Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ vs Note 10 vs Note 9: What’s changed?

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 series made its global debut on August 7 and eventually its Indian launch on August 20. This year, Samsung unveiled two models – Galaxy Note 10 Plus and Note 10. Additionally, a Note 10 Plus 5G variant is set for selected markets. The Note franchise is known for its phablet form factor, superlative specs, and the S-pen. The new Notes bring about improvements in these areas and evident changes in the design language.

So, with every new product, comes the difficult decision of whether or not to upgrade. Plus, some of you might already own a Note 9. So the obvious doubts might lurk in your mind like – Are the new features noteworthy enough to buy the new Note 10 or Note 10 Plus? Fret not! Here we have highlighted the improvements and changes with the new Note series to help you out of this predicament. We believe this will give a better idea of the new phones and help you in coming up with an informed decision.

Design and Display

Right off the bat, the most glaring difference is the new Notes’ Infinity-O display. The cutout migrates to the center and is smaller than the ones in S10 series. This segue from Note 9’s thick forehead adds to the screen real estate. This display features Corning Gorilla Glass 6, HDR10+ and an under-display fingerprint scanner. Note 9 had a capacitive biometric reader.

The Note 10 Plus is slightly larger than the Note 9. The new Note 10s are lighter than their precursor. Further, the curves at the edges are subtler, which should be more comfortable to hold.

The new Aura colors and the default wallpapers complement the new aesthetic choice.

Processor and Memory

The Note 10 series bears an octa-core Exynos 9825 chipset. This is the first 7nm based mobile processor built with EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography) process. While both the Note 10s pack base storage of 256GB, the top-end variant boasts 512GB (expandable storage upto 1TB) coupled with 12gigs of RAM. Needless to say, the underlying software is One UI based on Android 9.0 Pie on all the three.

Camera

Samsung has shamelessly recycled the same 12MP sensor as the primary rear camera for the past few flagships. This one also houses a 12MP telephoto sensor like the Note 10 but with a smaller aperture. The setup also parades a new 16MP ultrawide shooter on the new phones. Furthermore, the Plus variant carries a 3D ToF VGA depth-sensing unit.

On the Note 10 Plus, you can use the Live Focus on Videos to add real-time bokeh and lighting effects. This works with the help of that 3D ToF VGA depth-sensing unit. Then there is the “audio zoom’ feature, which lets you selectively focus on what you want to hear by peeping into a particular area of the video. This will supposedly amp the audio from that region while reducing all other noise.

S-Pen

The S-Pen is a part and parcel of the Note lineup. The S-Pen of both the phones sports “Air Actions” to control the phones wirelessly. Besides the built-in Bluetooth connectivity, Samsung has instilled a 6-axis gyro sensor which facilitates the new gesture-based functions.

You can now command cameras functions such as the shutter button, switch between different shooting modes, and zoom in/out from a distance. You can convert handwriting to text format and share it in varied formats. For in-depth knowledge, you may jump to our dedicated article on S-pen tips and tricks.

Bye Bye Headphone Jack

Unfortunately, there is no 3.5mm headphone jack. The new Galaxy Notes have Type-C earphones. Notably, you don’t get the USB-C dongle and the 45W Super-fast charger of Note 10 Plus within the box.

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Samsung has also ditched the ill-famed Bixby button. Instead, it includes a single “Side Key” which can be used for triggering power menu, custom apps and more. Rest all the three Notes load IP68 dust and water resistance, USB-C port, Stereo Speakers, Bluetooth 5.0 and the laundry list of network elements and sensors.

Pricing

The Note 10 Indian price is reported to be Rs. 69,999 while the Note 10 Plus starts at Rs. 79,999 for the 12GB RAM and 256GB variant. The price of high-end 512GB model is Rs. 89,999 in India. Note 9 base variant is still available around Rs. 60,000 in India.

Revisiting the Galaxy Note series

Looking at the above image, you would realize, how far the Note series has journeyed over the years. Long gone are the thick bezels engulfing the display and the different hardware keys on the chassis.

Samsung has shaved off the bezels across the border, by the dint of this front camera placement. Thus the phone not only looks visually splendid but also gets slightly smaller in size.

The phone has a noticeable chin and arched corners resembling the bottom bezels of the Galaxy S10 Plus. The new design choices by Samsung gives it a svelte and chiseled physique.

Here is a full-fledged spec table comparison betwixt the specification of Galaxy Note 9 with the expected specs of Note 10 phablets –

Galaxy Note 10 vs. Note 10 Plus vs. Note 9 specs