New features and improvements have been added to the latest Note 10’s note-taking ability, camera and S Pen – and one feature even extends the Note 10 onto your Windows or Mac computer.

Why you should choose Samsung’s Galaxy S10 rather than the Note 10

Check out the 10 best new features of the Galaxy Note 10:

1. ‘Super fast’ charging

The Note 10 comes with a 25W “super fast” charger included, which powers-up the phone more quickly than the 15W chargers that came with previous Galaxy devices.

It is a great upgrade for charging that gives you quick bursts of power and full charges more quickly, which means the Note 10 spends less time tethered to a charging cord.  

2. ‘Bokeh’ effect on videos, too 

The background blur or “bokeh” effect found on portrait photos on previous Note 10s now works on videos.

Check out the video above that I took of my cat with the new Live Focus Video mode.

As you can tell, it's not that great. It makes the background look more as if you have a dirty camera lens rather than actual bokeh. Still, it does help to keep you focused on the cat rather than what is around him.

3. Text messages with Your Phone app

You can get text messages on your Windows 10 computer using the Your Phone app.

Microsoft’s Your Phone app can be used with most Android phones. It is Microsoft's version of Apple’s Messages feature that iPhone and Mac users love so much, where they can send and receive text messages on their Macs.

Samsung has integrated the Your Phone app more closely with the Galaxy Note 10 to let you wirelessly stream the Note 10’s screen onto your Windows 10 computer.

Apart from that, Your Phone is still a place on your Windows 10 computer where you can answer text messages without reaching for your phone.

What are the biggest differences between Galaxy Note 10 and iPhone XS?

4. Ultra-wide-angle camera lens

The ultra-wide-angle camera lens on the Note 10 – which is also found on other premium phones – is a great feature for capturing more details around you, or for taking pictures of something that is too close to you for the regular camera lens.

It is easy to spot the difference when taking photographs using the ultra-wide-angle lens and a standard lens – as you can see from the two pictures shown above and below.

5. ‘Zoom-in mic’

The Note 10’s new “Zoom-in mic” feature allows you to zoom in to a subject while recording a video to help isolate the sound coming from that subject.

If you are recording someone playing an instrument on a noisy street, for example, you can zoom in to the musician to cancel out some of the ambient sound.

6. Editing with S Pen

The Note 10's S Pen makes it easier to edit videos and photos than using your finger.

Samsung gave the Note 10 its own integrated video editing app with some basic tools, such as cutting, adding filters, text, stickers, and adding background music.

It is not the most comprehensive video editor, but you can use the S Pen on any video editing app for more precise editing than any finger will allow.

How does Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 10 compare to the Galaxy S10?

7. Convert handwriting into text

Being able to convert handwriting notes into digital text is one of the most useful additions to the Note line's core feature: note taking.

It is a really helpful feature, especially if your handwriting on the Note 10 is difficult to read.

It is also surprisingly accurate in converting your handwriting into digital text. With that said, it seems like a work in progress.

Every time I've converted my handwriting to text, I have had to spend a few minutes looking for the option – it's not intuitive or easy to find. Plus, the text I convert doesn't look very good, which is an odd thing to say about a digital text note. The block of text itself looks small and stunted.

Thankfully, this is all stuff that Samsung can improve upon with software updates.

8. Search for notes with keywords

You can search for notes using keywords – both in handwritten and digital text notes.

It is easy to pile up the notes on the Note 10 and I know from experience that notes can quickly get disorganised, making them almost impossible to find.

The note-searching feature works with both handwritten notes, as well as those notes that have been converted into digital text.

The photograph above shows I was able to find a note I made about Burger King’s meat-alternative Impossible Whopper, which I tasted and wrote about. (With regard to the note, you certainly can add bacon to your plant-based Whopper.)

Samsung to launch two Galaxy Note 10 phablets

9. Air Actions controls

The new Air Actions feature allows you to make gestures in the air with the S Pen to control the Note 10’s camera, including zooming, changing camera modes and switching between front and rear cameras.

For example, you can make circular motions with the S Pen to zoom in, or you can flip the S Pen up to switch to the selfie or rear camera.

You can even use S Pen gestures to adjust the volume and rewind or fast-forward while you are watching a video.

It is a little gimmicky, but someone out there is bound to like Air Actions.

10. ‘Mini computer within your own computer’

I am not sure most people will love this, straight away at least, but it is worth mentioning anyway: you can connect the Note 10 to a computer to use Samsung’s DeX app. It's like having a mini computer within your own computer. Kind of.

Samsung says DeX on your PC lets you click and drag things from your phone to your PC, which is a clever feature.

It also lets you use the apps on your Note 10 on your computer with a mouse and keyboard. I suppose it could be useful for apps such as Instagram that are not fully implemented on computers or web browsers.

Still, Dex's usefulness still has to be clarified.

You can download the Dex app for both Windows 10 or Apple's macOS computers.

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