Updated Story: September 16, 2019 (06:15 GMT)
For a limited time and valid until October 12, Samsung is offering a bundle of limited edition accessories* worth AED/QAR 599 with every purchase of the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+. The accessories included in this special bundle are:
- Automatic Wireless Charging Car Holder
- All-in-One Multi-Charger
- Dual Port Car Charger
- 2-in-1 Charging Cable
Those who live in UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait can avail this offer at select retail outlets. Visit the Samsung site for more details.
Updated Story: August 8, 2019 (12:00 GMT)
As expected, plenty of Middle East mobile carriers have announced pre-order programmes for the new device. If you see your country listed below along with the carrier, head over to the respective link for more details.
- Qatar: Ooredoo Qatar and Vodafone Qatar
- Oman: Ooredoo Oman
- Kuwait: Ooredoo Kuwait and Zain Kuwait
- Bahrain: Viva
- Saudi Arabia: Mobily
- United Arab Emirates: Etisalat and du
Given that Eid Al Adha holidays are coming up, expect deliveries to happen after the holidays. Makes for a perfect gift as well. In addition, most pre-orders will also receive the Galaxy Buds for free.
Original story (August 7, 2019)
The last time I attended a Samsung launch event was at MWC 2016 for the launch of the Galaxy S7. This time, I had the fortunate luck of attending the unveiling of the new Samsung Galaxy Note 10 here in New York City.
I kept pushing out as many details as possible with my live-blog, but now I have the time to deep-dive into the details of this new productivity beast.
One family, many improvements
The new and improved S Pen includes a gyroscope and accelerometer for motion controls using your hand movements. Samsung will release a special SDK to allow devs to incorporate it into their apps. You can use it to remotely control the Camera app, but the possibilities is based on how developers implement it.
In addition, the new S Pen will allow note takers to export their handwritten notes to various file formats.
The display is now fully covering the front area with the bezels being thinner than the S10. As for the front-facing camera, it’s a punch-hole design just like the Galaxy S10 and it’s been positioned directly in the center. You’ll even notice that the bezels have even shrunk around the edges as well, giving you more visual real estate.
Similarities and Differences
Just like the Galaxy S10 series, Samsung has unveiled a family of Note 10 models: Note 10 (6.3-inch), Note 10+ (6.8-inch), and Note 10+ 5G. The new Note 10 is powered by two different chipsets based on the region you’re buying the Note 10:
- Snapdragon 855 chipset (for the US, Canada, South America, and select markets in Asia): a 7-nanometer octa-core chip that also supports Wi-Fi 6 (aka 802.11ax). Four cores handle the heavy lifting — one prime core clocked at 2.84GHz and three performance cores at 2.42GHz — while four efficiency cores running at 1.8GHz handle less performance-intensive tasks
- Exynos 9825 chipset (rest of the international markets): built with a 7-nanometer extreme ultraviolet lithography processing technology, featuring a “tri-cluster” architecture consisting of two Cortex-A75 cores for high-performance workloads and four Cortex-A55 cores for less intensive tasks, and it’s equipped with the Mali-G76 MP12 graphics chip. Middle East users will be getting this chipset.
There’s no more 3.5mm headphone jack like the previous models. The new USB-C connection provides a unified way to connect your headphones, using a USB-C-to-3.5mm adapter bundled with the smartphone.
Videography get a much-needed boost. with the new and improved camera optics from the Galaxy S10 family.
- A nifty new “Zoom-in Mic” feature allows your video to capture audio based on what you focus during the recording.
- A new “Live Focus Video” feature adds background blurs video while focusing on the foreground.
- The same variable aperture tech found from the S10 series allows you to switch between f/1.5 due to dim lighting and f/2.4 (default setting).
If you want to geek out more on the specifications of the new device, look no further than the below table.
| Note 10 | Note 10+ | |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 6.3 inches, 2,280 by 1,080 pixels (401 PPI); HDR10+-compatible, Dynamic AMOLED Infinity Display | 6.8 inches, 3,040 by 1,440 pixels (498 PPI); HDR10+-compatible, Dynamic AMOLED Infinity Display |
| Rear Camera | 12MP (f/1.5/2.4 variable aperture with optical image stabilization, phase detection autofocus, and a 77-degree field of view), 16MP ultrawide (f/2.2 aperture with a 123-degree field of view), 12MP telephoto lens (f/2.1 aperture with optical image stabilization and a 45-degree field of view) | 12MP (f/1.5/2.4 variable aperture with optical image stabilization, phase detection autofocus, and a 77-degree field of view), 16MP ultrawide (f/2.2 aperture with a 123-degree field of view), 12MP telephoto lens (f/2.1 aperture with optical image stabilization and a 45-degree field of view) + time-of-flight DepthVision Camera |
| Front Camera | 10-megapixel front-facing shooter (f/1.9 and an 80-degree field of view) | 10-megapixel front-facing shooter (f/1.9 and an 80-degree field of view) |
| Battery | 3,500mAh | 4,300 mAh |
| Memory | 8 GB | 12GB |
| Storage | 256 GB | 256/512 GB (expandable via microSD card) |
| Connectivity | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz); NFC, Bluetooth 5.0; USB3.1, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz); NFC; Bluetooth 5.0; USB3.1, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector; headphone jack |
| Biometrics | In-screen ultrasonic fingerprint sensor from Qualcomm | In-screen ultrasonic fingerprint sensor from Qualcomm |
Ending with a surprise
The one way Samsung could end the event is to bring out a known celeb, just like when they brought out Mark Zuckerburg in 2016 to announce a new partnership. This time, it was none other than Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella.
That was quite a surprise indeed, as it served to complement Samsung’s newest partnership in pushing the boundaries of mobility.
I’ll be back with a more in-depth hands-on time with the new devices. Pre-orders will soon by announced by major mobile carriers in the region. Expect special incentives that may include a few surprises.
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