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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

Updated: Aug 12, 2019, 7:47 PM

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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 Note10	Samsung Galaxy Note8

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 (167.0 g)	6.88 oz (195.0 g)
Materials
Back: Glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 6) Frame: Aluminum	Back: Glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 5) Frame: Aluminum
Resistance
Water, Dust; IP68	Water, Dust; IP68
Biometrics
2D Face unlock, Ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint	Iris scanner, 2D Face unlock, Fingerprint (touch)
Features
Stylus	Notification light, Stylus
Keys
Left: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key	Left: Volume control; Right: Lock/Unlock key
Colors
Aura glow, Aura white, Aura black	Midnight black, Maple gold, Orchid gray, Deep Sea blue

Display

Size
6.3-inch	6.3-inch
Resolution
2280x1080px, 19:9 ratio, 400 PPI	2960x1440px, 18.5:9 ratio, 522 PPI
Technology
Dynamic AMOLED	Super AMOLED
Screen-to-body
91.34 %	82.98 %
Features
HDR support, Scratch-resistant glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 6), Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor	HDR support, Scratch-resistant glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 5), Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor

Hardware

System chip
Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SM8150 (7 nm)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 MSM8998 (10 nm)
Processor
Octa-core 2840 MHz Kryo 485	Octa-core 2350 MHz Kryo 280
GPU
Adreno 640	Adreno 540
RAM
8GB (LPDDR4)	6GB (LPDDR4)
Internal storage
256GB (UFS 3.0), available to use: 223.4 GB	64GB, available to use: 53 GB
Storage expansion
not expandable	microSDXC up to 256 GB
OS
Android (11, 10, 9.0 Pie), Samsung One UI	Android (8.0 Oreo, 7.1 Nougat), Samsung Experience UI

Battery

Capacity
3500 mAh	3300 mAh
Type
Li - Ion	Li - Ion
Charging
Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0, USB Power Delivery, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charging, Qi and Powermat wireless charging, Reverse wireless charging	Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0, Qi and Powermat wireless charging
Charge speed
Wired: 25.0W Wireless: 12.0W

Camera

Rear
Triple camera	Dual camera
Main camera
12 MP (OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F1.5/F2.4 Focal length: 27 mm Sensor size: 1/2.55" Pixel size: 1.4 μm	12 MP (OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F1.7 Focal length: 26 mm Sensor size: 1/2.55" Pixel size: 1.4 μm
Second camera
16 MP (Ultra-wide) Optical zoom: 2.0x Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 13 mm Pixel size: 1 μm	12 MP (Telephoto, OIS, Autofocus) Optical zoom: 2.0x Aperture size: F2.4 Focal Length: 52 mm Pixel size: 1 μm
Third camera
12 MP (Telephoto, OIS, PDAF) Optical zoom: 2.0x Aperture size: F2.1 Focal Length: 52 mm Sensor size: 1/3.6" Pixel size: 1 μm
Flash
LED	LED
Video recording
3840x2160 (4K UHD) (60 fps), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (240 fps), 1280x720 (HD) (960 fps) OIS, HDR, Time-lapse video, Hyperlapse, EIS	3840x2160 (4K UHD) (30 fps), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (60 fps), 1280x720 (HD) (240 fps) Time-lapse video, Hyperlapse, Continuous autofocus, Object tracking, Picture-taking during video recording, Video light, EIS, Video calling, Video sharing
Front
10 MP (Autofocus, HDR), Video capture: 3840x2160 (4K UHD) (30 fps)	8 MP (Autofocus, HDR)

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
5.0	5.0
WLAN
802.11 a,b,g,n,ac,ax(Wi-Fi 6),dual-band MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot	802.11 a,b,g,n,ac,dual-band MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot
USB
Type-C, USB 3.1	Type-C, USB 3.1
Hearing aid compatible
	M4/T3
Location
GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning	GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall (for flip covers), Barometer	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall (for flip covers), Barometer
Other
NFC, ANT+	NFC, ANT+

Multimedia

Headphones
No 3.5mm jack	3.5mm jack
Speakers
Earpiece, Multiple speakers	Earpiece, Loudspeaker
Features
32-Bit DAC, Dolby Atmos, aptX-HD	32-Bit DAC, aptX-HD
Screen mirroring
Wireless screen share	DLNA,Wireless screen share,MirrorLink,SlimPort
Radio
FM
Additional microphone(s)
Noise cancellation	Noise cancellation

Cellular

4G (FDD)
Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700 a), 13(700 c), 14(700 PS), 18(800 Lower), 19(800 Upper), 20(800 DD), 25(1900+), 26(850+), 28(700 APT), 29(700 d), 30(2300 WCS), 66(AWS-3), 71(600)	Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700 a), 13(700 c), 17(700 b), 18(800 Lower), 19(800 Upper), 20(800 DD), 25(1900+), 26(850+), 28(700 APT), 29(700 d), 30(2300 WCS), 66(AWS-3)
4G (TDD)
Bands 38(2600), 39(1900+), 40(2300), 41(2600+), 46, 48(3600)	Bands 38(2600), 39(1900+), 40(2300), 41(2600+)
3G
Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 8(900)	Bands 5(850), 8(900), 4(1700/2100), 2(1900), 1(2100)
Data Speed
LTE-A Pro Cat 20 (2000/150 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS	LTE-A Pro Cat 16 (1000/150 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS
SIM type
Nano SIM	Nano SIM
HD Voice
	Yes
VoLTE
	Yes

Regulatory Approval

FCC approval
Date approved: Jul 22, 2019 FCC ID value: A3LSMN970U	Date approved: Jul 28, 2017 FCC ID value: A3LSMN950U
Measured SAR
Head: 0.30 W/kg Body: 0.95 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 1.59 W/kg Wireless Router: 1.02 W/kg Phablet: 3.96 W/kg	Head: 0.70 W/kg Body: 0.14 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 1.59 W/kg Wireless Router: 0.36 W/kg

Buyers information

MSRP
$ 950	$ 930
In The Box
USB cable, OTG adapter, Travel adapter, Ejector tool, S Pen tips and tweezers, Extra earbuds, USB-C AKG headset, Terms and Conditions, Quick Reference guide and User manual