Sitting at Samsung’s Unpacked event last week, I found myself thinking about a conversation with a colleague about the necessity of some features that were being added to smartphones and whether they were actually useful or just gimmicks. This isn’t to say that the Note 10 series is full of gimmicks, but as more information about the devices was announced and the rumours were confirmed, I couldn’t help but wonder about the reasons given for the removal of certain features and the inclusion of others.
The spec sheets above show you not only how impressive the Note 10 and Note 10 + are on paper, and during my very brief hands-on with the handsets at the launch, in real life as well. Despite having incredible, cutting-edge displays, a screen-to-body ration that almost defies belief and some out of this world features (hello DeX on Windows and Mac), the Note 10 series feels safe and expected.
Samsung has long been the world’s number smartphone manufacturer and they’re responsible for creating the large display smartphone (which is now an industry norm), improving smartphone cameras to the point that they can almost fully compete with traditional DSLRs and for being the brand that’s helped define Android in a way that no other company has, despite all of these achievements, it feels as if Samsung’s latest Note is just…ok.
In past iterations, the Note broke conventional norms by increasing the display size when every other smartphone manufacturer was decreasing theirs, it also brought a stylus to a phone and was the device of choice used to debut the Edge display.
Yes, the new S-Pen has undergone some impressive improvements (how are they able to fit a Gyro Sensor, Acceleration Sensor, and a supercapacitor into such a tiny device???), but these changes and upgrades are expected and don’t bring about as much excitement and awe as they once did. Samsung has become so good at being the leaders of cutting edge innovation that anything not perceived as light years ahead of the pack, no matter how good it is, is considered to be merely ok.
The Note was seen as the ultimate power-user device, it had everything and the kitchen sink built-into a device that could fit into your pocket. At Unpacked, Samsung went to great lengths to emphasise that the new Note is for creators, and I’m ok with that, after all, I’m a creator and I need the most powerful phone on the market. The problem I have is that a device meant for creators shouldn’t come with the compromises that the Note 10 series has.
At first glance, the standard Note 10 – the one with the 6.3-inch display – seems like the one that everyone would go for, after all, it’s a smaller, easier to handle Note 10, right? Not exactly. Unlike the S10 series where the only major differences between S10 and S10 + were the size of the device and the single hole-punch of the S10 versus the double hole-punch of the S10 +, the Note 10 series is a bit different.
The smaller Note maxes out at 256GB storage, has no expandable storage, has a lower-resolution display and doesn’t have the ToF camera found on the larger Note 10 +. Both Notes also have no 3.5mm headphone jack and if you’d like it back, you’ll need to purchase the USB-C to 3.5mm adaptor separately because it, like the 45W charging brick for the Note 10 +, is not included in the box.
Ok, so the FHD+ display resolution on the Note 10 doesn’t actually bother me that much because, by default, Samsung sets their higher-res displays to FDH+ resolution to ensure optimal battery life, and to be honest, most people won’t really notice the difference between the FDH+ and the WQHD display anyway.
The lack of expandable storage on the standard Note 10 is also not that much of a concern on its own. I’ve spoken to content creators who are currently using their smartphones to edit content on the go and they claim that they’ve never filled up the 128GB storage on their devices, so 256GB is ample to them.
That brings me to the 3.5mm headphone jack. Getting to review tech on multiple platforms for a living means that I have access to many things, including more wireless headphones than I know what to do with, but I’m an exception, not the norm.
Yes, many people have made the transition to wireless headphones because they’ve had no choice, but there are still many people who want the 3.5mm headphone jack to remain on flagship devices, and I’m not talking about audiophiles. Content creators, the very people that Samsung says the Note 10 is for, use the 3.5mm headphone jack for things like lavalier mics, or even connecting selfie sticks or other external accessories used when filming or recording audio. Sure, they can go out and buy the USB-C to 3.5mm dongle separately, but why should they have to when they’re already forking out R18 999 for the handset or R899 a month on a contract?
As MKBHD said, “if you can fit in an entire pen in the side of the phone, you could’ve fit a headphone jack.”
That brings me to the fact that the Note 10 + supports 45W wired charging, but you’d have to buy the 45W charging brick separately. If you’re constantly on the go and need to top up your phone in a hurry, why are you being charged extra for the capability which was touted as a feature of the Note 10 Plus?
The R22 999 (or R999 per month on contract) pricetag should surely mean that you wouldn’t have to buy the USB-C to 3.5mm dongle and the 45W charging brick separately?
And that’s where the problem lies. Individually, those little inconveniences are exactly that, inconveniences that have workarounds, but when you put them all together in a device that’s hailed as the mobile device for creators, then you have a problem. It’s also worth remembering that features and compromises found in flagship handsets eventually trickle down to mid-range and entry-level devices, and anyone buying those usually can’t afford to buy a pair of Galaxy Buds or shell out more money for a headphone dongle.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bashing the Note, in fact, Note is always my favourite Galaxy handset, and I’m a huge fan of the sheer technical and design wizardry that Samsung is able to achieve with every new Galaxy handset, but the Note used to be about doing it all without compromise and now it feels like its about deciding which compromises you can force yourself to live with.
With the imminent re-launch of the Galaxy Fold and people already asking what the Galaxy S11 will be like, I have to wonder if there’s still a place for the Note in the Galaxy lineup and the smartphone consumer market. Innovation is now found in the A-series and the Fold, while the camera difference between the Note 10 series and the S10 series is non-existent and the display size differs by 0.1-inch between the Plus variants of the S10 and the Note 10.
Which brings me back to the question, what’s next for the Note 10 series, because despite being such an impressive phone (and it is), it now comes with more compromises than it did in the past and seems to have less of a clear identity and sense of belonging in the broader Galaxy lineup.
Personally, I’d like to see the second generation Galaxy Fold launch with an S-Pen and replace the Note series because that would make more sense than having an S-series, an A-series, A Fold series, and a Note series.
A video review of the Note 10 + will be available once I receive a review unit from Samsung.
