Galaxy Note 10 Rumors: Release Date, Price, Specs and More

Galaxy Note 10 price and availability

According to most reports, the Galaxy Note 10 will be unveiled sometime in August and make its way to store shelves in September. That certainly fits Samsung’s recent release pattern for the Galaxy Note 8 and 9, which both appeared in August allowing the company to get the jump on the September debut of Apple’s new iPhones.

Galaxy Note 9Considering that the Galaxy S10 Plus — arguably the best comparison to the Galaxy Note 10 — costs $999, and the Galaxy Note 9 also cost $999 at launch, there’s a good chance the device will be on a similarly pricey side. This said, a recent rumor has suggested that the price will actually be bumped up by $100 or $200, with the basic price now being more than $1,000.

Two Versions: Extra large and large

A report from Korea’s The Bell says that Samsung is working on two versions of the Galaxy Note 10. One of the phone would have a large 6.7-inch display, while another model would have a smaller 6.4-inch screen. However, the report indicates that the smaller Note 10 may be slated for release in Europe only. (ETNews, in its report on Samsung’s plans, places the screen sizes at 6.3 and 6.8 inches.)

However, a SamMobile report followed that and pointed to two model numbers Samsung have been assigned to the Galaxy Note 10. Those model numbers, SM-N970 and SM-N975, haven’t been confirmed by Samsung. However, they follow the syntax Samsung has used in the past. And if accurate, the model numbers all but point to two models.

Interestingly, SamMobile also tipped two other models — SM-N971 and SM-N976. Those won’t actually be distinct models, according to the report. Instead, they’ll be 5G versions of the 970 and 975.

So, for now, it appears Samsung will be planning one large and one extra large model and then 5G variants for each, for a total of four versions. A subsequent report from leaker Ice Universe suggests that Samsung will call the larger of the two models the Galaxy Note 10 Pro. In a follow-up tweet, Ice Universe claimed the Note 10 Pro would sport a 4,500 mAh battery, which is the same size as the power pack in the Galaxy S10 5G.

The standard Note 10 however is claimed to have a significantly smaller power source. Galaxy Club, a Dutch website, has published claims that the lower tier version of the Note 10 will only have 3,400mAh to play with. It’s a disappointingly small capacity, and a step back from the Note 9, but we can hope that Samsung’s got some other tricks up its sleeve to make sure that the overall battery life hasn’t got worse as well.

Galaxy Note 9In terms of color choices, a source who spoke to MySmartPrice claims that there will be black, white, silver, red, and pink to choose from, with the Note 10 Pro getting a few exclusive colors of its own too. Twitter user and smartphone leaker Ice Universe has suggested that there will be a “gradient, blue and silver gradient”, which could indicate one of these special Pro-version-only colors, or be referring to the silver color from the other leak, which invites the question of what other gradients might be on offer.

Credit: PhoneArenaThe battery might charge quite quickly too. Ice Universe had predicted 25-watt fast charging for the Note 10, but has now dismissed that idea. After initially stating that their new belief was that the charger was going to be more powerful than 25W, they are now suggesting the Note 10’s charger might be capable of 45W charging. This is based on a recent picture Ice Universe posted of Leonardo da Vinci and the text ‘101101’. If you’re scratching your head as to how this relates to charging speed, then keep in mind that the internal code name for the Note 10 at Samsung is ‘Da Vinci’, and that in binary, 101101 translates to 45 in base 10 (our normal counting system).

A new kind of Infinity Display

Samsung’s Infinity-O display technology, which allows for a cutout for the front facing camera within an OLED screen, debuted in earnest with the Galaxy S10. For that reason, it’s not surprising that rumors have suggested the company will utilize that same design in the Galaxy Note 10. However, what we’ve heard so far suggests the implementation could be a bit different.

Credit: Onleaks/91mobilesFor one, that hole punch might be shifted over to the center. (That’s where the front camera will be on the new Galaxy A50, though that cheaper model is using Samsung’s Infinity-U display which has a teardrop-shaped cutout.) To be honest, it’s difficult to track down exactly where this rumor began — PhoneArena suggested it in a mockup, and T3 reported it alongside a new story that mentioned the Note 10 will feature a 19:9 display, based on a leaked benchmark from html5test discovered by Dutch blog Mobielkopen. It’s also been repeated by Twitter user OnLeaks, and 91 Mobiles (with whom OnLeaks helped create the above render) but he doesn’t cite a specific source.

For those keeping track, the aspect ratio of the Note 9’s panel was 18.5:9, so it appears Samsung’s next-gen phablet could carry a screen that’s a bit taller than the current iteration. As for that center-mounted selfie camera — like all rumors, take it with a grain of salt.

If you compare the latest OnLeaks renders of the Note 10 and Note 10 Pro (below), you can see the differences between the two handsets, which are in summary the size, the materials (the Pro is expected to be available with a ceramic back, like the high end S10s) and the fourth camera on the Pro.

Ice Universe passed judgement on these renders in a tweet, saying that the renders were ‘a bit exaggerated’, particularly the Pro’s chin, which they claim is only slightly smaller than that of the S10+. So take these renders with an additional pinch of salt compared to usual, as the real thing might be a little chunkier than the renderers are showing!