1. Price is by far the biggest and most important consideration here, and provides important context for how these other features compare.
To make this comparison simpler, we're only going to compare the Galaxy S10 and the Galaxy Note 10. The "Plus" models of these phones, as well as the Galaxy S10e and the 5G versions of these phones, are completely different value propositions altogether, and are worth their own separate discussions.
That said:
- The Galaxy S10 starts at $900.
- The Galaxy Note 10 starts at $950.
In other words: You'll save at least $50 by going with a Galaxy S10 instead of the Galaxy Note 10.
2. The Galaxy Note 10 has a slightly larger display, but the Galaxy S10 is extremely similar, and probably more comfortable for most people.
The Galaxy S10 has a 6.1-inch AMOLED screen. The Note 10 has a 6.3-inch AMOLED.
The difference between 6.1 inches and 6.3 inches might seem notable on paper, but when you hold these phones in person, you'll hardly notice a difference. Samsung is using its same, top-of-the-line quad-HD technology for both of these phones, and they're a real treat to look at.
Also, while I'd call my hands medium-sized, I still prefer phones be a little smaller so they're more comfortable to hold in one hand. I like the 5.8-inch iPhone XS and 6.1-inch iPhone XR, for example, more than the 6.5-inch iPhone XS Max. In this sense, I'd also recommend buying the phone that's more comfortable to hold, and that's why I like the Galaxy S10 here.
3. The Galaxy S10 has a different "hole-punch" style notch for its front-facing camera compared to the Note 10 — and it's probably better on the S10 for more situations.
To accommodate having both an edge-to-edge display and the ability to take selfies, Samsung's front-facing cameras for the Galaxy S10 and Note 10 look like someone took a hole-punch to it.
But on the Galaxy S10, the hole punch is off to the side. On the new Galaxy Note 10, that camera is smack dab in the middle of the display.
While it's ultimately up to preference, I think I like the Galaxy S10's camera design a bit more. It doesn't seem like it gets in the way of software, and if you're watching videos on your phone, there's a good chance it won't cut into your content since it's away from the center of the screen. On the Galaxy Note 10, you might notice the hole punch more when you're watching videos in landscape mode.
4. The Galaxy Note 10 has a slightly bigger battery compared to the Galaxy S10, but you won't really notice a difference.
The Note 10 lineup has bigger batteries compared to the Galaxy S10 series, but the difference is minimal.
- The Galaxy S10 has a 3,400 mAh battery.
- The Galaxy Note 10 has a 3,500 mAh battery.
mAh, or milliampere hour, is a unit of measurement that describes how long a battery can hold a charge before it needs recharging — but it's not always the greatest representation of a phone's battery life. How software utilizes the hardware, and minimizes drain, has a greater influence on a device's battery life.
It's still early days for the Galaxy Note 10, so we don't have a great picture of how long it lasts compared to the Galaxy S10 just yet, but early impressions from most critics say to expect "all-day" performance from both of these phones.
5. The Galaxy Note 10 starts with more internal storage, but the standard Galaxy S10 comes with plenty.
The Galaxy S10 comes with 128 GB of storage, with the ability to expand up to 512 GB with a microSD card.
The Galaxy Note 10 comes with more storage to start — 256 GB — but you really don't need all that much storage. For most people, 128 GB is more than enough of space. I'm only using about 72 GB of storage on my phone, but I have more than 200 apps downloaded on it (235 to be exact).
6. Both phones have identical cameras on the front and back.
Both the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note 10 have:
- A 12-megapixel wide-angle lens
- A 12-megapixel telephoto lens
- A 16-megapixel ultrawide lens
- A 10-megapixel selfie camera
7. You won't notice a real difference in performance between the Galaxy S10 and Note 10. Both are running Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 processor.
Both phones also come with 8GB of RAM, and ship with the same operating system: Android 9.0 Pie, with Samsung's own One UI.
The Galaxy Note 10 has other chipsets that are slightly newer compared to the Galaxy S10, but they don't seem to provide any noticeable improvement.
8. The Galaxy S10 doesn't have an S Pen like the Galaxy Note 10 — but you don't need a stylus.
The S Pen is pretty neat. You can use it to take notes directly on your display, even when the screen's not on, plus it has gesture controls — so you can control your volume, for instance, or zoom the Galaxy Note 10's camera, by moving the pen in certain ways.
But overall, you don't really need the S Pen. I personally don't miss handwriting, and I worry that it's one extra accessory to misplace. It's small, so I could imagine leaving it on a table somewhere, or dropping it on the subway. If you really want a stylus, go for it, but I honestly don't mind typing.
9. The Galaxy S10 has a trump card on the Galaxy Note 10: It has a headphone jack.
The Note 10 is the first Samsung smartphone without a headphone jack — but if you still have a favorite pair of wired headphones, you can use those without a dongle if you buy a Galaxy S10.
