Latest round of Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ leaks fills in all the blanks
After a steady stream of smaller and bigger leaks uncovering the Galaxy Note 10 puzzle piece by piece in the last few months, a neat new collection of key specs was revealed just yesterday in one of the most substantial reports based on inside information yet. But a number of things remained under wraps, while others appeared to contradict previous rumors, leaving us waiting for official confirmation.
Naturally, we still have a couple of weeks to go until Samsung will come out and offer that, but in the meantime, Evan Blass, Steve Hemmerstoffer, and Jon Prosser have the next best thing to give us. Two of the most prolific mobile tech leakers and one of the most popular YouTubers covering smartphones on the Front Page Tech channel have essentially the same information to share on the Note 10 and Note 10+ specifications, obviously vouching for its accuracy with their near-flawless reputations.
Galaxy Note 10 specs and features
According to all three rock-solid sources, the smaller of Samsung's two upcoming stylus-wielding flagships will sport a 6.3-inch "Infinity-O" AMOLED screen with a 60Hz refresh rate, while packing Qualcomm's brand-new Snapdragon 855 Plus processor in the US, replaced by an in-house Exynos 9825 in Europe. That's great news for mobile gamers who might have been left disappointed by recent speculation that the "regular" Note 10 could stick with a "regular" Snapdragon 855 SoC.
Of course, the Galaxy Note 10 is unlikely to be marketed specifically as a gaming-focused handset, which explains why it's not getting a 120Hz display upgrade. On the bright side, the 6.3-incher is expected to come with plenty of horsepower, including 8GB RAM, 256GB internal storage (in an entry-level configuration), and a 3,600mAh battery with theoretical support for blazing fast 45W charging. By theoretical, we mean the charger sold with this phone as standard will apparently cap off at 25W speeds.
You'll need to separately buy a souped-up power brick to take full advantage of the 45-watt upgrade, but while we're on the subject of accessories, Samsung is at least planning to bundle the Note 10 with a headphone jack dongle. That means the device will not come with a traditional 3.5mm audio port... or a microSD card slot, for that matter. The triple camera arrangement on the back is tipped to combine a 12MP wide-angle lens with a 12MP telephoto (aka "zoom") sensor and a 16MP ultrawide shooter, which sounds a lot like the imaging equipment of the 6.1-inch Galaxy S10.
Obviously, the main differentiator between the two high-end smartphone families will remain the S Pen, which should gain air gestures (or Air Actions) for an extra touch of magic.
Galaxy Note 10+ strengths and unique selling points
Like the Galaxy S10 Plus, the Note 10+ is not just expected to enhance the screen size of its 6.3-inch brother. Of course, a jump to a 6.8-inch panel (with the same centered hole punch) is significant, but it's also far from the only thing that will separate the Note 10 Plus from the Note 10. The larger phone will come with a much heftier 4,300mAh battery, microSD support, and a fourth rear-facing camera as well.
Unsurprisingly, the additional imaging sensor will be in charge of depth scanning and various 3D tricks expected to take augmented reality experiences to a whole new level... someday. Unfortunately, Samsung has no plans to double the battery capacity enhancement of the Note 10+ with an improvement in terms of charging capabilities offered out the box. Finally, the inclusion of a microSD card slot on the larger Note 10 variant only is a total head-scratcher.
Sure, 256 gigs of local digital hoarding room (to start with) sounds like a lot, but when did external storage expansion become a premium feature worth integrating exclusively into super-expensive devices like the Galaxy Note 10 Plus?
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