Just bought a Note 10!

[SZQnl]

Finally bought a new phone to replace my aging Xiaomi Mi 5. Got the smaller Note 10, 6.3" international dual-sim version. Wanted the white model but got the black one from Expansys as it was discounted and a relatively good deal for the SD855 model (~$700) as the prices went up a few months ago. The Exynos models are a good bit cheaper but I heard battery life is not so good.

Always wanted a Note device but don't like large phones so the Note 10 is the perfect size for me. I held off initially because the price was too high considering the substantial downgrades compared to the plus model and lack of 3.5mm jack for me was a downer.

But anyway, looking forward to receiving it on Monday!

Any recommendations for slim cases, apps for the s-pen as it's my first Note device, ways to improve battery life etc? Also, does anyone here suffer from low freq. pwm issues? This will be my first phone with an oled display and Samsung phones tend to have a low frequency already at 100% brightness and don't have the dc dimming feature. I remember using a friend's Galaxy Tab 7.7 many years ago and I got red eyes so not sure if that's related.

Thanks

 

[eshropshire]

Finally bought a new phone to replace my aging Xiaomi Mi 5. Got the smaller Note 10, 6.3" international dual-sim version. Wanted the white model but got the black one from Expansys as it was discounted and a relatively good deal for the SD855 model (~$700) as the prices went up a few months ago. The Exynos models are a good bit cheaper but I heard battery life is not so good.

Always wanted a Note device but don't like large phones so the Note 10 is the perfect size for me. I held off initially because the price was too high considering the substantial downgrades compared to the plus model and lack of 3.5mm jack for me was a downer.

But anyway, looking forward to receiving it on Monday!

Any recommendations for slim cases, apps for the s-pen as it's my first Note device, ways to improve battery life etc? Also, does anyone here suffer from low freq. pwm issues? This will be my first phone with an oled display and Samsung phones tend to have a low frequency already at 100% brightness and don't have the dc dimming feature. I remember using a friend's Galaxy Tab 7.7 many years ago and I got red eyes so not sure if that's related.

Thanks

Congrats. My Wife is now using a Note 10 and she loves the phone. I have been using Notes since the Note 4 and I have a 10 +. My wife always found my Notes too big, but she likes the size of the Note 10.

I am a big SPen user. Been using SPens since my Note 8 tablet. I love Samsung Notes. Great way to write reminders. I use OneNote, great way to take notes in meetings and have them synced to all my devices. Samsung has great handwriting recognition. My notes are immediately converted to text. I also use the SPen with all the MS 365 applications. Great way to precisely edit presentations while traveling. Edit Spreadsheets and docs.

Hope you enjoy your Note.

 

[SZQnl]

Actually got the device earlier than expected, arrived yesterday afternoon. My experience with Expansys has been great.

Now the scary part, the phone would not start. The battery was completely dead! I thought these smartphones were meant to be kept at 50% charge for storage. I guess it's been on the shelf for a while. Anyway, charged it up to 100% then booted ... stuck at the Samsung logo for about 20 mins

Eventually figured out, after some panic Googling, how to do a shutdown and boot into recovery mode. Did a factory reset and rebooted, then it started just fine.

However it was a much older Android 9 OS and no software update available (I think because it was an imported sim free model). I wanted to get the latest Android 10 version before installing all my apps and data so I researched how to install the latest official stock rom so I wouldn't invalidate the warranty (thanks to Sammobile website). Installed the Samsung drivers and Odin app on my Windows PC and booted into download mode. Connected my phone to the PC with the included Samsung usb-c cable, odin detected the phone so I started. Went ok for a while but then it got stuck copying the file vendor.img.ext4 ... I waited for 30 mins and nothing.

It was completely stuck and I didn't know what to do. Did I brick it? If it wasn't, would unplugging it brick it? But in the end I had no choice so I unplugged it and rebooted. Got a big green warning about system error and advised me to use Smart Switch to perform emergency recovery. Never heard of this app so Googled it and installed the Samsung app. Followed the instructions, connected the phone and got an error that the phone was not supported

I felt sick thinking I had just bricked a brand new phone and wasted $700. Nothing to lose now so I thought I would try the rom flashing again. Tried to shut down the phone but it kept starting up on it's own and getting stuck on the Samsung logo. So I couldn't get into download mode. Not wanting to admit defeat, I started button bashing and tried every combination of button presses and plugged in or unplugged. Eventually, after about 10 mins of trying, it got into download mode by sheer luck (I think the one that worked was when I pressed volume up + down together and the power button whilst plugged in).

The Odin tool detected the phone so I was relieved. But before I attempted it again, I researched the flashing procedure a bit more incase I missed something the first time. Turns out the USB cable, speed, and port type can sometimes cause issues. I suspected it was the usb-c cable/port. My PC only has USB 3 ports so I could not use USB 2. But I did have an Amazon USB 3 Type-C to Type-A cable so I used that instead of the Samsung supplied type-c to type-c cable.

Started the flashing and thankfully it completed without issue in only about a minute! Rebooted and everything worked fine! Now have a beautiful Note 10 with the latest software.

Sorry for the long post, but it's such a relief

 

[SZQnl]

Thanks for the recommendations eshropshire. I'll give those MS apps a go.

 

[Morty2264]

Congratulations on your new Note 10! Glad to hear that you are liking it! If you were hoping for a white phone, you could always snag a white case for it! Amazon has a ton of great options available!

The Note 10 is definitely a good size and isn't *too big*! As far as app recommendations go, mine is more for Samsung devices - I recommend you download Good Lock and Theme Park. Those two apps greatly changed my experience with my S10 and now I can't imagine not using them! If you're a fan of tweaking your set-up, lockscreen, etc, then those two apps are for you!

Keep us posted on how you are liking your new Note 10!

 

[SZQnl]

Thanks Morty2264. I love the size of this! Slightly larger than my old phone, compact enough to use single-handed but large enough for using the s-pen and enjoying content.

Never heard of Good Lock but it seems really useful so I'll get that. I do like tweaking but I don't have much time these days. I'll probably get it just how I like it and then just leave it. I don't like the huge icons and the frames around them so I will change that first.

I'm still setting up the phone with my apps, data, accounts etc, and there are a lot of settings to get through. Dual-sim working just fine thankfully.

My previous phone was relatively old, Xiaomi Mi 5 with SD820, so the first thing I noticed was the speed and the snappiness of the Note 10. Love it! The s-pen is the main reason I got a Note so I can practice Japanese writing. It's fantastic for that but I guess it's just the tip of the iceberg. When I have some time I'll watch YouTube for all the other things it can do.

I heard battery life is not great on this but so far it's still miles ahead of my old phone. I'll easily get a whole day out of it.

The fingerprint scanner takes some getting used to. I was using the hardware FPS on the front of my old device for many years so got used to using it and knowing exactly where to press. The in-screen FPS is not quite so quick.

Another thing I'm unsure about is notifications. My old device had an RGB LED so I could tell when I get messages (I always have my phones on silent with vibrations enabled). Not sure how to setup the Note to get notifications without turning on the phone everytime. Maybe I need to setup the AOD.

Haven't tried the camera system yet but that's guaranteed to be miles ahead of my old phone!

 

[Bodestone]

Another thing I'm unsure about is notifications. My old device had an RGB LED so I could tell when I get messages (I always have my phones on silent with vibrations enabled). Not sure how to setup the Note to get notifications without turning on the phone everytime. Maybe I need to setup the AOD.

aodNotify is a great app for that. I have a 30 second border flash, 1 minute wait, stop after 2 hours, use app colour for mine.
You can also set it to a small ring around the camera punch hole and a bunch of other things.

On screen FPS you will get used to. Just learning the time needed. You can also record a large amount of angles across multiple fingers. I have thumb vertical, 45 degrees and horizontal and forefinger vertical and horizontal I think.
They have upped the firmware for that and improved it a lot over the last year.

I use the S-pen a lot to take notes without unlocking the phone and have pinned shopping lists to the AOD as well.

I tend to minimise my AOD with clock and battery and no notifications. I can always double tap to get to the lock screen and see more.

 

[Morty2264]

Thanks Morty2264. I love the size of this! Slightly larger than my old phone, compact enough to use single-handed but large enough for using the s-pen and enjoying content.

Never heard of Good Lock but it seems really useful so I'll get that. I do like tweaking but I don't have much time these days. I'll probably get it just how I like it and then just leave it. I don't like the huge icons and the frames around them so I will change that first.

I'm still setting up the phone with my apps, data, accounts etc, and there are a lot of settings to get through. Dual-sim working just fine thankfully.

My previous phone was relatively old, Xiaomi Mi 5 with SD820, so the first thing I noticed was the speed and the snappiness of the Note 10. Love it! The s-pen is the main reason I got a Note so I can practice Japanese writing. It's fantastic for that but I guess it's just the tip of the iceberg. When I have some time I'll watch YouTube for all the other things it can do.

I heard battery life is not great on this but so far it's still miles ahead of my old phone. I'll easily get a whole day out of it.

The fingerprint scanner takes some getting used to. I was using the hardware FPS on the front of my old device for many years so got used to using it and knowing exactly where to press. The in-screen FPS is not quite so quick.

Another thing I'm unsure about is notifications. My old device had an RGB LED so I could tell when I get messages (I always have my phones on silent with vibrations enabled). Not sure how to setup the Note to get notifications without turning on the phone everytime. Maybe I need to setup the AOD.

Haven't tried the camera system yet but that's guaranteed to be miles ahead of my old phone!

So glad you are enjoying it all so far! If you like tweaking, you will love Good Lock and Theme Park! You can even download SwiftKey if you want your keyboard to have a different theme.

With regards to the fingerprint scanner, I too came to an in-display fingerprint sensor from a physical fingerprint scanner (Google Pixel 2). It may take a few days, but your finger will eventually know where to press on the screen to activate the fingerprint sensor.

Ah yes, the LED light! If you enable AOD, you will be able to see your notifications at a glance. Now, of course that doesn't help when you're across the room!

I see that the Note 10 has a notch like the S10 - just in a different part of the screen. There is an app that is supposed to use that hole punch notch to display lights when you get a notification. It's called Led Me Know, and I've heard pretty good things about it, though I haven't tried it.

Let us know how the camera is working for you!

 

[Note20Sam]

Be aware that if you choose to change phones that the Note20 is not necessarily a good choice. Had a Note4, Note9. LOVED them both. Hate the Note20 and can't wait to change phones but not sure what I will get. I have another post on the issues with the Note20 that you might be able to find as it details a lot of my complaints. Plus the Notes are being discontinued. BTW I still use my Note4 as a backup. Works great on Wifi for surfing net, etc. No sim so doesn't make phone calls but I may return to it once the Note 20 is retired. NEVER got a different battery on the 4.