Two new notes!

Samsung has officially announced its newest Notes in an event in New York City today. And yes, that’s not a typo, we said Notes – like their Galaxy S10 series earlier this year, Samsung is releasing two variants of their big-screen phablet: the Note 10 and Note 10 Plus.

Both phones share a completely redesigned exterior with harsher curves, along with a repositioned camera module that’s a big departure from Samsung’s other flagship offerings. And after making fun of Apple’s decision to nix the 3.5mm jack on their iPhones back in 2016, Samsung has finally succumbed and removed the aging connector on both the regular Note 10 and Note 10 Plus.

Samsung has omitted the physical fingerprint scanner on the Note 10, opting instead for an ultrasonic under-display fingerprint scanner instead. And after multiple complaints from users, the Korean company has finally relented and removed the dedicated Bixby button on the side of both phones, leaving only the power and volume keys as the physical controls for the phone.

The new Notes get Samsung’s Dynamic AMOLED display that first debuted on the Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus, along with their new Infinity O Display. But unlike the S10 family of phones, the camera cutout for the 10-megapixel front camera on the new Note 10 and 10 Plus is placed in the middle of the phone, and not off to one side. The regular Note 10 gets a 6.3-inch 2280 x 1080 resolution, HDR10+ Certified display, while the bigger Note 10 Plus gets an even bigger QHD+ HDR10+ Certified panel.

Both phones get a triple camera module that’s made up of an ultra-wide 16-megapixel f/2.2 shooter, the 12-megapixel main camera with a variable aperture of f/1.5 and f/2.2 with OIS, as well as a 12-megapixel 2x optical telephoto lens with an f/2.1 aperture. The Galaxy Note 10 Plus gets an additional time of flight (ToF) camera on the rear for better AR experiences.

Samsung’s also made the S-Pen even more useful this time around, adding a 6-axis sensor including a gyro and accelerometer. You can now use gestures with the S-Pen – swiping it left, right, up and down to switch camera modes, play media and more, all without having to touch the phone.

While the Note series typically get the same processor as the S10 family, this year it’s a little different. The Note 10 family gets a new Exynos 9825 processor built on an entirely new 7nm Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUV) manufacturing process, which is a step up from the 8nm process that the Exynos 9820 uses.

Starting storage for the Note 10 is 256GB which is pretty generous, though at the expense of expandable storage since neither variant supports microSD cards anymore. The Note 10 Plus gets even more storage, as customers can opt to get either 256GB or 512GB depending on their needs.

As for RAM, the Note 10 has 8GB of RAM, while the Note 10 Plus has even more at 12GB.

Samsung has finally addressed one of the biggest weaknesses of its flagships: charging speed. Both phones have incredibly fast charging speeds, thanks to their 45W fast charging capabilities. Both phones also have wireless charging and reverse wireless charging capabilities as well.

The new Notes don’t come cheap, as we expected, but pricing wasn’t as bad as we initially thought. The regular Galaxy Note 10 will retail for Php 53,990, while the Galaxy Note 10 Plus with 256GB of storage gets a sticker price of Php 60,990. The 512GB variant of the Galaxy Note 10 Plus will go for a cool Php 72,990.

Pre-orders for the phone start tomorrow, August 9, and runs until the 18th. Pre-order customers for the Galaxy Note 10 Plus with 512GB of storage will score a 43-inch UHD Smart TV as a freebie. Pre-order customers for the 256GB version of the Galaxy Note 10 Plus has a choice of a free 8-inch Galaxy Tab A, free store token worth Php 4,000 or a free upgrade to the 512GB variant of the Note 10 Plus.

Regular Galaxy Note 10 pre-order customers have the option of getting Free Galaxy Buds or an in-store token worth Php 3,000 if they pre-order within August 9 to the 18th.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 specs

• Exynos 9825 octa-core processor
• 8GB of RAM
• 6.3-inch 2280 x 1080 resolution Dynamic AMOLED Infinity-O display with HDR10+ certification
• 256GB of storage
• Triple rear cameras: 12-megapixel f/1.5-2.2 main camera with OIS; 12-megapixel f/2.1 telephoto camera 2x optical zoom and OIS; 16-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle camera; with Dual Pixel, 960FPS Super Slo-Mo video
• 10-megapixel f/2.2 front camera with AF and 4K video recording
• 3G, LTE
• Dual SIM
• WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, BeiDou, USB-C, ultrasonic under-display fingerprint sensor
• S-Pen with 6-axis sensor
• 3,500mAh battery with 25W fast charging capability, Wireless charging, reverse wireless charging
• Android 9.0 Pie with OneUI

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus specs

• Exynos 9825 octa-core processor
• 12GB of RAM
• 6.8-inch 3040 x 1440 resolution Dynamic AMOLED Infinity-O display with HDR10+ certification
• 256GB/512GB of storage, expandable via MicroSD
• Quadruple rear cameras: 12-megapixel f/1.5-2.2 main camera with OIS; 12-megapixel f/2.1 telephoto camera 2x optical zoom and OIS; 16-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle camera; Time of Flight (ToF) camera; with Dual Pixel, 960FPS Super Slo-Mo video
• 10-megapixel f/2.2 front camera with AF and 4K video recording
• 3G, LTE
• Dual SIM
• WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, BeiDou, USB-C, ultrasonic under-display fingerprint sensor
• S-Pen with 6-axis sensor
• 4,300mAh battery with 45W fast charging capability, Wireless charging, reverse wireless charging
• Android 9.0 Pie with OneUI