Samsung Galaxy Note10: Features | Specifications | Pricing

Where to buy

Samsung's Note devices have long been its push for the productivity market, thanks to the genuinely unique "S-Pen" stylus that each Note comes with. Many Note buyers also love the large screen display, but that's become increasingly common in other flagship phones, including Samsung's own Galaxy S lines.

For the Galaxy Note10, then, there's a lot of ground for Samsung to cover to make it a real standout device. Its pitch this year is on how much more productive the new Galaxy Note10 will make you.

Design

• 6.3 inch 2280x1080 Dynamic AMOLED display
• Single front hole punch camera
• Headphone jack is MIA

• Read more about the Samsung Galaxy Note10's design

  The design of the Galaxy Note10 had leaked prior to its launch, showing of a refined version of the design used in this year's Galaxy S10 handsets for the most part. It's the smallest Note of this year's Note10 family, pitched by Samsung as being more hand-friendly if you're not a fan of its traditionally larger Note device size.

  What that means is that you get a 6.3 inch device with practically imperceptible bezels if that's important to you. It's one of Samsung's own "Dynamic AMOLED" displays with a resolution of 2280x1080, and it's HDR10+ certified for your on-the-go top quality viewing action.

  The Galaxy Note10 continues with Samsung's use of a "hole punch" style camera, located in the top centre of the phone. That's a shift from phones such as the Galaxy S10 5G, where the front hole punch was to the side. It's also a single lens at the front, which means a smaller overall hole punch than on the Galaxy S10+ or Galaxy S10 5G.

  The Galaxy Note 10 features an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner, like its S10 predecessors, keeping the design as simple as possible. One casualty of this simple design philosophy has been the loss of a dedicated 3.5mm headphone jack. Samsung was by far the biggest phone manufacturer still offering a headphone jack in its handsets, but if you want to use cabled headphones, you'll need to use a USB C adaptor to do so.

Camera

• Triple cameras
• Live focus video

• Read more about the Samsung Galaxy Note10's camera

  The Galaxy Note10 has the smallest array of cameras of the new Note10 family. At the front you're faced with a single 10MP f/2.2 lens for selfie needs, while the rear of the phone houses a triple camera lens array mounted vertically.

  It comprises an ultra-wide 123 degree 16MP f/2.2 lens, a wide angle 77 degree 12MP variable f/1.5-2.4 lens and a 12MP f/2.1 Telephoto lens. Samsung's marketing spin for the Galaxy Note10 is that it's a "pro" studio camera, offering not only superior still performance but also enhanced video shooting.

  That's partially down to the inclusion of live focus features for video shooting. Samsung has offered live focus on previous Note devices for still shots, but this should allow you to set bokeh levels for your video shooting. It's also boosted with dynamic zoom microphones that can zoom in on the in-focus subject to capture more of the noise around them and less ambient intruding sounds.

Performance

• Snapdragon 855 or Exynos
• 5G and 4G variants, but 4G only in Australia
• S-Pen gets Air Actions

• Read more about the Samsung Galaxy Note 10's performance

  As is its usual style, Samsung's releasing the Galaxy Note10 in a couple of different processor variants over the entire globe. It doesn't specify precisely on its specification sheet, simply listing either a 7nm 64-bit Octa-core processor (Max. 2.7 GHz + 2.4 GHz + 1.9 GHz) or 7nm 64-bit Octa-core processor (Max. 2.8 GHz + 2.4 GHz + 1.7 GHz), but one of those is the Snapdragon 855, and the other its Exynos equivalent; most likely the 9825 it announced just prior to the Note10 launch itself.

  In Australia we've never had the Snapdragon model of any Samsung phone launch since it shifted to its Exynos variants, and there's little reason to think that won't be the case now.

  The Galaxy Note 10 is an Android 9 phone running with Samsung's own "OneUI" launcher on board.

  Samsung's pitch for the Note 10 and Note 10+ is that it'll be much more than just a smartphone. Aside from the improved camera capabilities, Samsung's also pushing the next generation of its DeX desktop launcher for the Note10, with even closer Microsoft Office integration than previous generations of DeX-capable Samsung devices.

  On the S-Pen front, where last year's Note9 talked up its ability to work as a remote Bluetooth shutter, Samsung is stating that this year's S-Pen is a "magic wand" capable of air gestures for control, photo clipping and handwriting recognition. Samsung has already announced Air Gestures for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Tab S6, but we're yet to see a really compelling use case for a smartphone that you could typically just touch anyway.

  Still, with phones such as the LG G8 ThinQ featuring similar stylus-free gestures, and Google's Pixel 4 featuring its own gesture controls, it appears that this could be this year's fancy smartphone gimmick.

  There is a 5G-capable version of the Galaxy Note10 on Samsung's specification sheet for the Note10 family, but that's not what we'll see in Australia. Here, Samsung will sell the larger Samsung Galaxy Note10+ 5G model only.

Battery life

• 3,400mAh battery feels a little low for a Note device
• Superfast Charging promises battery life in mere minutes
• Battery stamina is an open question after the Galaxy S10

• Read more about the Samsung Galaxy Note 10's battery life

  The words "battery" and "Note" still have some unfortunate implications following the Galaxy Note7, but Samsung's worked hard to improve overall battery capacity in its largest phones in recent times.

  Except, it seems for the Galaxy Note10. While the larger variants have batteries that tip the scales at 4,300mAh, the Galaxy Note10 has a relatively meagre 3,400mAh battery on board.

  The Samsung Galaxy Note10 will support Samsung's new "Superfast Charge" capability via a 45W charger, although it's worth noting that this is an accessory sold separately. You won't get Superfast charging direct out of the box with the Galaxy Note10.

  There's battery power, and then there's actual battery stamina to contend with. Samsung's most recent handsets have had notably worse overall battery life than their predecessors – at least on the Exynos-based models we've tested with. If that's a function of those gorgeous Dynamic AMOLED displays and processor speeds, it may be an unavoidable issue for Samsung to contend with on the Galaxy Note10 as well.

Early outlook

• An interesting take on the Note concept, but did buyers want a smaller Note in the first place?

• Read our early Samsung Galaxy Note 10 verdict

  The Galaxy Note 10 sits in an unusual position. Had Samsung's plans (ahem) unfolded as it had scheduled, it would be joining the Galaxy Fold, Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S10+ and Galaxy S10 5G in its 2019 flagship line-up.

  The delays for the Galaxy Fold probably help the Note 10's case as being a worthwhile handset, but even without it, that's a lot of flagship phones to bring to market in such a short span of time.

  Samsung makes great phones, but the Note 10 is going to have to work extra hard to stand out in such esteemed company, especially as the "smallest" Note device.

Pricing and availability

• Price: RRP $1499
• Where to buy: Amazon | Bing Lee | Samsung

Specifications

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