It’s that time of the year again: a new iteration of the Galaxy Note is here and this time around it’s not alone. Samsung seems to have grown a habit of introducing its flagships in pairs these days, making it the first time that the company has released two Note series smartphone at once. The newly released Note 10 and Note 10+ have finally fixed all the flaws and issues of the Note 9. But, at the same time, it’s a bit of a letdown.
Over the years, Samsung has been constantly working on the same technology used in the Galaxy Note series. Hence, providing a smartphone which gets more flawless each year. While it was aiming at consistency, Samsung left out one of the most important quality which makes most smartphones appealing; taking risky bets on new technology. But, don’t take anything away from the new Note 10 lineup; as it is clearly one of the best premium smartphone you can own right now. So, here are all the things Samsung got right and wrong in my book, down below.
Punch-hole Display
When all the competition is going for a full display without any sort of notch on it, Samsung has decided to stay with its punch-hole display instead. Although, the hole is much smaller and less noticeable; having a full immersive display experience would have been much better. Something which clearly has disappointed me. But, the smartphones fill in those void of disappointment with the stunning and vivid dynamic AMOLED Display. The display on the Note 10 and Note 10+ are so good, they leave the likes OnePlus 7 Pro’s 90Hz display in the dust.
DisplayMate has awarded the displays on Note 10 and Note 10+ as graded A+ and the best display on available on a smartphone right now.
Cameras
The camera sensors and setup you would find on both the Note 10 and Note 10+ are the same as the S10. Which is just sad, as the price difference is quite a lot; hence one would expect Samsung to use better sensors in the Note 10. That being said, they do a very decent job of capturing vivid and true color pictures. 12 MP (f/1.5-2.4) primary lens with variable aperture to take images during different lighting conditions and 12 MP (f/2.1) telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom for long range images; accompanied by a 16 MP (f/2.2) ultra-wide lens. This is the setup you will find on both the smartphones; only Note 10+ will have an extra Time of Flight (ToF) sensor. Ironically enough, even though the Note 10 and Note 10+ scores 113 on the DXOMark test, it really fails to compete against the Hauwei P30 Pro in few cases. Mostly in the low light and ultra-long range zoom; in both the P30 Pro’s cameras perform flawlessly.
But, the score provided by the DXOMark is no fluke; the Note 10 and Note 10+ provide really good day light images, even beating the P30 Pro. Where it really excels is the video recording section.
Currently, No Other Phone Can Beat the Note 10 and Note 10+ In The Video Recording Quality.
Design, Performance and Battery
The design on the S10 and the Note 9 looked a bit dated, but the Note 10 changes that completely. The new design is more modern and gorgeous; making it a stunning smartphone to hold or look at. I personally have a thing for the aura white color among the 4 color variants available.
Performance on this device is just top notch, Snapdragon 855 paired with 8/12 GB RAM options will make sure you see no performance drop or visual shuttering. The battery section remains as it was, and packs all the bells and whistles you can find on the S10 lineup. However, one does wonder, wouldn’t it be possible to make a smartphone as large as 6.3 inch or 6.8 inch to pack a battery as large as 5,000 mAh instead of as bare minimum of 3,500 mAh?
No 3.5mm Jack, SD Card Slot and Bixy Button
The jokes on Samsung it seems, after those shots fired at Apple and multiple others for removing the audio jack; Samsung joins the bandwagon as well. But the fun fact is, right after it did so, they did remove all the tweets by the company which mocked others for the same move.
The Removal of Audio Jack and SD Card Slot Might Be a Deal Breaker for Many.
But one thing which won’t be effecting anyone’s decision of whether they will end up buying it or not is the Bixy button. Seems like Samsung has completely given up on the service, there was zero mention of it during the keynote; which might indicate end for the service might be nigh.
Price and Availability
Currently only the Note 10+ is available for pre-order in Bangladesh and it can be yours for BDT 1,34,500. While, there is no news of the Note 10 yet; however, we expect the price range to be around BDT 1,00,000 to BDT 1,10,000.
Verdict
If you already own a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 or even a S9, I’d clearly tell you to hold your horses and wait another year to see what the Note 11 series brings to the table. But, if you are transiting from any other model and are in dire need of a premium smartphone with a stylus, this definitely is the smartphone you been waiting for.