Samsung makes glorious telephones that test practically each field of what you’d need in a tool: a transparent, sensible display. Great cameras. Strong battery life. But it has been years since all the person elements have come collectively in a method that makes me sit again and say, “Wow.” The Galaxy Note 10 Plus does that in a method that is eluded Samsung telephones for the reason that tragic Galaxy Note 7. This is not only a telephone that has all of it — it is a telephone I genuinely need to use. The Note 10 Plus is the whole bundle and the very best telephone Samsung’s made in years.The prismatic Aura Glow colour I examined is completely placing to take a look at, the options are practically all best-of-breed and Samsung has even labored to shut the hole between its digital camera instruments and camera-centric rivals just like the Huawei P30 Pro and Google Pixel 3. The Note 10 Plus additionally fixes my two main complaints about spring’s Galaxy S10 Plus (which continues to be a fantastic telephone): the in-screen fingerprint reader is dramatically extra correct this time round, and the digital camera’s devoted evening mode improves picture high quality in low gentle.Even the Note 10 Plus’ largest drawbacks are straightforward sufficient to swallow. There’s no headphone jack (Samsung was one of many final main holdouts). You might must relearn how you employ the ability button to show off the telephone and take screenshots. The depth-sensing digital camera would not do a lot. And it is costly — beginning at $1,100 (£999, AU$1,699) with a 5G model that prices $1,300 (£1,099 or AU$1,999).
Keep in thoughts that the Note 10 Plus is not a mainstream telephone. It nonetheless targets energy customers who need a huge machine and can truly use the included S Pen stylus. It’s overkill for individuals who need a smaller telephone or are utterly uninterested within the stylus.Samsung additionally launched a smaller model of the Note 10, which has a 6.3-inch display and prices $150 lower than the Plus, coming in at $949. Samsung additionally pulls again on the specs (e.g., much less RAM, no microSD card storage), however it may nonetheless do 90% of what the Plus mannequin can do. I’ll begin reviewing that one quickly. Scroll to the top for a full specs comparability.If you are on the fence, do not forget that the iPhone 11 (doubtless due in September), Google Pixel 4 and Huawei Mate 30 Pro (doubtless coming in October) are across the nook. But for the primary time in a very long time, I can say to energy customers: Why wait? The Note 10 Plus is excellent, and price shopping for. What’s on this assessment: Read on for the very best and worst of the Note 10 Plus, then stick round to study how good the brand new digital camera options are, life with out the headphone jack, gesture controls, all-day battery life and the way it compares to different rival telephones.View full gallery Just have a look at this magnificence.
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Best Note 10 Plus featuresSophisticated, squared-off design with Gorilla Glass 6 on either side.Prismatic Aura Glow and Aura Blue (US-only) backing.Symmetrical front-facing digital camera placement (these wallpapers put it to good use).Fast, correct in-screen fingerprint reader.Snappy efficiency with the Snapdragon 855 chipset.Excellent photographs, with fairly good standalone evening mode (extra under).Camera software program, like built-in video editor and portrait mode video, is nicely executed.S Pen stylus is snug and simple to make use of; fewer unintentional button presses.Gesture navigation with the S Pen is sensible.Fast wired and wi-fi charging (25- and 15-watt, respectively).New display recorder app is a pleasant contact — you possibly can seize audio, too.Samsung DeX is straightforward to arrange on Windows and Mac.Link to Windows works as marketed to reflect choose content material from Note 10 to Windows 10 PC.View full gallery The S Pen is snug to carry and use.
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Worst Note 10 Plus featuresNo 3.5mm headphone jack.AR digital camera solely works with one underdeveloped app (3D scanner to return).Power/lock/Bixby button on the left makes powering off and taking screenshots tough at first.Yes, you are going to need a case.It’s a smudge magnet — you will must consistently clear the telephone.View full gallery Your USB-C port and headphone jack at the moment are one and the identical.
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Photo high quality, evening mode, portrait video, video enhancingCameras: 16-megapixel extremely wide-angle lens12-megapixel wide-angle lens (important, dual-aperture digital camera)12-megapixel telephoto lensDepth-sensing digital camera10-megapixel front-facing digital cameraThe Note 10 Plus has the identical important cameras because the Galaxy S10 Plus (it provides that depth-sensing lens), however Samsung’s put a variety of effort into bettering the telephone’s software program, and that goes a protracted strategy to making the telephone simpler to make use of for taking photographs.  View full gallery The Note 10 Plus has a 3D depth-sensing digital camera to associate with the principle three.
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Daytime pictures is great, however the devoted evening mode is the place Samsung actually steps it up. This mode, discovered within the digital camera app, takes just a few seconds to course of a photograph, actually drawing out colours and particulars from a darkish scene. I want Samsung would add a count-down clock, so you understand how lengthy to carry the telephone nonetheless, however photographs taken on this mode could make an enormous distinction. Samsung’s colour processing can overbrighten in some night-mode eventualities, the place auto mode truly produces a extra pleasing, higher-contrast picture — so do not plan to make use of it each time. The Note 10 Plus additionally does attention-grabbing issues with video. Live Focus video mode provides a depth impact to video, and you’ll select amongst 4 filters for each your entrance and rear cameras. Jawlines and extremities can blur, and a few of my curly hair smeared into the background, however the deal with the face is fairly good. Another new function turns up the quantity on the supply of music if you zoom in. I examined this out on 4 completely different musical acts and… John Travolta doing the twist. Called zoom-in-audio, it really works as marketed, however some eventualities are simpler than others. It’s onerous to reposition the main target as you zoom and picture high quality suffers if you zoom in too carefully. Applause throughout for the baked-in video editor that permits you to add musical tracks, trim and add textual content. It’s nice to have the ability to rapidly produce a easy video on-device and share it out instantly.AR Doodle is a function that obtained a variety of press when it first got here out, as a result of it is distinctive and highlights the ability of the S Pen. You hop into video mode and may report a brief video of your self, another person, or a scene on the earth round you (it seems to day out after a minute). For instance, I had enjoyable embracing my punk facet (see the video in case you’re curious), and skywriting over the San Francisco skyline. 

Fun and foolish as AR Doodle is, it nonetheless wants work and would not have a transparent sense of function. Some pen suggestions are onerous to write down with, strokes disappeared over time, and there is no clear strategy to take a nonetheless picture of your completed murals. Side notice: AR Doodle would not use the depth-sensing digital camera.