5 Best Galaxy S10 Alternative in 2023

Samsung’s Galaxy S10 might be one hell of a smartphone, but not everyone is ready to jump on the bandwagon of having the latest and greatest. Instead, you might want to grab the best Galaxy S10 alternative. For one, it’s expensive, and it’s always been a little risky since the Galaxy Note 7 battery scandal. Luckily, there are plenty of other great smartphone options out there, and almost at half the cost of the Galaxy S10. Phones like the Galaxy S9, Galaxy Note 9, and even the iPhone XS Max will be excellent smartphones to use for years to come — you don’t necessarily have to upgrade right away to Samsung’s latest. Even though some of these would be considered “older” smartphones, the hardware is still considered top of the line, and will keep anything you throw at the phone’s running smooth.

ProductBrandNamePrice
41yG08rqpOL. SL500XiaomiXiaomi Pocophone F1Check Price on Amazon
41WzoRpXVKL. SL500SAMSUNGSamsung Galaxy S9Check Price on Amazon
31dqqAcqwNL. SL500OnePlusOnePlus 6TCheck Price on Amazon
41l6 PdgWSL. SL500SAMSUNGSamsung Galaxy Note 9Check Price on Amazon
41g9Glj0ZDL. SL500AppleApple iPhone XS MaxCheck Price on Amazon

* If you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. For more details, please visit our Privacy policy page.

Not sure what to get in place of the galaxy s10? Here are some of our favorites.

The Best Galaxy S10 Alternative

Best Galaxy S10 Alternative

1) Samsung Galaxy S9

Coming up in number one spot on our countdown, we have the Samsung Galaxy S9. The galaxy s10 might be its successor, but the Galaxy S9 is still an awesome performer. The phone is a smooth experience, giving you a similar hardware setup. It still has excellent battery life inside, which can easily last well into the evening under standard use.  You still get a nice clear display — that dual-curved display, in fact — and it feels comfortable in the hand.

Buy it now: Amazon

Best Galaxy S10 Alternative

2) OnePlus 6T

The OnePlus 6T is one of our favorites. Continuing OnePlus’ “Never Settle” motto, the OnePlus 6T has all of the top hardware inside at an affordable price point. One of its major improvements over past models is that the company is following the lead of OEMs like Apple and LG by nearly getting rid of bezels, giving you more screen real estate. This one isn’t available through the major carriers, but you can snag it from Amazon. It has all of the correct network bands to work on AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, but not Sprint.

It runs on OnePlus’ own OxygenOS — based off of Android. It’s a clean user interface, and there’s little bloatware inside.

Buy it now: Amazon

Best Galaxy S10 Alternative

3) Samsung Galaxy Note 9

If you’re looking for a big, power user device, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 will be right up your alley — it still features that massive dual-curved display. The curved edges provide a unique screen perspective, and brings unique software features to the phone like People Edge, Apps Edge, and more.

The screen itself comes in at a whopping 6.4-inches in size. And since it’s a Super AMOLED panel, you’ll get deep and rich colors. Pair all of that together and you get an excellent media experience for watching movies, TV shows, videos, and more. Of course, the highlight of this phone is that it comes with the S-Pen, which also brings a bunch of new productivity features to the phone. As an added bonus, as the Galaxy Note 9 gets older, it continues to fall in price as well.

Buy it now: Amazon

Best Galaxy S10 Alternative

4) Pocophone F1

In fourth place on our countdown, we have the Pocophone F1. Made by Xiaomi, this is an affordable flagship handset that features all of the latest and greatest hardware from Qualcomm. It’s certainly not the most expensive phone on the market, but like we mentioned, they’ve still managed to pack it full of the latest hardware, such as the Snapdragon 845 processor. It’s even got a massive battery — a whole 4,000mAh. It supports Quick Charge 3.0 as well, so you can juice it up quickly. At the current price, it’s extremely difficult to beat what this phone does have to offer.

Now for the “con.” It does come with a pretty unique user interface — MIUI. It’s certainly not a clean interface, and it has a lot more bloat built-in than others.

Buy it now: Amazon

41go3f70rSL

5) iPhone XS Max

The iPhone XS Max might come in as last on our list, but it’s still one of the best phones that you can buy today. Ideal for those considered moving on from Android and moving to iOS, the iPhone XS Max is the best that Apple has to offer on the iOS side of things. The iPhone XS Max features the latest processor from Apple,, so you’ll be able to play high-end games and demanding productivity apps without problems. It comes with a 6.5-inch Liquid Retina display, which brings you tons of screen real estate and cutting edge clarity.

Buy it now: Amazon

Verdict On the Best Galaxy S10 Alternative

There are a lot of great smartphones out on the market, but these five are easily some of the best available today. Most of these, except maybe the iPhone XS Max, are around half the cost of a galaxy s10. Not only that, but these smartphones will provide you with the same experience as the galaxy s10, and possibly even better.

Which one are you picking up? Sound off in the comments below.

ProductBrandNamePrice
41yG08rqpOL. SL500XiaomiXiaomi Pocophone F1Check Price on Amazon
41WzoRpXVKL. SL500SAMSUNGSamsung Galaxy S9Check Price on Amazon
31dqqAcqwNL. SL500OnePlusOnePlus 6TCheck Price on Amazon
41l6 PdgWSL. SL500SAMSUNGSamsung Galaxy Note 9Check Price on Amazon
41g9Glj0ZDL. SL500AppleApple iPhone XS MaxCheck Price on Amazon

* If you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. For more details, please visit our Privacy policy page.

Photo of author

Brad Coleta

Brad Coleta is a passionate reporter for The Droid Guy, covering all aspects of mobile, gaming, software, apps, and services. He graduated from the University of Rochester in New York with a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. When he's not reporting, he's a huge fan of the New York Giants and Yankees. But what might surprise you is that he also enjoys reading Manga during his down time. Brad is a dedicated reporter, always looking to tell the stories of the tech world. Contact me at Email or LinkedIn

Posts you might like