For the longest time, Samsung has stuck to its strategy of launching two flagship phones each year. And, while the feature gap between Note and Galaxy S flagships have shrunk considerably in recent years, every Note flagship has built on what Samsung offered with the Galaxy S flagship in the same year. This year was no different, but with the Galaxy Note 10 Lite and Galaxy S10 Lite, Samsung seems to be ditching that nearly decade-old strategy.

For the first time, the latest Note isn’t as powerful as the latest Galaxy S phone

While the Galaxy Note 10 Lite and Galaxy S10 Lite look the same outside, it’s what’s on the inside that is threatening to make Samsung’s Galaxy S and Note offerings confusing to the end consumer. The S10 Lite is powered by the Snapdragon 855 chipset, which also powers the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note 10 in some markets, while the Galaxy Note 10 Lite makes do with the Exynos 9810, the SoC that powered the 2018 Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note 9.

Basically, the latest S Pen-toting Galaxy smartphone has lesser specs than the latest Galaxy S smartphone, and that’s not what people expect. Sure, the Galaxy Note 10 Lite makes up for it with a better camera setup. Its 12MP primary rear camera is a flagship-grade sensor while the S10 Lite’s 48MP camera is a mid-range sensor, and the Note 10 Lite also gets a telephoto camera instead of a more limiting macro camera. But why are any of the specs on the Galaxy Note 10 Lite lesser than what we find on the Lite version of the Galaxy S10?

Of course, the answer may be simple. The Galaxy S10 Lite may have powerful specs on paper, but it doesn’t really serve any purpose in a crowded market where there are plenty of other similarly-specced devices. The Galaxy Note 10 Lite, on the other hand, is unique thanks to the S Pen and has a higher chance of attracting customers. That may be why Samsung has priced it lower than the S10 Lite, and it may also be why the company might have decided to go with an older, less powerful chipset for the device.

A bad precedent for the Galaxy Note lineup, flagship or otherwise

And while that makes sense at a time when Samsung is being cornered by the competition with smartphones that offer considerably higher bang for buck, it’s not going to make sense to the average consumer. The average consumer might decide the Galaxy Note 10 Lite is the device for them based on how Galaxy Notes have always been better specced than Galaxy S smartphones, only to find that is no longer the case.

There’s always the chance they won’t notice or mind, as the Exynos 9810 is still a very capable processor, but if they do, it could even affect their perception of the flagship Galaxy Note lineup. Whether that will hurt Samsung’s sales prospects in the long run is unclear, but it will set a bad precedent and could end up further diluting the Note brand following the launch of the Galaxy Note 10, a Note flagship without a headphone jack and expandable storage.

What do you think?