op- you say that you have a Note9 and the you 'want to upgrade'.... which is great... your question could be better answered by elaborating why exactly you want to upgrade... what value props are you seeking?
I'm assuming money is not a major issue, or you wouldn't be entertaining an upgrade.
Note9 is a great phone, but as a N10+ power user, I wouldn't even consider going back to N9. The changes, while incremental, are too meaningful for my use.
So it really depends on what is important to you. Share a little more of what you are looking to get out of it.
@vape the Note 10+ is great at lacking things. Headphone jack, iris scanner, reliable FP in back, LED notification light, dedicated power button. Oh how great it is to lose those things. Making me look for a headphone BT amp, relying on 3rd party software for my notifications, FP scanner that misbehaves.
To be fair, the N10+ does bring improvements. I like the magic wand of my Tab S6 and the Note10 series has the same thing. But yes it has an equally fair share of compromises that do make the device less functional while going against logic.
If they want to go with lame trends, the S series is there for that. The Note has and should be the no-nonsense, all-or-nothing all-rounder ultimate powerhouse tool that fits in a pocket (although just barely)
different strokes for different folks I suppose... most of these things you mention are useless to me.... I dont want to use any FP sensor...I pick up my phone countless times a day... so I use smart lock with my watch...no fuss... notifications also through the watch, so no need for the old led light. Always found the Iris sensor to be a gimmick... headphone jack? I've probably dusted two or three screen over the years from dropping the phone due to wire snags.... bye bye wires...
@Vape- the question you ask, what can N10+ do that Note9 cant, doesnt really get to the root of the comparison. A Note3 can do many of the things a Note9 can do.
The better question in my opinion is, what makes a N10+ better?
No use in comparing specs, as the N10+ pummels the Note9 in this regard.
The most notable real-world betterments that I value:
Battery/Charge- This is the first device in which the battery is working around me, I'm rarely chasing a charge. I used to carry around supplemental power packs, and had to maintain a charging strategy in order to make sure I didnt get caught short. That's all gone now. I think this is also because how fast it charges in addition to the battery life.
No SD card - First phone in which I dont need to fiddle about with an SD card. I'm currently carrying about 160gig and got tons of headroom. No more extra expense, fussing with card corruption, and clunky SD card limitations. Good riddance.
The Wide lens, and seriously good video stabilization. I'm using the wide lens a ton, and the video stabilization is superb. My family videos come out much better.
There are many others, but above are providing my experience with the most value. Just the battery and charging improvements alone are why I wouldn't consider a N9.
Regarding 'poweruser'... I'm not sure what you mean about the modern irrelevance of the term, but I'm trying to communicate that I use the device extensively for work and personal. I would consider my usage to be extreme. My wife on the other browses news and facebook.... texting and a little bit of netflix.
Incremental device improvements go largely unnoticed by her... but as a poweruser I find many of the improvements to be significant and meaningful.
This is why I wouldn't entertain an N9 today, and also why I'm asking the OP to clarify what their goal is by switching. If they are a light user, it might not be worth switching. If they are a poweruser, they might find good value in the upgrade.
That's not what a poweruser is. Powerusers are people who seek to/make the absolute most of their devices. Using your smartphone for work, browsing the web, procrastinating on social media and watching videos doesn't qualify as being a poweruser. In fact it sounds like you're a casual user.
I don't understand your hostility towards SD cards. My phone is filled and my 256GB SD card is almost filled too. Never got corrupted, no clunky limitations whatsoever, in fact it's very convenient to upgrade the storage at minimal cost and for great portability. Don't wait for your data to transfer, just put in the SD card and tadaa.
And uh... your battery is not even 10% bigger. in fact it's only 7.5% bigger... So you must have had a defective battery in your previous device because of how enthusiastic you are about such a small increase
'in fact it sound like I'm a casual user'...lol... now you are just showing your petulance...
I was looking to truncate my usage description of work and play to summarize and spare the details... but since it seems we are in some kind of **bleep** match... I'll elaborate further...
My usage of the device is almost uninterrupted from wake til sleep..
I'll wake with email catch up, news browsing, and audiobook. I'll then hop in the car and use maps, audible, to get to the gym, where I switch to Shealth and audible and/or tunes... switching into work, I'll use many SSO applications, Salesforce, a ton of excel, MS Team video chats and Skype for business meeting. Heavy use of mobile excel, onenote and powerpoint. I take exhaustive notes, handwritten and audio. Easily responding to a couple hundred emails/teams chat a day. Not to mention a couple hours worth of conventional phone calls.
I use the device to track my food intake, meditation time, and to control my focus time (pomodoro methodology).
I've allowed my home laptop to age out, and rely on DeX exclusively for larger screen work.
With a young family, I'm constantly taking countless pictures and video that broadcast via chromecast to various panels in the house.
I also use my device and google asst to control the 30 static devices connected at my house.
I'm not going down this road with you. You think I'm fighting with you but I was discussing this in good faith. If you believe I wasn't, then I shall not continue this conversation any further. Have a nice evening.
also regarding the battery... I did not have a defective battery, my usage is just heavy. I had to use the same auxiliary power and charging cadence with all of my previous Notes... except this one. Not sure if it's the battery material, capacity rating, or software optimization... and to be honest, it doesnt really matter. The real world outcome is that it lasts longer, and charges much quicker. It gets out of my way so I can focus on better things.
Regarding SD card, I've had two failures from reputable sources (Samsung cards).... I've run into 4k video jittering when record to SD. when viewing storage, there have been times where the SD card isnt showing, so I have to pull it out and reinsert. There have been constant changes throughout system evolution as to what can and cant be stored on the card. Cards can cause issues on device refreshes.... on and on...never mind good cards cost good money..
The N10+ provides an abundant amount of quality high speed storage that is dependable and without fuss. Again, it gets out of my way.
