We’ve come to a time in cellphone evolution where exterior design has become pretty static.
I’ve been trying out the new Samsung Galaxy Note 10+, and while there are some great new features to talk about, from the outside it looks very much like last year’s Note 9.
This is not a bad thing.
Cellphone companies like Apple and Samsung and Google have settled on a basic functional design that they tweak a little on the outside each year. The bigger changes are happening on the inside.
This year Samsung introduced two new Note phones: the 6.3-inch Note 10 and the larger Note 10+. This review will mainly stick to the Note 10+ I tested.
What’s new?
The Note 10+ is dominated by a 6.8-inch Amoled screen that is the nicest-looking screen I’ve seen on a phone — ever.
I personally carry an iPhone XS Max, and I think the Note 10+ has a better screen.
On last year’s Note 9, the screen stopped about a quarter of an inch from the top and bottom of the phone’s front face.
This year, the Note 10+ extends the screen all the way to the top and bottom with only a small circular cutout for the camera, centered near the top.
The camera hole inside the screen doesn’t bother me at all. I actually prefer the small hole to Apple’s larger screen notch, although I realize Apple has more to hide up there to do facial recognition.
To be fair, Samsung also does face recognition with just the front-facing camera and it works well, although it does warn that it’s less secure than using other authentication methods like a PIN or fingerprints.
Speaking of fingerprints, Samsung moved the fingerprint reader under the screen, and it works perfectly. Pick up the phone and tap the screen, and a small fingerprint icon appears where you press your finger.
Gone from the phone this year is the headphone jack, although Samsung does include a pair of nice earbuds with a USB-C connector.
USB-C to headphone jack dongles are available but not included.
Camera software is much improved.
S-Pen
The star feature of the Note line of phones has always been their S-Pen stylus.
Every year the S-Pen gets better, and this year is no exception.
Your handwritten notes can be instantly converted to text. Even if you choose to keep your notes in your writing, the phone will index the words so your handwritten notes are searchable. The handwriting recognition works well with printed text but not so well with cursive.
The S-Pen has a new feature called Air Actions that adds gestures to control the phone.
From the S-Pen you can launch the camera app, take photos, change camera modes, switch between front and rear cameras and zoom the lens. Gestures can also be used to navigate music playlists and control slideshows.
The gestures take some time to learn, and I’m not sure how often I’d actually use them, but developers can implement gestures in their apps, so it will be interesting to see what comes in the future.
The S-Pen remains the biggest draw for the Note series of phones. If you have little or no interest in using the stylus, this is likely not the phone for you.
Camera improvements
The front and rear cameras on the Note 10+ are the same as the Galaxy S10+, but the Note 10+ has some very cool secondary camera software improvements.
Night Mode does a really nice job of enhancing photos shot in dark conditions.
Zoom-In Mic is an effect in the video recorder that fine-tunes the three microphones to adjust the sound of the subject as you zoom in with the lens.
Live Focus Video lets the user apply effects to video, including the ability to blur the background. This feature was previously only available for still photos.
DepthVision Camera lets you use the cameras to measure objects in three dimensions. You can also use the DepthVision Camera with an app called 3D scanner to make 3D scans of small objects.
Super Steady is used to stabilize shaky video.
Video Editor is now native on the Note 10+. Users can edit and combine video clips, add transitions and text and music to create finished videos.
AR Doodle lets users draw to add illustrations to videos that are anchored in place. You can draw a funny mustache on a face, and the mustache will move with the face in the video. It’s cute but not too useful.
DeX and link to Windows
Samsung has a very cool app for your Windows or Mac computer called DeX, which lets you connect the phone via USB cable and run your phone’s apps on your PC. You can also transfer files and photos and videos between your phone and computer.
If you have an up-to-date version of Windows 10 on your PC, you can wirelessly connect your phone to the PC so you can sync photos, messages, notifications and even mirror your phone’s screen so you can use the phone’s apps on the computer.
Fast charging and specs
The 4,300 milliamp-hour battery has more than enough power to last all day, and it charges amazingly fast.
Samsung calls it Super Fast Charging. Included in the box is a 25-watt charger, but the phone can charge faster with a 45-watt charger.
A 30-minute Super Fast Charge should get you through the entire day, according to Samsung.
I found the Note 10+ to be the fastest-charging phone I’ve used.
As a test, I started charging with the phone’s battery at 30 percent. After 30 minutes, the battery charge rose to 70 percent. This was using the 61-watt power charger from my MacBook Pro.
It can also fast-charge wirelessly if you have a 15-watt wireless charger and you can use the Note 10+ to wirelessly charge other devices.
The phone measures 6.39 x 3.04 x 0.31 inches and it weighs 6.98 ounces.
The 6.8-inch dynamic Amoled screen has a resolution of 3,040 by 1,440 pixels and it’s HDR10+ certified.
The Note 10+ runs Android 9.0 (Pie) on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 with 12 gigabytes of RAM and 256gb of internal storage, and it has a microSD card storage as well (the Note 10 lacks microSD storage).
Kudos to Samsung for making 256 GB the minimum storage configuration. I hope Apple follows suit next month with the iPhone 11.
I really enjoyed using the Note 10+, which is really for people who want a phone with a stylus.
If you don’t need a stylus, there are cheaper Android phones, including the smaller Note 10 and Galaxy S10+.
Feature-wise, the Note 10+ rightly takes its place at the top of the Samsung Galaxy phone family. It is big and fast and has a long-lasting battery.
It has great storage capacity, and cameras that are second to none.
I really don’t like the sleep/wake button on the left side, but that’s just me.
This is my recommended high-end Android phone.
Pricing and availability
The Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ is available from all major carriers and electronics stores as well as from Samsung.com.
Pricing starts at $1,099.99 for the 256 GB model and $1,199 for the 512 GB model. There is also a Verizon-exclusive 5G model that starts at $1,299.
