The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 comes with a not so new but slightly improved S-pen.

It goes without saying that one of the major reasons a small but particular set of consumers stay loyal to the Galaxy Note line of flagships is none other than the novelty of the S-pen.

I mean, these hardcore Note  fan fams practically perform cartwheels around other android OEM flagships, side step even the Galaxy S line and dive head first into anything ‘Note’ released by Samsung and swear by it. In no particular order. With the new Note 10 pair announced/released couple weeks ago, Samsung may just see a tiny -or if sold well, major- increase to the Note 10 populace thanks to the S-pen or more precisely the improved functionality of the S-pen. What’s actually new compared to s-pens of old you ask…well

Not much of an improvement but as far as aesthetics go, the new S-pen is slightly shorter and now sports a uni-body design thereby making it sturdier compared to all other S-pens before it. According to Samsung, the new S-pens Bluetooth functions can go up to 30mins of continuous use or 10hrs on standby. Charging it fully takes about 10mins.    

Like past S-pens, using the pen for basic functions like note taking and general device navigation does not cause any battery drain on the S-pen whatsoever.

Air Actions/Air Command

Thanks to the presence of a motion sensor embedded in the pen, the Note 10 can perform specific functions when a user gestures at it in pre-set ways. Samsung has conveniently named this ‘Air actions’ and they are six in total; up, down, left, right, circle right and circle left. Apps that work with the air gestures right now include the stock camera app, apps like Netflix, Spotify and YouTube. As a bit of an oversight on Samsung’s part, the gestures even work on the Chrome browser but not on the stock Samsung browser (someone had but one job). With a maximum range of 10m, one could effectively use the pen as a remote control.

Translate and Convert

Converting handwriting to text (to a certain degree, the Note 9 pen had this function.

Screen Off Memos/Samsung Notes

Like on the Note 9, you can take screen-off memos by scribbling on the screen but Samsung has taken this function a little further by allowing a user to change the color of the ink right from the locked screen whereas on the Note 9, the ink color was locked to the color of the users S-pen

Write on calendar; opens up the calendar app and allows the user to fill in plans or make handwritten memos in the calendar

Screen Recorder/Live Message

The note 10 now comes with a screen recorder built in that can be accessed right from the quick settings. Tapping on the pencil icon allows a user to write on the screen live as recording is ongoing which can come in handy for illustrations and demonstrations. For an added personal touch, a user can even add selfie videos that compliment said illustrations.

AR Doodle

This feature allows a user to record videos with virtual drawings or handwritings. In face mode, doodles drawn on the face will follow the face as it moves. In the everywhere mode, doodles drawn in spaces over objects and such will remain in the same spot even when the camera is moved (think like how Pokemons on Pokemon go existed in certain parts of a reality but only when viewed through a user’s camera.

In all honesty, there is little addition to the S-pen functionality but I imagine with the air gestures, Samsung is banking on app developers going nuts and improving support for it and in the process showing the world the S-pen/Note 10 line is the de facto king of mobiles.

The base options Samsung Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10 Plus retail for NGN328 and NGN330 locally and $949 and $1099 globally.

So, not already sold on the idea of the Note flagships? Think all this added functionality will steer you into considering a Samsung Galaxy Note?