Samsung Galaxy Note10 review

GSMArena team, 02 Sept 2019.

Synthetic benchmarks

The Galaxy Note10 is available in two different hardware configurations depending on region. Some markets get the Snapdragon 855 SoC, but in our neck of the woods it's the version with Samsung's in-house Exynos 9825 chipset. The extra 5 on top of the Galaxy S10's Exynos 9820 means a 7nm manufacturing process to match the Snapdragon's and marginally increased clock speeds here and there, but not a ton of difference as we saw while testing the Note10+.

Samsung Galaxy Note10 review

The CPU configuration goes like this - 2 oversized custom Mongoose M4 cores, clocked at 2.73GHz (so same as in the E9820), 2 standard Cortex-A75 cores at 2.4GHz (vs. 2.31GHz on the old model), and 4 Cortex-A55s listed at 1.95GHz. The GPU has also been tweaked but Samsung doesn't disclose clock speeds. The Note10 is only available with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS3.0 storage - if for whatever reason you want 12GB of RAM, you'd need to look at the Note10+, which can also be had with 512GB of onboard memory.

The increased clock speeds result in a minor bump in multi-core CPU benchmarks compared to the S10 and virtually no difference under single-core loads. Single-core performance is still far and away the best in the Android world and only a little behind last year's iPhone (new one on the way). Snapdragon 855 devices still have a slight advantage in multi-core performance.

GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

  • Apple iPhone XS
    11472
  • Xiaomi Mi 9
    11181
  • Lenovo Z6 Pro
    11155
  • Sony Xperia 1
    10985
  • OnePlus 7 Pro
    10943
  • Asus Zenfone 6
    10721
  • Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
    10684
  • Samsung Galaxy Note10+
    10403
  • Oppo Reno 10x zoom
    10395
  • Samsung Galaxy Note10
    10353
  • Samsung Galaxy S10
    10174
  • Huawei P30 Pro (perf. mode)
    10014
  • Huawei P30 Pro
    9649

GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

  • Apple iPhone XS
    4823
  • Samsung Galaxy Note10
    4544
  • Samsung Galaxy S10
    4543
  • Samsung Galaxy Note10+
    4541
  • Asus Zenfone 6
    3505
  • Xiaomi Mi 9
    3503
  • Lenovo Z6 Pro
    3479
  • Sony Xperia 1
    3447
  • Oppo Reno 10x zoom
    3424
  • OnePlus 7 Pro
    3402
  • Huawei P30 Pro (perf. mode)
    3323
  • Huawei P30 Pro
    3270
  • Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
    3000

Over in Antutu, there's a marginally more noticeable improvement - we gather it's the combined effect of the higher clocks and the faster UFS3.0 storage (S10 is on UFS2.1). Once again, the Snapdragon competition is ever so slightly ahead.

AnTuTu 7

Higher is better

  • Xiaomi Mi 9
    372006
  • Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
    368846
  • Oppo Reno 10x zoom
    364220
  • OnePlus 7 Pro
    364025
  • Asus Zenfone 6
    361679
  • Lenovo Z6 Pro
    357672
  • Sony Xperia 1
    356734
  • Apple iPhone XS
    346379
  • Samsung Galaxy Note10
    344442
  • Samsung Galaxy Note10+
    342208
  • Samsung Galaxy S10
    328366
  • Huawei P30 Pro (perf. mode)
    316156
  • Huawei P30 Pro
    290189

In graphics benchmarks, the Note10 shows a notable advantage against its big brother in onscreen tests thanks to its lower resolution. Oddly enough, it can't quite match the Plus' performance in offscreen tests, which we can't quite pinpoint the reason for. The Adrenos of this world still do have the uppoer hand in most gaming applications.

3DMark SSE 3.1 Unlimited

Higher is better

  • Lenovo Z6 Pro
    6351
  • Asus Zenfone 6
    6263
  • OnePlus 7 Pro
    6093
  • Oppo Reno 10x zoom
    6052
  • Xiaomi Mi 9
    5816
  • Sony Xperia 1
    5792
  • Samsung Galaxy Note10+
    5287
  • Samsung Galaxy Note10
    5269
  • Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
    4850
  • Samsung Galaxy S10
    4550
  • Huawei P30 Pro (perf. mode)
    4315
  • Huawei P30 Pro
    3522

3DMark SSE Vulkan

Higher is better

  • Lenovo Z6 Pro
    5018
  • Samsung Galaxy Note10
    4862
  • Oppo Reno 10x zoom
    4840
  • OnePlus 7 Pro
    4833
  • Samsung Galaxy Note10+
    4763
  • Sony Xperia 1
    4505
  • Samsung Galaxy S10
    4238
  • Huawei P30 Pro (perf. mode)
    4231
  • Xiaomi Mi 9
    4068
  • Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
    3973

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

  • Apple iPhone XS
    98
  • Asus Zenfone 6
    71
  • Sony Xperia 1
    71
  • Lenovo Z6 Pro
    71
  • Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
    71
  • Xiaomi Mi 9
    70
  • Samsung Galaxy Note10+
    68
  • OnePlus 7 Pro
    68
  • Samsung Galaxy S10
    68
  • Oppo Reno 10x zoom
    67
  • Samsung Galaxy Note10
    59
  • Huawei P30 Pro (perf. mode)
    56
  • Huawei P30 Pro
    54

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

  • Apple iPhone XS
    60
  • Asus Zenfone 6
    57
  • Oppo Reno 10x zoom
    57
  • Lenovo Z6 Pro
    57
  • Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
    57
  • Xiaomi Mi 9
    56
  • Samsung Galaxy Note10
    55
  • Sony Xperia 1
    55
  • Huawei P30 Pro
    50
  • Huawei P30 Pro (perf. mode)
    50
  • Samsung Galaxy Note10+
    38
  • Samsung Galaxy S10
    37
  • OnePlus 7 Pro
    33

GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

  • Apple iPhone XS
    60
  • Samsung Galaxy Note10+
    43
  • Samsung Galaxy S10
    43
  • Xiaomi Mi 9
    42
  • Asus Zenfone 6
    42
  • Sony Xperia 1
    42
  • Lenovo Z6 Pro
    42
  • Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
    42
  • OnePlus 7 Pro
    41
  • Oppo Reno 10x zoom
    40
  • Huawei P30 Pro (perf. mode)
    33
  • Huawei P30 Pro
    29
  • Samsung Galaxy Note10
    28

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

  • Apple iPhone XS
    47
  • Asus Zenfone 6
    36
  • Lenovo Z6 Pro
    36
  • Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
    36
  • Xiaomi Mi 9
    35
  • Oppo Reno 10x zoom
    35
  • Sony Xperia 1
    33
  • Huawei P30 Pro (perf. mode)
    29
  • Samsung Galaxy Note10
    28
  • Huawei P30 Pro
    27
  • Samsung Galaxy Note10+
    24
  • Samsung Galaxy S10
    23
  • OnePlus 7 Pro
    19

Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)

Higher is better

  • Apple iPhone XS
    36
  • Xiaomi Mi 9
    23
  • Samsung Galaxy Note10
    19
  • Samsung Galaxy Note10+
    13
  • OnePlus 7 Pro
    13
  • Samsung Galaxy S10
    13

Predictably, the Galaxy Note10 delivers great performance, worthy of its top-tier status. The one slight issue is that it can heat up significantly under sustained load, with thermal throttling taking away some 10% of its absolute maximum potential.

Reader comments

  • Deepika
  • 14 Jul 2024
  • YQ$

Many of the users are telling that they have battery issue this is real after the some period of time the battery issue starts in my phone that is galaxy note 10 so I have changed the battery from the service centre it have battery drainage

  • Chimwangafix
  • 15 Jun 2024
  • fu%

Truly smart but for the battery issue

  • Enzo
  • 05 Nov 2023
  • NwI

Exactly same to me you got same point as mine the battery life is what gives this phone disappointment, atleast it could be around 4000 upward