Thanks to a report from South Korean media on Tuesday, we learned that Samsung is planning to do something with its 2019 Galaxy Note lineup that it has never done before. According to sources in Samsung’s supply chain, the company intends to release not one Galaxy Note 10 flagship phone, but two. We’ve obviously grown accustomed to seeing Samsung launch multiple versions of its flagship phones, but so far only the Galaxy S series has offered variety. First Samsung would release different versions of its Galaxy S phones with flat and rounded displays. Then once Apple started releasing a normal iPhone and a “Plus” size iPhone, Samsung coincidentally decided to do the same. Oh, and then once Apple switched things up again in 2018 and added a third lower-cost model to its iPhone lineup, Samsung coincidentally decided to do the same thing yet again in 2019.
When it comes to the company’s Galaxy Note phones, however, there has always been one and only one new S-Pen equipped flagship phone released each summer. This year, Samsung reportedly plans to introduce a second new Galaxy Note 10 alongside the main model, and now a new report offers further details about this mysterious second Note 10 phone.
Why is this supposed second Galaxy Note 10 model so mysterious? The idea of Samsung offering a smaller and more affordable Galaxy Note phone alongside its main flagship model is hardly outside the realm of possibility. After all, the company just did the same thing with the Galaxy S10e. What’s so odd about the report we saw on Tuesday, however, is the fact that Samsung is apparently planning to release its smaller Note phone only in the European region. Samsung’s Galaxy S10e is reportedly selling quite well all over the world, so why on Earth would Samsung confine its smaller Galaxy Note 10 only to one region?
While you ponder that, Korean-language financial news site The Bell is back with another Galaxy Note 10 report on Wednesday morning. This time around, the site has some details about this supposed second Note 10 model apart from just the fact that it’s expected to be smaller than the main Galaxy Note 10.
We first learned last month that there will definitely be a 5G version of the Galaxy Note 10. But even before that, a report from back in February revealed that the Note 10 will feature a quad-lens camera on the back of the phone. Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S10 5G has a quad-lens setup that adds a 3D depth camera to the triple-lens array from the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+. With that in mind, it’s likely that the Note 10 will have the same configuration. However, according to The Bell’s inside info, the smaller version of Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note 10 will only have a triple-lens camera on the back.
The report cites multiple sources in stating that the larger Note 10 will have four rear camera sensors while the smaller model will have three. It does note that the Note 10’s specs have yet to be finalized, but says “this is the current situation.” If this news does pan out, it seems like Samsung might be taking the same approach to the smaller Galaxy Note 10 that it took with the Galaxy S10e — it’s not only smaller, but also less expensive thanks to some pared down specs. If that indeed ends up being the case, it would sting even worse if Samsung decided to release the “Galaxy Note 10e” only in Europe and not in the rest of the world.
