Samsung Galaxy Note 10+: 5 key takeaways after using the new flagship phone for 24 hours

Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ is here. Here are our first impressions of the latest Samsung flagship phone.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus is available in India at a starting price of ₹79,999 (REUTERS)

Samsung Galaxy Note series is very much alive and kicking. Even though the era of stylus-phones is long over, Samsung has continued to invest in the Note series. Over the years, Note phones have become an extension to the Galaxy S series with moderately better features. Galaxy Note 10+ is no different.

We've been using Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ for roughly 24 hours. Here are some interesting takeaways after our brief usage.

New design

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 doesn't look anything like the older generation. Gone is the 18:5:9 aspect ratio and comes in a 19:9 aspect ratio. The front remains an AMOLED display but has a centrally aligned punch hole camera, Infinity O in Samsung's speak. We have the Aura Glow model which true to its branding reflects colours when light falls on it. The back panel is glass and as good as a mirror! With 6.8-inch display, Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ is a large phone, bigger than several big-screen phones in the market right now. There's a flatter theme to the phone, akin to the older generations of Galaxy Note. The company continues with the glass-metal-glass combination.

Great display

Samsung's phones usually offer better AMOLED experience than the rest. The latest Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ comes with a Dynamic AMOLED screen. During our brief usage, the phone delivered near excellent legibility across outdoor and indoor settings. The screen is bright and vivid. The screen is set to full HD+ resolution by default. You need to go to Settings to crank up the screen resolution to WQHD+ (3040 x 1440 pixels). Here you'll find other display settings such as enabling adaptive brightness, vivid and natural screen colour modes, customisation tools for edge panels.

Camera is promising

We haven't taken enough pictures from Note 10+ to give you our final verdict. But a few early casual shots from the phone hint at high-quality experience. In one of our lowlight shots, Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ delivered near accurate colours with minimum noise. There's ample of sharpness for a lowlight photo and appears to be much better than the older generation. We also liked the wide-angle shot. There's no fish eye effect and covers an impressive amount of real estate with the lens.

Battery draining but fast charging helps

The peril of a super bright AMOLED display and quick bursts of app updates is battery draining. Even after having the phone setup and settled, the battery seemed to be draining at a much faster rate than anticipated. A large 4,300mAh battery, however, assures of longer backup. We also liked the Super Fast Charging feature on the new Note 10+ thanks to the bundled 25W fast-charging.

Fingerprint sensor

Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ comes with an in-screen fingerprint sensor. Unlike the ones are seen in Redmi K20 Pro and OnePlus 7 Pro, Galaxy Note 10 Plus' sensor is much smoother. While it's pretty easy to set up, getting used to the sensor takes some time. During our brief usage, there have been plenty of missed taps on the sensor. Hopefully, this gets better with future usage.