Galaxy Note 10 Plus review: the luxury phone
(slow music) This is the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus. You know the Note, right? It was the first big phone, but now every phone is big. Then, it was the most powerful big phone. But nearly all big
Android phones have really great specs now. So
what’s left for the Note? Samsung will tell you
that there are a bunch of things. But really,
there’s just one thing: the S Pen, the stylus. See, the Note starts at
$1,100, which is hundreds of dollars more than comparable phones, even phones that Samsung makes. So you have to ask yourself: how badly do you want this stylus? (upbeat music) Now, before we get too
far into this review, I know that the Note is about more than just having a stylus. Is there something you
want in a smartphone? Because this thing has it: a massive screen, top-flight specs, all-day battery, good cameras, DeX, beautiful looks, a depth sensor for AR. Except for the fact that it’s missing a headphone jack, this really is the everything phone. It’s even giving you
a choice of two sizes. This larger Note 10 Plus and then a smaller, regular Note 10. Now, we haven’t had time to fully review the smaller Note, but if you’re not a spec hypebeast, I think it might be more
interesting for you. It’s not that much
bigger than a Galaxy S10, and I bet most people wouldn’t miss the extra RAM and battery life that you get on the big Note 10. Really, though, this Note 10 Plus is the true Note. It’s about the same size
as last year’s Note 9, and that size is big. It has a 6.8-inch HD+ AMOLED screen, and it is beautiful. The Note’s display might not have a high refresh rate that you can
get on the OnePlus 7 Pro, but that’s literally the only thing that’s missing from it. It is bright and color-accurate, and it goes all the way
to the edge of the phone. This thing looks like
the future in the way that most phones do not. The screen will spoil you. It’s also the true Note because it’s the one with the best specs. But again, beefy specs don’t set the Note apart anymore — not the way they used to. So let’s talk about the stylus. (upbeat music) Samsung added a gyroscope
and an accelerometer to it so you can wave it around to control the camera and maybe
other apps eventually. What you do is you hold the button down, and then you make these little gestures. And then the camera does stuff like zoom in or switch
modes or take a photo. It’s neat, I guess, but, you know, it’s kind of a gimmick. The other thing that’s pretty gimmicky but stupid fun, is AR Doodles. So in the first mode, you
can draw on people’s faces, and the mustaches and beards and horns or whatever stay pinned to their faces when you or they move around, and it works pretty well. But the one I really enjoy is doing it in the “Everywhere” mode. It lets you draw shapes
in, like, arbitrary space, and they stay pinned to where you were drawing them pretty well. It’s not quite as good as Tilt Brush, but it’s way better than I expected. Now, I enjoyed both of
these things quite a lot, but if anybody uses this
more than three times, I would be completely shocked. Now, the real upgrade for the stylus is actually in the software on the phone itself in Samsung Notes. You can quickly take
a note without turning the phone on, just like before, but now, those handwritten
notes are searchable, and you can extract the text out of them via OCR. It works way better than I expected, even with my garbage handwriting. There are a million other things that this stylus does. It can magnify stuff on the screen. It can make an app into
a weird little picture-in-picture box that you can hover over. It is also the best
screenshot drawing thing that you can get on a phone. At this point, you’re either
giddy with excitement over this little stick,
or you’re shrugging. And that’s fair. I mean, look. Here are the only important reasons to spend hundreds of dollars more for the Note 10 Plus over
the Galaxy S10 Plus: slightly bigger screen, slightly bigger battery with slightly faster charging, and the stylus. That’s it. Okay so, there are a bunch of other things that the Note can do, and I’m going to get into all of them. But before that, I have to admit, there’s one other thing
about the Note 10 Plus that I really like besides the stylus. It’s just really nice.
It’s like a luxury object, like a Rolex or an Eames chair. You’re paying more for the brand name and just for how well-made this object is. I mean, Samsung has poured everything that it has learned about making hardware into the Note 10 Plus. The glass curves and melts into the middle rail. The screen goes fully edge to edge, and the fingerprint sensor is underneath the screen. The stylus is unibody now, and, hell, Samsung even made the ports line up. Just as a physical object, there is no more beautiful
or well-made phone. And if you care about
having the nicest thing, this is it. Now, the cameras are essentially unchanged from the Galaxy S10, which means that they’re really good. Now, this is the part
where you expect me to say that the Pixel 3 is slightly better, and, well, it is and it isn’t. In challenging or low-light situations, or if you really start pixel-peeping, yes, the Pixel 3 is better. But the Note 10 has a telephoto and
an ultrawide lens, and the camera app
actually launches faster. So as a whole package, I actually enjoy using this more, at least in good light. This wide angle is fun, right? The answer is yes. Yes, it is. Now, the Note 10 Plus also is probably the very best Android
phone for taking video, but that doesn’t mean that it holds up to an iPhone XS. So Samsung has added a few new features to make video better. The first is Live Focus, which blurs the background in video, and it’s bad. Don’t use it. They’ve also slightly improved video stabilization. I really like the other thing they put in, which is a bare-bones video editor. It’s actually not bad. It’s almost what I wish
iMovie was on the iPhone. And using a stylus to
edit video on a phone is way easier than using
your big fat fingers. The last thing is a zoom mic option, which tries to make the
audio from the thing that you’re zoomed in
on louder than the audio that’s near the phone,
and it works… sort of. I don’t know. It’s not magic. Here, check it out. Becca is speaking. H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P… And I’m speaking at the same time. Q, R, S, T, U, V… And now we’re zooming in on her, and I’m continuing to speak. W, X, Y, and Z… While she continues to speak. A, B, C, D, E, F, G… And I’m also speaking. H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P… And then we zoom away from her. Q, R, S, T, U, V… She is speaking. W, X, Y and Z… And now we should hear my voice more than her voice. A, B, C, D, E, F, G… She’s just getting
really tired of saying the alphabet. Now we come to the part where I talk about a bunch of Samsung features because there are a lot
of Samsung features. Let’s start with DeX, which is that thing that you plug your phone into a monitor, and then it turns it into a mini computer. It works in a whole new way this year, exclusively on the Note 10. There is now a DeX app
for both Windows and Mac that lets you have a window for doing all of your phone stuff
right on your computer, which is the thing that you actually carry with you instead of a,
you know, rando monitor. DeX is okay. It’s not super fast, but it is a really
convenient way to do texting directly from your computer, or drag and drop files between your phone and your computer. But it’s
much better in theory than it is in execution. You see, the thing is —
actually, you know what? I have a lot of things to say about DeX and this whole dream
of making your phone into your computer, so I’m going to do another video on that next week. For this review, what you should know is that it could be useful in a pinch, but it’s definitely not a reason to buy this phone. All right, what else has Samsung packed into this thing? Well, a ton actually. There is a depth camera in the back here that can measure the size of stuff and eventually is going to let you scan 3D objects and put them into your own AR. I didn’t get to test that,
but I wouldn’t expect the quality is going to be great. There’s also a new
version of their game mode that makes it easier to tweak settings and also grab screenshots. There’s just also a million other Samsung settings with a lock screen and the edge panel and all the rest. And then there’s Bixby. Bixby’s still here, but Samsung did get rid of the dedicated button for it. It’s built into the power button, but actually understanding what’s going to happen when you press the power button gets a little bit
complicated, even with the new configuration settings. And also, you know,
Bixby still isn’t good, which means you’re going to still end up using Google Assistant instead. Samsung has also partnered
with Microsoft, and so there’s a bunch of
Microsoft stuff in here. It links up to the Your
Phone app on Windows, and Microsoft smartphone
apps are preinstalled. And by the way, that
means that there are now three email apps on this
thing out of the box: Gmail, Samsung mail, and Outlook. Cool. Samsung has gotten better
at software with One UI, and I don’t hate it anymore. But you do have to learn a
bunch of Samsung ways of doing things and have
to deal with choosing between Samsung apps or Google apps or, now, Microsoft apps. For experts, it’s totally manageable. But for everybody else,
it’s a real hassle. And of course, Samsung takes way too long to get the full version
upgrades of Android pushed out its devices. It’s doing security updates faster now, and One UI does so much
that you might not be sad about not getting
Android Q right away, but it’s still annoying. (upbeat music) There’s so much stuff in the Note 10 Plus that it’s dizzying, and Samsung software just barely manages to contain it all and keep it comprehensible. It really does have everything… except a headphone jack. And I really like some of it and I also hate some of it, but
none of it is the reason to either buy or skip this phone. See, the Note 10 Plus is a smartphone that goes to 11 for
$1,100. But again, there are Android phones and even Samsung phones that cost hundreds of
dollars less and get you nearly all the way there. The OnePlus 7 Pro is still amazing, and the Pixel 4 is only a
couple of months away. Plus, the Galaxy S10 Plus is not all that different from this thing. Look, some people just
want the nicest thing, and this, very clearly,
is the very nicest Android phone by far. I love how luxurious the hardware is. I mean, look at this color. But I can’t say it’s
a great reason to buy this phone, so it really comes down to this little thing: the S Pen. The thing is, though, unless you really want a stylus, I don’t think it’s worth spending the extra money for the Note 10 Plus. Hey, everybody. Thank you
so much for watching. I’m really excited I got
to just review a phone instead of talk about
the future of computers, but I’m going to talk about the future of computers next week because I’m making the DeX video. So let
me know in the comments what you think of DeX and what your questions are about it, and we’ll see you next week.
What do you want to know about the smaller Note 10?
I want a headphone jack…. not getting the phone now
I'm waiting for the Note 11!
Where is the video Camera Comparison Note10+ vs S10+vsOneplus 7Pro vsP30 pro๐
whats dat wallpaper
Man I wish the speakers sounded better ,in the 10 plus,they said they had to compromise the sound for the hidden speakers,and that hole in the phone.
"WirElESS is The FuTurE"
"heAdPhonE jACK IS oUTdAteD"
"iF yOU caN AffOrd ThE PHONe YOu can AfFord wIRElESS HeAdpHONeS"
Gonna go get mine in an hour ๐๐พ๐
what about LG V50?? I'm tied between this and that… I want the dual-screen attachment for the V50
That is really amazing phone
I ever seen. I feel he my Rock Star
Michael Jackson always be latest. โโ
Only Note 11 + can best this so powerful Note
I had all galaxy note phones, except 5 and 7 (for obvious reasons). The main reason why I am still in a note line is the S Pen and Dex mode. I just bought note 10+ 512gb and I have reached the upper limit price I am willing to pay for a smartphone. If the next Note phone comes even more expensive, I will stick with the note 10 or finally will left the Note line.
A killer feature for Dex would be to run Windows 10 on arm on dualboot. but I know I'm asking too much
Watched this video on my galaxy note 10 plus
send me one I will help you sell one calc 172 Shaw rd Dover me 04426. Christ word peace council
Who needs a stylus ๐คฎ (Steve jobs 2007)
We need it in 2020
My doubt is that for how many years Samsung will give android updates for this phone? They are very lazy in giving android updates. Also they completely ignore their 2 year old models for updates.
The number of dislikes is eerie..
I really expect harry potter game for this
Yes, the stylus matters.
Some people like me, who has early onset severe arthritis in the hands or other probems is getting saved by the note series, the S-pen is a true blessing, and this aspect NEVER gets mentioned. If my hands are stiff on a bad day, I just clutch the pen between my fingers. I wish that more brands would release stylus phones since the note series is a liiiiittle bit expensive for people who is so I'll that they are on disability. I'm lucky that I can afford one.
perfectly happy with my S5 (removable battery!) and running SideSync on my win7 pro. its like having the phone on my computer, great for text and running Gmouse ๐
Dieter bohn has transformed the verge from meh reviewing tech platform to one my go-tos. He has the perfecting narrating style with the slick visuals to keep you watching for the full ten mins. Keep up the good work and don't lose him.
My Note 10+ plus is coming today.๐คฉ
The only thing Im disappointed is that I am getting the exynos version.
Everyone is saying the big con is the missing headphone jack but I don't see anybody talking about the lack of the heart rate sensor I used to use that all the time and it's not on the Note 10 or plus anymore, ๐ฃ๐ข
This phone has menus for days. Ridiculous amount of settings. I'll be keeping this for many years. Business write off
Where did you get this gorgeous wallpaper on the note 10 you are reviewing
Does it come with headphones?
For me it's not the pen. I dont care about price. I care about power. I care about size. I care about battery life. Screen quality. The Note 10+ does it all. I still love my work phone (V50) but this time Samsung is my daily driver. Also haptics are OFF THE CHAIN. Texting is a joy. I've never been able to text faster. Highly recommend it.
It's for the gamers.
Lets Pray for People who still buys Iphone LOL ๐๐๐๐๐
In terms of camera quality, please advise me which Samsung is the best to get? I don't really care about the appearance of the cover phone or how it's being design. Camera is the most I want.
I was thinking samsung would remove jack in S series. But rather they did on note series. Note users are angry.
Why do you look annoyed talking about the features? Who gets mad at feature packed phones as if it's a bad thing? Lol!
Note 10 plus is great
๐
There are no comparable phones!
It also has a camera design copied from the Xs
No one is even going to use a pen on there phone.
Lol alphabet
Good and well done review except for the headphonejack comment.
How many years does it have it pass to reviewers get over that fiasco? Samsung was the last big manufacturer to keep it alive. Its dead lets move on.
Could NOT have picked a better reviewer for this awesome phone
Could NOTE
Shoulda waited until next year to drop the headphone jack ๐จ
What's the identity tho? It's not the same as what it's used to
*Iphone 11 Pro Max enters the chat
one of the best reviews by Verge
โ giddy with excitement over this little stick โ
Man these reviews are so bare bones… I really miss having techy people doing reviews and actually talking about specs.
Instead I get these apple like descriptions on features…
To note users this phone is a beast nothing can touch it hands down. The 3d app is on the galaxy store and it works.
I purchased the Note 10 Plus. I loooove the battery life. Its unbelievable. I go all day without charging it. I have never had a phone I did not have to charge until I came home at night. Plus, the phone charges fully usually 47 min. Super fast!!! Love this phone.
i switched to a non-stylus phone recently and I feel so unproductive cough buy me one boss cough
So much samsung hate ๐ค
1:40 , hd+ ???
Note 10 plus : am i joke to you ?
The best note 10 to buy is in fact the note 9
I just got the note 10 plus and it blows apple out of the park. To say that I'm impressed with Samsung's latest flagship phone is an understatement! (Coming from a former apple diehard fan). Android is where it's at now, trust me… no notch!
Well done. Very good actually. ๐ And it makes sense. Thx
Pricing is high for something that might be considered a subsidy.
I use the s10+, I'm not a pen user but the note10+ is simply gorgeous plus it's feature packed. For myself these two phones have no equal. The new Apple's are here but 64gb's of base storage is so 2016, no thanks Tim Apple!
I WANT IT!!!!
This looks soooooo much better than the iPhone 11 pro
i hope my mom will get me one ๐
The time you most use the s pen is to take quick note when the screen is off, translate, take screenshot. That's it. Not too much use but when you stick with it, you can't get out ๐
I have one and it's worth it
I give up the pen for more battery. I dont like the camera right in middle and the other camera at the side
why do people talk about the price of the note 10 plus $1100 256 GB but note the iPhone 11 pro $1100 64 GB
The ports light up? I haven't seen or heard anything about that! How does the work? Please someone let me know.
Great video, the best review about this phone by a mile. I am an iphone user. I have the X but I am currently thinking about switching to the Note 10 plus. The iPhone 11 Pro has almost nothing new to offer for me. However, I am hessitant, I had a Note 4 years ago and that Samsung Android skin was a mess. The phone was not usable anymore after a few months. What do you guys think?
Sadly, you're correct. Notes are just S#'s with a stylus…not the innovative flagships they used to be.
๐๐ฟ๐๐๐๐๐ญ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฟ
Who likes that mic in video feature ๐น๐๐
Of course the note 10+ is the king now
I've been with this phone for 4 days after having iPhone for 6 years. I got so bored with iphone and tired. I saw this phone and I had to get my hands on it. The aura glow color is so beautiful the display is amazing. I love it so much
That's why I love it. Variety my friend. I have the pleasure to chose between Window apps, google apps and Samsung apps. Did I mention I love this phone. Thx for the great review
"most people wouldn't miss the extra RAM and battery life [of the larger Note]…. " Come on!!! Maybe not now that it's new but eventually, yeah, you will. RAM is good. Longevity of battery life is even better!
Okay OnePlus 7 Pro has clearly paid the verge! Clearly!!!
Something tells me America is jealous of Samsung because their homegrown Apple is way down the lane when it comes to pure innovation.
I bought the note 10 plus and I have no idea on when to use the pen . I'm a pastor so I do highlight a lot of notes ok n my sermons other then that idk how to use it
Does the samsung fold have dex
For US note 10 nd iphone 11pro both $1000
In India note 10 is 70000 nd iphone 11pro 110000๐๐ต
Bixby has been good for years…you're just using it wrong if you think it's remotely the same as Google Assistant. Google Assistant is for web stuff, Bixby is for phone stuff.
Not getting the latest Android is NOT a big deal anymore. The changes are extremely minor. The new gesture is the most noticeable change on my Pixel 2 compared to Android 9. Well, that, and the dozens of bugs and things that simply don't work. Android 10 is NOT ready for other phones. It's a buggy mess.
Abcd efg hijk lmno p quret uvw xyz haha so nice
I have a S10 5G phone purchased only 2 months ago. And now because of your video, I want to already change my phone. Thanks for your review. Awesome review!!
I love my note 10 + its thin and looks a lot futuristic than any other android in the market
hello sir, i want to buy note 10 plus. but there are 2 models one with ims service and without it. which one to buy ? i dont know what is IMS service
hello sir, i want to buy note 10 plus. but there are 2 models one with ims service and without it. which one to buy ? i dont know what is IMS service
This time verge not share the wall paper sad
Where is the Dex video??
Awesome review
The best part of this phone?
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
I'm sorry: MISSING a headphone jack????!! ๐ฑ๐ฑ
– Why would that not be a major flaw?
Am I out of the loop or something??? How would one listen to music in public spaces etc?
Is that an ace ring he's wearing?
Excellent review
reg note 10 shouldn't exist just get a note 9 for $450
The 10+ has more Ram..
Love this video ๐
What a beautiful way of explaining a great machine is much easier way…..Good job The Verge….I subscribed you.
Thanks so much for a realistic review. I shall be returning to Note, having used an alternative for the past two years.
I love it when Dieter Bohn does videos. He is so good at giving me information that I need, and makes that video more interesting. He's just so good. ยฏ_(ใ)_/ยฏ
I ABSOLUTELY love Dex. I sold my 4yr old slow iMac that i found infuriating and bought a curved Samsung display a 2.4ghz mouse and keyboard and I'm hooked. My phone is always my fastest computer. Notes always have great cameras and speed so I also sold my Sony a6000. Been on the note 8 since and it does everything I need. One advantage is not having a computer around the house that you have to worry about someone snooping into also ๐
Samsung better than Iphone