Of the three new flagships Samsung released, the Samsung Galaxy S10e is the most affordable. So what does it offer to make it a convenient alternative?

It’s easy to overlook the Galaxy S10e because it lacks all the features and flashy visuals of its two brethren. Once I started using it, though, I soon realized that this wasn’t really a watered-down version, it was a solid standalone phone unto itself.

The specs already indicate it, but it’s immediately obvious from first glance that the Galaxy S10e is smaller than its two siblings. Once you hold it in hand, a few things stand out. First, is the lack of a curved display. Where Samsung turned to exclusively using them on its flagship phones since the Galaxy S8, the return of a “flat” screen might be a good thing.

Second, the device has two camera lenses, one less than the three in the S10 and S10+. The power button doubles as a fingerprint sensor, so there is no onscreen sensor, like the other two have, either.

The smaller 5.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED is indeed smaller, with a lower resolution, but it’s not lacking in vibrancy or brightness. It may not rival that of the other two, but it looked good to me over the time I tested the phone. It even supports HDR10+, helping bring out better contrast when viewing supporting content.

The front-facing camera is nestled into the righthand corner, much like Samsung did with the other models. Interestingly, Samsung kept much of the camera specs intact on both sides. The Galaxy S10e sports the same 10-megapixel front camera, plus the same wide and ultra-wide lenses in the rear. The software is virtually the same, offering almost everything the others do.