Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite vs OnePlus 7T vs LG G8S ThinQ: What are the differences and which one should you get?

Samsung just dropped the Galaxy Note 10 Lite in India as the company’s first flagship killer in the country. The Note 10 Lite is currently priced at Rs 38,999 for the entry-level 6GB/128GB variant, while the top-end 8GB/128GB model costs Rs 40,999. However, India’s smartphone market is jam-packed with competition in the same price range as the Galaxy Note 10 Lite.

Two of the biggest threats to the Galaxy Note 10 Lite come in the form of the other notable flagship killers like the infamous OnePlus 7T and underrated LG G8s ThinQ. So, let’s take a look at how the three devices fare against each other.

One the performance front, all three phones will do pretty well in everyday scenarios. However, the Galaxy Note 10 Lite’s 9810 SoC is a reasonably old chipset which will be three years old in 2021. On the other hand, the Snapdragon 855 SoC and Snapdragon 855+ chipsets on the G8s ThinQ and OnePlus 7T, respectively, are much faster than the Exynos 9810 and is also based on superior 7nm manufacturing process, which also ensures better power efficiency. The OnePlus 7T is arguably one of the fastest smartphones on the market.

In terms of offering the best display, the OnePlus 7T certainly takes the cake. While all three devices have excellent FHD+ AMOLED screens, only the OnePlus 7T stands out with its 90Hz refresh rate that’s much smoother than the 60Hz panels on the LG G8s ThinQ and Galaxy Note 10 Lite. The OnePlus 7T and LG G8s ThinQ also support 100% DCI-P3 colour coverage and HDR10, while the latter also supports Dolby Vision.

While 'design' is pretty much subjective, the punch-hole notch on the Galaxy Note 10 Lite seems much more modern than the dewdrop notch on the OnePlus 7T and wide notch on the LG G8S ThinQ. However, both OnePlus and LG have opted for a Gorilla Glass 5 on the back and front with an aluminium frame, while the Galaxy Note 10 Lite has a plastic-like frame, which may not look cheap but certainly feels cheap when you hold it.

In optics, all three smartphones get a triple-camera setup with a primary wide, ultrawide, and telephoto sensor. Of all the three phones, the LG G8s ThinQ has to be our pick for the best camera setup in terms of functionality and uniformity across all three sensors. The G8s ThinQ is also the best for capturing video. However, the OnePlus 7T is certainly the way to go if you usually only use the primary camera as its 48-megapixel Sony sensor is excellent at this price. Honestly, all three phones deliver an excellent camera experience, there very little to complain about on all three flagship killers.

For battery, the Galaxy Note 10 Lite offers the biggest battery capacity at 4,500 mAh. LG’s 3550 mAh battery capacity is the poorest of the three. Additionally, Samsung and OnePlus also offer faster-charging speeds with the latter’s 30W Warp Charge the fastest of the three.

When it comes to software, Android 10 with the OxygenOS skin on the OnePlus 7T is significantly better than what LG and Samsung are offering. OxygenOS comes very close to the stock-Android experience with some even preferring it over stock-Android as a lot of community suggestions have shaped and continue to shape OxygenOS.

Last but not least, unique features. The OnePlus 7T’s UFS 3.0 storage standard delivers higher read/write speeds than the Note 10 Lite and G8s ThinQ, but this doesn’t really impact performance to a noticeable point for an average user. The G8s ThinQ, on the other hand, gets a massive notch with a sensor setup to allow you to use gestures to control certain features or unlock your phone. The Galaxy Note 10 Lite gets the renowned S Pen support as all Galaxy Note devices. If we had to choose between using gestures, faster storage or a stylus, we’d have to go with gesture navigation, but the feature is far from being polished and requires lots of work. So, our winner here would have to be the Note 10 Lite, for the S Pen support. To get an S Pen on a smartphone under 40,000 rupees is incredible.

As impressive as all three of these smartphones are, we can only have one winner; and for us that has to be the OnePlus 7T. While the OnePlus 7T may not be perfect, it is the best version of the flagship killer with the latest chipset, higher-refresh rate display, clean software, decent cameras and a lasting battery. However, it is worth noting that only the LG G8S ThinQ features an IP rating (IP68), which is unheard off in flagship killers. Now, the Note 10 Lite is on-par with the OnePlus 7T in almost every department, but the addition of the S Pen is undoubtedly something that caught our eye and could tempt us away from OnePlus.