Samsung Galaxy Note 10

I always dreamed about getting this phone since 2019, but never got money for it. Now that it doesn't receive official updates and it is quite easy to find in affordable prices online, i got it for 150$/870R$ and i wanna talk about my first impressions:

The Screen

It is not as bright as the screen from newer phones, but it is certainly very responsive and its curved format makes the experience very good while using navegation/multitasking gestures, and being only 60Hz is not exactly a problem. You won't really use a high refresh rate screen on a phone for something more than playing some specific games or just enjoying the more responsive screen. Well, the screen is very pleasing, it has a fairly balanced color profile and the 4K resolution is also neat (nothing new, considering every phone now has a 4K screen).

The Specs

Almost perfect. The microSD card slot is one of the reasons why i bought this phone, and it works really well for the purpose of being a more professional phone, specially with the insane combo of 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, something that we literally never saw again in a phone like this after the Note 20 Ultra, at least including microSD support.

There is only one problem, which everyone in this sub already knows, that is the lack of a headphone jack, something that didn't had any reason to be removed, considering it was still available in the S10+. I already have my own earbuds, so it won't really be a problem, but i am certainly gonna miss it.

Also, the Exynos 9825 isn't really bad at all. In fact, the phone is so well built from its insides and also including a large bronze heatsink in the motherboard, that you literally cannot see or feel a single difference in temperature while using this phone. It's absolutely insane.

I can run Genshin Impact at around 30/50 FPS (this game stutters a lot and spawns textures in your face lol) at max settings without really throttling, because the phone is just that good in build quality. I can only feel the heat in a very specific zone in the back of the phone, and it is not even uncomfortable or burning my fingers.

Also, i am using Thermal Guardian with 2+ degrees, the Enhanced Processing option, the Game Booster Labs option that disables GOS' thermal limitations, Max FPS mode on Game Plugins and Priority Mode.

Also, i wanna talk about the speakers. They do sound very soft and also fairly balanced, and it is good enough for me in most activities.

I do also really appreciate the 45W charging support, it's insane how i can charge this whole phone in less than a hour, and also use it to charge peripherals and other compatible phones.

The Camera

It is still really good compared to newer flagship phones. Obviously not better or with very negligible differences, but if you wanna use it for your social media videos and work, you absolutely can.

I love recording my stuff at 60 FPS all the time with zero restrictions, compared to recent midrange Samsung phones. The only restriction is that the 2x optical zoom does not work with 60 FPS video recording, but i guess you cannot have everything in the same package.

It is probably due to the post-processing work (like what every phone does to have good photos nowadays), but the light and color temperature is very well balanced, the photos looks very natural, clean and sharp and it works fairly well in low/high light scenarios, even if it's a little bit grainy (2019 phone, remember?).

The S Pen

Another crucial reason why i bought this phone, and i do not have any regrets when it comes to this aspect. My current one does not work with Air Actions, and i am going to get a new one, since the capacitor just probably died after 6 years (shocking information), but in the writing part, it is very well customizable, i love the sound that it does when i am writing, the AOD notes integration is extremely useful in case you wanna write something quick to remember later, all AirCommand features are super useful, specially the one that i can extract text from screenshots and translate every text on the go (something that wasn't available on average phones until One UI 5.1). Writing actual words with a pen is definitely not efficient AT ALL, and the converter can mess up some words, but i guess it is cool if you wanna look fancy on the street.

The Battery

Notice that this is my experience on a phone that not only has a 2019 processor, how it was used for years and years by another person without any changes. And somehow it is still really good. If you wanna hold on for around 6 hours while doing basic stuff and watching videos, you absolutely can.

I've had some serious issues with it after a factory reset (it was draining 1% per 5 seconds after starting its first game), but i just wiped system cache using the Recovery Mode, recalibrated the battery and it is now working completely fine.

Probably getting a replacement soon, the battery is not expensive and it should be good enough for me. The internet says that a new battery can handle 10 hours in basic daily usage, and i wanna believe on them.

The System

I'll show up some photos in this post of my own system just to get you a idea of how great OneUI is when it comes to customization.

Besides from this phone being stuck at Android 12 forever, there is almost no reason why you should upgrade to a newer phone. Yes, i've used OneUI 6.1, i like the newer customization stuff and everything, but you don't really NEED any of that.

Also, Android 13 stopped supporting every 32-bits app and you literally cannot install them anymore without a Magisk module. Be thankful for that at least lol

You can still customize a lot of things with Good Lock, an official application that lets you use different modules for each part of your system, including your task manager style and shape, enhance and enable new Samsung DeX features, optimize your multitasking activities, customize your gestures and/or navegation bar, your lockscreen, your keyboard, basically EVERYTHING.

Since it is a Note device, i wanna point out that there is a module called Pentastic, and you can change the AirCommand style to more options, including the circular style that was originally from older Note devices, change the insert and pull sounds, customize your pointer and create a little shortcut doing a double tap.

There is also a separate app called Good Guardians, that it is related to Good Lock, but you way need to install it from APKMirror, since it is available for less countries than Good Lock. With it, you can add newer options for your system management, like adding an auto dim feature, change your thermal limitations, use a RAM mode that lets you use more apps on background, and also optimize and clean all your apps after a factory reset (very useful).

If you wanna use custom ROMs, this phone works well with it, and it has a very decent ROM community, allowing you to update your phone up to Android 15 with only minor issues. You cannot use your original S Pen properly in custom stock ROMs after OneUI 5.1, it has some issues with the camera, and every single ROM, AOSP or not, does not let you use FaceID to unlock your device. These are issues caused by the code structure of the phone and its open-source documentation that was uploaded officially by Samsung.

Conclusion

I wanna use this phone forever until it is eventually too much outdated to be used daily, and it is my first actual flagship phone that i got, so it means a lot to me. I hope that my information provided can help or entertain other people that already used this phone for a while or people that wants this phone just like i wanted.

This thread will be updated as more information is revealed/shared

Official Listing

Specs/Features

• Pricing:

• Release date: August 23rd. Preorders start tomorrow

• 6.3" FHD+ AMOLED (401ppi) on Note 10, 6.8" WQHD+ AMOLED (498ppi) in Note 10+. Both are HDR10+ certified.

• 3500 mAh battery on the Note 10, 4300 mAh for the Note 10+

• 256GB Storage for the base unit across both models. Note 10+ (including 5G) can go up to 512GB internal. The Plus models support up to 1TB in external memory (microSD Card). Note 10 doesn't have expandable storage.

• 8GB Ram on the Note 10. Note 10+ has the option for 8GB or 12GB

• Three cameras for all models - 12MP primary lens, 16MP wide-angle camera, 12MP telephoto lens. The Note 10+ adds a Time of Flight sensor

• Stainless Steel frame (from aluminum)

• Snapdragon 855

• 7㎚ 64-bit Octa-Core Processor ※ 2.73㎓ (Maximum Clock Speed) + 2.4㎓ + 1.9㎓ or 7㎚ 64-bit Octa-Core Processor ※ 2.8㎓ (Maximum Clock Speed) + 2.4㎓ + 1.7㎓ depending on the country

• IP68

• Colors: Note 10 -- Note 10+

• Headphone Jack gone

• Blood pressure sensor and Heart Rate sensor are gone

• Will ship with Android 9

Impressions/Hands-On/Reviews:

• MKBHD's Impression

• Mr. Mobile's Hands-On

• The Verge

looks like S23 ultra 4 years later, looks as good, is thinner, has beautiful colors, screen, I would never say it’s 4 years old phone This thing launched with 256GB 12GB RAM standard, more than S23 Ultra