The Galaxy Note 10 series is finally official, and all the leaks that preceded Samsung’s press conference turned out to be true. Samsung launched two worthy successors of the Note 9 (but also the Galaxy S10) that pack quite a few exciting new features. In many ways, however, the Note 10 is a lot like other high-end Android phones, especially when it comes to the overall design, the main specs, and the cameras. But as an iPhone user who is unlikely to leave the iOS-macOS ecosystem anytime soon, I’m absolutely jealous of 3.5 Note 10 features that I can’t have on the iPhone for the time being. That’s three-and-a-half, not a jab at the fact that Samsung ditched the 3.5mm headphone jack on the Note 10 after slamming Apple for doing the same thing years ago. Okay, fine, it’s both.
Design
I’m used to the iPhone X notch and I don’t mind it, especially considering that I wouldn’t want to trade in Face ID for anything else. It’s a compromise Apple had to make to deliver this superior authentication tool. But there’s no denying the Note 10, with its Infinity-O screen, is a sight to behold. I liked the Galaxy S10’s asymmetrical hole-punch display as well, but the Note 10’s screen is even better. The dream is of course to have selfie cameras that are hidden under the display and only visible when they’re needed, and that’ll happen in the coming years. Hopefully, Face ID will work through the screen when that happens.
I have to say that I don’t care much about curved displays or the in-display fingerprint sensor in the Note 10, but these are features that make Samsung’s newest all-screen design possible.
Memory
Of all the Note 10’s specs, memory is what I’m really jealous of. I’m talking about both default RAM and flash storage.
It wasn’t too long ago when Apple would still sell iPhones with just 16GB of storage onboard. Or when we cared about how much bloatware came preloaded on a Samsung flagship. Those days are long gone with devices packing 64GB or 128GB of flash memory at the entry level. But the cheapest Note 10, which ditches the microSD card, comes with a whopping 256GB of storage. On the Note 10+, you can go nuts and upgrade to 512GB of memory, with another 1TB available via microSD. But what’s amazing is that 256GB base memory, which should be more than enough for most users. The iPhone XS, meanwhile, starts with just 64GB of storage.
When it comes to RAM, the new default is 8GB on the Note 10, and up to 12GB on the Note 10+ as well as on the 5G versions. The iPhone, meanwhile, only has 3GB or 4GB. We often tell you that Android does need more RAM and that iOS is optimized to make the most of the available resources. But there’s no denying that the RAM brings added benefits to any device. It was the RAM upgrades on certain phones that helped Android devices beat the iPhone X in real-life speed tests, even though the iPhone’s processor was more powerful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYA_XAMfRfo
Battery charging speed
It’s a pity that Samsung’s 45W Super Fast Charging isn’t available on the smaller Note 10, but the Plus model does get it. The Note 10+ comes bundled with a 25W charger and you can then upgrade to a 45W adapter. The upgrade is definitely worth it, as it’ll significantly reduce charging times on the Note 10. Samsung isn’t the only company to offer faster charging speeds. In fact, it’s rather late to the party. But faster charging is certainly something I’d want to see on iPhones too, which currently max out at just 18W.
The new computer mode
This brings us to the final half a feature that I’d want on the iPhone, and that’s something similar to Samsung’s new DeX capability. Previous DeX iterations required you to connect the phone to an external display via a cable or dock accessory in order to use the phone as a desktop. With the Note 10, you can hook the phone up to a Windows PC, laptop, or even a Mac and use all the mobile apps on the phone inside a special app. You can also drag-and-drop files from one device to the other, and it’s all supposed to be secured via Samsung Knox.
It’s just half a feature that I’m jealous of because Apple already has something called Continuity that lets you seamlessly move between iPhone, iPad, and Mac and continue what you were doing. But the list of supported activities covers only Apple’s apps. You can reply to messages, answer calls, pick up email replies, continue browsing, and copy and paste stuff. However, there’s no support for third-party apps, and that’s the part of DeX that I’m jealous of.
