  • THE NOT SO GOOD
  • Design, hardware, what's in the box
  • Software, performance, bombardment
  • Camera samples
  • Should y'all buy it? Rating 7.5/10

New smartphones are released in the Usa so ofttimes that it tin be tough to continue upward with them all. Some phones inevitably fall through the cracks in news coverage and reviews, like the Galaxy A10e — a upkeep smartphone released late concluding year that at present costs about $180.The Galaxy A10e is still one of the best-selling unlocked phones in the United States (it'southward #4 on Amazon, as of the time of writing), and so nosotros thought at present is as expert a time every bit e'er to check it out.

SPECS

SoC Exynos 7884B (Octa-cadre, two @ one.6GHz, 6 @ 1.35GHz)
Display 5.83-inch 720 ten 1560 IPS
RAM 2GB
Storage 32GB (microSD expandable)
Camera 8MP f/1.nine primary, 5MP front end-facing
Battery 3,000mAh
Software Android 9 Pie
Dimensions 5.80" x 2.74" x 0.33", v.93 oz
Ports USB Type-C
Headphone jack Yes

THE GOOD

Screen It's just 720p, but information technology's good enough for a budget phone.
Connectivity It'due south nice to see USB Blazon-C, a headphone jack, and microSD support.

THE NOT SO Good

Camera Information technology's not proficient.
Missing features Even compared to other ~$200 phones, no fingerprint sensor and no NFC are letdowns.

Design, hardware, what's in the box

The Galaxy A10e shares design cues from other budget Android smartphones. The plastic case is coated in a sleeky end, intended to emulate the wait and feel of drinking glass, merely it but ends up being gross to impact afterward it collects dirt and smudges — I would have preferred matte plastic.

The screen is a 5.83-inch IPS screen, with a resolution of 720 x 1560 and a notch at the acme-center. Coming from using a OnePlus 7 Pro, I appreciate how it's a little easier for me to employ this phone with one hand. For comparing, it's 0.4 inches shorter than the display on the smallest Galaxy S20 (vi.two inches). I'm not too picky almost display panels, only the one on the A10e seems acceptable, with vivid colors and decent contrast. It's not an AMOLED screen though, so you won't get the deep blacks that you would get on phones like the Galaxy A51.

On the bottom of the phone, you get a single speaker, a USB Type-C port, and a headphone jack — nothing out of the ordinary for a phone in the $200 cost range. The speaker quality leaves a lot to be desired, with enough of distortion once you reach high volumes, and then yous'll probably desire to use that headphone jack wherever possible.

Galaxy A10e (left) side by side to the OnePlus 7 Pro (right)

The right side has the volume rocker and power push. I'yard non a fan of how close together these controls are, and since they have an identical texture and are surrounded past the glossy slippery plastic, I often turned off the phone by accident while trying to turn the book down. Y'all'd probably become used to it subsequently a few weeks, just it's still annoying.

The only item on the Galaxy A10's left side is the SIM/SD card slot, which you can employ to add upwardly to 512GB of additional storage. Nevertheless, keep in mind that Samsung disables adoptable storage support, and then you can actually just use the microSD card for file/media storage.

Speaking of missing features, in that location are two pieces of hardware that are notably absent-minded from the Galaxy A10e: an NFC chip for contactless payments, and a fingerprint scanner. While information technology'south fairly common for US phones in this toll range to skip NFC support, the lack of whatsoever fingerprint scanner is more strange. Motorola but released the 9.99 Moto G Fast and 9.99 Moto Eastward, and both phones have fingerprint sensors.

In the box, you lot get the telephone, a USB Type-C cable, and a 5V/1.55A wall charger.

Software, operation, bombardment

The Galaxy A10e runs Samsung'due south flavour of Android ix Pie, besides known as 1 UI 1.1. That means the software feel is fairly similar to what you go on flagship Galaxy S and Note smartphones, minus the features that require specific hardware. There's no Android 10 update withal, merely some international models have received the upgrade.

I was happy to see that my unit has been updated to the May 2020 security patch level, and then Samsung has kept upward with updates since the phone'south release — something that isn't incredibly common with budget phones in the The states.

This is one of Samsung's few devices in the United States that utilize the company's own Exynos processors, instead of Qualcomm Snapdragon fries. The Milky way A10e has an Exynos 7884B SoC, which is about on-par with a Snapdragon 632 in benchmarks. In real-life utilise, the phone does sometimes take a 2nd or two when opening applications or switching betwixt active apps, merely full general performance is definitely adequate for a $200 phone.

It's probably not a surprise that the Galaxy A10e's bombardment life is excellent, given the low-power processor and iii,000mAh battery dorsum, but I came away impressed. I concluded most days with around l-forty% remaining, with my usual mix of checking emails and Slack messages, watching videos, and a little bit of web browsing. Anybody's battery life will be different, but the Galaxy A10e gave me nearly the same longevity that I go from my OnePlus 7 Pro.

Photographic camera samples

The Galaxy A10e has a single 8MP rear camera, and to be honest, it'due south non proficient. There'due south not enough resolution to create well-baked, detailed photos, and Samsung's mail-processing usually pumps up the color saturation to unnatural levels. The front end camera is adequate for video chats, though.

Poor camera performance is to be expected with phones in this toll range, but last twelvemonth'south Moto G7 phones could usually provide sharper photos in our testing.

Should you buy it? Rating 7.5/10

Samsung Milky way A10e

Maybe. I definitely enjoyed using the Galaxy A10e, thanks to its smaller physical size, great battery life, and lightweight design. The software experience is very close to what you'd go on Samsung's $1,000+ flagship smartphones, and performance was acceptable. Information technology besides works on all major Usa carriers, which is missing from Nokia's budget phones.

However, the lack of NFC support and a fingerprint sensor might be deal-breakers for some people. As previously mentioned, Motorola is now selling phones for less coin than the Galaxy A10e that have fingerprint sensors and full back up for all United states carriers — though you all the same won't get NFC for contactless payments. The Galaxy A10e also has an extremely poor camera, merely you won't become anything significantly amend from the competition at this price range.

Purchase it if:

  • You lot desire a Milky way phone, but your budget is effectually $200.
  • Your priorities are hardware/software performance and bombardment life.

Don't purchase it if:

  • You take a lot of photos.
  • You need NFC support or a fingerprint scanner.

Purchase: Amazon, Best Buy

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Nearly The Author

Corbin Davenport (3633 Articles Published)

Corbin is a tech journalist and developer who worked at Android Police from 2016 until 2021. Cheque out his other piece of work at corbin.io.

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