The Best Galaxy Note 10 Alternatives

Best Galaxy Note 10 Alternatives

• OnePlus 7 Pro
• Galaxy S10e
• Huawei P30 & P30 Pro
• Google Pixel 4 XL
• iPhone 11 Pro Max
• LG V50 ThinQ 5G

The Galaxy Note 10 starts at $949 or about $38 a month at Samsung, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint or Best Buy and you can probably find a buy one get one free deal or other incentives this holiday season.

That said, our alternatives offer a similar experience all at a lower price point. Including the fancy 6.7-inch OnePlus 7 Pro with a bezel-free display, which is around 50% cheaper. These replacement devices are perfect for you and won’t have you wanting for more.

This phone packs the same powerful processor inside, 128 or 256GB of storage, triple cameras, and a beautiful Quad-HD AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate all for only $669. Even Samsung’s phone doesn’t have a 90 Hz display. However, you don’t get wireless charging or water-resistance, if that matters.

As you can see, there’s no notch or circle out of the screen, like Samsung. Instead, the front camera pops up from the top. It’s a mechanical pop-up camera, which is pretty rad if you ask me. The OnePlus 7 Pro is available directly from OnePlus and works with almost every carrier, or you can buy it from T-Mobile. It starts at $669 but you can get more RAM for a few more dollars, or a crazy fast and powerful 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for only $749. Which is still way cheaper than even the smallest cheapest Note 10.

2. Samsung Galaxy S10e – $649

Perhaps the best alternative, aside from maybe the Galaxy S10+, is Samsung’s smaller Galaxy S10e. This phone is only $749, but it packs a lot of the same Note 10 experience aside from the S-Pen. Plus, right now it’s only $549, which is a crazy good deal. The Galaxy S10e comes with a 5.8-inch FLAT screen, not the curved screen of the Note, which some people really like.

You still get that premium Samsung experience with powerful dual cameras on the back, compared to quad cameras on the Note 10+. Everything else matches the Note on specs, software, water-resistance, etc, so it’s an excellent alternative that’s affordable. And it has a headphone jack.

You can get the S10e anywhere that sells the regular Galaxy S10. Any carrier, Best Buy, Walmart, Samsung.com and more.

3. Huawei P30 and P30 Pro – Starting at €799

Another solid alternative to the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ has to be Huawei’s P30 and P30 Pro smartphones. The regular Huawei P30 has a 6.1-inch screen, powerful internals and three cameras on the back to battle Samsung or Apple. Then, the bigger 6.5-inch Huawei P30 Pro is a perfect middle ground in terms of size, really fancy, and has four cameras on the back.

Huawei’s phones use a small teardrop notch instead of a cutout for the front-facing camera, they both run Android 9 Pie, and the company has some compelling software features for the camera. Not to mention water-resistance, reverse wireless charging, and other features Samsung users love. Basically, these are Huawei’s direct answer to Samsung’s phones.

Unfortunately, they’re not available from US carriers, but you can get the GSM models for AT&T and T-Mobile. Well, if you don’t mind the brands recent struggles with the US government. These are two compelling phones with comparable specs and features worth considering.

4. Google Pixel 4 XL – $899

Now that it’s available, the Pixel 4 XL is a great Galaxy Note 10 alternative. Sporting a big 6.3-inch 90 Hz Samsung-made AMOLED display, high-end specs, dual rear cameras and more. You’ll get updates first, can already enjoy Android 10, and get to try fancy new features before anyone else. You’ll love all the Google Assistant features, smart replies, call screening, and the Night Sight mode on the camera is magic.

The phone has water-resistance, Google Pay instead of Samsung Pay, 64 or 128GB of storage and solid cameras. And while the Note 10 does have more RAM, more than double the storage and more cameras, day-to-day performance shouldn’t be much different. Keep in mind that you’ll lose the microSD slot, so buy the 128GB model if you’re worried about storage in the long run.

The Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL are available from every major carrier this year too, which is a big deal. Buy yours right here. You can use it on major carriers in the U.S. and on Google Fi.

5. iPhone 11 Pro Max – $1099

We understand that most Android users or Galaxy Note buyers don’t want an iPhone. That said, the biggest choice for the last several years is Galaxy or iPhone, so it’s a natural and obvious Galaxy Note 10 alternative. The iPhone 11 Pro Max has a beautiful screen that’s slightly smaller than the Note 10, coming in at 6.5-inches. There are almost no bezels, except for the big notch at the top for FaceID unlock.

You’re losing out on storage options unless you spend a lot of money, and it doesn’t have a fingerprint sensor. However, it is the iPhone 11 Pro Max, Apple’s biggest and best phone available and it does a lot right. It’ll deliver fast performance, a great set of cameras, and a good experience.

It’s about the same price for a smaller screen and only 64GB of storage, but it’s an option for those that don’t like the curved edge and cut-hole camera in the screen. The iPhone 11 Pro is a smaller option you could take, too. They’re both sold virtually everywhere, from all carriers, in almost any store. Buy one today.

6. LG V50 ThinQ 5G – $949

Another solid alternative to the Galaxy Note 10 for most buyers is actually the LG V50, for several different reasons. It’s a big phone loaded with fancy features, and it comes in a 5G variant if that’s something you’re interested in but don’t want to pay $1,300 for the Note 10 5G. The LG V50 is a very powerful device.

This phone packs a 6.4-inch Quad-HD screen, the same powerful Snapdragon 855 processor, three cameras on the back, 5G speeds, and a big 4,000 mAh battery. It starts with 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, has a micro-SD slot, and packs water-resistance, wireless charging, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a Quad-DAC for improved audio. You get a 16MP main, 12MP zoom, and 16MP wide-angle camera, one of the best speakers in any phone — LG’s boombox speaker.

LG’s phone packs the same punch as the Galaxy Note 10, runs Android 9 Pie, and while it started out expensive, we’re seeing it for under $600 in some cases, which is insane. All things considered, it’s a great phone. They’re asking around $999 from most carriers but LG and even Best Buy has it for $649.

Conclusion

These are your best options right now and will be for the foreseeable future. Almost every major phone release already happened it 2019, but exciting new phones are still right around the corner.

You could buy the new OnePlus 7T Pro, the Pixel 4 XL, or maybe wait for the folding Moto RAZR. Or better yet, wait until early 2020 when we’ll see an all-new Galaxy S11, OnePlus 8 and much more from all the major players.

So, decide what’s right for you and buy something today or wait for a different option.