Corey Gaskin/Digital Trends
Look up “Note 10 stainless steel” or “Note 10 aluminum” on Google and you’ll find articles from various tech websites giving conflicting claims over what Samsung’s new phone is made from. Some say it’s aluminum while others say stainless steel. Even a Galaxy Note 10 megathread on the Android subreddit claims it’s stainless steel.
The problem? It’s not.
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10 Plus have aluminum frames, not stainless steel. The confusion may have stemmed from Samsung itself, which published a promotional video on YouTube where a narrator said, “Stainless steel and glass meld seamlessly to minimize bezel.”
We noticed the video has since been unlisted, so you can only find it if you click this link. We’ve downloaded and uploaded it to our own server in case Samsung takes it down.
Another video has since replaced it, and the section where the narrator talked about the stainless steel frame in the original video (about 15 seconds into the video) is now silent. The original video had 2.8 million views, whereas the new one sits at more than 238,000 views.
But the video isn’t the only place Samsung listed inaccurate information. The company’s own product page initially claimed the Note 10 and Note 10 Plus had a “high-polish stainless steel” frame, according to an archived copy found in the Wayback Machine. The current product page for the Galaxy Note 10 has been updated — it now says, “high-polish metal.”
Samsung confirmed to Digital Trends the Note 10 and Note 10 Plus are both made of aluminum and not stainless steel.
Most smartphones have aluminum frames because the metal is cheaper and easier to work with; but expensive phones like the iPhone X, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max employ stainless steel, which is much stronger, with the ability to resist scratches and dents better than aluminum. The iPhone XR is notably made of aluminum, which is one of many reasons for its lower price.
Few Android smartphones match the luxurious metal on the latest flagship iPhones. The Essential Phone had a titanium frame, and the Nokia 8 Sirocco utilized stainless steel. But the Note 10 and Note 10 Plus cost just as much as Apple’s latest iPhones, yet use aluminum instead of stainless steel.
Harmless mistake or not, it’s crazy to think a megacorporation like Samsung published not just a marketing video, but also an official landing page for its flagship product with incorrect information — without properly vetting it.
It also suggests there were internal discussions to use stainless steel in the latest Note range instead of aluminum, but plans changed (this is pure speculation). Perhaps we’ll have to wait for the Galaxy S11 next year to see a Samsung phone with stainless steel.
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