Gadget enthusiasts anticipate the launch of Samsung’s Note smartphone each year. The phone that once out-sized every other phone is seen as the one Android super-phone that brings new features and cutting-edge design, some of which then trickles down to the Galaxy S series. Any wonder then that the rumour mills start churning and ‘leakers’ start releasing images and specs that they manage to get hold of somehow. But now, the Note 10 is already up for pre-order in some countries ahead of August 7, which is when the ‘Samsung Unpacked’ event in New York will see the phone’s release.
This time it is rumoured that there will be two Galaxy Notes, the Note 10 and Note 10 Plus or Pro. Little is known about the latter, though some specs such as battery seem to be pegged as being higher. There may even be a Limited Edition variant. The regular Note 10 has appeared in a YouTube video showing the device from all angles and in some of the colours available, one of which is a beautiful mix of gradients somewhat similar to the Huawei P30 Pro’s Breathing Crystal. The front of the phone has a very high screen-to-body ratio with very thin bezels on top and below and a small cut-out for the front camera in the centre on top. One can see that there’s no 3.5 mm headphone jack but of course, there’s an aperture for the Note’s S Pen, which is its most distinguishing feature, separating it clearly from Samsung’s other flagships. The S Pen was rumoured to be coming with more powerful features and even a built-in camera, but there is no news on what it will actually have onboard.
On the back, there’s a triple camera set-up that will no doubt be the standard, the wide angle and telephoto. The night mode from the Note 10 is rumoured to be particularly great as ‘Smart ISO’ or ‘AI ISO’, which will make a big difference. Hardware specs will quite expectedly be the maximum possible on these two phones but it will be interesting to see what other marquee features Samsung can bring into a market that is already teeming with high-end Android smartphones.