Galaxy Note 10 Plus vs OnePlus 7 Pro [Comparison]

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Samsung has officially taken the wraps off the Galaxy Note 10 series. The Note devices created the phablet category, and are supposed to have giant screens. But this time Samsung is giving users two different choices: a regular Galaxy Note 10 with a 6.3-inch display and a larger Galaxy Note 10 Plus will an even larger 6.8-inch screen. OnePlus has done something similar with its OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro. The Galaxy Note 10 Plus and OnePlus 7 Pro both are more feature-packed than their respective smaller siblings. Let’s check out how the Galaxy Note 10 Plus stacks up against OnePlus 7 Pro, which has been flying off the shelves since its launch in May.

Design

The Note 10 Plus has a nearly bezel-less design with an impressive 90.74% screen-to-body ratio. Samsung has used a hole-punch to accommodate the selfie camera in the top-center of the display. The front and rear glass panels are curved on the sides, and are supported by a metal frame in the middle. The S Pen stylus sits nicely in its silo. The cameras are arranged vertically on the back panel.

Samsung’s phone features an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor integrated under the display. The ultrasonic fingerprint sensor is not as fast as the optical in-display fingerprint reader of OnePlus 7 Pro, but it’s more secure. The Note 10 Plus measures 162.3 x 77.2 x 7.9mm and weighs 196g. It comes in four different color options of Aura Black, Aura White, Aura Blue, and Aura Glow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYA_XAMfRfo

Samsung has finally ditched the 3.5mm headphone jack from its flagship phone. The OnePlus 7 Pro also lacks the audio jack. The Note 10 Plus comes with an IP68 rating for water and dust-resistance. It means the device can not only withstand dust, dirt, and sand, but also survive being submerged in up to 1.5 meters deep water for up to 30 minutes. The OnePlus 7 Pro lacks any kind of water resistance.

The Korean electronics giant has also done away with the Bixby button. Users can now activate Bixby with a long press of the power button. You are stuck with Bixby because Samsung doesn’t allow users to configure it to Google Assistant.

In contrast, the OnePlus 7 Pro measures 162.6 x 76 x 8.8 mm and weighs 206g. It has curved glass panels on the front and back, supported by a metal frame in the middle. Unlike Galaxy Note 10 Plus, the OnePlus device has an uninterrupted glass display with no bezels or hole-punch. It has used a motorized pop-up mechanism to house the selfie camera.

The selfie camera pops up when you want to make video calls or take a selfie. It automatically retracts itself if you drop the phone accidentally. The OnePlus flagship comes in Mirror Gray, Almond, and Nebula Blue colors. OnePlus doesn’t offer a stylus with its phone.

Display

The Note 10 Plus sports a giant 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED Infinity-O display with a cutout at the top for the selfie camera. It supports HDR10+ to enhance the video watching and gaming experience. The larger display gives you a comfortable canvas to doodle or write with the S Pen stylus. It has a resolution of 1440 x 3040 pixels with a 19:9 aspect ratio. The Samsung flagship offers 498ppi of pixel density.

The OnePlus 7 Pro sports a slightly smaller 6.67-inch Fluid AMOLED display with 1440 x 3120 pixels resolution and 19.5:9 aspect ratio. It has a relatively higher pixel density of 516ppi. The OnePlus flagship offers a blazing fast 90Hz refresh rate, which enables a faster and smoother gaming experience.

Processing power

Both devices are beasts when it comes to performance. They are both capable of running demanding games and multi-tasking. The Galaxy Note 10 Plus packs 12GB RAM. It runs Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 processor with Adreno 640 GPU. We were expecting the device to run the recently announced Snapdragon 855 Plus. The international variant runs Samsung’s in-house Exynos 9825 chipset.

The Note 10 Plus is available in two different storage options of 256GB and 512GB. The device also has a microSD card slot to let you expand storage by up to 1TB. That should be more than enough for most smartphone users.

The OnePlus 7 Pro runs the same octa-core Snapdragon 855 processor paired with Adreno 640 GPU. It comes in three different configurations – one with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage, another with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, and a top of the line model with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. OnePlus doesn’t offer external storage on its phone, so you’d want to buy the highest storage option you can afford.

Both OnePlus and Samsung offer a 5G variant of their respective devices. If your carrier supports 5G, you can use either device to enjoy blazing fast download speeds.

Software

The Galaxy Note 10 Plus runs Samsung’s custom One UI skin on top of Android 9 Pie. We can expect it to get the Android Q update in a few months. The One UI skin offers a fast and intuitive experience, but continues to carry tons of Samsung’s legacy features.

Samsung has added support for Microsoft’s ‘Your Phone’ feature for Windows 10 users. It lets you get all your phone’s notifications, texts, and photos directly on your Windows computer. Samsung’s software also uses AI optimization to automatically optimize the phone’s settings for the game you are playing.

The OnePlus 7 Pro runs the Chinese company’s custom OxygenOS 9.5 skin on top of Android Pie. The OxygenOS 9.5 offers a similar experience as the stock Android while bringing tons of goodies. It has features like Gaming Mode and Smart Boost to offer better performance while preserving battery life. It also features background optimization to keep the phones running fast even as they age.

Battery life

Both devices pack pretty large batteries to ensure at least a full day of battery life on a single charge. The Galaxy Note 10 Plus packs a 4,300mAh battery with Samsung’s 45W Adaptive Fast Charging technology. Unfortunately for users, Samsung would ship the device with a 25W fast charger in the box. If you want to take advantage of 45W charging, you have to buy the charger separately.

The OnePlus 7 Pro includes a 4,000mAh battery with the company’s proprietary 30W Warp Charge technology. Unlike the Samsung flagship, it doesn’t support wireless charging. Its faster 90Hz refresh rate, and the pop-up selfie camera mechanism consume some extra battery power, but it still lasts more than a full day of normal usage.

Camera

The Note 10 Plus’s camera setup is similar to that of Galaxy S10 5G, which is among the world’s best smartphone cameras, according to DxOMark. It has a quad-camera setup on the back panel, consisting of a 12MP main camera with OIS, a 16MP ultra-wide angle lens, and a 12MP telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom and OIS. The fourth camera is a Time of Flight sensor to blur the background in portrait images and enhance the augmented reality (AR) experiences.

On the front, the Note 10 Plus features a 10MP selfie camera with f/2.2 aperture. Samsung has improved video recording capabilities with Note 10 Plus. It comes with the ability to blur the background in videos. It also gets a zoom microphone feature that uses three microphones to beamform and record the audio only from where you’ve pointed the camera.

The OnePlus 7 Pro has a triple camera system on the back, which is also among the world’s best, according to DxOMark. It features a 48MP primary lens with OIS, a 16MP ultra-wide angle lens with 117-degree field of view, and an 8MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. It can record 4K videos at 60fps. For selfies, the device gets a 16MP pop-up camera that appears whenever needed.

Special features

The Galaxy Note 10 Plus comes with a couple of special features that are missing from the OnePlus 7 Pro. It has the S Pen stylus that allows you to jot down notes, doodle, trigger the camera shutter, and advanced PowerPoint slides. The new S Pen also features an accelerometer and gyroscope to enable air gestures, which allow you to perform certain actions by waiving the stylus in the air.

Another feature is DeX, which effectively turns your smartphone into a computer when you connect it to an external monitor and keyboard. Now it supports both Windows and Macs.

Pricing

The Galaxy Note 10 Plus is far more expensive than OnePlus 7 Pro. It starts at $1,099 for the 256GB storage variant and goes up to $1,199 for the 512GB model. Both are available for pre-order, and will start shipping on August 23. Samsung is giving pre-order customers a credit of up to $150, which you can use to buy accessories or other devices. Pre-order customers also get six months of free Spotify Premium subscription.

In contrast, the OnePlus 7 Pro costs $669 for the base model with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. The 8GB+256GB version sells for $699 while the 12GB+256GB model will set you back by $749.

The OnePlus device is much more affordable than the Note 10 Plus. If you want the S Pen stylus, DeX desktop experience, and more storage, the Note 10 Plus is the device for you. For everyone else, the OnePlus 7 Pro is still the best Android device you can get your hands on.

Galaxy Note 10 Plus vs OnePlus 7 Pro

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