Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ Australian review: is Samsung’s biggest smartphone its best?
It’s got a bigger screen, more power, more battery, more memory and many, many more features, but there’s one big thing holding back the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+.
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They say you stop growing by the age of 19.
If Samsung’s Galaxy Note follows the same rule, we’re in serious ergonomic strife come 2030.
This year’s bigger-than-what-used-to-be-considered-big phone from Samsung breaks its own records, with a display measuring 6.8 inches.
Compare that to its debut screen size of just 5.3 inches and you can see how this growth curve could quickly arch out of control and pockets.
But, as the company says, the Note is not designed for everyone.
This phone has so many features, even the keenest user will probably forget to use some of them.
And Samsung is hoping you forget to notice some others, including one major omission.
We secured an early edition of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ to put it through its paces before you decide whether to put it into your checkout cart after its August 23 launch.
IT’S GENUINELY LARGE
There’s no getting around it (with one hand), this smartphone is big.
Bigger than big.
It bests last year’s model by a considerable margin (6.4 versus 6.8 inches), is bigger still than the infamous Note 7, and makes the first Note look like a retro plaything.
That huge display is handy if you plan to read a lot of text, watch a lot of video, or give your scrolling muscles a break.
In practice, it gives users the screen real estate of a tablet without feeling like they’re juggling one.
The borders around this Dynamic AMOLED screen are tiny — the screen-to-body ratio is 91 per cent — so it squeezes a lot more display into a regularly sized device.
The curves on this screen are also more subtle than previous models, as is the “punch hole” on the display where its camera pokes out.
Samsung has also been economical with the buttons on this handset, for better and worse.
On the ‘better’ side of the ledger, it’s ditched the phone’s permanent Bixby button; a shortcut to the virtual assistant few want or use.
On the ‘worse’ side, it’s changed the power button to the left side of the phone. It sounds like a minor difference, but it’s one that only 10 per cent of the phone-handling population will be able to appreciate: lefties with a thumb at the ready.
MIGHTIER PEN
Some are larger, some are curvier, and some accidentally catch fire, but every Samsung Galaxy Note comes with a stylus.
This year’s S Pen has been thoroughly revamped and given new powers to recruit new fans.
The Note 10 pen now arrives in a metal body, uses a battery, connects to the phone using Bluetooth, and has sensors including a gyroscope and accelerometer to register movements.
Using this new equipment, the S Pen can not only act as a remote control shutter button for the phone’s camera (more useful than you might think), but with a press of its button and a flick, you can switch between camera modes, or between the front and the back camera.
If you’re feeling particularly bold, you can even control the zoom by spinning the S Pen.
A wacky new feature called AR Doodle will also let you draw on your camera’s subject — whether it’s you or someone else — and will move the virtual drawing around with them. This feature is better implemented than many augmented reality additions, even though you’ll probably use it in juvenile ways.
The most useful new S Pen addition for students, journalists, and people stuck in meetings, however, is its handwriting-to-text conversion.
Using this new feature, I scribbled on the screen, paying little attention to what primary school copy books advised. Despite this, the S Pen’s training was smart enough to correctly translate that scrawl into digital text whenever I tapped on it.
Will you remember the S Pen can do all of these things? Maybe. But even if you just use it to scribble an occasional shopping list or phone number, the S Pen is handy.
FIVE EYES
Last year’s Note had three cameras.
This year’s top Note boasts five.
Surprisingly, you won’t hear Samsung make a big deal out of this addition, however, as the cameras on the Note 10+ are not hugely different to those on its Galaxy S10 range.
There are four cameras out the back, offering ultra wide, wide, and telephoto views, plus one improved Time of Flight camera to lock focus fast.
Up front, there is just one 10-megapixel camera for selfies.
While it’s certainly a capable camera, it’s not quite as good as the dual selfie cameras on other models, and proved slower to find a face or blur the background in Live Focus mode.
There are new camera features in the Note 10+ though. They include two important video additions: portrait-mode video recorded in almost real time, and Advanced Super Steady mode that you can use during bumpy scooter rides.
Other additions include Zoom-In Mic mode that homes in on the source of the sound when you zoom into the shot, and a new video editor that looks a lot like a professional editing app.
NOTE-WORTHY
Samsung’s biggest smartphone is, as usual, its most powerful.
This year’s model has more battery power, more speed, and more RAM than the Note 9.
You can also plug this phone into a Windows PC with a standard cord and access your photos and send text messages with improved DeX software.
The Ultrasonic Fingerprint Sensor in the Note 10 also seems to benefit from slightly better placement and power, and it charges faster than before, if you have the right plug (it costs extra).
It’s also worth noting that, like other Samsung handsets, this phone is water-resistant, can charge wirelessly or charge earbuds or a smartwatch on its back, and is available in a 5G flavour.
NOTABLE DRAWBACKS
Apple made the call to ditch the standard headphone jack three years ago but rival Samsung stayed strong. It resisted the space-saving trick. It let users plug and play.
No more.
Even though the Note 10+ was big enough to sustain a 6.8-inch screen, Samsung decided it was not big enough to house a 3.5mm headphone jack.
The extra space, we’re told, made way for a bigger battery, which it needs to support that screen and power-hungry 5G.
Audiophiles are likely to disagree, and it seems an odd choice when there are two Note models available this year to cater to tastes big and smaller.
The fact that Samsung does not include a headphone adaptor in the box with this phone — just USB-C earbuds — hurts a little bit more for some reason.
Users will also have to pay $300 more for the 5G version of this phone, will have to put up with just one camera up front, and will have to wipe its gorgeously glossy, fingerprint-adoring Aura Glow exterior frequently.
It’s also worth noting he greater drawbacks facing fans of the smaller Note 10 handset (with a modest 6.3-inch screen). They’ll be forced to forgo a Micro SD card option even though it comes with less storage, they will not be able to choose a 5G edition, and there’s still no headphone jack.
NOTE 10+ VERDICT
Samsung’s biggest phone offers a fistful of fanciful features.
From the S Pen in charge of faraway selfies to the laptop-grade power inside its iridescent, mirrorball finish, this smartphone lives up to the best parts of the Note brand.
Most buyers will upgrade to this model just for its record-breaking screen, of course, and it does not disappoint.
The Note 10+ is an incremental upgrade on the S10 range released earlier this year, however, and those committed to their existing headphones will have to answer tough questions before investing in this phone (seriously, there’s no adaptor in the box — we checked several times).
For power, for screen size, and for scribbling notes, however, it’s without peer.
Samsung Galaxy Note 10+
$1299, samsung.com/au
PROS
— Impressive 6.8-inch screen
— Redesigned S Pen
— Useful new stylus additions, including handwriting-to-text
— New video features, including Live Focus and Zoom-in Mic
— Ultrasonic fingerprint sensor
CONS
— No headphone jack — not even an adaptor
— Only one camera for selfies
— Not a huge upgrade over the S10 range
— Inconvenient power button
— Smaller Note 10 is limited in storage and options
Originally published as Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ Australian review: is Samsung’s biggest smartphone its best?
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