Top tier specs (and price to match). Nothing revolutionary hardware-wise, just an incremental update that adds the features from the S10. Overall, it looks like a pretty solid update. The only...
Top tier specs (and price to match). Nothing revolutionary hardware-wise, just an incremental update that adds the features from the S10. Overall, it looks like a pretty solid update.
The only thing that I can see people being upset about is the lack of a headphone jack.
Tthe Note line is where Samsung literally throws everything they can think of into a phone and watches to see what sticks. The most interesting of these features to me is that the microphones are beam forming and will follow when you zoom in with the camera, so you only get sound from the area you've zoomed in on.
Good thing I'm not upgrading this year anyway because I'm very upset about the lack of a headphone jack. It's such an essential part of a phone and before this, Samsung had been great at...
Good thing I'm not upgrading this year anyway because I'm very upset about the lack of a headphone jack. It's such an essential part of a phone and before this, Samsung had been great at recognizing that.
I’ve been using wireless earbuds for three years and every time I have a headphone cord, I get annoyed. Why do you feel so strongly about the inclusion of the headphone jack?
I’ve been using wireless earbuds for three years and every time I have a headphone cord, I get annoyed.
Why do you feel so strongly about the inclusion of the headphone jack?
I lose my headphones regularly, I'm cheap, I'm chronically lazy and can't even remember to charge my phone, bluetooth sound quality is worse, and when I get angry about things I hold grudges.
I lose my headphones regularly, I'm cheap, I'm chronically lazy and can't even remember to charge my phone, bluetooth sound quality is worse, and when I get angry about things I hold grudges.
I can understand the not willing to spend money aspect, and the losing things aspect; but I do want to nitpick about the bluetooth sound quality bit. AirPods sound much better than traditional...
I can understand the not willing to spend money aspect, and the losing things aspect; but I do want to nitpick about the bluetooth sound quality bit. AirPods sound much better than traditional wired Apple earbuds. Admittedly, not a high bar to beat, but they're significantly improved. I have the feeling people's expectations of Bluetooth Audio is stuck in the past a bit too much.
Yeah, airpods sound great. And Aptx is nice. But those are expensive. When I buy $20 bluetooth earbuds (slightly more than what I pay now for wired earbuds) they suck. So ultimately, as far as I'm...
Yeah, airpods sound great. And Aptx is nice. But those are expensive. When I buy $20 bluetooth earbuds (slightly more than what I pay now for wired earbuds) they suck. So ultimately, as far as I'm concerned (and my economic state allows) bluetooth sound sucks.
But I'm not the target audience for the Note 10 anyway I suppose.
Why don’t you buy one pair of good headphones and make sure you don’t lose them, instead of buying a lot of cheap ones? Especially since you are concerned with audio quality?
Why don’t you buy one pair of good headphones and make sure you don’t lose them, instead of buying a lot of cheap ones? Especially since you are concerned with audio quality?
Cheap headphones are basically a subscription service. It's also a self-perpetuating prophecy. If they're cheap, you're less likely to care about them, so you'll misplace them, lose them, treat...
Cheap headphones are basically a subscription service. It's also a self-perpetuating prophecy. If they're cheap, you're less likely to care about them, so you'll misplace them, lose them, treat them recklessly, which continues the cycle of them eventually either getting lost or broken, requiring you to buy a new set.
Investing in a higher quality set of more expensive headphones should be better for the planet, less resource intensive, and give you more satisfaction overall. The only argument I can see against this is the upfront capital needed to make the purchase, but any reasonable person in a position to buy a phone like the Note 10 should be in a position to save up for bluetooth headphones anyway.
Edit: completely missed the part where he said he regularly loses headphones. Original comment preserved below. This take honestly sounds very judgemental. There are many reasons to buy less...
Edit: completely missed the part where he said he regularly loses headphones. Original comment preserved below.
This take honestly sounds very judgemental. There are many reasons to buy less expensive goods, but few, if any, buy things like this with the express purpose of replacing them quickly. It's not like cheaper headphones are exactly falling apart, so unless you are trying specifically to get a higher quality product or one with more features, there is no reason to spend hundreds of dollars on a more expensive product
One might suggest that it should, and that losing ones headphones regularly and buying new ones, contributing to waste and damaging consumerism, is irresponsible toward society and the...
This take honestly sounds very judgemental.
One might suggest that it should, and that losing ones headphones regularly and buying new ones, contributing to waste and damaging consumerism, is irresponsible toward society and the environment. It's not necessarily a matter of whether they are cheaper or more expensive---I'd actually suggest that this applies to both very cheap headphones and expensive and unrepairable trendy headphones---but buying headphones and expecting them to break or be lost and need replacement regularly is problematic.
Yeah, it is meant to be judgemental. If you’re buying items purely because they’re cheap and manufactured by both an ethically and environmentally questionable supply chain, then I do take issue...
Yeah, it is meant to be judgemental. If you’re buying items purely because they’re cheap and manufactured by both an ethically and environmentally questionable supply chain, then I do take issue with that.
Not that I consider Apple are immune from this criticism either, by the way. AirPods batteries need to be replaceable, and the fact they aren’t is an environmental travesty.
How many cheap wired earphones would take to match the ecological footprint of the airpods (or other Bluetooth earphones, including cheap ones)? Five? Ten?
How many cheap wired earphones would take to match the ecological footprint of the airpods (or other Bluetooth earphones, including cheap ones)? Five? Ten?
I'm not so sure, in this case. Lithium ion batteries have a relatively very high environmental footprint. If we're just talking carbon footprint, it seems the production of an electric car doubles...
I'm not so sure, in this case. Lithium ion batteries have a relatively very high environmental footprint. If we're just talking carbon footprint, it seems the production of an electric car doubles the carbon footprint of that of a conventional car precisely for that reason. We're talking of an extremely smaller battery here, but cheap conventional earphones are little more than plastic and copper wire.
On the other side of this, however: when buying a good pair of headphones, unless you are buying headphones with certain other features (eg, noise cancellation, complex microphones, etc), a wired...
On the other side of this, however: when buying a good pair of headphones, unless you are buying headphones with certain other features (eg, noise cancellation, complex microphones, etc), a wired pair of headphones is going to be far more reliable and future-proof than a wireless pair.
One of the two pairs of headphones are a pair I purchased around 15 years ago. There is no difference in audio quality between them and any more recent pair; the cable, if it breaks, is standard and can be replaced easily; the ear cups and the cushion on the band, when they fall apart, can be replaced easily as well. There is no element of the headphones that has a finite lifespan, and no element that should become unusably obsolete in the near future. Similarly, my more recent pair, smaller earphones have replaceable cables that have standard connectors, replaceable ear inserts, and replaceable filters; everything else is securely housed and should never need repair. Both, by virtue of using standard analog audio, are using a standard that has been in place for far longer than I have been alive, and that is simple enough that making an adapter will always be easy.
Wireless headphones, on the other hand, appear meant to be thrown away and replaced rather quickly. Many don't have replaceable batteries at all (even via professional repair), which immediately give them a finite lifespan of a few years. Wireless protocols, while the audio quality is no longer a problem (latency often still is), change rather frequently, and there's no guarantee that the headphones will be well supported in a few years by newer devices. I doubt that most of them have repair parts available outside of warranties.
I actually like wireless audio—I use a bluetooth-to-3.5mm-adapter at times with both headphones—but wireless headphones appear primarily made as products with short lifespans.
I'm sure this has been mentioned elsewhere, but there are some relatively major issues with Bluetooth audio right now. Of the three major branches of "high quality" codecs, two of them are patent...
I'm sure this has been mentioned elsewhere, but there are some relatively major issues with Bluetooth audio right now. Of the three major branches of "high quality" codecs, two of them are patent encombered, and the other one is extremely rare (there's basically only one big manufacturer who supports it). Additionally, none of them are lossless, meaning that they are going to make your music collection that is likely already lossy-compressed to sound even worse.
The only case where your music will sound as good as it does with wired headsets is if you have your music is already in AAC and your device is sending the original data to a headset capable of playing it. That's basically anyone who is living and breathing Apple.
That being said, a lot of the details behind Bluetooth signals tend to be deliberately hidden from users, so I can't say for sure if practice matches theory; your AAC media may still be transcoded to a lower bitrate if you don't have a perfect signal, and Bluetooth is famously unreliable. And if you have hearing good enough to detect the signs of AAC encoding, there is no lossless codec with any wide support in the Bluetooth world.
I'll add to this. Maybe my ears are deficient or something, but I have a pair of Audio Technica m50x I use at home and tbh I have a hard time telling the difference between them and my bluetooth...
I'll add to this. Maybe my ears are deficient or something, but I have a pair of Audio Technica m50x I use at home and tbh I have a hard time telling the difference between them and my bluetooth in-ears.
For me, the convenience of bluetooth trumps the audio quality. Not everyone is going to be okay with that, but I feel like many people are.
I have the same experience wrt "hearing quality". Sure, I get my ears cleaned occasionally, but can I tell the difference between BT & normal earbuds? Not usually. Do I just have bad hearing?...
I have the same experience wrt "hearing quality". Sure, I get my ears cleaned occasionally, but can I tell the difference between BT & normal earbuds? Not usually. Do I just have bad hearing? Fine, maybe I'm not an audiophile? Or are audiophiles just full of shit? Maybe I just don't care too much and that's why.
All valid reasons - well, maybe not that last one...I get it though. I held out for a bit and then someone gave me a pair of wireless headphones and I was like, "Oh, this is way more convenient!"
All valid reasons - well, maybe not that last one...I get it though. I held out for a bit and then someone gave me a pair of wireless headphones and I was like, "Oh, this is way more convenient!"
Having to charge an earphone is the biggest possible inconvenience for me, especially if I can't even resort to carrying a backup in my bag should I forget to do so. Not to mention that all...
Having to charge an earphone is the biggest possible inconvenience for me, especially if I can't even resort to carrying a backup in my bag should I forget to do so. Not to mention that all wireless earphones have very swiftly degrading batteries that, for the most part, can't even be replaced.
I wonder why they removed the headphone jack, but just for the Note 10. As you say, it's usually the deluxe it-has-everything phone, so it seems weird that the 3.5mm is axed for it, but not for...
I wonder why they removed the headphone jack, but just for the Note 10. As you say, it's usually the deluxe it-has-everything phone, so it seems weird that the 3.5mm is axed for it, but not for the more 'mainstream' Galaxy series, if cost was the issue.
Great looking phone, but never gonna buy one for two reasons. One is it is just way too expensive, all these new flagships are for what they offer in longevity via software updates. Two is the...
Great looking phone, but never gonna buy one for two reasons. One is it is just way too expensive, all these new flagships are for what they offer in longevity via software updates. Two is the lack of headphone jack, it is a dead simple port that always works and doesn't have any signal interference or software issues that keep me from reliably using my headphones. Just plug it in and it works 100% of the time.
I agree about Android phones not having enough software updates to justify the cost, but Apple has been pretty good about giving older phones updates to the newest versions of iOS. Google might be...
One is it is just way too expensive, all these new flagships are for what they offer in longevity via software updates.
I agree about Android phones not having enough software updates to justify the cost, but Apple has been pretty good about giving older phones updates to the newest versions of iOS.
Google might be the exception on Android. I think they guarantee 3 years of updates for the Pixel phones, which is still too low a number in my book but it's more than most Android manufacturers do.
I'm really interested to know what these die-hard headphone jack lovers plan to do when effectively all phones no longer have the 3.5mm port, which is swiftly becoming a reality.
I'm really interested to know what these die-hard headphone jack lovers plan to do when effectively all phones no longer have the 3.5mm port, which is swiftly becoming a reality.
For me, I'll continue to separate myself from the phone as an audio playback device. For it to be a good option for that, I require expandable storage and the ability to use my headphones...both...
For me, I'll continue to separate myself from the phone as an audio playback device. For it to be a good option for that, I require expandable storage and the ability to use my headphones...both things which are dropping off. Once those are gone, that'll probably be the moment I get a nice Fiio player or something of that kind which I've been wanting anyway.
Top tier specs (and price to match). Nothing revolutionary hardware-wise, just an incremental update that adds the features from the S10. Overall, it looks like a pretty solid update.
The only thing that I can see people being upset about is the lack of a headphone jack.
Tthe Note line is where Samsung literally throws everything they can think of into a phone and watches to see what sticks. The most interesting of these features to me is that the microphones are beam forming and will follow when you zoom in with the camera, so you only get sound from the area you've zoomed in on.
Good thing I'm not upgrading this year anyway because I'm very upset about the lack of a headphone jack. It's such an essential part of a phone and before this, Samsung had been great at recognizing that.
I’ve been using wireless earbuds for three years and every time I have a headphone cord, I get annoyed.
Why do you feel so strongly about the inclusion of the headphone jack?
I lose my headphones regularly, I'm cheap, I'm chronically lazy and can't even remember to charge my phone, bluetooth sound quality is worse, and when I get angry about things I hold grudges.
I can understand the not willing to spend money aspect, and the losing things aspect; but I do want to nitpick about the bluetooth sound quality bit. AirPods sound much better than traditional wired Apple earbuds. Admittedly, not a high bar to beat, but they're significantly improved. I have the feeling people's expectations of Bluetooth Audio is stuck in the past a bit too much.
Yeah, airpods sound great. And Aptx is nice. But those are expensive. When I buy $20 bluetooth earbuds (slightly more than what I pay now for wired earbuds) they suck. So ultimately, as far as I'm concerned (and my economic state allows) bluetooth sound sucks.
But I'm not the target audience for the Note 10 anyway I suppose.
Why don’t you buy one pair of good headphones and make sure you don’t lose them, instead of buying a lot of cheap ones? Especially since you are concerned with audio quality?
Cheap headphones are basically a subscription service. It's also a self-perpetuating prophecy. If they're cheap, you're less likely to care about them, so you'll misplace them, lose them, treat them recklessly, which continues the cycle of them eventually either getting lost or broken, requiring you to buy a new set.
Investing in a higher quality set of more expensive headphones should be better for the planet, less resource intensive, and give you more satisfaction overall. The only argument I can see against this is the upfront capital needed to make the purchase, but any reasonable person in a position to buy a phone like the Note 10 should be in a position to save up for bluetooth headphones anyway.
Edit: completely missed the part where he said he regularly loses headphones. Original comment preserved below.
This take honestly sounds very judgemental. There are many reasons to buy less expensive goods, but few, if any, buy things like this with the express purpose of replacing them quickly. It's not like cheaper headphones are exactly falling apart, so unless you are trying specifically to get a higher quality product or one with more features, there is no reason to spend hundreds of dollars on a more expensive product
One might suggest that it should, and that losing ones headphones regularly and buying new ones, contributing to waste and damaging consumerism, is irresponsible toward society and the environment. It's not necessarily a matter of whether they are cheaper or more expensive---I'd actually suggest that this applies to both very cheap headphones and expensive and unrepairable trendy headphones---but buying headphones and expecting them to break or be lost and need replacement regularly is problematic.
Yeah, it is meant to be judgemental. If you’re buying items purely because they’re cheap and manufactured by both an ethically and environmentally questionable supply chain, then I do take issue with that.
Not that I consider Apple are immune from this criticism either, by the way. AirPods batteries need to be replaceable, and the fact they aren’t is an environmental travesty.
How many cheap wired earphones would take to match the ecological footprint of the airpods (or other Bluetooth earphones, including cheap ones)? Five? Ten?
Probably depends more on the supply chain than the end product, to be honest.
I'm not so sure, in this case. Lithium ion batteries have a relatively very high environmental footprint. If we're just talking carbon footprint, it seems the production of an electric car doubles the carbon footprint of that of a conventional car precisely for that reason. We're talking of an extremely smaller battery here, but cheap conventional earphones are little more than plastic and copper wire.
Most people buying a Note 10 should be able to talk the salesperson into throwing in a pair...
On the other side of this, however: when buying a good pair of headphones, unless you are buying headphones with certain other features (eg, noise cancellation, complex microphones, etc), a wired pair of headphones is going to be far more reliable and future-proof than a wireless pair.
One of the two pairs of headphones are a pair I purchased around 15 years ago. There is no difference in audio quality between them and any more recent pair; the cable, if it breaks, is standard and can be replaced easily; the ear cups and the cushion on the band, when they fall apart, can be replaced easily as well. There is no element of the headphones that has a finite lifespan, and no element that should become unusably obsolete in the near future. Similarly, my more recent pair, smaller earphones have replaceable cables that have standard connectors, replaceable ear inserts, and replaceable filters; everything else is securely housed and should never need repair. Both, by virtue of using standard analog audio, are using a standard that has been in place for far longer than I have been alive, and that is simple enough that making an adapter will always be easy.
Wireless headphones, on the other hand, appear meant to be thrown away and replaced rather quickly. Many don't have replaceable batteries at all (even via professional repair), which immediately give them a finite lifespan of a few years. Wireless protocols, while the audio quality is no longer a problem (latency often still is), change rather frequently, and there's no guarantee that the headphones will be well supported in a few years by newer devices. I doubt that most of them have repair parts available outside of warranties.
I actually like wireless audio—I use a bluetooth-to-3.5mm-adapter at times with both headphones—but wireless headphones appear primarily made as products with short lifespans.
I'm sure this has been mentioned elsewhere, but there are some relatively major issues with Bluetooth audio right now. Of the three major branches of "high quality" codecs, two of them are patent encombered, and the other one is extremely rare (there's basically only one big manufacturer who supports it). Additionally, none of them are lossless, meaning that they are going to make your music collection that is likely already lossy-compressed to sound even worse.
The only case where your music will sound as good as it does with wired headsets is if you have your music is already in AAC and your device is sending the original data to a headset capable of playing it. That's basically anyone who is living and breathing Apple.
That being said, a lot of the details behind Bluetooth signals tend to be deliberately hidden from users, so I can't say for sure if practice matches theory; your AAC media may still be transcoded to a lower bitrate if you don't have a perfect signal, and Bluetooth is famously unreliable. And if you have hearing good enough to detect the signs of AAC encoding, there is no lossless codec with any wide support in the Bluetooth world.
I'll add to this. Maybe my ears are deficient or something, but I have a pair of Audio Technica m50x I use at home and tbh I have a hard time telling the difference between them and my bluetooth in-ears.
For me, the convenience of bluetooth trumps the audio quality. Not everyone is going to be okay with that, but I feel like many people are.
I have the same experience wrt "hearing quality". Sure, I get my ears cleaned occasionally, but can I tell the difference between BT & normal earbuds? Not usually. Do I just have bad hearing? Fine, maybe I'm not an audiophile? Or are audiophiles just full of shit? Maybe I just don't care too much and that's why.
All valid reasons - well, maybe not that last one...I get it though. I held out for a bit and then someone gave me a pair of wireless headphones and I was like, "Oh, this is way more convenient!"
Having to charge an earphone is the biggest possible inconvenience for me, especially if I can't even resort to carrying a backup in my bag should I forget to do so. Not to mention that all wireless earphones have very swiftly degrading batteries that, for the most part, can't even be replaced.
I wonder why they removed the headphone jack, but just for the Note 10. As you say, it's usually the deluxe it-has-everything phone, so it seems weird that the 3.5mm is axed for it, but not for the more 'mainstream' Galaxy series, if cost was the issue.
The Verge quotes Samsung as saying they did it to fit a bigger battery in.
Great looking phone, but never gonna buy one for two reasons. One is it is just way too expensive, all these new flagships are for what they offer in longevity via software updates. Two is the lack of headphone jack, it is a dead simple port that always works and doesn't have any signal interference or software issues that keep me from reliably using my headphones. Just plug it in and it works 100% of the time.
I agree about Android phones not having enough software updates to justify the cost, but Apple has been pretty good about giving older phones updates to the newest versions of iOS.
Google might be the exception on Android. I think they guarantee 3 years of updates for the Pixel phones, which is still too low a number in my book but it's more than most Android manufacturers do.
I'm really interested to know what these die-hard headphone jack lovers plan to do when effectively all phones no longer have the 3.5mm port, which is swiftly becoming a reality.
I don't see the issue though, you can just buy USB C or Lightning headphones and then the lack of a headphone jack is a non-issue.
For me, I'll continue to separate myself from the phone as an audio playback device. For it to be a good option for that, I require expandable storage and the ability to use my headphones...both things which are dropping off. Once those are gone, that'll probably be the moment I get a nice Fiio player or something of that kind which I've been wanting anyway.
Why would anybody need 12Gb of RAM in a phone?
Games.
Linux on Dex.