Samsung Galaxy Note10 Lite in for review

Samsung’s Galaxy Note phones have always been among the best overall packages in the Android world and one of the few options for those who still like the convenience of a stylus. The Galaxy Note line has also been priced at the very top of the Android world so accessing it required stretching your budget significantly. Well seeing the success of its revamped Galaxy A-line, Samsung decided to bring a Lite version of the Note10 in hopes of reaching users who want the S Pen experience without spending flagship money.

Some would argue that the smaller Note10 was already a Lite version of the Note10+ but the new Note10 Lite packs a lot more changes than just the altered footprint and lowered screen resolution. Now that we got our hands on a review unit at the office, we’re eager to see how the budget Note compares to its flagship counterparts.

Starting off with the looks, the Note10 Lite serves as a bridge between the outgoing design language of the current S and Note phones and the upcoming Galaxy S20 lineup. The front houses a flat 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display with an even taller 20:9 aspect ratio than both regular Note10s. Another change comes in the screen corners which are noticeably more rounded than the Note10 duo’s squarer offerings.

The back of the Note10 Lite comes with the new square camera pad which further differentiates the phone from its flagship Note brethren. Another, arguably less welcome change is the plastic back construction.

At the back, we have three 12 MP cameras to work with which offer three different zoom viewing angles - ultrawide, regular wide and telephoto.

The Note10 Lite gets a 32MP selfie shooter up from the 10MP one on the premium Note 10 duo. One more feature that you won’t find on Samsung’s more expensive offerings is the headphone jack which is present here. Another improvement is the larger 4,500 mAh battery which tops even the Note10+ and its 4,300 mAh cell. Sadly fast charging is limited to 25W this time around.

Samsung had to cut some corners to get the price down and it shows in the chipset department where we have the older Exynos 9810 which was used in the Note9. The SoC is paired with either 6 or 8GB RAM and 128GB UFS 2.1 storage.

We couldn't forget the S Pen - the Note line’s key selling point. We’re happy to confirm it comes with most of the tricks seen on the flagship Notes including Screen Off Memo and the nifty remote control features but lacks a motion sensor so you miss out on the Air Actions. As a whole, the Note10 Lite is a compelling package that offers great value at €630 in Europe and INR 38,999 in India. We’re already underway with all the usual tests and benchmarking so stick around for our full review.