Big phone: Galaxy Note 9, 10+...or something else?

General

1. What kind of device are you looking for (phone/tablet/both)? Phone
   
2. What country are you in? USA
   
3. What carrier(s) are you interested in (or will you pick the carrier based on your choice of phone)? Sprint, may consider changing
   
4. What mobile OS is acceptable (Android, iOS, other)? Android
   For Android phones, what release do you consider acceptable as a minimum? 9.x
   
5. How long do you intend to keep your device? ~3 years
   
6. Are there any brands you particularly like?
   Dislike?
7. Will you consider a refurb/used device? Yes, pref. refurb
   
8. Do you intend to play games and if so, what? No
   
9. Do you expect to watch video extensively? Somewhat

Basic Device Characteristics

1. What size screen are you looking for? You can be specific or general. Big, preferably less extreme aspect ratio. Would prefer width at the cost of height (e. g. 16:9 rather than 18:9)
   
2. What are you looking for in battery life/capacity? Full day, long-term longevity more important
   
3. Do you want a replaceable battery? Yes, but good luck.
   
4. Do you want the ability to use a microSD card to expand storage? Yes, unless phone has 512GB
   
5. Do you have a preference between a USB-C and traditional USB micro-B connector? No
   
6. Do you want a 3.5" headphone jack? Preferably
7. Do you want wireless charging? No
   
8. Do you want fast charging? Yes, but don't need extreme

Aesthetics

1. Do you have color preference: No
   Prefer?
   Avoid?
2. Phones: prefer wraparound screen or bezel? Bezel
   
3. Buttons: prefer soft or mechanical? Mechanical
   
4. Other aesthetic preferences? Reasonably thick, although in a big case may not matter as much (big hands, and prefer something with heft)

Camera and Screen

1. Do you care about the device's camera? Some, have other cameras for "serious" photography.
   
2. Minimum megapixel requirement (front/rear), if applicable? 10
   
3. Do you require 4K video? Nice to have, but not really
   
4. Other desired camera features? Very wide angle lens would be convenient
   
5. Minimum screen resolution? 1080p
   
6. Do you require AMOLED or similar screen technology? Preferred

Other

1. Are there any other features you particularly want in a device? Availability of armored (Otterbox Defender-type) case, available screen protector, FM radio, fully GSM/CDMA unlocked, minimal bloat
   
2. Are there any particular features you do not want? Don't need any biometric sensor, as I plan to use a password
   
3. Do you anticipate rooting your device (if you don't know what that means, the answer is "no")? Probably not
   If so, any particular ROM you're interested in?

It's time to get off my fanny and replace my Galaxy Note 2. There's entirely too much stuff it can't run by now.

The phones that look most likely to fit what I want appear to be the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 or 10+ (not interested in the 10). I'd like to by a factory-unlocked phone off eBay rather than pay retail. I'm not interested in a trade-in either now or beyond; my principle is that once I put anything into storage whose encryption isn't under my control that I never sell, trade in, warranty, etc. Both of these phones appear to be available with both CDMA and GSM in the same phone and claim that those ones will work on any US network. A true all-band, dual SIM, factory unlocked phone also won't have carrier-branded junkware.

My ideal device -- if it existed -- would probably be a true 7" tablet with narrow bezels, except that it would have the voice/text capability of a phone. A true "phablet", in other words. But I don't think such exists.

Here's my tradeoff assessment:

Note 9:

Pros:

• About 40% or $300 cheaper for the equivalent phone on eBay. $650 on a phone is a lot. $350, not so bad if I can get good life out of it.
  
• Less extreme aspect ratio
• Otterbox offers a screen protector compatible with it in addition to a Defender case

Cons:

• Older generation
• Battery itself is likely to be older, with less lifespan remaining
• 512GB version (which I wouldn't need a micro SD for) is harder to find and a lot more expensive

Note 10+

Pros:

• Newer, likely more battery life left in any given phone and might get one more OS upgrade
  
• Bigger (although only .11" wider).
• Wide angle camera actually is wide.
• Fast charging is even faster, albeit needs a separate charger (and I suspect isn't very good for the lifespan of the battery).

Cons:

• A lot more expensive, although there are carrier-locked phones on eBay that aren't quite as bad.
• No Otterbox screen protector for it (they obviously assume everyone wants to use the fingerprint).
• Factory-unlocked phones appear to be harder to find.

Are there any other factors I should think about (especially from anyone who has used both)? It doesn't sound like the 10-series is a huge upgrade over the 9, but maybe I'm missing something. Other phones people think I should consider?

 

If you are not caught up on brand, the umidigi F2 is a really nice phone running stock android and has decent specs. What I like about it is the fingerprint sensor in the power button. Just a thought.

 

Note 9 is a great choice for the price - NA models come with the Snapdragon, which runs faster, cooler and uses less battery, unlike the ones in Europe (which use Samsung's Exynos, which is surprisingly bad compared to Qualcomm). They're releasing too damn fast, but that also means a 2 year old model is now much cheaper.

Big drawback though: you can't unlock the bootloader, so you can't have decent custom ROMs (if you plan on using it for 3+ years, want the latest Android, maybe want to overclock/undervolt). Not that big of a deal for most people, but still.

10+ is not worth the price in my opinion. But it looks really nice, design and specs. I mean, if you can afford it, it's a great purchase, but resale value will plummet in another 2 years.

I have a OnePlus 6t with the default OS and everything and it's fast as hell, all the newest games work without a problem, too. Same Snapdragon 845 chipset as the American Note 9. Smaller battery, yet still lasts me the whole day and more. Fast charge is I'd say 1% per minute, not sure about the Note 9.

Batteries don't degrade by just sitting inside the phone, btw (at least it would take more than a couple of years to start degrading). An "old new" Note 9 will last as long as a new new Note 9

I really don't know of other phones that can rival the Note 9: OnePlus 6T (lacks microSD and 3.5mm), Asus ROG Phone, Huawei Mate 20 Pro maybe...

I've tried a Note 9 and Mate 20 Pro, went with the 6t because of the non-curved screen (not a big fan lol), fully unlocked for custom ROMs, factory-applied screen protector and it just strangely felt better in my hand... although that's moot since I still bought a flip cover. Couldn't set up the fingerprint sensor, it works, but not for unlocking the screen for some reason...

 

This would require switching carriers. Not necessarily a deal-breaker, but would make for more work. Is there a fully armored case for it?

As I noted, I don't care about the fingerprint sensor because I'm not going to use it.

 

Ok. why would it require switching? it's fully unlocked and ready to go. I think there are many cases for it. for the price, buy 5 and go without the case. ha ha.

 

I'm primarily looking used unless I can find a particularly good deal. Resale value doesn't matter because I'm not going to be reselling it (note what I said about my policy regarding devices with storage).

The 6T, as you note, doesn't have a micro SD slot. With 512GB that wouldn't matter so much; with 128GB it does. Huawei is not a viable option in the US. I'd ideally prefer a non-curved screen, but have to decide which hills I'm willing to die on.

 

Sprint maintains a whitelist of devices.

 

Ahhhh, wasn't aware. I would move away from them for that reason alone.

 

That's definitely something to consider; the question is whether it's worth the effort.

 

Well, I'd say most of these phones that sell on eBay as "like new/excellent condition/mint/etc" haven't been used much/long enough to worry about the battery degrading. There's also old stock sealed in box devices.
I mean, I bought a 2014 One M8 in 2017 and the battery was excellent. It only started going noticeably down this year, but still good enough as a music/video/streaming player when working outside or exercising.

I think microSD cards are the way to go, for some reason phones with lots of internal storage are way more expensive (maybe because the new NAND memory is much faster than on older phones, which is useful for heavy writes like 4K video recording)... I fear internal memory as you can't do anything if it fails. You can replace an SD card. We'll see how this 6t lasts, I always back it up.

Non curved displays... no idea.

I love buying older high end phones (and everything else) because of the great hardware and performance: like, the Snapdragon 845 still outperforms the newest chips in midrange phones (e.g. Snapdragon 665 and 730), in everything from browser performance to graphics performance.
And the rest is more or less comparable - no one's putting much better cameras or bigger batteries in a midrange phone. Build quality is better on the high end phones - the Note 9 and 6t have a metal housing, the new Samsung A50/A70 series are plastic... They just always use better quality on flagship stuff.

 

In my opinion I would never use a carrier that decides for me the devices I can use on the network if the device does support the network. Simple. I am on telus. I can use any device I want as long as my sim card fits. If it does not fit, they will provide me one that will. If they state that 'X' device is not "approved" for our network, I am moving to another network. There is little effort there. There are a bunch of different carriers in the states that offer awesome plans. Even pay as you go carriers. Choose one with the best airtime deal and move on. Then you can enjoy ANY device you like.

 

I'm not madly in love with the idea of getting a heavily branded Samsung phone. The problem is simply that there are going to be compromises everywhere, and it's a matter of what's the least compromise, and the Note 9 looks like it.

I'd really prefer something bigger -- most importantly wider -- and thicker, with a big battery, than anything that's out there. I'd also prefer stock Android, but the Pixel 4 XL is the only one that's even remotely close to being large, and it doesn't have a micro SD slot. Cloud storage for backups is all well and nice, but I don't want that to be my primary storage. There really needs to be a rugged case available for it, with a hard screen protector at least available (that makes the Note 10+ a regression from the 9). Yeah, I wouldn't mind being able to unlock the bootloader. I'd really like to run a standard Linux distribution with Android in a VM. Good luck with *that*.

Most of the other features of new phones -- sleek, no bezel, fancier and more reliable biometric sensors -- don't matter to me. It's all form over function. I don't mind looking like a 1980's industrial nerd, and I don't even plan to use a biometric sensor to unlock my phone. I prefer a good old-fashioned password. No bezel makes it hard to have a full-coverage wraparound case.

 

The fact they dictate what device you are "allowed" to use is reason enough. There are many providers in the US that have great service, coverage and prices. Plus, when switching you usually get a discount of some kind at the new carrier.

As I mentioned before, if you are not caught up on the stylus, the umidigi is a great device with huge battery. Pixel 4xl is another great one and has all major cases available for it. If ease if use, and a phone that will last all day and for years. Get a big iPhone...

 

That Umidigi F2 looks appealing in a lot of ways (and actually has a bigger screen than the more expensive S5 pro). Although not having a lot of luck spotting an armored case for it. The screen's also quite narrow (2.74").

The Pixel 4XL would be appealing, if it either had a lot more storage or a micro SD slot. But 128 GB just is not even close to enough memory for me.

 

Yes. I agree on the pixel. I didn't know if they made models with more storage. I just dig the feature set for the price with the umi. I'm sure there is a case somewhere.

 

I found a pundit complaining that if the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is in fact 7" that it should have a 21:9 aspect ratio because people with small hands or who like to operate the phone with one hand would find it difficult. That's fair enough as far as it goes, but not everyone has small hands nor operates their phones primarily one-handed; I'd like to see phones that are designed for people who, well, want big phones. So I sent this email.

[As an aside, it occurred to me later that I'm not quite sure what "operate with one hand". Is he referring to holding the phone and operating the screen with the same hand, or holding the phone with one hand while tapping it with the other as opposed to holding it with both hands and using the thumbs? I never do the latter.]

I read with considerable dismay your piece entitled "If there is a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, it
really needs a 21:9 aspect ratio"
( https://www.techradar.com/news/if-t...e-20-ultra-it-really-needs-a-219-aspect-ratio).

You stated "[h]uge phones like [a 7-inch or bigger screen] can be terrible for people with smaller
hands, or those who like one-handed use". That's a fair concern -- for people who have small hands
or who want to use a phone entirely one-handed (e. g. tapping on it with the same hand that holds
it, as one fingers a guitar fretboard while holding the neck of the instrument with the same hand).
But I don't know anyone who does that; I certainly don't (I hold my phone with one hand while
tapping/using the stylus with the other).

The problem with a 21:9 aspect ratio is that it makes the phone very long, but doesn't really
provide more space for doing anything on it. When using the keyboard, the narrow screen makes it
very hard to type at all. A 7" phone with a 21:9 aspect ratio has a screen 6.43" long -- that's
actually longer than an iPad mini, with a 7.9" 4:3 (or 12:9, if you will) screen, which is 6.32"
long. Meanwhile, at 2.76" wide, it's barely wider than my venerable Galaxy Note 2, which is 2.70"
wide with a 5.5" 16:9 screen (a much more practical aspect ratio).

A 7" 16:9 screen would be much more practical, for me at any rate. It wouldn't be as tall (6.1"),
but at 3.43" wide, it would offer greatly more usable screen area, not to mention much more screen
surface area (20.94 square inches, vs. 17.74 square inches for a 7" 21:9 screen).

As an exercise, I tried holding a pack of photo paper, which is 4x6" (13.5:9 in the common parlance)
and about 1" thick. That's 7.2" diagonal. That might be roughly representative of a 3.43" wide
phone in an Otterbox Defender type case, which is de rigueur for me. I did not find it at all
difficult to hold and would welcome such a phone -- with ample space for a large battery -- as my
daily driver, carried in a belt pouch. It would of course mark me as a 1980's industrial nerd,
which I am, but aesthetics of a phone simply aren't of interest to me. I can -- not too
comfortably, to be sure -- grip my Galaxy Tab 5e, enclosed in such a case, along the narrow edge;
that's about 6.75" wide. I can hold my wife's iPad mini reasonably comfortably, but have to admit
that that would be a bit unwieldly for a phone.

My ideal phone would be a true phablet -- a 7" tablet with phone capability. Narrow the bezels to
be sure; there's no need for 1/4" or more, although 1/8" would provide room for a case to grip the
phone. And a modified aspect ratio such as 16:9 or 16:10 (which would be 3.71" wide, with 22.02
square inches of screen area) would be wonderful.

I realize that not everyone has hands as large as mine, although plenty of people have even bigger
hands. I'm not asking that all phones be designed for that. But I would like the option to
purchase such a phone.

Please feel free to publish this letter.

 

I am on the opposite end of the spectrum. I want a phone the size of the OG iphone se, but full screen.

 

I wound up going with the Note 9. I found a fully unlocked, brand new on eBay for $350. I checked the IMEI and I'm able to activate the phone (don't even need a new SIM); I'm going to wait to do so until I receive my case and micro SD card.

 

Is it the Exynos or Snapdragon version? Let us know how you like it.

Hopefully it will work long and well.

 

US version, so presumably the Snapdragon.

I haven't had time to stand it up yet. I'm thinking I might try debloat it before I do anything real with it. If I have to factory reset it early, not a big loss.

 

yes only snapdragons on this side of the pond. im sure you will love it. the new microsoft launcher is really great.

 

Microsoft launcher? Doesn't assume I'm running Windows anywhere, I hope (I'm running all Linux).

 

Right on. I just think it's one of the nicest laid out launchers for Android.

 

Well, I'm having trouble activating the phone despite being assured by a Sprint rep that the phone was good to go based on the IMEI (when I try to activate it it says it's already activated or fraudulent). So, one big problem to solve.

I'm also very disappointed in the Otterbox Defender Pro case for this phone. It's certainly not in the same league as the Defender case for the Note 2. All of the layers are thinner, the screen actually sticks up about 0.5mm from the long edges of the case vs. the 2mm or so deep full surround lip on the Note 2 case. The belt clip feels much flimsier, and that broke fairly quickly on me with the Note 2 (I replaced it with a leather pouch, but that pouch is not tall enough for the Note 9). And of course, there's the lack of an integrated screen protector. I gave it a 2 star review on that basis.

I know that a lot of people prefer a thinner device, and it's fine that cases should be made with that in mind. I'm disappointed that the top of the line Otterbox case, which is supposed to be designed for protection above everything else, insists on following that trend rather than providing a robust alternative for those who prefer that at the cost of added bulk.

 

Have a look at lifeproof cases. We we go camping all of our phones live 8n those.

 

What is this activation? Do you need to register your IMEI with the carrier? So you can't just swap SIM cards at will?

 

So, it sounds like the SIM I got was not the right one, and they're going to send me the correct one for a "bring your own device" -- the store gave me one that was for a Sprint-branded phone, even though I told them that I bought it outside Sprint.

 

Doesn't really look a whole lot different from some of the Otterbox cases, and the screen protector you can buy is in fact the Otterbox one.

 

OK, for my iPhone, the lifeproof is a fully waterproof sealed case. Best case I have owned for when we are outdoors hiking and camping etc.

 

Another nice case is the UAG models. I use them when I am just around town etc. I have UAG on my iphone, ipad and my galaxy tablet.

 

One advice, if not already done, keep your phone on Android Oreo if you want to maintain a good battery life, personally i find the new updates to be mainly gimmicks

 

If you can find an LG V30 ThinQ (H932) that is a really decent phone. You might get a better deal with T-Mobile versus Sprint. I was with Sprint for about 20 years and happy. Then we moved to an area where Sprint had no towers. AT&T and Verizon also had no towers in the area and their service sucked as much. Ended up with T-Mobile as the only option, but ended up getting two phones (BOGO V30) two lines, unlimited everything--including the cost of the phones--for less than one line and no phone with Sprint. Fast forward a bit and now T-Mobile is absorbing Sprint. My wife and I have had our V30's for about 2.5 years and I honestly see no reason to entertain the idea of replacing them any time soon. Big, fast and great high-resolution screens (2880*1440). No complaints. More features than some of the newer crap as well. Power button fingerprint reader, Type C, wireless charging, WiFi calling, Hotspot (works great), Hi-Fi Stereo DAC, an actual stereo headphone jack... blah, blah, blah. I've looked at the latest options thinking about 5G and I am not impressed. I'd rather stick with 4G than take the crappy downgrade in specs/features with the newer trash phone dummies.

 

I had been looking at the V30. It's smaller than I'd like (the screen is actually marginally narrower than my Galaxy Note II). If I hadn't been able to find anything decent at a reasonable price I might well have gone with it.

As I noted, the fingerprint sensor doesn't matter to me, since I'm using a password.

 

I wound up getting a Galaxy Note 9. It's a reasonable enough compromise for a reasonable price. I'd prefer it were wider and didn't have a curved screen and had a bit more bezel to allow for a full coverage case, but you can't get everything these days. I got an Otterbox Defender Pro case with the alpha glass screen protector, and separately a heavy nylon pouch for it (it rides a bit lower on my belt and there's no risk of the phone either falling off the mount or the mount falling off my belt). The alpha glass protector isn't available for the Note 10 anything, presumably because they think most people are more concerned with the fingerprint sensor than with protecting the screen. As I noted, I'm not using the fingerprint sensor; I unlock it with a password.

The Note 10+ is insanely expensive; the Note 20 Ultra even more so. The Note 10 and Note 20 are basically downgrades from the Note 9.

I could certainly do without the junkware, and uninstalled what I could. Sprint added more junkware when I activated the phone, including nagware asking me to buy lease insurance for my phone (very funny) most of which I've deleted. I'd prefer a more generic interface, but the Pixels don't have a micro SD slot and cloud storage is not a suitable substitute for this purpose. It's fine for backup and for cloud computing, but it's not a viable substitute for local storage for local use.

I'd really prefer something the size of the Galaxy Mega. It's 6.3" diagonal, but a 16:9 aspect ratio making the screen 3.09" wide and the device overall is 3.46" wide. 16:10 (aka 14.4:9) would be even better, as that would be 3.34" wide. The extra height of the Note 9 doesn't do me a lot of good; the extra width would be very helpful. With a case that would be about 4" wide, which would be fine for me (I tested that with a pack of 4x6" photo paper). But such does not exist.