More Galaxy Note 10 rumors detail cameras, battery, physical buttons

Ben Schoon | May 31 2019 - 1:34 pm PT

We’re still a couple of months away from the debut of the Galaxy Note 10, but we’re already starting to learn more about Samsung’s upcoming flagship thanks to some leaks and rumors. This week, a few Note 10 leaks and rumors have hit the web, so let’s take a look.

Galaxy Note 10 may retain physical buttons after all

Just the other day, the folks at Android Police reported the Samsung was apparently going to ditch physical buttons on the Galaxy Note 10, instead using pressure-sensitive areas to in place of the power, volume, and Bixby buttons. That’s a polarizing move that’s had many talking, but it turns out it might not be true.

The fairly reliable Ice Universe reported on Twitter just hours after that story broke that Samsung has indeed been testing a design without physical buttons, but that was only the first version. Apparently, it didn’t pass Samsung’s “rigorous” testing, which means the Galaxy Note 10 we see hit the market will still use physical buttons. He followed up by saying that, more than likely, the headphone jack won’t be around.

Note10 pursues stability and maturity. In the first version, Note10 did not have physical buttons. It was very radical but it did not pass Samsung's rigorous testing, so the final version of Note10 still retains physical buttons.

— ICE UNIVERSE (@UniverseIce) May 31, 2019

The Note 10 may have a controversial camera design (on both sides)

The layout of the cameras seems to be one of the things Samsung likes to change between generations. Some recent Galaxy Note 10 rumors have pointed to the potential of a vertical camera array this time around. A leaked module from Ice Universe seems to back this, and it lines up with some documentation we’ve seen too.

Ice also gave the thumbs-up to a concept render of the Note 10 from Ben Geskin seen below. That not only shows off what the rear cameras will look like, but also that Samsung is only using a single front-facing camera on the device.

Apparently, this is still using the same camera hardware as the past few Samsung devices, with the Galaxy S11 set to introduce a larger sensor size which should make a huge difference in quality.

Charging could get an upgrade as battery size is revealed

Samsung recently announced a USB-C PD controller chip that’s capable of charging devices at up to 100W. That’s got the rumor mill thinking Samsung could debut that speed in the Note 10. That’s wildly incorrect and would not be healthy for the battery at all. However, Samsung is apparently still planning on bringing a charging upgrade to the Note 10. Ice Universe says we can expect a “significant upgrade” in the device, and also reiterated that 100W is not going to happen.

Charging speed is a significant upgrade for Note10.

— ICE UNIVERSE (@UniverseIce) May 29, 2019

SamMobile also recently reported on the battery size for one of the Galaxy Note 10 models. Specifically, it mentions that the smaller, cheaper “Galaxy Note 10e” may have a 3,400 mAh battery. That’s much lower than the Galaxy Note 9. However, it looks possible that the top-end Note 10 could have a 4,300 mAh battery.

Of course, there’s still a lot we don’t know about this phone, and reports have been far and few in between to date. So it’s probably best to take everything here with a grain of salt.