I've had an S10+ since last June, but I'm interested in the Note 10+

[LilSweetLin]

My current device is carrier unlocked and being used on T-Mobile Prepaid. I've never owned a Note device so I don't know what it's like to have used the S-Pen and be without it, but I figure that the S-Pen would be useful for times when I need to jot down a quick note or phone number with screen off memo, or using Samsung Notes to write up a shopping list.

It doesn't come with a headphone jack which sucks, but I do have the LG V20 that I recently bought to use solely as a music and media player on WiFi. I've never used wireless earbuds, so I'm a bit concerned about using Bluetooth to make calls, and how having it constantly toggled on will affect battery life.

Finally, I'm not really a fan of having the power button on the left, as I'm used to the button layout on the right. Is that a bother to other folks? How's the standby and screen on time for those of you also on T-Mobile? The only game I play really is Word Wars (Scrabble) and that kills my battery pretty quick.

Other than that, I'm a basic user: periodic voice calls, texts, music streaming on GPM, watching YouTube videos, and browsing the web and forums. GSM Arena gives a battery endurance rating of 107 hours, which is great, and based on my usage I think I could possibly get close to two days and double digit SOT with the Note 10+.

As an aside, I find myself also interested in the LG V60 and that huge 5000 mAh battery which would for sure give me two days of life, plus that awesome quad DAC, but LG phones just seem like a half-assed version of Samsung phones. Their UI is childish and ugly; LG Smartworld is in no way as customizable as Galaxy Store in terms of theming options, and the signal reception I experienced on the V30 I owned for all of two weeks was terrible. Speaking of which, I've seen some on the Note 10 Reddit say that their unlocked Note 10+ that they use on T-Mobile gets only two bars depending on where they are as compared to a Note 10+ that's locked to T-Mobile. Is this a widespread issue?

Lastly, as someone with smaller hands, the boxy build is a bit of a concern, but I do use a [Loopy Case](https://www.loopycases.com/products/loopy-galaxy-note-10-plus?variant=31878667796554) with the S10+, so it helps some with the handling. I realize that I could just wait for the Note 20 in a few months, but since I can't afford to upgrade every three, six or 12 months a year, I figure now would be the time to get the most value for my pristine S10+ and it's accessories. What would you do if you were me? I would feel a bit weird selling now given the pandemic and the economic situation, if I'm being honest. Maybe I'm just being greedy. Thoughts? Feedback (T-Mobile users, especially) is appreciated.

 

[blackhawkhot]

I have a Note 10+

The bad:
It doesn't have the headphone jack but worse it doesn't have the latest bluetooth chipset. The bt HD codecs it can use are limited because of this
60hz display. Really Samsung?
The curve screen is a pain protect and you need a good case to protect the s pen corner, it's preferred corner to land on in a drop. Or it face plants.
Since it has just about zero sides, it's beautiful and a big heavy weight baby that needs drop protection 24/7.

The good:
The square display is hands down gorgeous.
It's snappy and fast especially the half terabit internal memory variant (reccomended).
Short of rooting it's the most customizable smartphone you can buy, a Samsung niche. It literally has hundreds of free icon packs for at the Samsung store and well customization apks like the Good Lock family of apps.
Using dark themes especially will yield good battery life because of the OLED screen.
There are good package disablers (highly recommended if you are tech teachable) that increase battery and kill the bloatware (and bixby) on boot up.

I have small hands and use a Zizo case, no problems at all with it's size and I always want more screen. Went from an S4+ and welcomed the increase acreage immediately.
I also have multiple touch switch controls along both sides controlling 14 control/app swipes (Samsung One Handed Operation +) plus the Edge drawer.

If you don't mind spending some serious set up time this phone is a blast with tons of buried features. Movies look great on it too. Galaxy buds connects as soon as you put the 1st one in your ear.

The ugly:
Samsung tech support is the worst I've ever seen, worse than Sony. Expect -zero- from them and I'm saying this when only Marine grade profanity can properly express how truly inept and worthless they are. No joke.
Escalating a problem with them is as easy as hitting your fingers with a 5 pound sledge.
The hammer thing is actually easier... and less painful.
Don't even bother calling them for answers... use this forum and Google search.

 

[mustang7757]

My current device is carrier unlocked and being used on T-Mobile Prepaid. I've never owned a Note device so I don't know what it's like to have used the S-Pen and be without it, but I figure that the S-Pen would be useful for times when I need to jot down a quick note or phone number with screen off memo, or using Samsung Notes to write up a shopping list.

It doesn't come with a headphone jack which sucks, but I do have the LG V20 that I recently bought to use solely as a music and media player on WiFi. I've never used wireless earbuds, so I'm a bit concerned about using Bluetooth to make calls, and how having it constantly toggled on will affect battery life.

Finally, I'm not really a fan of having the power button on the left, as I'm used to the button layout on the right. Is that a bother to other folks? How's the standby and screen on time for those of you also on T-Mobile? The only game I play really is Word Wars (Scrabble) and that kills my battery pretty quick.

Other than that, I'm a basic user: periodic voice calls, texts, music streaming on GPM, watching YouTube videos, and browsing the web and forums. GSM Arena gives a battery endurance rating of 107 hours, which is great, and based on my usage I think I could possibly get close to two days and double digit SOT with the Note 10+.

As an aside, I find myself also interested in the LG V60 and that huge 5000 mAh battery which would for sure give me two days of life, plus that awesome quad DAC, but LG phones just seem like a half-assed version of Samsung phones. Their UI is childish and ugly; LG Smartworld is in no way as customizable as Galaxy Store in terms of theming options, and the signal reception I experienced on the V30 I owned for all of two weeks was terrible. Speaking of which, I've seen some on the Note 10 Reddit say that their unlocked Note 10+ that they use on T-Mobile gets only two bars depending on where they are as compared to a Note 10+ that's locked to T-Mobile. Is this a widespread issue?

Lastly, as someone with smaller hands, the boxy build is a bit of a concern, but I do use a [Loopy Case](https://www.loopycases.com/products/loopy-galaxy-note-10-plus?variant=31878667796554) with the S10+, so it helps some with the handling. I realize that I could just wait for the Note 20 in a few months, but since I can't afford to upgrade every three, six or 12 months a year, I figure now would be the time to get the most value for my pristine S10+ and it's accessories. What would you do if you were me? I would feel a bit weird selling now given the pandemic and the economic situation, if I'm being honest. Maybe I'm just being greedy. Thoughts? Feedback (T-Mobile users, especially) is appreciated.

I also have the unlocked version Note 10+ on tmobile, it has great reception , wificalling and with the update to 2.1 One UI lot of the s20 features.
My battery life is a day with heavy usuage about 9.5hrs to 11.5 hrs SOT
I love its boxy design but might want consider pop socket .

 

[Walter Wagenleithner]

Concerning the power button on the left side: You will get used to it within a few days. I personally have no problem with it.

 

[Mike Dee]

The Spen is a nice feature if you take advantage of what it can do. Cutting, and pasting text, cropping images is more precise than using you finger. There's a lot more features that it has that make it useful depending upon your needs. I use the Ultra mostly right now. When I don't have my Note around sometimes miss the Spen and I'm not a big user.

 

[LilSweetLin]

I have a Note 10+

The bad:
It doesn't have the headphone jack but worse it doesn't have the latest bluetooth chipset. The bt HD codecs it can use are limited because of this
60hz display. Really Samsung?
The curve screen is a pain protect and you need a good case to protect the s pen corner, it's preferred corner to land on in a drop. Or it face plants.
Since it has just about zero sides, it's beautiful and a big heavy weight baby that needs drop protection 24/7.

The good:
The square display is hands down gorgeous.
It's snappy and fast especially the half terabit internal memory variant (reccomended).
Short of rooting it's the most customizable smartphone you can buy, a Samsung niche. It literally has hundreds of free icon packs for at the Samsung store and well customization apks like the Good Lock family of apps.
Using dark themes especially will yield good battery life because of the OLED screen.
There are good package disablers (highly recommended if you are tech teachable) that increase battery and kill the bloatware (and bixby) on boot up.

I have small hands and use a Zizo case, no problems at all with it's size and I always want more screen. Went from an S4+ and welcomed the increase acreage immediately.
I also have multiple touch switch controls along both sides controlling 14 control/app swipes (Samsung One Handed Operation +) plus the Edge drawer.

If you don't mind spending some serious set up time this phone is a blast with tons of buried features. Movies look great on it too. Galaxy buds connects as soon as you put the 1st one in your ear.

The ugly:
Samsung tech support is the worst I've ever seen, worse than Sony. Expect -zero- from them and I'm saying this when only Marine grade profanity can properly express how truly inept and worthless they are. No joke.
Escalating a problem with them is as easy as hitting your fingers with a 5 pound sledge.
The hammer thing is actually easier... and less painful.
Don't even bother calling them for answers... use this forum and Google search.

Thanks for the write up. I've heard Samsung support is trash in the past, but I haven't owned a phone yet where the "support" wasn't trash. I avoid contacting support if I can help it. As for the lack of a headphone jack, after I submitted this post I thought about getting an adapter dongle with a built-in DAC, so I could top up and still listen to my music or be on a voice call.

No doubt Good Lock is awesome. I have my nav bar customized, as well as the recent apps screen. I use an app called Hex Installer to make most apps have AMOLED themes. The app uses the High Contrast theme 2 available in the store as the base and allows you to customize every aspect of your theme. The last time I rooted a phone it was the S3, which was way past warranty, but I'd only flashed ROMs to it. It's been a while for me in that regard.

 

[LilSweetLin]

Yeah, precision is another factor of why I'm considering a Note. I like the idea of hovering the pen over text to translate or easier copy/paste.

 

[blackhawkhot]

Thanks for the write up. I've heard Samsung support is trash in the past, but I haven't owned a phone yet where the "support" wasn't trash. I avoid contacting support if I can help it. As for the lack of a headphone jack, after I submitted this post I thought about getting an adapter dongle with a built-in DAC, so I could top up and still listen to my music or be on a voice call.

No doubt Good Lock is awesome. I have my nav bar customized, as well as the recent apps screen. I use an app called Hex Installer to make most apps have AMOLED themes. The app uses the High Contrast theme 2 available in the store as the base and allows you to customize every aspect of your theme. The last time I rooted a phone it was the S3, which was way past warranty, but I'd only flashed ROMs to it. It's been a while for me in that regard.

You're welcome.
The dongle is a nightmare. Samsung's is flimsy and should have come in the box.
However it will support 24 bit throughput I believe.

If you don't mind the Samsung hardware screw ups, it's a great phone. Obviously you don't need no stinking Samsung tech support

Bonus, see if you can get them to throw in a freebie pair of the older Gallaxy Buds.
Did a software/firmware update on my pair and Wow, huge audio improvement.
Took Samsung over a year but they finally sent out an updated that made them better not worse.

Denon home audio by the way has superb products and support. Tony Harding years ago from Denon taught me how to implement 24 bit HDCD throughput without a decoder.
Their tech/product support is second to none.

 

[LilSweetLin]

You're welcome.
The dongle is a nightmare. Samsung's is flimsy and should have come in the box.
However it will support 24 bit throughput I believe.

If you don't mind the Samsung hardware screw ups, it's a great phone. Obviously you don't need no stinking Samsung tech support

Bonus, see if you can get them to throw in a freebie pair of the older Gallaxy Buds.
Did a software/firmware update on my pair and Wow, huge audio improvement.
Took Samsung over a year but they finally sent out an updated that made them better not worse.

Denon home audio by the way has superb products and support. Tony Harding years ago from Denon taught me how to implement 24 bit HDCD throughput without a decoder.
Their tech/product support is second to none.

I went to Samsung's website straight away and saw the reviews for their dongle, and it's horrible! Head-Fi confirmed the issues with clicking and static, etc. Smh... They also mentioned the Pixel dongle being *ok*. I'll check out your recommendation, though.

 

[blackhawkhot]

I went to Samsung's website straight away and saw the reviews for their dongle, and it's horrible! Head-Fi confirmed the issues with clicking and static, etc. Smh... They also mentioned the Pixel dongle being *ok*. I'll check out your recommendation, though.

It may be their connecting USB cable... use only a 3 ft long USB cable. Longer ones introduce more interference and have higher internal resistance.

Never got to sample with it on a good system however didn't hear any horrors using it with the car stereo.
It is fragile... real thin cable and inadequate connector strain reliefs.
Really Samsung?

"The first option is the official USB-C Headphone Jack Adapter from Samsung. It is the only adapter that without question will work with your Galaxy Note 10 and converts digital files up to 24 bit/192 kHz. This is more than enough for Tidal Masters, which supports high-quality audio around 24-bit/92 kHz (although some albums can be stream at higher sample rate). Amazon Music HD streams music up to 24 bit/192 kHz, which is also covered by this dongle."

3rd party dongles may not support 24 bit throughput at the 192khz speed... there's that too.
Either way all these are a far cry with my Denon's 8 independent Burr Brown output DACs!

 

[Mike Dee]

Whether you use a 3 foot cable or 6 foot cable is insignificant as long as you use a quality cable.

As far as adapters go, Samsung's is not the best one. Any adapter that is not of the pass through type will work. The one made for Razer phones is one of the better ones out their without going aftermarket.

 

[blackhawkhot]

Whether you use a 3 foot cable or 6 foot cable is insignificant as long as you use a quality cable

USB protocol specifies 3 foot max length I believe.
It does matter; greater internal resistance (can mess up charging too), greater capcitive/inductive coupling as well as less immunity to external inference.
Digital signals can be degraded by all of these... and more cable to fail no matter how convenient it seems.

 

[j_hansen]

If you want a Note then wait for the Note 20, it's only 3 months away and you'll probably get a very good trade in on your S10+ and maybe even the upcoming Galaxy Bean/X earbuds as a promotional gift.

 

[blackhawkhot]

If you want a Note then wait for the Note 20, it's only 3 months away and you'll probably get a very good trade in on your S10+ and maybe even the upcoming Galaxy Bean/X earbuds as a promotional gift.

I was wondering about what's coming... will the economy push it or goof it up?
Might get a really good deal or not.
Transition times are tough to call especially now with a pandemic. It may disrupt manufacturing and supply chains too. May delay the next gen...

 

[Mike Dee]

USB protocol specifies 3 foot max length I believe.
It does matter; greater internal resistance (can mess up charging too), greater capcitive/inductive coupling as well as less immunity to external inference.
Digital signals can be degraded by all of these... and more cable to fail no matter how convenient it seems.

It doesn't matter....we are talking about an insignificant amount of resistantance at low voltages. Quality cables negate that by using a larger conductor. The only time it matters is when you buy junk.

 

[blackhawkhot]

It doesn't matter....we are talking about an insignificant amount of resistantance at low voltages. Quality cables negate that by using a larger conductor. The only time it matters is when you buy junk.

Have to concede to you as specs go far beyond 10 ft
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB

Once the digital signal goes through the dongle it's in the analog relm; these USB protoclos don't apply to analog signals...

 

[LilSweetLin]

I was wondering about what's coming... will the economy push it or goof it up?
Might get a really good deal or not.
Transition times are tough to call especially now with a pandemic. It may disrupt manufacturing and supply chains too. May delay the next gen...

If the price of the S20 Ultra is anything to go by, I expect the next gen Note to follow suit. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the most expensive variant of the potential Note 20 Ultra/Max, etc. to be hovering around $1,700. I doubt Samsung will take the economic climate into consideration, unless sales of the S20 series continue to flop; especially with "mid-range" phones closing the gap in terms of performance and features at lower prices.

 

[blackhawkhot]

If the price of the S20 Ultra is anything to go by, I expect the next gen Note to follow suit. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the most expensive variant of the potential Note 20 Ultra/Max, etc. to be hovering around $1,700. I doubt Samsung will take the economic climate into consideration, unless sales of the S20 series continue to flop; especially with "mid-range" phones closing the gap in terms of performance and features at lower prices.

Consumer demand is the god that will decide. Saw some key hardware blunders on the Note 10 plus so not so sure if Samsung understands their customer base.
In the future I will scrutinize them much more carefully before buying... Say what you do, do what you say

 

[ShaggyKids]

Concerning the power button on the left side: You will get used to it within a few days. I personally have no problem with it.

I agree. Just takes a little getting used to. I prefer it on the right but not that big a deal. I had more fumbling going from LG V30 button on the back to my Note button on left.

 

[blackhawkhot]

I agree. Just takes a little getting used to. I prefer it on the right but not that big a deal. I had more fumbling going from LG V30 button on the back to my Note button on left.

You get used to it but what I still keep doing occasionly is trying to turn the volume down during a phone call and hitting the power button... it does kill the volume.