Samsung's Galaxy Note 10: What We Know So Far

The Galaxy Fold might be getting all of attention these days when it comes to Samsung's smartphone lineup -- for all the wrong reasons -- but there is a new flagship waiting in the wings. We're of course talking about the Galaxy Note 10, which probably won't be officially launched until sometime this summer (around August - September).

However, we've been hearing quite a few rumors about the Galaxy Note 10 over the past few months, and we thought that we'd put them altogether in this article for you. At the most basic level, we're under the impression that the Galaxy Note 10 will most resemble the Galaxy S10 5G with respect to size, specifications and capabilities.

For those that need a refresher, the Galaxy S10 5G has a 6.7-inch Infinity-O Display with a QHD+ resolution, six cameras (two up front, four on the back), a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC for the U.S. market (Samsung Exynos 9820 for most other world markets), 5G connectivity, and a massive 4500 mAh battery.

The Galaxy Note 10 is expected to mirror those specifications, although it will have optional 5G and there will reportedly be two display sizes available (which would be a first for the Galaxy Note series). Rumors suggest that there could be a smaller variant with a 6.28-inch display and a larger model with a massive 6.75-inch display. Both variants would be available with or without 5G, making for four separate SKUs (not counting memory/storage configurations).

One of the wilder rumors concerning the Galaxy Note 10 is that it will feature a buttonless design. That means that the power, volume and Bixby buttons could all be replaced by some type of haptic or pressure-sensitive touch controls along the device's edges. We've seen a couple of Chinese OEMs hint at such a direction for future smartphones, but it would be quite a big leap for Samsung to make such a change in physical controls for its flagship.

With that being said, the Galaxy Note 10 is expected to gain an in-display fingerprint reader for the first time ever, replacing the rear-mounted sensor in the Galaxy Note 9. And as has been standard with all Galaxy Note devices to date, there will be a stylus which will hide in its own on-device silo when not in use. There's also another zany rumor that the stylus could have its own embedded camera with an optical zoom feature. That idea seems a bit creepy to us, and we're trying to think of a use case scenario for such a feature (other than spying on unsuspecting people).

Given its positioning in the Galaxy family of smartphone, we expect the Galaxy Note 10 to be an incredibly expensive device. The Galaxy S10+ starts at $999, while the Galaxy S10 5G starts at a whopping $1,299 (Verizon Wireless). Could we see base pricing of $1,099 or even $1,199 for the Galaxy Note 10 with another $200 tacked on for 5G variants? It's quite possible, and somehow unexpected in today's smartphone climate.