Samsung Galaxy Note10+ review

All the right cameras aided by a ToF sensor

The Samsung Galaxy Note10+ comes with pretty much the same cameras as its predecessor and this year's Galaxy S10 and S10+ but offers a couple of improvements hardware and software-wise. We've got the usual suspects on the back - a main camera, a 2x telephoto lens and an ultra wide-angle unit. There is also a 3D ToF sensor to help with the scene depth mapping when taking portraits, playing with some AR-related features and for the so-called Live focus videos, which we will talk about later.

The main camera remains the same since the Galaxy S9-series - a 12MP sensor coupled with a lens with variable aperture going from f/1.5 all the way down to f/2.4. The size of the sensor is 1/2.55" while the pixel size is 1.4µm. The variable aperture feature comes in handy when shooting macros or scenes and subjects at a varying distance. When there's enough light from the environment, the software would choose the f/2.4 aperture so that more of the subjects remain in the field of focus and the edges of the frame will remain sharp. But if there's no sufficient light, the software will default to f/1.5 capturing more light. Go check out our OnePlus 7 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S10+ camera shootout to get a grasp of what we are talking about.

The next down the list is the wide-angle camera. That's a first for the Note and borrows the hardware from the S10-series. We've got a 16MP sensor with ultra wide-angle lens, f/2.2 aperture, 1.0µm and the equivalent of a 12mm focal length. On the plus side, this is one of the widest cameras you can get in a smartphone but it still lacks autofocus - a much-appreciated feature in some flagship phones like the Huawei P30 Pro..

The telephoto camera, on the other hand, introduces a slight improvement over the last generation and the S10 lineup. It's still the same 12MP sensor coming in 1/3.6" size and 1.0µm pixels but the lens has a wider aperture now - f/2.1 up from f/2.4 allowing more light to come in. That aside, it's capable of only 2x optical zoom (52mm) as before, which is not as competitive as the competition, which has already adopted 3x and 5x telephoto lenses.

Both the telephoto and the normal cameras are optically stabilized and as we already mentioned, a 3D ToF VGA camera located right next to the triple-camera array assists with the scene depth information.

And as for the front, the punch-hole houses the same 10MP sensor with 1.22µm pixels that has been used for a few generations now with a tiny difference. Samsung was able to trim the hole a little but that has resulted in a smaller aperture - f/2.2 from f/1.9. This will surely affect the low-light capabilities although, Samsung might have found a way to compensate with some software magic.

Interestingly, the Galaxy S10+ got a dual-camera setup on the front, which has mostly benefited the selfie portraits so it's an odd decision not to include a second one on its Note10+.

Camera software

The default camera app is fairly familiar. Few changes have been introduced coming from the Galaxy S10-series and the introduction of One UI. And by changes, we mean a couple of extra shooting modes.

It's hard to tell the difference between the default camera apps on Android phones nowadays and that's actually not a bad thing. You can easily find your way around. Swiping left and right will switch between all available modes and there's also an option to re-arrange or remove some of the modes from the viewfinder.

Starting from left to right, the app offers Food mode, Night mode, Panorama, Pro, Live focus, the standard Photo mode, Video, Live focus video, Super Slow-mo, Slow motion and Hyperlapse.

Camera modes

Most of them are pretty self-explanatory like the Food mode and the Pro mode. The video modes is where the fun's at. With the help of the 3D ToF sensor on the back, the Note10+ can capture portrait-like videos with blurred background. Additionally, you can add some impressive effects like the Color point and Glitch. The first one turns everything into black and white except for the subject you are recording while the Glitch mode turns the background into a glitchy 80s vibe video in line with the ongoing fad around the retrowave obsession in music and movies. In any case, the software requires a human face to work properly.

Moving back to the regular Live focus mode, Samsung is keeping the option to shoot portraits with the main camera and the telephoto lens - whichever you prefer. You can also expect better low-light performance from the telephoto unit since it has a wider aperture. A couple of background effects are in tow.

The settings icon is located in the upper left corner of the screen and gives you fine control over the cameras. The usual stuff like video resolution, grid lines, location data, etc., can be found there. You can also turn on and off the scene optimizer and set the HDR to auto or manual.

Additional camera settings

The so-called shot suggestion feature will help you with your photo composition for better results while Tracking auto-focus will keep the selected subject locked on focus even if it moves.

Oh, and let's not forget about the available S-Pen actions. If you pull out the stylus, a small window with instructions will pop-up briefing you about the available actions and gestures. You can snap photos, switch between modes and even zoom but we found that zooming hard to execute and largely unreliable. The others gestures, however, work great even if with a slight delay.

Available S-Pen camera actions