The average cost of smartphones is always higher, in this review of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite better therefore to start from the price question. The phone is sold for € 629 in the price list and around € 520 on Amazon Italy through resellers (model 6 / 128GB). We know, to some of you it will seem impossible that a smartphone with this cost will be called "medium range". Yet, the mobile device market has been giving us a clear indication for some time now: the bands are no longer those of a few years ago.
Just think of the top of the range, which more than quietly break the threshold of 1000 euros, reaching without too much trouble even at 1500 euros (S20 Ultra 5G has a price of 1579 euros in its 16 / 512GB variant, iPhone 11 Pro Max costs 1689 euros in the 512GB model and the foldable Galaxy Fold and Mate XS they reach respectively 2050 euros and 2599.90 euros).
In short, it is useless to turn around too much, a smartphone with a price that is close to 500 euros today can be considered mid-range. That said, let's analyze Samsung Galaxy Note 10, contextualizing it as a medium range.
Design and unboxing
Already from the Samsung packaging it is very clear on what is the peculiar feature of the product: a black box arrives at home with an image of the nib and the writing "Note 10 Lite" in plain sight from the front. Inside there is the classic compartment to which the South Korean company has become accustomed to us, the smartphone shows up immediately, while under the device there are the USB Type-C cable (on both sides) for charging, the 25W charger and headphones. Located at the top of the package there is another box that contains all the necessary manuals and the pin for the extraction of the SIM compartment (double nanoSIM or nanoSIM + microSD). In short, we are faced with a classic equipment, even if the presence of a transparent cover would not have spoiled.
Once you take Note 10 Lite in hand, the first thing you notice is its weight, equal to 199 grams. We are therefore not talking about a "light" smartphone and this could make more than one nose turn up. However, we must admit that, after almost three weeks of use, we no longer have any kind of problem handling the device.
Not even the overall dimensions, 167.3 x 76.1 x 8.7 mm, and the 6.7-inch panel proved to be a big problem, given that the market trend is going in this direction and we are trying more and more smartphones of this type.
We can justify Note 10 Lite regarding weight and size, given that it has a slot to store the pen and is meant to be used with this input method. In fact, just press briefly on the bottom right of the smartphone to pop out the S Pen. The latter is able to make the most of the large panel with hole for the camera, integrated fingerprint reader (a bit slow, but there is the Face Unlock) and all in all contained edges.
Focusing instead on the back, we find three cameras and a "square" LED flash in the upper left corner. The Samsung logo is at the bottom center. Constructive solidity is good, as is expected from Samsung: the materials used, although not those of a top of the range, give a "Premium" feeling from the first moment, especially when compared to other solutions that we have recently tried.
As for the coloring, we had the opportunity to try the Aura Glow variant, capable of generating excellent play of light when exposed to an external source. Those who write to you particularly appreciate design solutions like this, but you must know that there are also Aura Red and Aura Black versions on the market, which allow you to focus on brighter or darker colors, while the Aura Glow is a sort of way of half.
Also pay attention to the coloring of the nib: in our case it is blue, but for the other variants it becomes red or black. It may seem like a trivial matter, but for those who particularly care about design, these are aspects that matter.
For the rest, at the bottom of Note 10 Lite there are, in addition to the aforementioned slot for the pen, the first microphone, the USB Type-C port, the speakers and the 3.5 mm audio jack for headphones. The upper part, however, houses only the second microphone. On the right side the power / Bixby button and the volume rocker peep out, while on the left we find the trolley for the SIM.
Summing up, Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite manages to convince in terms of design and constructive solidity, even without going to innovate too much in a market where many smartphones look alike, at least on an aesthetic level.
Technical features
As explained at the beginning, Note 10 Lite is a mid-range smartphone and the internal components are exactly what is expected of a device of this type. In fact, we find an Exynos 9810 octa-core processor operating at the maximum frequency of 2.7 GHz (4 x 2.7 GHz + 4 x 1.7 GHz), flanked by a Mali-G72 GPU, 6GB of RAM and 128GB of memory internal (expandable via microSD up to 1TB). It is an excellent configuration, able to run most of the applications on the Play Store well, but there are devices that can overcome it in terms of performance and this difference is noted above all in areas that are more expensive in terms of resources, such as gaming. Don't get us wrong: we are on good levels, but don't expect the top performance side.
As for the display, we find a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED panel with Full HD + resolution (2400 x 1080 pixels). It is a unit that provides good sensations, thanks to well-balanced colors and maximum brightness in line with other smartphones in the same price range. Watching multimedia content on this panel is a pleasure for the eyes and you don't have to worry if you want to buy Note 10 Lite for this use.
However, there are some small smudges to report, such as some applications that cannot cover the areas in front of the hole for the camera (the main software are all compatible) and an automatic brightness that tends a little too far down. For the rest, there are Always On Display and Curved Screen (Tag edge panels and Edge Lighting). In general, it is a good screen, albeit with a few minor flaws.
Moving on to the photographic sector, we find a 32MP front camera (f / 2.2) and a triple 12MP rear camera (f / 1.7, main) + 12MP (f / 2.4, 2x optical zoom, 10x digital, OIS) + 12MP (f /2.2, wide angle, 123 degrees), flanked by the LED flash. The three rear sensors can record videos in 4K at 60fps, while the front one reaches 4K / 30fps. There is also Slow Motion at 240 fps in Full HD.
Also expect the usual features: Live Fire, Bixby Vision, Emoji AR, Pro, Panorama, Night, Slow Motion, Hyperlapse and Food. There are also all the various filters and artificial intelligence (scene optimization), able to improve the final shot. In short, there is little to say about the possibilities offered by cameras: we now know Samsung's proposal very well.
The quality of the photos is excellent for the price range, especially as regards shots in good light conditions. In low light, you begin to notice all the limitations of the case, but the Night mode, which requires you to hold the device steady for a few seconds, is able to perform not bad optimization and guarantee good results. We particularly liked the photos with zoom up to 10x (digital) and front camera shots, which often manage to tear up the competition.
The video department is always on the same levels: excellent results in Full HD, good in 4K / 30 fps (but no effects) and loss of stabilization in 4K / 60fps. In short, the usual problem of smartphones of this price range remains, but you can certainly not penalize the device for this reason.
In general, we would like to say that the photographic sector proposed by Samsung is excellent, albeit with some imperfections. In any case, you can get a more precise idea of the quality of the shots by consulting our Drive folder dedicated to Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite. We have uploaded several uncompressed photos taken with the device.
As for autonomy, Galaxy Note 10 Lite implements a 4500 mAh battery, which unfortunately does not respect the promises made on paper. In fact, we often arrived in the evening with 15-20% of residual charge. It is a result that allows you to take the working day home, but it is not exactly what we would have expected from such a battery. We are below the average of the price range. Of course, Samsung's energy saving functionality is excellent: it gives the user a lot of freedom of choice and allows you to continue using your smartphone for several hours. However, it is certainly not enough to improve the situation. Good 25W recharge, it goes from 0% to 100% in about an hour and a half.
Speaking of the connectivity sector, the latter is complete: there is no lack of 4G, LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac, NFC and Bluetooth 5.0. Forget instead waterproofness, wireless charging and desktop mode (DeX, the USB Type-C port is "only" 2.0). They are features that are beginning to be glimpsed even in this price range, but there are many smartphones that do not have them and therefore it is not a particular problem. The audio sector is excellent, which, although mono, supports Dolby Atmos (in headset and Bluetooth mode) and has a good maximum volume (our tests showed 82 dBA, a respectable value).
Software and S Pen
The operating system is Android 10 with OneUI 2.0 customization and security patches updated in February 2020. Samsung has worked very well in terms of software and OneUI has represented an excellent turning point for the South Korean company. The interface is cured and the additional features are certainly not lacking. Note the presence of the Digital Wellness screen, dynamic backgrounds and an integrated antimalware service (activated via the settings), created in collaboration with McAfee. These are all aspects that are usually put in the background, but for this reason it is important to talk about them: they demonstrate how the South Korean company takes care of the software in the smallest details.
In the case of Galaxy Note 10 Lite, however, the most interesting features are those related to the nib. The latter automatically connects to the smartphone via Bluetooth and has a physical button that allows you to manage many activities, from unlocking the device to opening the Camera app, passing through the playback / pause of multimedia content. There is also no shortage of features that can only be used with the stylus: once the S Pen is extracted from its slot, the smartphone shows all the possibilities on the screen.
The accessible activities are: Create note, View all notes, Smart selection, Screen writing, Live messages, AR drawing, Translate, Bixby Vision, Maximize, Minimize and Write on the calendar.
We found it very interesting that, in some cases, it is enough bring the S Pen closer to the screen, without touching it, to be able, for example, to enlarge the screen or select an image to have it "scanned" by Bixby Vision and find similar content. The intelligent selection is also excellent, allowing you to quickly take a screenshot of a small portion of the screen and extract the text, and the method that Google Translate is based on in order to have a translation in no time.
In short, in addition to bringing advantages as regards the precision of writing, the nib is able to open a new world and make some features faster. It is the distinctive element of the Note range, that accessory that can be the "killer feature" that can no longer be done without once tried. Sure, you may like it and not like it, but it is certainly the greatest strength of Galaxy Note 10 Lite.
Performance and benchmarks
For lovers of the benchmarks, the device has recorded a total of 332528 points on AnTuTu Benchmark. On Geekbench, however, it reached 674 points in single-core and 2020 points in multi-core. Numbers in line with the price range, which, however, cannot compete with other devices known for their brute force.
To give you concrete examples, Realme X2 Pro, smartphone sold at a price of about 450 euros, records a total of 484390 points on AnTuTu. The performance gap in the newspaper is felt, even if Samsung has worked well in terms of software and the differences are less marked than you might think looking at the mere benchmarks.
The latter, however, give an indication of the differences on the performance side and often, as in this case, confirm our impressions on the field.
It is a pity that this Galaxy Note 10 Lite cannot boast of a 90 Hz refresh rate, a feature that has recently taken hold in this range and guarantees a concrete advantage in terms of fluidity. Ultimately, on the performance side, Samsung has managed to guarantee an overall positive experience, despite the smartphone not being able to stand out in terms of brute force.
Gaming
To test Galaxy Note 10 Lite in the gaming field we have chosen three titles: Call of Duty Mobile, ARK: Survival Evolved and Shadowgun War Games. We are talking about games that are potentially able to give a medium range a lot of trouble.
Call of Duty Mobile runs smoothly with details and FPS set to "High". The game does not allow you to go further, detecting the hardware limits (here too, benchmarks and sensations are confirmed). In any case, the title is fully enjoyable and there are no problems whatsoever.
ARK: Survival Evolved, however, manages to put a strain on Galaxy Note 10: it runs as it should only at "Basso" and there is no lack of lag in the most excited situations. In addition, the game cannot even cover the parts near the hole. As for Shadowgun War Games, a title released a few weeks ago, the latter runs very well at "Alto", but begins to have some problems at "Altissimo".
Interesting the presence of the usual Game Booster, which is automatically activated when you enter a game. It allows you to optimize performance, quickly get screenshots and take advantage of various features, from blocking the navigation button to opening apps like WhatsApp in Picture-in-picture. Excellent application Game Launcher: the hub set up by Samsung convinced us, especially for the statistics, which allow you to quickly understand how many users are dedicating themselves to a given game. Summing up, Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite is able to defend itself well on the gaming side, but it is definitely not the smartphone to aim for those who want high graphic details.
