The Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ vs Huawei Mate 20x

[HarborFront]

Just tried out the Note 10+ at Samsung shop

5G won't be available in my country until next year.... at least after mid-year. Also, dropped my Note 4 a few days back and the cracked screen went black. No point replacing screen since it's an old device.

Considering this very hard over my Huawei Mate 20x because of the following reasons

1. 10+ screen is smaller at 6.8 inch vs 7.2 inch of the HW Mate 20X. I just love big screen.
2. Battery capacity of the 10+ is smaller at 4300mAh vs the 5000mAh of the HW Mate 20X. Big battery capacity is also what I want
3. Firmware updates of the HW Mate 20x is pretty frequent too. I think Samsung don't update so fast.
4. The 10+ comes with 12GB RAM and 256GB memory storage. Free upgrade to 512GB memory storage if you pre-order it now. HW Mate 20x has only 6GB RAM and 128GB memory storage. The 10+ uses the faster UFS 3.0 storage memory
5. 10+ comes with WiFi 6 which no HW device has at the moment
6. 10+ screen is way brighter (800 to 1200 nits) when used in direct sunlight vs the 655 nits of the HW Mate 20X
7. 10+ supports default android OS Kill Switch for VPN which means user can have a wider choice of VPNs to choose from. The HW's EMUI interface don't support the default android OS Kill Switch which limits the user to VPN which uses its own dedicated Kill Switch only e.g. VyprVPN
8. The 10+ allows the switching to LDAC Bluetooth codec if using the Sony WH-1000XM3 headphone app when it defaulted to SBC codec. If using the Sony app the HW Mate 20x defaults to SBC codec and there's no way to change it back to LDAC even when using the Sony app. The option is greyed out in the phone
9. 10+ has a real screw up 2x optical camera considering that competitors have released 10x optical cameras. The HW Mate 20x comes with a 5x optical camera
10. 10+ is way more expensive than the HW Mate 20x when I purchased it initially
11. The 10+ has a default video dialler which the HW Mate 20x don't
12. The 10+ allows the app to be resized and float when in split-screen mode. The HW Mate 20x don't.
13. 10+ allows video recording in 4K@60fps. The HW Mate 20x don't. This is a limitation of the Kirin processor
14. Samsung browser does not allow the addition of another search engine (eg Startpage) besides those listed in the browser
15. Good thing is both will get the Android Q upgrade later

 

[Evjl's Rain]

after all, I think we should ask ourselves 3 questions:
- are we overpaying for phones?
- Does it improve our lives or productivity much more than =<$300 phones?
- Are we using all the offering features which are not present in other "good enough phones" (~$300-400)?

I'm so far still happy with my galaxy S7, bought ~$260 >2 years ago. It has improved my productivity more than an iPhone X, for example
unhappy with"
- software update: oreo android 8.0 significantly reduces performance on this phone, trying to downgrade to android 7 -> android update is not necessarily a good thing. Same for iOS, each upgrade brings down performance step by step
- battery is wearing out and dual sim is lacking

 

[HarborFront]

I was owning the Note 10+ for the past few weeks and below is my short review

When holding it is lighter on my last finger as compared to the Mate 20X

Speed-wise I don't feel the Exynos 9825 is faster than the Kirin 980.

Note 10+ comes with the new UFS 3.0 and F2FS file system instead of the old UFS 2.1 and EXT4 file system used in the HW Mate 20X

The 10+ takes better low light pictures than the Mate 20X when using their Night Mode

Note 10+ is more compatible with 3rd-party apps. Eg I can install IntelliAV on both devices but cannot activate in the Mate 20X. Another is using the free Kaspersky Internet Security and Zemana Mobile AV I was able to auto load and start the apps with their icons on the top bar in Note 10+ upon restart the phone. In HW Mate 20X I need to manually activate the KIS in order to achieve the same effect. Can't load ZMAV icon though.

One other thing. I don't use the S-Pen. Even in my ex-Note 4 I don't use the S-Pen. My aim is just to get a large display phone for watching videos and surf the net

Just sold off the Note 10+ yesterday and waiting for the Samsung Galaxy Fold.

Edit - Wrt point 9) in my previous post the Mate 20X comes with 3X optical zoom NOT 5X as stated. Apology for the error

 

[codswollip]

Just tried out the Note 10+ at Samsung shop

Like you, I'm using a Note 4... but data only since Verizon isn't kind enough to unlock it. I would take either of these phones, but since I have to pay for them I'm eyeing the more affordable Pixel 3a XL.

I don't think you can go wrong w/either choice.

 

[HarborFront]

The compatibility issue of KIS and Zemana Mobile AV with Huawei phone is resolved with the latest versions

FYI, Web Protection feature for Zemana Mobile AV v1.8.6 now supports Kiwi browser, FF for android etc. Previously only supports Chrome browser.