I know, I know. Samsung hasn’t even released the Galaxy Note 9, and here I’m going to talk about Galaxy Note 10 rumors. The company is set to release the Note 9 next month. The Note 9 will be followed by the Galaxy X foldable phone and Galaxy S10 early next year. The Galaxy Note 10 is expected to launch in the fall of 2019. But recent comments by a senior Samsung executive has sparked the Galaxy Note 10 rumors.
Galaxy Note 10 to sport ultrasonic fingerprint reader
Speaking at an event in Wuhan, China, Samsung’s mobile business chief DJ Koh said the company would introduce ultrasonic fingerprint sensor with the next year’s Galaxy S10. Android vendors such as Vivo have launched phones with an optical fingerprint reader. Koh said the next year’s Galaxy S model will feature an ultrasonic sensor rather than the optical fingerprint solution because the optical one doesn’t offer a great user experience.
DJ Koh said that the Galaxy S10 does not use an optical fingerprinting solution because optical fingerprinting can cause a bad user experience. Otherwise, Samsung could adopt it two years ago. We will bring a better screen fingerprinting experience for S10.
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— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) July 16, 2018
Also present at the event was Samsung CEO Guo Minghao, who added that the same technology would also be used in the next year’s Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy A series phones. There you have it. At least one of the Galaxy Note 10 rumors have been confirmed by a top Samsung exec.
Ultrasonic sensors are better than the optical ones in that they could allow the entire screen to work as a fingerprint sensor. They work even when the display is dirty. These sensors emit ultrasonic pulses to capture and recognize your fingerprint. Qualcomm will supply the ultrasonic sensors to Samsung for the Galaxy S10 as well as Galaxy Note 10. It means Samsung’s 2019 flagship models will no longer have the rear-mounted fingerprint reader.
TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told clients in a research note that Samsung would aggressively promote the ultrasonic fingerprint technology. According to Kuo, Samsung will produce about 60 million handsets with the ultrasonic sensor ext year. Approximately 40 million of them are expected to be the Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus, 6-8 million units of Galaxy A series, and 12-14 million units of Galaxy Note 10.
Galaxy Note 10 rumors: 5G support
Wireless carriers in many countries including the US and South Korea will start rolling out the 5G technology in the first half of 2019. Smartphone vendors such as OnePlus have already signaled that their 2019 flagships will have 5G support. According to Business Korea, the Galaxy S10 will be one of the world’s first smartphones to feature the 5G technology.
Korean carriers will begin rolling out 5G services by March 2019, and Samsung will be fully prepared to take advantage of the 5G buzz. The company’s long-time relationship with Qualcomm means it will be among the first vendors to get Qualcomm’s 5G chips. If the Galaxy S10 will be 5G-ready, there is no reason to believe that the Galaxy Note 10 would launch without it.
Galaxy Note 10 display
Little is known about the Note 10’s design or display at this point. Historically, the Galaxy Note series has borrowed design elements from the Galaxy S flagship of the same year. For instance, leaked renders suggest this year’s Note 9 will look almost identical to the Galaxy S9 Plus, except for a few minor tweaks. We expect the Note 10 to look similar to the next year’s Galaxy S10 flagship.
According to Korean site The Bell, Samsung has finalized the Galaxy S10 design. The S10 doesn’t have a display notch, says The Bell. Samsung has resisted the temptation to adopt the notch even though other Android vendors have shamelessly copied the iPhone X’s top cutout. The Korean company will reduce the thickness of the top and bottom bezels to expand the screen space.
According to Twitter leaker Ice Universe, the Galaxy S10 will have a screen-to-body ratio of 94%, much higher than the Galaxy S9’s 83.6%. So, we should expect the Galaxy Note 10 to have a screen-to-body ratio of 94% or higher. Fully bezel-less displays are still a few years away because smartphone vendors haven’t yet figured out a way to integrate the front camera, the iris scanner, ear speaker, and other sensors under the display.
Galaxy Note 10 to have five cameras
AllAboutSamsung has learned from inside sources that the Galaxy S10 would sport five cameras: three on the back and two on the front. The upgraded cameras will help Samsung take on the Huawei P20 Pro and Apple’s upcoming iPhone X Plus. We expect Samsung to carry over the five camera setup from Galaxy S10 to Galaxy Note 10 with slight improvements.
Sources told AllAboutSamsung the Galaxy S10 Plus would feature a 12MP main sensor with variable apertures, a 16MP ultra wide-angle lens with a fixed aperture, and a 13MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. The selfie camera would consist of a 12MP main lens and a 16MP ultra wide-angle sensor.
Both the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note 10 cameras will be loaded with AI capabilities to take better photos and videos. Dual cameras on the front could also enable portrait selfies.
Other expected features
It’s no secret that the S Pen stylus is getting a major upgrade this year. According to recent leaks, the Note 9’s S Pen will have Bluetooth connectivity and a rechargeable battery. The Bluetooth support will allow the stylus to control music playback and photo capture from a distance. It is incredibly difficult for a smartphone vendor to introduce major improvements two years in a row. So, we expect the Galaxy Note 10’s S Pen to bring only minor changes.
Samsung could further improve the Bixby AI assistant with the Note 10. The company is already working to introduce an upgraded Bixby 2.0 with the Note 9 that would facilitate a more natural communication between the device and the user.
The Galaxy Note 10 is expected to have at least 8GB RAM. The phablet will likely be powered by the next-gen Exynos 9820 or Snapdragon 855 processors depending on the region. The same chips, based on the 7nm manufacturing process, will also power the Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus. The Note 10 will likely retain the microSD card slot and the 3.5mm audio jack.
The Note 10 is still more than a year away. Samsung will develop and test multiple prototypes of the device before deciding which one to release to the public. So, these Galaxy Note 10 rumors should be taken with a pinch of salt.