Samsung Galaxy Note 10 preview: Specs, price, release date, and more
By now, everyone who spends a little time on the internet and is interested in smartphones knows there’s a new Galaxy Note flagship from Samsung coming out at some point later this year. The Galaxy Note 10 will be the tenth Galaxy Note flagship in name but will actually be the ninth device in the series, as Samsung skipped the Galaxy Note 6 naming and skipped directly to the Galaxy Note 7. However, that doesn’t mean the Galaxy Note 10 won’t bring considerable spec and feature upgrades over the Galaxy Note 9.
But what specs and features can we expect to see on the Galaxy Note 10? A lot has been rumored and a lot has been leaked in the previous few months, and we’ll try to make sense of it all and try to differentiate between what’s possible and what sounds implausible in this post. We’ll keep updating the information on this page as we approach the Galaxy Note 10’s launch, so don’t forget to bookmark it in your browser.
Latest News
05/08/2019: If pictures of the device caught in the wild weren’t enough, someone has posted a video of the Galaxy Note 10+ being used in a subway somewhere around the world.
02/08/2019: The Galaxy Note 10+ might come in an exclusive blue paint job while the regular Note 10 could get a red color option, according to a leak showing some of the accessories Samsung will sell for the two devices. The leak also shows the 25W fast charger that will accompany the Note 10 and Note 10+, along with the dongle that will be required to connect headphones with 3.5mm jack to the USB Type-C port.
01/08/2019: The Galaxy Note 10 has been spotted in the wild in South Korea, offering a good look at the screen-heavy front and the small bezels, along with the centered front camera cutout.
30/7/2019: Carriers in the US may make the Galaxy Note 10+’s expensive price tag more palatable by offering a free Galaxy Note 10 along with a Galaxy Note 10+ for those who pre-order the device. At least Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile will have such a deal, and perhaps Sprint might add it later as well.
29/7/2019: The Galaxy Note 10 has leaked in its pink avatar, giving us a neat look at the new color option.
29/7/2019: Samsung may start taking pre-orders for the Galaxy Note 10 from August 7, the same day the device will be unveiled, according to one of our sources.
29/7/2019: A complete spec sheet of the Galaxy Note 10+ has leaked once again, offering details on the hardware, dimensions, and more. Nothing is new, however, so it only serves to further support previous rumors.
24/7/2019: The Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ could include an upgrade to the telephoto camera that we’ve seen on every Galaxy flagship since the Galaxy Note 8. The new Notes will reportedly have a telephoto lens with F2.1 aperture, down from the F2.4 aperture lens seen on previous devices, theoretically allowing better low-light zoom pictures.
23/7/2019: Master leakster evleaks has hinted at the possibility of the smaller Note 10 not having a microSD slot, while also saying it will have 45W charging like the Note 10+. He also claims there’s a Snapdragon 855+ under the hood of Samsung’s upcoming flagship, challenging a recent report that said Samsung will use the regular Snapdragon 855.
22/7/2019: A new report about the Note 10 and Note 10+ claims the two devices will have 3,500 mAh and 4,300 mAh batteries. The front camera is said to have a dedicated Night mode, and the S Pen will reportedly have air gestures for actions such as flipping through images in the gallery.
17/7/2019: It looks like 45W charging for the Galaxy Note 10+ has been confirmed, although customers will be required to buy the 45W charger separately. The device itself will come with a 25W charger. The regular Note 10 isn’t expected to have support for 45W charging.
17/7/2019: It’s been suggested that Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset won’t be available on the Galaxy Note 10 or Note 10+. Both devices will have the regular Snapdragon 855 (and the Exynos 9825 in markets where the Snapdragon variant isn’t sold).
11/7/2019: It’s confirmed: There is no headphone jack on at least the Galaxy Note 10+. The confirmation comes from actual photos of the device in its FCC certification, and we can expect the regular Note 10 to miss out on a headphone jack as well.
10/7/2019: Official press renders of the regular Galaxy Note 10 have leaked today, showing us the overall design of the phone and aspects such as the vertically laid triple-camera setup at the back and the centered front camera cutout. Also revealed is a new silver color option with a pink and blue gradient effect that looks eerily similar to some of Huawei’s smartphones. The renders show no Bixby key on the device and no heart rate sensor.
10/7/2019: Our sources have confirmed that the Galaxy Note 10 5G will come with 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage options.
2/7/2019: Samsung has made it official: The Galaxy Note 10 will be unveiled on August 7. The company’s teaser for the Note 10 Unpacked event confirms that the device will have a centered display cutout, instead of a cutout on the right corner of the screen as was seen on the Galaxy S10 lineup.
There’s a regular Note 10 and a Pro/Plus model
It’s been made abundantly clear that there will be two versions of the Galaxy Note 10. There’s the regular Galaxy Note 10 and a Galaxy Note 10 Pro, although the latter should be released as the Galaxy Note 10+. That makes sense considering Samsung has been using the Plus moniker for the higher-end variant of every Galaxy S flagship since the Galaxy S8, and it was all but confirmed by a leak that showed the boot screen on a Galaxy Note 10+ in real pictures.
Two models also make sense as far as pricing is concerned. With flagship phone prices climbing steadily with each passing year, having just one Note with the best spec sheet may present a problem for sales, and the best solution is to have a lower-end model. And with the Galaxy S lineup shifting to three models with the Galaxy S10, perhaps it’s the right time for Samsung to start releasing two models of Galaxy Note flagships, with both offering the S Pen stylus—no doubt the mainstay of the Note series—while having some differences on the spec sheet.
Neither model is likely to have a 3.5 mm headphone jack…
Samsung has been releasing a smartphone here and there without a 3.5 mm headphone jack, but the Galaxy Note 10 is expected to become the first mainstream Galaxy device to come without a headphone jack. Both the regular and Plus models are likely to miss out on a headphone jack if most of the leaks and rumors are to be believed. Renders of the devices themselves have shown no headphone jack, and almost all case renders lack a cutout for a jack as well. Samsung is expected to put USB Type-C versions of its AKG earphones in the Note 10 box, and a USB Type-C to 3.5mm converter should be included as well.
