Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ review: The 'everything phone' reinvented 

Samsung's Galaxy te is called 'everything phone' for a good reason. Since 2011, which is when first Galaxy te was launched, Samsung has been outfitting se things with best of specs plus a one-of-its-kind stylus for one sole purpose – to get your job done. Galaxy te has come a long way since n, but it’s always stayed true to that purpose. 

smartphone market’s going through some changes of late. Almost every brand we kw is making an everything phone w, or something very close, and many of m are selling se devices at more affordable prices. Galaxy te isn’t only everything phone around anymore. Unless you want a stylus because, re’s still one doing that, you kw. 

Which is why, Samsung is doing things a little differently this year. Galaxy te in 2019 comes in two sizes – re's a smaller 6.3-inch Galaxy te 10 and a much larger 6.8-inch Galaxy te 10+. idea is to offer a little something for everybody without compromising on core hardware, which is still Galaxy te’s key USP. It’s still an everything phone, but w you get more options to choose from. While Galaxy te 10 price in India starts at Rs 69,999, Galaxy te 10+ starts at Rs 79,999. 

On face of it, this year’s Galaxy te isn’t all that different from last year’s Galaxy te, and yet it is – Galaxy te 10 and Galaxy te 10+ mark beginning of a new chapter for Samsung. Question is, where do we go from here? 

Design and build quality 

Galaxy te 10+ is Samsung’s biggest smartphone to date. At 6.8-inches, it literally towers over competition too. It’s just huge. But that’s only on paper. In hands, it feels bigger than last year’s Galaxy te 9 – it has a very similar footprint. This is because Galaxy te 10+ has almost bezels. screen-to-body ratio on this one is just ridiculous – putting even Galaxy S10+ to shame. You couldn’t say that in past. It was always like Galaxy te and Galaxy S were cut from same cloth. With Galaxy te 10+, Samsung is charting a new course. 

That course les to ultimate luxury. Galaxy te 10+ is quite simply put, nicest smartphone that money can buy today – it's a piece of art. It’s two pieces of nearly uninterrupted Corning Gorilla Glass 6 held toger by an aluminum frame that’s just barely re, especially on sides. All that glass is surely a health hazard, and I strongly vise you to put a case on it, but hey, just look at this thing glow. 

aura glow variant that Samsung has conjured specifically for Galaxy te 10+ is like a rainbow of colours you can carry around at all times and feel good about it – re’s also aura white and aura black in case you’re looking for something less flashy. 

Button placement is typical Samsung although company has tried to get rid of dedicated Bixby button on Galaxy te 10+, sort of. re’s longer a power button on right, inste Bixby button on left doubles as a power button – which means you can get rid of it by remapping it to power off/restart Galaxy te 10+.  

Display 

Like Galaxy S10+, Galaxy te 10+ also uses Samsung’s Dynamic AMOLED display – which is without a doubt, best in business. Wher you talk about brightness or contrast or outdoor legibility, you can’t go wrong with this one. Colours are more natural by default (as opposed to last year’s Galaxy te 9), but re is also an option to pump out Samsung’s signature over-contrast through settings.   

Viewing angles are also best in-class with minimal colour and white shifting. Galaxy te 10+ has a sharper QHD+ screen while smaller Galaxy te 10 has a FHD+ resolution and while re’s fancy 90Hz refresh rate here – maybe next year – quality of display is so good, chances are you won’t even tice it. 

This is because Galaxy te 10+ is literally all-screen and bezel with an Infinity-O punch hole in a de center position (unlike Galaxy te 10+ where it’s on one side) where you’re most likely going to forget about it, after a couple of days or two. Even faster if you’re going to binge watch content on it. Galaxy te 10+’ display is also certified for viewing HDR10+ content.  

Galaxy te 10+ has same ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner as Galaxy S10+ and while I like that it’s a lot more accurate w, it’s still t fastest and needs some time getting used to. 

Performance and battery life 

Being Samsung’s top-tier Galaxy te means Galaxy te 10+ packs latest and greatest in hardware. In India, Galaxy te 10+ is powered by Samsung’s top-of--line Exys 9825 processor. This is paired with up to a whopping 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 512GB of USB3.0 stor which is also expandable by up to 1TB via a hybrid micro-SD card slot. Galaxy te 10 has same core hardware paired with 8GB RAM and 256GB stor – this one does t support expandable stor. 

Unsurprisingly, Galaxy te 10+ is one of fastest Android smartphones that money can buy today. thing literally flies – matter what you throw at it. And it does that without breaking a sweat. Samsung is using a new vapor chamber cooling system in Galaxy te 10+ that’s claimed to be “ slimmest in world.” It works well to keep temperature in check and cools phone down rar swiftly when being pushed to edge – so complaints re. 

Galaxy te 10+ is efficient too and it boasts of biggest battery that Samsung has ever shipped in a high-end flagship to date - which is 4,300mAh ( Galaxy te 10 has a smaller 3,500mAh battery). Battery life is good, for a Galaxy te but we’ve surely seen better – so that’s one area where Galaxy te 10+ does feel lacking over competition. Galaxy te 10+ is a full-day phone only if you’re being nice to it – which means that you’re t a heavy user and you don’t mind running phone at FHD+. But if you are, here’s thing – in our video loop test, Galaxy te 10+ lasted for around 10 hours which is good, but I expected better.  

Galaxy te 10+ supports 45W fast charging ( Galaxy te 10 supports 25W fast charging) but Samsung is bundling a 25W fast charger in box which tops phone in about one and a half hours – which is nice. Galaxy te 10+ also supports 15W fast wireless charging and reverse charging. 

re are a couple of more things to te about Galaxy te 10+’ hardware - 

-- Samsung Dex w allows you to move files between your phone and computer (Windows/Mac) more seamlessly by connecting Galaxy te 10+ to it with any USB cable. 

-- Samsung has partnered with Microsoft to bring ‘Link to Windows’ to Galaxy te 10+. Once linked, you can exchange text, share photos, and receive tifications from galaxy te 10+ on your Windows PC.  

Quick pointers on Galaxy te 10+ as an everyday phone -  

-- Galaxy te 10+ comes in 12GB RAM/256GB and 12GB/512GB configurations. That's LPDDR4X RAM and UFS3.0 stor. Which means, everything runs fast almost all time. Galaxy te 10+ also supports expandable stor of up to 1TB via a hybrid micro-SD card slot. 

-- Software inside phone is Android 9 Pie-based One UI. With features like a system-wide dark mode and an emphasis on faster and seamless use on large-screen devices, One UI is without a doubt best piece of software that Samsung has ever built. What’s impressive is that even though Samsung hasn’t necessarily cut down on fancy animations (and re are still many duplicate apps here including three different email apps), whole UI still feels faster than any of its past software iterations. Hopefully, it holds up – and hopefully Samsung shows same intent with updates as well. phone is set to receive Android 10-based One UI 2.0 beta soon. 

-- Galaxy te 10+ comes with high-quality dual speakers that can get quite loud with good stereo separation. Galaxy te 10+ does t have a hephone jack. 

-- Phone calls me with Galaxy te 10+ are of good quality across board – re’s thing really to complain here. dual SIM phone supports dual 4G VoLTE. 

-- phone is IP68-certified for water and dust resistance.  

S-Pen 

Samsung’s signature S-Pen is getting a big update this year – at least on paper. Samsung has packed an accelerometer and gyroscope inside it, so it can w support ‘air’ gestures to control Galaxy te 10+, literally like a magic wand. That’s gimmick 1. re’s a new AR Doodle feature in Galaxy te 10+ that lets you draw on people as well as things virtually and n se stay pinned (almost) even after you or your subject have moved. That's gimmick 2. I call m gimmicks because both are parlour tricks that you’re likely to try once and forget soon after. 

But re’s one improvement that I really like. Even though Samsung’s S-Pen has competition, I like that it continues to d more and more useful features to it year after year. Digital text conversion is something that Samsung introduced last year. This year, Samsung is using AI to make it more accurate and you also w get option to directly export your text to Microsoft Word – that's neat.  

Cameras 

Galaxy te 10+ has four cameras in all - qu rear cameras consisting of one 12MP wide (77-degree field of view) sensor with variable f/1.5-f/2.4 aperture and dual pixel OIS, a 16MP ultra-wide (123-degree field of view) sensor with f/2.2 aperture and fixed focus, a 12MP telephoto sensor with OIS and f/2.1 aperture, and a Time-of-Flight camera for 3D depth mapping purposes. That’s mostly same setup as Galaxy S10+’ with an ded ToF sensor. On front, Galaxy te 10+ has a 10MP sensor with f/2.2 aperture and 80-degree field-of-view – again, mostly same deal as Galaxy S10+. 

all-round results are also mostly similar although I must say, Samsung has upped its game ever so slightly when it comes to (post) processing. Samsung seems to be using new algorithms so all-round result is warmer and more pleasing to eyes with great dynamic range as well especially in ideal lighting. Low light photos meanwhile appear soft and mushy because of Samsung’s highly aggressive ise reduction in such situations. Samsung’s night mode does help get more out of your low light photos – but, again, it’s match for what Huawei and Google are doing with ir high-end flagships. 

front camera can shoot good-eugh selfies with lots of detail in good light but low-light selfies (and portraits) could be better. 

But where it falters at stills, it more than compensates for through one of best in-class video recording – Galaxy te 10+ videos are sharp, with lots of detail, and good stabilization (including good all-round audio) across board. Galaxy te 10+ also lets you shoot bokeh videos but y’re thing special – so that’s one area that needs work. re's also a new feature where you can amp audio as you zoom into a subject, like in HTC U11 - it works well eugh. 

Should you buy Galaxy te 10+? 

So, how’s Galaxy te 10+ an everything phone reinvented, when overall, it’s just ar incremental update to Galaxy te 9? It is t, when you scratch through surface. On inside though, things are different. Galaxy te has always been a productivity centric device, but chances are, Galaxy te 10+ could be last of its kind. Or second last, I am t sure. But it surely can’t be future. future, as Samsung puts it - and I can’t agree more – belongs to foldables.  

Foldables like Galaxy Fold. And until Samsung finds out a way to make m more affordable and more mainstream, se devices will be a luxury. Galaxy te 10+ is foldable, but it’s a very, very luxurious device that’s kcking on that future’s door. Wher or t you should buy it is something that will ultimately depend on your preference – your preference for thing but best, and of course, your preference for that super useful yet super gimmicky S-Pen.

(Photos by Saurabh Singh)

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