Galaxy Note 10 Delivers Samsung's Second Galaxy S10 SmackDown

I have discussed the pros and cons of Samsung’s new Galaxy S10 (details), Galaxy S10 Plus (details) and Galaxy S10e (details) but they have problems. And now Samsung itself has revealed the biggest reason to skip them all in favour of the (already exciting) Galaxy Note 10…


Samsung has announced mass production of the world’s highest-capacity 12GB LPDDR4X RAM chips “optimized for tomorrow’s premium smartphones”. I know what you’re thinking: Doesn’t the top-of-the-range Galaxy S10 Plus have 12GB RAM? Yes, but the storage in that eye-wateringly expensive model is blown away by Samsung’s new chips.

While RAM in the Galaxy S10 Plus is fabricated at 20nm, Samsung’s new chips will be mass produced at just 10nm. Samsung states this will make them much more power efficient and - at just 1.1mm thick - far smaller which saves space (read: bigger battery). Moreover, Samsung reveals the module can run devices with more than five cameras, larger screens and 5G.

Surprise, surprise, the Galaxy Note 10 will have a total of six cameras, an enlarged screen and 5G.

The first devices to feature the new modules will actually be Samsung’s Galaxy S10 5G edition and the Galaxy Fold which launch in the next few months. But both phones will be produced in tiny capacities and cost close to $2,000. They’re a non-starter for the vast majority of buyers.

Which makes the Galaxy Note 10 the real game-changer. Samsung coyly reveals it will “triple the supply” of the new chips “during the second half of 2019” which is when economies of scale kick-in perfectly for the Galaxy Note 10’s August release.


And the new memory is just part one of two knock-out punches for the Note. Samsung will also equip that phone with UFS 3.0 which is twice as fast and more efficient than the UFS 2.1 storage in the Galaxy S10 range (introduced back with the Galaxy S8). This creates a killer combo, as Samsung itself promotes:

“With mass production of the new LPDDR4X, Samsung is now providing a comprehensive lineup of advanced memory to power the new era of smartphones, from 12GB mobile DRAM to 512GB eUFS 3.0 storage,” said Sewon Chun, Samsung’s executive vice president of Memory Marketing.

All of which serves to make the Galaxy S10 range feel old less than a week after their release. Given their 10th-anniversary status and dramatic redesigns, it seems bizarre Samsung would exclude both of its next-generation chips from range then launch them almost immediately afterwards.

This means the Galaxy Note 10 is in prime position to be Samsung’s best (and best looking) smartphone of 2019. It’s a no-brainer.


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