Samsung’s Galaxy Note10+ is a big-screen powerhouse with a big price tag

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Samsung’s Galaxy Note line helped popularize the trend of smartphones with massive displays that now includes phones made by Apple (AAPL) and Motorola. And the company’s latest offerings, the Galaxy Note10 and Galaxy Note10+, carry on that tradition of screen excess.

Available for purchase Friday, Aug. 23, the Note10 and Note10+ come with 6.3-inch and 6.8-inch displays, respectively. As always, the duo also packs Samsung’s S Pen stylus, which lets you do everything from write on the phones’ screens to remotely control their cameras. Samsung has also upped the productivity factor with this generation of Note, adding the ability to transcribe scribbled notes into Microsoft Word documents and more.

All of that functionality comes at a price. The Note10 starts at $949, while the Note10+ starts at $1,099. But for big-screen phone fans, those prices might be worth it. They’re also not the most expensive phones out there: Apple’s iPhone XS starts at $999, while the XS Max costs $1,099.

Big in every way

This review is based on my experience with the Galaxy Note10+, but many of my observations will apply to both versions of the phone. There are key differences, though — the biggest of which is screen size.

The Note10’s 6.3-inch screen is huge, but the Note10+’s 6.8-inch panel felt unwieldy even though I tend to appreciate bigger screens.

You'll want to hold the Note10+ with both hands if you don't want to drop it. (Image: Howley)

Much of the Note10+’s design is carried over from the Galaxy S10. Both versions of the Note10 get Samsung’s proprietary Infinity-O AMOLED display. That display was also found on the S10, though the Note10 gets a full-HD resolution panel, while the Note10+ gets a higher resolution QHD screen. Despite that, I couldn’t see any substantive difference in display quality between the phones.

While the Note10+ uses the same design language as Samsung’s flagship S10, the company has changed the orientation of the phones’ rear cameras from horizontal to vertical. Like the S10, however, the Note10+ has an in-screen fingerprint reader. I’ve found the reader to be hit-or-miss at times. I also don’t like that I can’t use the reader without looking at the screen to see where I have to place my finger.

Productivity and more

The Android P-powered Note10+ is designed to be a productivity powerhouse. The S Pen now gives you the ability to convert handwriting to text, and then bring that directly into Microsoft’s Word. There’s also a new DeX desktop connection, as well as the ability to remotely play games from your PC at home on your phone.

The S Pen text conversion can be a little tricky, as it only works with the Samsung Notes app, not the notes app that pops up when you pull the S Pen out of its holster from the Note10+. To bring your text into Microsoft Word, you scribble in the Notes app, then have to share your Notes file to the Word app, or open the All Notes app and start a new note from there. It’s not exactly the most seamless experience. But if you’re a prodigious notetaker, and want those notes to be easily accessible and shareable via Word, it’s a huge benefit.