Samsung finally unveiled the new Galaxy Note lineup at its Unpacked event on Aug. 7, taking the wraps off the successor to the Galaxy Note 9.
While the Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10 Plus are top-of-the-line smartphones in their own rights, the former could be argued as a "downgrade" rather than an upgrade over their predecessor.
On that note (pun intended), here's a breakdown of how each handset differs from one another.
Galaxy Note 10 vs. Galaxy Note 10 Plus
The Galaxy Note 10 and the Galaxy Note 10 Plus are both powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 or Exynos 9825, depending on the region. Both run on Android 9 Pie out of the box and sport an under-display fingerprint reader, USB-C port, and a 10-megapixel selfie camera. As for features, they boast Wireless PowerShare, an S Pen with Bluetooth connectivity and gesture controls called Air Actions, and an IP68 water-resistance rating. That's as far as the similarities between them go.
The standard model comes with 256 GB of built-in storage and 8 GB of RAM, while the bigger sibling is also available in those configurations but can go all the way up to 512 GB of storage, which is expandable by up to 1 TB with a microSD card, and 12 GB of RAM.
The Galaxy Note 10 has a 6.3-inch Dynamic AMOLED display with a 2,280 x 1,080 resolution (401 ppi), a 3,500 mAh battery, and a triple camera setup that consists of a 12-megapixel wide-angle lens, a 16-megapixel ultra-wide angle lens, and a 12-megapixel telephoto lens. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Note 10 Plus has a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED screen with a 3,040 x 1,440 resolution (498 ppi), a 4,300 mAh battery, and the same triple camera configuration plus a ToF (Time of Flight) 3D VGA camera.
Galaxy Note 10 vs. Galaxy Note 9
Except for the lack of a headphone jack, the Galaxy Note 10 Plus beats the Galaxy Note 9 across the board — surprise, surprise. However, the older model does have some advantages over the standard Galaxy Note 10.
Case in point, it has a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED screen with a 2,960 x 1,440 resolution (516 ppi), meaning it has a sharper display, which also bests the Galaxy Note 10 Plus' by a bit. In addition, it's available with 512 GB of internal storage that can be expanded by up to 512 GB, and it even has a bigger 4,000 mAh battery.
It starts to look outdated (read: barely) by comparison when it comes to its Snapdragon 845 or Exynos 9810 chip, rear fingerprint reader, dual-camera setup — 12-megapixel wide lens paired with 12-megapixel telephoto lens — and eight-megapixel front snapper. But that's pretty much it. It still has an IP68 rating, a USB-C port, and an S Pen with Bluetooth connectivity, though the stylus isn't as feature-packed as the Galaxy Note 10's.
The Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10 Plus are priced at $949.99 and $1,099.99, respectively. For the record, the Galaxy Note 9 launched with a $999.99 price tag.
