This post is brought to you by Samsung.
Samsung’s Note series has been an iconic range of smartphones for almost a decade now, and the recently-launched Galaxy Note20 series comprises some of the most advanced mobile devices that you can get in the market right now.
However, the Galaxy Note20 series is hardly just power and specs—there are also a plethora of productivity-focused features and capabilities to offer an all-in-one device that can handle the fast-paced demands of professionals.
After all, smartphones aren’t just simply mobile phones anymore. They’re portable, powerful computers that are essential to millions (billions, even) of users everyday. If you’re considering the Galaxy Note20 series as your latest smartphone, here are 7 features that make it a productivity monster.
1. New “Air Actions” for the S Pen
Samsung has never released a Galaxy Note without the trusty S Pen by its side, and the Galaxy Note20 series isn’t any different. For many users, typing down notes (or creating visuals) will never feel as good as an actual pen-and-paper setup.
However, the S Pen is still pretty close to the real thing, with the S Pen on the Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G featuring an impressive 9ms response time. There’s even an AI-powered feature that detects—and aligns—misplaced handwriting for neatness.
The Galaxy Note20 series’ S Pen also comes with five new “Air Action” gestures. These help to control apps remotely with your S Pen, which uses BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) technology to communicate with your smartphone. Now, that functionality has been expanded via these new gestures:
Left and back: Browsing back
Right and back: Go to Recents app
Up and down: Go to Home
Down and up: Smart select
Shake: Capture and Screen write
– S Pen, Air Actions
2. Samsung Notes is more powerful than ever
The Samsung Notes app comes with the Galaxy Note20 series, along with more functionality than ever before. One of the more interesting new features is the Audio Bookmark feature—which feels perfect for note-takers during lectures or meetings. Basically, you can sync voice recordings with memos as you take them, with playback then available within the app.
Additionally, Notes is designed with added S Pen functionality. Use the S Pen to jot down a couple of notes, and at the end of a meeting/lecture, convert your handwriting to text. This should come in handy for signing PDFs or PowerPoint files—which the Notes app also supports. If you want, you can even convert your Samsung Notes to PPT, Docx, or PDF file formats within the app.
And of course, the Notes app syncs across multiple devices, so you can access your memos from anywhere.
3. The Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G’s Dynamic AMOLED 120Hz display
To give you as much screen real estate as you need for your productivity needs, the range-topping Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G features a large 6.9” Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x display, with curved edges around the sides. With multitasking features such as Multi Window, the large screen is an essential part of the Galaxy Note20 series’ appeal to heavy mobile users.
Meanwhile, the display should also feel buttery smooth—even if you’re just browsing the web. The Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G’s 120Hz refresh rate will result in a faster, smoother experience all round, and when you couple that with the large, vibrant 6.9” QHD+ display, you get a beautiful screen for all your productivity needs.
4. Samsung DeX: Connect wirelessly for an all-in-one desktop solution
Regardless of that beautiful screen, Samsung has also included Samsung DeX functionality for the Galaxy Note20 series. This has been around for awhile now, although in the past, you needed a HDMI-to-USB-C cable to utilise Samsung’s mobile desktop solution.
Now, DeX has been upgraded for the Galaxy Note20 series: no wires required. All you need is a Miracast-compatible TV/monitor, your Note20 series smartphone, and you’re good to go. You’d be best advised to use a wireless mouse/keyboard, however, for the best results.
5. Use Quick Share & Nearby Share for collaborative tasks
Collaboration is the name of the game when it comes to modern professionals, and Samsung has equipped the Galaxy Note20 series with a pair of nifty features just for this purpose. Firstly, Quick Share offers an easy way to send files to other supported Galaxy smartphones—no links, emails, or texts required.
The new Nearby Share feature works in a similar way, although this is compatible with non-Galaxy smartphones as well. Both features can be accessed via the quick settings panel by swiping down from the screen, and you can send files directly from apps via either method.
6. Buds Together: Share music without actually sharing your earbuds
This next feature also works well for collaborative work. Buds Together is a feature that basically allows you to share your music—without actually sharing your earbuds. Besides hygiene-related benefits, this also means that both viewers/listeners can listen to the music/videos/any other audio with both earbuds on (as opposed to sharing a single pair of headphones).
7. Link to Windows
Many professionals use Windows for their work machines, and this is where the Galaxy Note20’s Link to Windows feature comes in. Once you’ve set up the Your Phone app on your PC, you’ll be able to access a variety of functions from your Galaxy Note20 series smartphone—from your Windows PC.
This includes the abilities to drag and drop files to-and-from your smartphone and PC, copy and paste images and text, and even open multiple apps within the phone-PC link. This new Link to Windows feature works with up to five apps at the same time, although the multi-app feature only becomes available later this year.
With all of that said, the Samsung Galaxy Note20 series is now officially available in Malaysia from RM3,899. To sweeten the deal, Samsung is also offering a bunch of promotions, including gifts worth RM508, discounted accessories (6 August—31 October 2020), and free Protection Plus warranties. There’s also a Trade In and Save programme from the 17th of August 2020 till the 31st of October 2020, with instant rebates available for a variety of smartphones.
To find out more, click here.
