The 10 Biggest Features On Samsung's Galaxy Note10

Samsung is unveiling three models for the newest Note smartphone and introducing upgrades to the stylus, battery life and performance.

The New Note

Samsung is shaking things up in its Note smartphone series with the launch of the Galaxy Note10. For the first time, the productivity-focused Note will come in two screen sizes--dubbed the Galaxy Note 10 and Note10+--while a third version will also be offered that supports high-speed 5G connectivity. That's just the start of what Samsung is doing differently this time around with the Note, with the Note10 getting an array of new features such as an enhanced S Pen, expanded camera capabilities and improved performance.

What follows is our roundup of the 10 biggest features on Samsung's Galaxy Note10.

Display

Just as Samsung has done in its Galaxy S smartphone series, the Note series is now splitting off into different screen sizes. The Galaxy Note10 will offer a 6.3-inch display, while the Galaxy Note10+ will measure in at 6.8 inches--the largest screen size to date on a Note device. (The third variant, the Galaxy Note10+ 5G, will largely offer the same specs as the Note10+.) Those display sizes put the two Note10 sizes on either side of the Galaxy Note9, which has featured a 6.4-inch display.

Both Note10 devices will include Samsung's vibrant Dynamic AMOLED display, with the Galaxy Note10+ offering higher resolution (3,040 x 1,440, or 498 pixels per inch) than the Note10 (2,280 x 1,080, 401 ppi). Both models are HDR10+ certified and offer expanded brightness of up to 1,200 nits--compared to a max brightness of 710 nits on the Note9—for improved outdoor usage. And, as is now the standard, the Note10 and Note10+ offer a nearly edge-to-edge display with very slim bezels around the screen.

Design

Samsung has made major strides in keeping the Note10+ to a manageable size even with the increased display size. The Note10+ is actually thinner and lighter than the Note9 at 0.31 of an inch thick and 0.43 of a pound, Samsung said. As for the Note10 model, the device is the lightest Note to date at 0.37 of a pound, according to Samsung, and it also measures 0.31 of an inch thick.

Other key design changes include moving the front-facing camera to the center, to make the device more symmetrical, and the introduction of a four-color scheme for the lineup--"aura glow," "aura white," "aura black" and "aura blue."

Additionally, Samsung has removed the 3.5mm headphone jack for the first time on a Galaxy device, with the connector omitted from the Note10 and Note10+.

S Pen

For the S Pen, the stylus that's housed inside the Note, Samsung has retooled the design to make it more durable. Several new S Pen capabilities are arriving as part of the Note10, as well. The Note10 will support "air actions" for the S Pen, meaning that users no longer need to touch the display to perform certain functions in apps such as the camera, gallery and music/video libraries. In the camera, for instance, there are six "air actions" to start: swiping left or right in the air will change the camera mode; swiping up or down will switch the camera between the rear- and front-facing sensors; and rotating clockwise or counterclockwise will zoom in or zoom out. Samsung specified that users don't need to be pointing right at the display to get the "air actions" to work, though users do need to hold down the side button.

Meanwhile, Samsung has also opened an SDK to allow third-party developers to create new features for apps using the S Pen. One example given was enabling the S Pen to open a deliveries application with a button click, with the stylus then being used to sign for the delivery.

Notes App

Another productivity enhancer in the Note10 is an update to the Samsung Notes app that makes taking handwritten notes with the S Pen more useful. Handwritten notes in the app can now easily be converted into text on the Note10--with Samsung saying it's invested significantly in handwriting recognition technologies. After the handwriting is converted to text, that text can now also be exported to formats including Microsoft Word. My quick tryout of the feature showed that the Samsung Notes app was successful at recognizing and converting my handwriting.

DeX

A key differentiator of Samsung Galaxy devices for business users is DeX, which lets users pull up an Android desktop on compatible screens just by plugging in their device. With the Note10, Samsung has made DeX far more usable. Now, users can pull up their DeX desktop on a PC (Windows 10 or Windows 7)--or even a Mac--by plugging into the computer using an included USB-C to USB-C cable. That way, users will have the option to access a keyboard or mouse in situations where they need one--potentially allowing them to do without the need for a laptop, Samsung said. Users have the ability to move files back and forth, and can use DeX in full screen mode on the PC or Mac, the company said.

Additionally, apart from DeX, the "Link to Windows" feature--which enables a phone's messaging and notifications to appear on a Windows 10 PC--has been integrated directly into the Quick Panel for users to more easily connect their Note10 to their PC.

Performance

As a productivity-oriented device, the Note10 will not surprisingly get a substantial boost on performance. The Note10 and Note10+ in the U.S. will move up to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, a 7-nanometer, 8-core processor with a clock speed of up to 2.84GHz. The chip will enable CPU performance gains of 33 percent and 42-percent faster GPU over the Note9, Samsung said. The company says it's ultimately helping to enable "PC-level performance" with the inclusion of 8 GB of RAM on the Galaxy Note10 and 12 GB of RAM for the Galaxy Note10+ and Note10+ 5G.

Battery Life

Samsung is going after improved battery life on the Note10 and Note10+ in several ways. Along with including sizable batteries--3,500 mAh in the Note10 and 4,300 mAh in the Note10+--the devices also feature fast-charging capabilities. In particular, the Note10+ can get up to a full day's worth of charge in just 30 minutes using an optional 45W charger, Samsung said. The devices will also use their batteries more efficiently through the inclusion of the Snapdragon 855 processor and through artificial intelligence technologies, Samsung said. The AI technologies will learn how users consume battery life and provide adjustments, such as automatically closing a power-hungry app when it's no longer in use, the company said.

Camera

The Galaxy Note10 and Note10+ will add camera features including "live focus video" for easily blurring backgrounds on videos and "zoom-in mic" for focusing in on the desired audio source. Users will also get enhanced video-editing capabilities on the Note10 and Note10+, with the ability to use advanced editing tools more precisely and quickly with the S Pen, Samsung said. Users can annotate videos using the S Pen, as well. Additionally, for the Galaxy Note10+, the inclusion of a 3-D depth camera enables taking augmented-reality measurements--such as measuring distance, length, 2-D area and 3-D boxes. The Galaxy Note10+ will include a total of four rear cameras (ultra-wide, wide-angle, telephoto and depth) while the Note10 will include three rear cameras (ultra-wide, wide-angle and telephoto).

Storage & Connectivity

The Galaxy Note10 will offer 256 GB of internal storage, while the Note10+ will come with 256 GB as the starting configuration. The Galaxy Note10+ and Note10+ 5G will also be available with 512 GB of internal storage. Additionally, the Note10+ will include a microSD card slot for expanded storage, though the Note10 will not offer microSD.

The Galaxy Note10+ 5G is Samsung's second 5G-capable smartphone, following the launch of the Galaxy S10 5G earlier this year. While carriers are rolling out high-speed 5G connectivity gradually, Samsung is clearly doubling down on 5G even as an iPhone that supports 5G connectivity is not expected until the fall of 2020. Meanwhile, the Note10 also supports the latest generation of WiFi connectivity, WiFi 6.

Price & Availability

Samsung's starting price for the Galaxy Note10 is $949.99, while the Galaxy Note10+ starts at $1,099.99. That's the pricing for unlocked versions of the smartphones as well as for carrier versions from AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, U.S. Cellular, Sprint and Xfinity Mobile. That pricing puts the Galaxy Note10 price lower--and the Note10+ price higher--than the original starting price for the Galaxy Note9, which was $999.99.

Pre-orders for the Galaxy Note10 and Note10+ start on Thursday, Aug. 8. The devices will begin shipping on Aug. 23.

Samsung did not release the price for the Galaxy Note10+ 5G. Starting Aug. 23, the Note10+ 5G will be offered "for a limited time" by Verizon Wireless, Samsung said. AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint will begin offering the Note10+ 5G "at a later date," Samsung said.