| Pros | Cons |
| Decent battery life | No fingerprint scanner |
| Big screen | Basic camera |
| Good value | Mediocre performance |
The Samsung Galaxy A10 is a textbook example of a basic phone that still just about holds its own, by delivering all you can expect for the money in most areas. It's not exciting but it's a very solid budget buy.
The Galaxy A series is a mostly mid-range selection of handsets, and the Samsung Galaxy A10 slots in at the bottom of that, making it closer to an entry-level phone. But this is an almost entry-level handset with higher end styling and a big name behind it.
So does the Galaxy A10 live up to the Samsung name? Is it worth the money? And is it a good buy, or are you better off spending a bit more and getting, say, a Samsung Galaxy A40? Read on for answers to all that and more.
The Samsung Galaxy A10 has a 6.2-inch 720 x 1520 IPS LCD screen with a 19:9 aspect ratio and 271 pixels per inch.
That makes it fairly large, while the aspect ratio is handy for movies, but the resolution and display technology won’t be threatening higher end handsets. That said, this is easily in line with most similar cost handsets.
And while visuals won’t be as vibrant or pin-sharp as they would be when using, say, a OnePlus 7T, they’re still very reasonable. In other words, if you’re not expecting a top-tier screen (which you shouldn’t be for the money) then you shouldn’t be disappointed by this.
One caveat we would add though is that the screen doesn’t get especially bright. Generally this isn’t much of a problem, but when the sun is pounding down on it the display can look rather washed out.
At this price you won’t be surprised to hear that the Samsung Galaxy A10 has a plastic back – it would be surprising if it was anything else.
That said, it doesn’t look bad, with a glossy finish that catches the eye whether you choose the black or blue version.
Flip the phone over to the front and things are even better, as the screen takes up most of the front. There is a slim bezel below it, but at the top there’s just a small teardrop notch.
It’s a good look, albeit one that is increasingly filtering down to cheap handsets, so this is hardly unique. It’s worth noting also that the Galaxy A10 is quite slim though, coming in at just 8.1mm thick. That too helps it look good, and leaves it slightly thinner than the likes of the 8.2mm Google Pixel 4.
It almost goes without saying, but of course there’s no water resistance rating here – you typically have to spend quite a lot more for that.
The Samsung Galaxy A10 is not a top performer. While it should outmatch something like the Huawei Y6 (2019), it’s still not going to be great for demanding games and the like.
However, its octa-core Exynos 7885 chipset and 2GB of RAM should prove adequate for general operations, such as navigating the interface, using most apps, and even playing basic games.
As with so many aspects of this phone, the specs are about in line with what you should expect for the money but don’t really go above and beyond in any sense.
You get a single-lens 13MP rear camera with the Samsung Galaxy A10. This has an f/1.9 aperture and is accompanied by an LED flash. It’s basic in other words, but not completely hopeless. In decent light it can take acceptable shots, just don’t give it anything challenging.
The snapper can also record 1080p video at 30fps, and there’s a 5MP front-facing camera with an f/2.0 aperture. This too is basic, but both lenses are helped by the addition of various filters, AR stickers, and stamps, to make your photos more fun.
As with most budget phones, you don’t get much in the way of extra features with the Samsung Galaxy A10, but there are some.
For one thing, it offers facial recognition, so you can unlock your phone simply by looking at the front camera. This isn’t super secure, especially as the version here just uses a 2D image, but it’s quite slick and better than no security. Notably however there’s no fingerprint scanner, so if you want security but don’t want facial recognition, then you’re stuck with an old school PIN or password.
The Samsung Galaxy A10 also runs Android 9 Pie, which isn’t the latest Android version but is only one behind, and being a recent handset it may well get updated to Android 10.
The Samsung Galaxy A10 has a 3,400mAh battery, which is a middling size. If anything it’s perhaps a bit small for a phone with a 6.2-inch display, but there aren’t a huge number of pixels to push.
In practice, battery life is perhaps slightly above average, as the Galaxy A10 should last beyond a day, though that mythical two days of life will still be hard to reach for anything other than light users.
Memory comes in at 32GB, which isn’t much, but there’s also a microSD card slot that you’ll almost certainly want to make use of.
Connectivity options include NFC (so you can make contactless payments), plus Bluetooth 5.0.
The Samsung Galaxy A10 struggles to stand out from the crowd, as just about everything about it is basic and there’s no fingerprint scanner.
Having said that, the screen is a decent size, battery life is above average, and while it’s basic it gets the job done for most tasks.
All of which means this isn’t a phone that will excite you but nor is it a phone that’s likely to let you down – as long as you go in with realistic expectations about what you can get at this end of the market.
