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With the Galaxy Note 10 launching soon, Samsung thinks you'd spend $900 on the 2-year-old Note 8

by Florin Troaca / Aug 12, 2019, 6:56 PM

With the Galaxy Note 10 launching soon, Samsung thinks you'd spend $900 on the 2-year-old Note 8

Last week, after Samsung announced the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+, the company quickly started taking pre-orders for the two smartphones. Thus, you can already order your very own Note 10 (for $949) and Note 10+ (starting at $1,099), although they won't ship before August 23.

Thanks to impressive screen-to-body ratios of over 90%, the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ have fresh, eye-catching designs that simply make older Note iterations look dated. In addition, the new phones obviously bring upgraded specs, including a superior processor (Snapdragon 855 in the US), more storage space (at least 256 GB on both models), and improved cameras.

Usually, when a new high-end smartphone is announced, older generation models begin to be discounted. However, at this very moment, Samsung is selling last year's Note 9 starting at $999, so there are no discounts here. But what's really strange is that, on Samsung's website, the ageing Galaxy Note 8 (pictured above) is currently priced at $899.99, almost as high as it was on its launch day, back in September 2017.

It makes little sense for Samsung to assume that customers would pay $900 for the Galaxy Note 8, which is now 2 years old. Not just because two newer Galaxy Note generations are here, but also because you can get the Note 8 for considerably less when you buy it from Amazon or other places.

The Galaxy Note 8 is still a very good smartphone, that's hardly up for debate. The device is just not worth $899.99 right now when you can order a Galaxy Note 10 for only $50 more. Granted, the Note 10 lacks two features that are available on the Note 8 - microSD card support and a 3.5mm audio jack - while its display has a lower pixel resolution (1080 x 2280 versus 1440 x 2960). Nevertheless, the display of Note 10 is sharp enough and the phone offers plenty of storage space, so these are not issues to seriously complain about. It's true that the lack of a 3.5mm headset jack may vex some Galaxy Note fans, but at least Samsung is offering free USB Type-C headphones with the Note 10.

The Galaxy Note 10 might not be a huge upgrade over the Note 9, but, given its price, we think it's vastly better than any Note 8 that costs $900.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 vs Samsung Galaxy Note 8

Display

Display size

6.3 inches

Resolution

1080 x 2280 pixels

1440 x 2960 pixels

Aspect Ratio

19:9

18.5:9

Pixel density

400 ppi

522 ppi

Technology

Dynamic AMOLED

Super AMOLED

Screen-to-body

91.34 %

82.98 %

Hardware & Performance

System chip

Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SM8150

Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 MSM8998

Processor

Octa-core, 2840 MHz, Kryo 485, 64-bit, 7 nm

Octa-core, 2350 MHz, Kryo 280, 64-bit, 10 nm

GPU

Adreno 640

Adreno 540

RAM

8 GB LPDDR4

6 GB LPDDR4

Internal storage

256 GB, not expandable

64 GB

OS

Android (9.0 Pie), Samsung One UI

Android (8.0 Oreo, 7.1 Nougat), Samsung Experience UI

Battery

Capacity

3500 mAh

3300 mAh

Charging

Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0, USB Power Delivery, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charging

Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0

Talk time

22.00 hours

Talk time (4G)

38 hours

Internet use

LTE: 14 hours; Wi-Fi: 14 hours

3G: 12 hours; LTE: 13 hours; Wi-Fi: 14 hours

Music playback

60.00 hours

74.00 hours

Video playback

19.00 hours

16.00 hours

Camera

Rear

Triple camera

Dual camera

Main camera

12 megapixels

Features

Optical image stabilization, Phase detection autofocus

Specifications

Aperture size: F1.5/F2.4; Focal length: 27 mm; Sensor size: 1/2.55"; Pixel size: 1.4 μm

Aperture size: F1.7; Focal length: 26 mm; Sensor size: 1/2.55"; Pixel size: 1.4 μm

Second camera

12 megapixels

Features

Telephoto, Optical image stabilization, Autofocus

Specifications

Optical zoom: 2x; Aperture size: F2.1; Focal Length: 52 mm; Sensor size: 1/3.6"; Pixel size: 1 μm

Optical zoom: 2x; Aperture size: F2.4; Focal Length: 52 mm; Pixel size: 1 μm

Third camera

16 megapixels

Features

Ultra-wide

Specifications

Aperture size: F2.2; Focal Length: 13 mm; Pixel size: 1 μm

Video recording

3840x2160 (4K UHD) (60 fps), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (240 fps), 1280x720 (HD) (960 fps)

3840x2160 (4K UHD) (30 fps), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (60 fps), 1280x720 (HD) (240 fps)

Features

Optical image stabilization, High Dynamic Range mode (HDR), Time-lapse video, Hyperlapse, Digital image stabilization

Time-lapse video, Hyperlapse, Continuous autofocus, Object tracking, Picture-taking during video recording, Video light, Digital image stabilization, Video calling, Video sharing

Front

10 megapixels

8 megapixels

Video capture

3840x2160 (4K UHD) (30 fps)

Design

Dimensions

5.94 x 2.83 x 0.31 inches (151 x 71.8 x 7.9 mm)

6.40 x 2.94 x 0.34 inches (162.5 x 74.8 x 8.6 mm)

Weight

5.89 oz (167 g)

6.88 oz (195 g)

Materials

Back: Glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 6); Frame: Aluminum

Back: Glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 5); Frame: Aluminum

Resistance

Water, Dust; IP 68

Biometrics

2D Face unlock, In-screen fingerprint

Iris scanner, 2D Face unlock, Fingerprint (touch)

Features

Stylus

Notification light, Stylus

Shopping information

MSRP price

$ 950

$ 930

Options

12 Comments

1. Derekjeter

Posts: 1555; Member since: Oct 27, 2011

I wouldn’t spend $900 on the Note 10, 11, 12. Those prices are stupid. How are people getting in debt for 2 year to buy something as common as a cell phone.

posted on Aug 12, 2019, 7:57 PM 9

3. lyndon420

Posts: 6876; Member since: Jul 11, 2012

But....but...you play for the NY Yankees right? How is money an issue for you???!

posted on Aug 12, 2019, 9:09 PM 6

4. kevv2288

Posts: 309; Member since: Jul 30, 2015

Retired.

posted on Aug 12, 2019, 10:03 PM 0

2. dimas

Posts: 3415; Member since: Jul 22, 2014

Asus zenfone 6 is only $500. Latest snapdragon, decent camera, big battery, and good ram and storage. $900 for note 8? What the hell is samsung thinking?

posted on Aug 12, 2019, 8:51 PM 4

5. ijuanp03

Posts: 654; Member since: Dec 30, 2014

Strategy. So you won't buy a Note 8 and straightaway get a Note 10. Period. Problem solved.

posted on Aug 13, 2019, 4:17 AM 0

6. yalokiy

Posts: 1101; Member since: Aug 01, 2016

Just fishing for uninformed people that will buy it without thinking.

posted on Aug 13, 2019, 4:38 AM 2

7. blingblingthing

Posts: 980; Member since: Oct 23, 2012

Wait, so if they sell it cheap, I'll read how bad Android phones depreciate. If they hold their value, it's bad they are expensive?

posted on Aug 13, 2019, 7:20 AM 2

8. yalokiy

Even Apple lowers the price of their older phones after the new ones are released.

posted on Aug 13, 2019, 7:58 AM 0

9. Rampage_Taco

Posts: 1109; Member since: Jan 17, 2017

Except the Note 10 is currently only Announced, come release day the Note 8 and 9 will drop in cost, as with the S series in the spring, the S9 didn't drop until launch day of the S10's.

posted on Aug 13, 2019, 1:41 PM 0

10. yalokiy

It didn't get much cheaper (original price $930) on Samsung website after note 9 was released. Selling note 8 for $900 when you can get a new one with the same warranty much cheaper anywhere else is nonsense indeed. After note 10 is released, they'll probably just stop selling note 8.