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My Opinion on the Note 10+

william , , , , , ,

(Updated 25 November 2019)

I have been using the Note 10+ since it was delivered to me last week. I have installed all the necessary applications and attempted to use my earphones. When using a smart phone, or any other device, my expectations are actually quite low. It needs to make my life easier and simpler. Anything that adds frustration shows bad engineering. When using a phone I quite often find myself in a situation where I have to use wired headphones and still need to be able to charge the device. Wireless charging is not available in these situations.

  1. The camera seems to take nice pictures. But then to be honest, I was mostly happy with the Note 8 pictures. Except in low light where the Note 8 didn’t seem to like taking a good picture. I could take pictures of a rose, cut the rose out and send it to my wife. All on the phone with the built in functionality. Nice. I seem to be able to do the same with the Note 10+. So for me, there is no gain there.
  2. Both the Note 8 and then Note 10+ are about the same size. I held them next to each other to compare, so don’t bug me with “but the specs say”.
  3. Note 10+ has 2 extra cameras, which I am still looking at. I have no comment on these at the moment and have not found out how they will improve my life.
  4. Earphone socket.
    • The Note 8 has a 3.5mm socket. I can use head phones while travelling without any issues. I tend to use a pouch that has a slot to allow for my headphones to be plugged into the phone on the edge of the cover. Luckily they aren’t positioned centrally. I can also use a 90 degree adapter to get the cable out sideways so that the phone and board don’t get damaged by having a whopping great connector sticking out of it all the time.
    • The Note 10+ only has a USB-C socket. So far the adapters I have tried all give me the message on the phone of “Connected USB device isn’t supported”. The supplied earphones don’t let me listen and charge the phone using a cable. And no dongle has been supplied. I cannot get a 90 degree dongle that allows me to charge and listen to music. So I am now stuck with a phone that I cannot listen to music on. What a waste of my time and money.
  5. I have been having issues getting the pen out of the Note 10+. My fingers don’t seem to want to go deep enough to click the pen so that it can be removed.
  6. The first attempt at using the 3D scanner resulted in an object that didn’t look anything link the original object I scanned. I assume that it is because this is my first attempt and following the instructions just isn’t enough to get the image scanned properly.
  7. As it turns out, the Gear VR is not compatible with the Note 10 either. (Source: https://www.engadget.com/2019/08/08/samsung-galaxy-note-10-gear-vr-incompatible/). I tried it, and it doesn’t work. I don’t care how committed Samsung are to VR and AR. Specifically making things incompatible is just bad.

To put simply. This phone as not added anything to my life that makes it easier or better. Instead it has gone out of its way to complicate my life. And in some cases Samsung seem to have gone out of their way to make things incompatible. So far, this has been my biggest waste of money this decade. At this point I see the Note 10+ as a complete waste of money. I should have stuck with my Note 8.

(Updated 25 November 2019) For all of you that are really concerned. Don’t worry. I fixed all of my NOTE 10+ issues. I now have a 3.5mm socket without having to use an external adapter. I can charge and listen to music at the same time without using bluetooth or wireless charging. I can use the phone in my Gear VR. I did all this by sending the NOTE 10+ back. Instead I have a Note 9 with 500GB storage. A much longer battery life, a 3.5mm socket for my headphones. I spent about £10 on a small NOTE 9 Gear VR adaptor.

So, Now I have a cheaper phone. With almost the same features as a Note 10+, but with a MUCH longer lasting battery, the sockets that I need. And I can use it with my Gear VR.

For me an upgrade should be just that, An UPGRADE. An upgrade that removes features and makes my life more difficult, costs me more money and doesn’t add anything that improves my life, isn’t an upgrade. It is just a money grab. Sorry Samsung, but for me the Note 10+ is a big FAIL.

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