The new Galaxy S10e is what Apple's iPhone XR should have been all along

Many people will compare the Galaxy S10e to Apple's iPhone XR, as the two phones share the same starting price. But in many ways, the Galaxy S10e feels more like Samsung's version of Apple's iPhone XS — but $250 cheaper, of course.

The Galaxy S10e looks almost identical to the $1,000 iPhone XS. Both phones have a flat 5.8-inch OLED screen, which produces bright and crisp images.

Meanwhile, Apple's $750 iPhone XR has an LCD screen, which isn't as good.

The Galaxy S10e and iPhone XS also share two cameras on the back — the iPhone XR only has a single rear lens.

The Galaxy S10e doesn't have anything like Face ID, Apple's facial recognition system for unlocking the phone or making purchases; instead, it has a traditional fingerprint sensor on the power button. But that's not a deal-breaker.

The Galaxy S10e feels like the best possible phone Samsung could have made at its size. It makes sense in the lineup as well: Since it lacks the triple-camera system, curved display, and in-screen fingerprint reader of the Galaxy S10 and S10+, it's cheaper than both of those phones.

Meanwhile, Apple's Galaxy S10e counterpart, the iPhone XR, is awkward. It's bigger than the iPhone XS, smaller than the iPhone XS Max, but isn't superior to either phone.

Given the sacrifices Apple made to its display quality and rear-camera system, the iPhone XR does not feel like the best possible phone Apple could have made at its size.

Apple's phones still have plenty of advantages over the Galaxy phones, in general. The Apple ecosystem, the stability of iOS, and the frequent software updates straight from Apple still make any iPhone a very appealing choice. But Samsung is closing the gap, thanks to its hardware prowess.

The Galaxy S10e is what Apple's iPhone XR should have been all along: the smallest and most affordable "new" phone in the lineup.

The iPhone XR would have made more sense as a smaller alternative to the iPhone XS. But without the OLED screen, it's very hard to choose the iPhone XR over the iPhone XS objectively, due to that noticeable gap in display quality.

The new Galaxy phones are easier to understand from a customer's perspective. Every phone has an OLED screen, but some phones have more screen real estate, or an extra camera lens. For each step up in size, you're also getting a slight step up in quality.

Apple's iPhone lineup is the weakest it's been in years, and that's due to the confusion created by the iPhone XR — an iPhone that's sized between the iPhone XS and XS Max, but inferior to both phones.

Apple is still the gold standard for the seamless integration of hardware, software, and services, but Samsung and others are catching up.

It would behoove Apple to consider the logic of the Galaxy S10 lineup, where price correlates with size but not quality, when considering how to produce and market its 2019 iPhones.