Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite vs OnePlus 7T: Budget Flagship War!

Samsung launched the younger brother of the Galaxy S10 series and the Note 10 Series with the S10 Lite and the Note 10 Lite respectively, while these phones are priced in the “Budget Flagship” category, the S10 Lite faces the OnePlus 7T. While many of you wanted us to compare the S10 Lite with the Realme X2 Pro, we felt that the S10 Lite directly faces the OnePlus 7T as both the devices are similarly priced and have almost similar specifications. So here is our head to head comparison of the Samsung S10 Lite and the OnePlus 7T.

Design

Starting off with one of the most important categories for the youth, with the design of the Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite. The S10 Lite features a glasstic body which is a combination of glass and plastic. It is quite heavy in the hand while also feeling premium. The S10 Lite back panel is less prone to scratches and getting shattered. On the other hand, the OnePlus 7T features a frosted glass back which definitely feels more premium. 

With the S10 Lite, the users get about 20% higher capacity battery while being at the same weight, this is definitely an advantage over the OnePlus 7T. Both the S10 Lite and the OnePlus 7T feature a big camera module on the rear, where the S10 Lite has a square housing and the 7T has a circular module. Both the devices don’t get a headphone jack at the bottom, but the Galaxy S10 Lite has an additional benefit has a Hybrid SIM slot that can be used to expand the memory with a micro-SD card, where the OnePlus 7T cant.

Also Read: OnePlus 7T Review

Display

In the Display department, each of the phones has a different advantage over the other and that is just the major difference. Both the S10 Lite and the OP 7T sport Super AMOLED panels, where the S10 Lite has a slightly greater 6.7-inch display compared to the 6.55 inches seen on the 7T. The OnePlus 7T has the 90 Hertz high refresh rate display and the smoothness is just out of the world and the S10 Lite can’t match it with the 60Hz display. 

Both the phones have support for Widevine L1 Certification, so streaming content on Netflix and Prime Video isn’t a problem. Overall in the display department, We personally prefer the OnePlus 7T with its 90Hz Display over the larger 60Hz display on the S10 Lite.

Biometrics and Wireless Charging:

The OnePlus 7T and the S10 Lite both feature an in-display fingerprint scanner, all thanks to the AMOLED Panels, but the speeds are quite different. The OnePlus 7T feels much faster, accurate and responsive while the sensor on the S10 Lite is a bit slower and fails to unlock sometimes. Same is the case with Face Unlocking, the OnePlus 7T unlocks much faster and has a greater success rate than the S10 Lite. Both the phones don’t offer an official IP Rating or wireless charging, but the OnePlus 7T claims to have a better day to day water resistance.

User Interface:

The Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite runs on OneUI 2.0 based on Android 10 Q, while the OnePlus 7T runs on the latest version of Oxygen OS which is based on Android 10. While most of you might have guessed, the OxygenOS on the OnePlus 7T is much prefered by people as it offers a close to Stock Android Experience. Also, People prefer OnePlus as the brand keeps on adding a ton of useful new features with updates.

But it’s not that the S10 Lite’s OneUI 2.0 is bad or worse, it looks more minimalistic, but it is just that people now have a mindset that the OxygenOS is the best and is well optimized for the 7T. Asking us, we prefer the OneUI 2.0 on the S10 Lite over the OxygenOS on 7T.

Camera

Camera is the most important aspect while choosing a smartphone and lets compare the specification on both the devices first. The Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite features a 48 megapixel primary f/2.0 + a 12-megapixel wide-angle camera + 5-megapixel macro lens as well. On the OnePlus 7T, we get a 48 MP primary camera f/1.6 aperture + a 12MP telephoto lens which is capable of 2X optical zoom + a 16MP ultra-wide angle lens. The OnePlus 7T doesn’t have a Macro lens, but OnePlus takes use of the wide-angle lens to capture some amazing macro shots.

In the selfie camera, the S10 Lite features a 32-megapixel sensor housed in the punch hole, while the 16-megapixel selfie camera on the OnePlus 7T is housed in a teardrop notch. 

Under good lighting conditions, the S10 Lite does a fabulously well job, it captures the details very well, has great dynamic range but tends to blow out the highlights sometimes. While the OnePlus 7T, tends to blow out the shadows. Both the phones capture equally good photos, but if you prefer a warmer tone, choose the 7T and if you like the natural colours, opt for the S10 Lite. 

In the portrait mode, the OnePlus 7T makes use of the 2x Telephoto lens to get closer to the subject to take a portrait which comes out to be better looking and well detailed than the S10 Lite.  On the selfie department, the S10 Lite with its 32MP Selfie camera shines with highly detailed selfies and is one of the best phones for making TikTok Videos and other social media platforms. 

The night mode on the OnePlus 7T is quite good, it maintains a good amount of detail, has a warmer colour tone and tends to overexpose the images. While the S10 Lite with Samsung’s new Night Mode kills the 7T by capturing more light, having better colour accuracy and the OIS helps keep the cameras steady and removes and shakes thus making the long exposure night shots better than the 7T.

In the video front, The Galaxy S10 Lite comes with the Super Steady OIS built into the main sensor while shooting at 1080p 30fps, the stabilisation is much better on the S10 Lite than the OnePlus 7T even while you are running. Overall, The S10 Lite although having some issues like blowing off the highlights and slightly off edge detection, the S10 Lite has a fairly well and a better camera than the OnePlus 7T.

Also read: Top Camera Smartphones

Performance

One area where the Smartphones are almost equally matched is the performance, the Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor which is one of the first Samsung phones to have this in India. On the other hand, the OnePlus 7T Comes with slightly upgraded Snapdragon 855 plus. But on paper, I will have to give this to the OnePlus 7T.

You won’t notice any major differences while playing games or swiping through Instagram feed in terms of chipset, but the 90Hz display on the 7T may make a difference. The general performance on both the phones is excellent and you won’t go wrong with any of both.

Audio:

We personally felt that the Audio Output from the speakers on the 7T are much better as it supports stereo speakers, while the S10 Lite has a single bottom-firing speaker. The speaker grill seen on the 7T is a tat louder, has more depth and crisper compared to the S10 Lite. Both the devices miss out on the headphone jack, so there is no comparison over here.

Battery:

The OnePlus 7T sports a decently sized 3,800 mAh battery and supports WARP charge 30T with a maximum output of 30W. Where the S10 Lite kills the competition with the 4,500 mAh battery which is bundled with a 25-watt charger inside the box, almost similar to the 7T. Also, the S10 Lite supports 45W fast charging, but the adapter needs to be purchased separately. The S10 Lite could easily offer us a screen on time of about 6-7 hours, while the 7T with its 90Hz display could last us only about 5-5.5 hours with casual usage.

Irrespective of the bigger display, S10 Lite outlasts the OnePlus 7T  comfortably when it comes to battery life with S10 Lite lasting for a day and a half while the OnePlus 7T struggles to last for the whole day of normal usage. When compared on the basis of charging, both smartphones charge plausibly fast and S10 Lite comes along with a 25W charger and also supports a 45W charger, while a OnePlus 7T supports Warp charge 30T and comes with a 30W charger. Although both smartphones take around an hour for charging, S10 Lite wins over OnePlus 7T when it comes to battery comparison.      

Pricing

Moving on to the pricing, the OnePlus 7T has now received several price drops and now is available for sale for Rs.35,000 and while the recently launched S10 Lite is priced at Rs. 40,000. With an additional 5000 rupees, the S10 Lite offers better battery backup, has superior cameras.

So if you want a 90Hz display to match the current generation, want an attractive looking, high end specification smartphone, you can definitely opt for the OnePlus 7T whereas, if you want a smartphone with a better battery, better cameras and a lightweight design, we recommend you the S10 Lite. 

Gaming and Multitasking Comparison

Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite with vivid colour imitation and bigger display along with higher refresh rate might outlast OnePlus 7T, but its dual speakers with superior sound, counters S10 Lite and therefore the performance of both is almost same when it comes to games like PUBG and Call of Duty or performing many tasks at a time.  So, based on gaming and multitasking, there are no major differences and hence it’s a tie.  

Also read: Best mobile phones under 40000

Summary