No headphone jack, a 5G model and a whole lotta dollars

Samsung surprised nobody by unveiling a pair of eye-wateringly expensive smartphones – the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ – while talking up best buddy Microsoft at an event last night in New York City.

To be fair, the previous Galaxy Note9 was a decent, if pricey, bit of kit and the hulking Note 10 has continued that trend both in terms of tech and the cash Samsung expects you to cough up for the thing.

There is no headphone jack – it's USB-C or Bluetooth from now on.

And Samsung will expect you to part with £869 for the Note 10 or £999 for the Note 10+.

Another £100 on the price of the Note 10+ will get you the 5G that manufacturers are desperately hoping will kick-start the moribund smartphone market.

One of the more interesting parts of the Galaxy Note 10 launch was the announcement of a productivity partnership with Microsoft.

This seems to be more of a general increase in cooperation than anything substantively new.

The aim of the move is to make it easier to switch between Samsung devices when using Microsoft stuff, such as the Office suite.

Samsung does the full monty of devices that could be used for productivity, from laptops to smartphones, and reckons there’s untapped demand for switching between them as circumstances and whim dictate.

“We believe the mobile industry is on the cusp of a transformation, one in which individual devices give way to seamless, connected and continuous experiences, wherever we go,” said DJ Koh, head of IT & Mobile Communications at Samsung.

Being able to wirelessly connect your smartphone directly to a PC running Windows at the touch of a button is a big step forward.