Samsung Galaxy S10 vs Poco F3

Hello, we have a comparison to do. This one was requested by O. Emmanuel from Facebook and we’re pitting the Samsung Galaxy S10 vs Poco F3. Let’s dive in.

So with modern lower mid-rangers stagnating and using specs from 2020, a lot of people have decided to try out their luck in the secondhand market for older flagships and flagship killers.

This is especially true because older flagships tend to outperform newer lower mid-rangers and budget phones on almost every metric. The key exception being battery life.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 is a vanilla flagship from Samsung that was announced in the year 2019. It was a power house for its time.

The Poco F3 is a flagship killer from Xiaomi. It was announced two years and a month after the Samsung Galaxy S10 in 2021.

Which device is the better option and why? Let’s look at how they perform against each other.

Specs	Samsung Galaxy S10	Xiaomi Poco F3
Body	157g, aluminum frame, glass back (Gorilla Glass 5), IP68	196g, plastic frame, glass back (Gorilla Glass 5), IP53
SoC	Snapdragon 855 or Exynos 9820	Snapdragon 870
RAM	6GB or 8GB (LPDDR4X)	6GB or 8GB (LPDDR4X)
Storage	128GB or 256GB (UFS 2.1)	128GB or 256GB (UFS 3.1)
Software	Android 9.0 (Pie), upgradable to Android 12, One UI 4.1	Android 11, upgradable to Android 13, HyperOS
Display	6.1″ QHD (1440p) Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz, 550ppi, Gorilla Glass 6	6.67″ FHD (1080p) AMOLED, 120Hz, 395ppi, 1300nit, Gorilla Glass 5
Camera (rear)	12MP main 12MP telephoto 16MP ultrawide	48MP main 8MP ultrawide 5MP macro
Selfie	10MP, 4K@60fps	20MP, 1080p@30fps
Video	4K@60fps	4K@30fps
Battery	3400mAh, 15W fast charge	4520mAh, 33W fast charge
Audio	Stereo speakers, 3.5mm jack	Stereo speakers
Comms	3G, 4G LTE, 5G, Bluetooth 5, WiFi 6, USB-C (3.1)	3G, 4G LTE, 5G, Bluetooth 5.1, WiFi 6, USB-C (2.0)
Sensors	Fingerprint (under display, ultrasonic), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, heart rate, SpO2	Fingerprint (side-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, compass
AnTuTu	614,982	820,233

Body:

The Samsung Galaxy S10 by virtue of being a flagship completely destroys the Poco F3 here. It has an aluminum frame and a Gorilla Glass 5 back. The Poco F3 has a weaker hardened plastic frame but also enjoys Gorilla Glass 5 protection at the back.

The S10 should enjoy IP68 water protection but with old phones, I’m sure that those seals have been tampered with in some shape or form so I advise caution. The Poco F3 only has IP53 so that’s it. The S10 at 157g is also much lighter than the Poco F3 at 196g. This is a very easy point to give to the S10.

Display:

In the display segment, the S10 also has an easy ride here. It uses a 6.1″ 2K (1440p) Dynamic AMOLED with Gorilla Glass 6 protection. The Poco F3 comes a distant second place here with a larger 6.67″ FHD+ (1080p) AMOLED with Gorilla Glass 5 protection.

Whilst it can be argued that the Poco F3 ‘s display has support for 120Hz refresh rate. We do not view screens for their refresh rate, especially on mobile. We view them for the quality of content that they can serve. I’ll give the point to the S10.

Caveat: this is all null and void if the original S10 screen has been replaced for some reason with an inferior model.

OS:

When you buy an old phone, you should be mindful that the original manufacturer may no longer be supporting them. This is especially true for both phones.

The S10 shipped with Android 9 and support for it ended at Android 12. The Poco F3 on the other hand shipped with Android 11 and Xiaomi ended support for it at Android 13.

Point to the Poco F3

Performance:

Both phones are fairly powerful in their own right today. The Samsung Galaxy S10 comes with either a Snapdragon 855 or an Exynos 9820. The Poco F5 ships with the Snapdragon 870.

However the Poco F3 is easily the more powerful device here. It takes both the Snapdragon and Exynos versions of the S10 to the cleaners.

Cameras:

The S10 has a triple camera setup with a 12MP main camera, a 12MP telephoto camera and a 16MP ultrawide camera.

The Poco F3 also has a triple camera setup with a 48MP main camera, the legendary 8MP ultrawide camera and a 5MP macro camera.

In front, the S10 has a 10MP selfie and the Poco F3 has a 20MP selfie.

In general, the S10 has the better camera and will produce better photos and videos (4K@60fps). The Poco F3 doesn’t do too bad either. It does shoot decent photos and videos (4K@30fps). However the camera on the S10 with its better photo/video output as well OIS will walk away with this one.

Sound:

Both devices have stereo speakers but the audio from the S10 (32-bit/384kHz audio) is better than that of the Poco F3 (24-bit/192kHz Hi-Res). In addition to this, the S10 has a headphone jack which the Poco F3 lacks! Easy point to the S10.

Comms:

The S10 has support for Bluetooth 5, WiFi 6, NFC, FM and a display port (USB 3.1). The Poco F3 supports Bluetooth 5.1, WiFi 6, NFC, Infrared port and is stuck at USB 2.0.

Other features for the S10 are Fingerprint (under display, ultrasonic), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, heart rate and SpO2 whilst the Poco F3 has to make do with a Fingerprint sensor (side-mounted), accelerometer, gyro and compass.

For this one, the easy point goes to the S10. No question.

Battery life:

This is where the Poco F3 shines. It has a bigger 4520mAh battery with 33W of fast charge. The S10 has a smaller 3400mAh battery with just 15W of fast charge.

The Poco F3 also enjoy better battery life as the Snapdragon 870 is more battery efficient than the older Snapdragon 855.

Point to the F3.

Verdict:

If you are looking for performance and battery life, the easy option is the Poco F3. If you want the full package albeit with a weaker performance and battery life, go for the S10. That’s it.

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Samsung Galaxy S10 vs Poco F3