Ryan reviews the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ review: it's a great big phone, it looks better than any previous model, the headphone jack does not matter and so much more!
Preordering BestBuy changed their preordering process this year; this was a bummer because I prefer to buy local (economy, returns, etc)Bought through Samsung’s website this yearArrived 2 days ahead of general availability date via preorder so that’s somethingPricingThat’s right, there are two models this time; I can’t tell you much about the little one; I wish that one was just as good as the big one$999 for regular sized Note 10$1099 for large sized Note 10+Also: black on launch this time; no more of that blue on launch-only restrictionsDisplaySize6.8 inches19:9 ratio; which is just ever-so-slightly better than 18.5:9Gorilla Glass 6; at some point this is not remarkable anymore is it?Special featuresAll of the features from the S10 line are here; fingerprint sensor, ambient display, you name itThere’s a new placement for the front camera though; instead of the S10+ ‘s strange double cutout in the corner, there is a single camera cutout just pixels from the top of the phoneThere’s no speaker cutout in the top glass, the speaker is literally in the top of the phone and not on the display sidePhysicalsLook and feel, build qualityFootprintIt’s huge! Who could have guessed162.3 x 77.2 x 7.9 mm (6.39 x 3.04 x 0.31 in)Weight196g It’s slightly heavier than the S10+ but feels lighter than the Note 9Comparing the Note 10+ with the Note 9; the Note 9 looks ancient, the chin, forehead, the chunky look and feel – even the curved edges were massiveThe S10+ fares much better, Note 10 is really an extensionBattery4300 mAHEffectively the same as the S10+ for my usage patternsChargingThe new 45w charger might be more note… get it… worthy than the phone’s charging capabilities, but it can charge fast when you need it toPortsNo more headphone jack; I haven’t missed this whatsoeverTypeC otherwise with Dex SupportSpeakersThey’re fine, but I’ve seen criticism of them since the top speaker is not in the previous positionButtonsWhat an amazing change!The bixby button is gone, well, it’s the bixby button but your first job upon set up is to change its function to the regular wake/sleep power buttonThere’s no more power button on the right sideMany people took weeks to adjust, while I was very okKeyboard (if applicable)There’s no keyboard…PenBut the pen is back!Really, the S10+ could have a further variant S10 Pro that has a penThe pen has all of the same gimmicks as last timeI like taking photos with the pen as a remote, it’s not like this couldn’t be done with an add-on accessory on any phone, but it’s great built in“Air Actions” are new and useless since most apps will never support themI would have liked Samsung to figure out how to make “scrolling” a default universal “air action”; if I am on Twitter in a lengthy list, air scrolling would be great – but noThe new notes app allows handwriting to be kept as handwriting but internally converted to text for search capabilities, making notes searchable is huge for usability in the long termCameraHow is itIt’s the same as the S10+ but after almost a year with a wide lens, I can’t imagine having a phone without the option; I take so many shots with it2x mode is kind of mediocre in my opinion; if the camera had regular, 4x and it’s current 1/2x mode, I think it would be a wonderful mix2 12mp sensors, the wide is 16mpTime of Flight sensor for somethingSpecial modesNight Mode is availableDue to how Samsung updates their unlocked phones, those get updates last; I was never able to use Night Mode on the S10+I never use Night Mode; why are you taking pictures in the dark?Better slowmo options4k60 recordingS10+ had an issue where taking photos during a video would cause framedrops in video, this doesn’t exhibit the same issuePro mode lets you tweak whatever you wantNotable featuresQR code scanning is now an automatic thing the camera will doSpecsCPUSnapdragon 855RAM12GB because this is the Note 10+Storage256gb + I added a 64GB SD cardSoftwareOSTouchWiz is still gone, the Samsung EXperience is gone, now it’s the One UI and I enjoy itI skip the default One UI launcher and use Action Launcher and I have it customized the way I like it (which is really not at all the way Chris Lacy likes it at all – get your Google Pixel nonsense out of here)Running Android 9.0 probably until March (by the time the S11 comes around)UpdatesCarriers suckSamsung should figure something out for this; but I get the complexity of such a thingPerformanceIt’s as fast as any phone has been and should beSome people like turning the animation speed upFinal thoughtsNote 10+ is greatIt’s big, fast, has cameras, has a good interfaceS10+ is cheaper now, almost as goodS11 coming in just a few months Connect With The Nexus
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