A sneak peek at next-level power with the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+
As the owner of 3 older versions of the Samsung Galaxy Note (I had previously used the Galaxy Note 1, 2 and 4), I must say that Samsung has outdone itself this time. This is the first time too that Samsung is launching two variants of the Note series – the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+. Both will be available in the Philippines by August 23.
Present at the launch was the smartphone’s brand ambassador who was no other than our very own Miss Universe, Catriona Gray.
The latest flagship phones of Samsung were unveiled recently at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Bonifacio Global City. Here are some of my personal favorite next-level power features:
A more awesome S Pen
I had always loved using the S Pen. It was great for taking down notes in your own handwriting. The S Pen of the Note 10 variants can now run on bluetooth and air actions can be activated by waving the S Pen in different directions. I think this is the beginning of a new future for the S Pen – gaming. If you are a Harry Potter Wizards Unite player like me, for example, just imagine if the S Pen can be used as a wand to trace a spell or duel a Dark Arts foe.
With touch-free gesture control, the S Pen of the Note 10 allows you to swipe left or right, scroll up or down just by waving the S Pen in those directions. It works even up to 40 meters away from the phone with no obstruction. Quite nifty once you get used to it. A great addition is the ability now not just to convert handwriting to digital format and to export the document to other applications like Microsoft Word. Copy pasting up to 30 lines of text are also possible. Through Samsung DeX, files can also be dragged and dropped into PCs running Windows 10 when you integrate your phone with your other devices. Your phone notifications show up on your PC, you can send/receive text messages, and view photos on your phone — all without lifting it up.
Check out this video where Ellie Huang, Product Manager for the Note series, demonstrates a fun way to use the front and rear cameras as well as the S Pen.
More bells and whistles in the cameras
The Note 10/10+ has triple cameras in the rear (16MP Ultra Wide, a 12MP Wide-Angle, and a 12MP Telephoto camera) and a front camera that takes clear selfies even under low light situations. Most premium phones now feature bokeh, that feature that blurs the picture background so that the subject stands out. Guess what! The Samsung Note 10/Note 10+ now have video bokeh! Take action videos with the background blurred for effect! One last thing I like when we talk of the cameras is the Super Steady feature which makes you take moving videos without the shaky effect. And because the Note 10/Note 10+ come with a full professional studio, you can shoot and edit photos on the fly right from the phone.
Drag-and-drop productivity
The ease of drag-and-drop between your Samsung Galaxy Note 10/10+ and your laptop, using Samsung DeX, is something all users will love. And here’s the clincher – whether you are on the PC or the Mac! In addition, Windows 10 users can integrate their smartphone in order to receive notifications, send and receive messages, and view photos on their PC without having to lift the smartphone.
Larger screen sizes that pamper the eyes
With the state of my eyes, I now always look for smartphones with large screens. They are easy on the eyes and prevent me from squinting. The Galaxy Note 10 clocks in at 6.3″ screen display while the Note 10+ has a huge 6.8″ screen display. That’s almost like a tablet! I put my own phone, the Samsung A7, on top of the Galaxy Note 10+ and they were almost the same physical size. The difference? My phone had a 6″ display but it did not fill up the entire front screen; on the other hand, the Note 10+’s screen display covered practically the entire front of the phone, widening the display to 6.8″.
Those planning to get the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 or Note 10+ should be ready though for the following features that are different from other Samsung models. One, the Note 10/10+ have followed other high-end phone brands and removed the headphone jack. I think this is so that the phone could be made thinner. One would now have to use bluetooth to listen to music or watch videos. Two, since the phones now come with a minimum storage capacity of 256GB, Samsung has also done away with the microSD slot on the smaller Note 10. The larger Note 10+ still has the microSD slot and can be used to expand storage up to 1TB. 256GB should be enough for most of us users (128GB for me is already more than enough for my music and podcasts) but for those who plan to make this their primary phone for many years to come, be ready to have cloud storage and other apps like Dropbox or Google Photos so you can offload your photos and videos when they start hogging your internal storage.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 10/10+ can be paired with Samsung wearables too. From August 23-25, those who place orders for these phones get 30% off the wearables.
The Galaxy Note 10 series will be available starting August 23, with a suggested retail price of PhP 53,990 for the Galaxy Note 10 (256GB) and PhP 60,990 for the Galaxy Note 10+ (256GB). There is also a special Galaxy Note 10+ variant (512GB) that will be available on pre-order with a suggested retail price of PhP 72,990.
The Galaxy Note 10 will come in Aura Glow and Aura Black, while the Galaxy Note 10+ will be available in Aura Glow, Aura White, and Aura Black.
Check out the Smart Watches (my favorite of all the wearables). The watch faces can be changed to match your attire!
Here’s the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 introduction video.
