I have the Note8 also, and I did not have the same experience that you had. I was very much impressed by both devices. The Note10 because of how small it really is compared to the Note8, but it's still very comfortable in the hand, and even at 1080p, the screen is very nice!
The Note10+ was even more impressive to me, because the punch out for the camera was hardly noticeable. The screen is so nice and big, that I literally didn't see the punch out because of how low everything else was compared to it. I like the weight of both devices compared to my Note8. I preorded the Note10+ on day one, so I am even more excited to see it. I will admit, I am let down at the lack of color options for the 512GB version. I wasn't as impressed by the Aura Glow color in person, but the actual device images and videos online, make it look better than it was in person (IMO). I would have went for the Blue if it was a 512GB option. And I felt like the black color had more shine to it in person, as opposed to in pictures, where it looks like a flat color.
And the dual speaker sound on both the 10 and the 10+ are so much better than the single speaker on the Note8