Some bonds are inseparable. And the S-Pen to the Note lineup is one such bond that has been around for a while. With the passing time, the bonds do get stronger, so how strong has the bond between the S-Pen and the new Samsung Galaxy Note 10 gotten?
Adding Bluetooth LE support to the S-Pen on the Galaxy Note 9 was a step in the right direction and the S-Pen on the Note 10 brings a whole host of features. But do these features really add up to the convenience and the utilitarian aspect of the device? Let’s find out.
Firstly, let’s address the unibody design of the S-Pen, it looks elegant and the clicky lock button up top is tactile and might actually replace your fidget toy. With each Note iteration, the S-Pen is getting real close to what writing on an actual notepad feels like but it still has a long way to replace your notepad.
The S-Pen integration and the new software adds up to the user experience with Handwriting Recognition and the Handwriting to Digital Text conversion works flawlessly.
With support for Bluetooth LE, the S-Pen is capable of navigating through presentations, clicking pictures, playing and pausing video and more. With 10-hours of stand by time to cater these nifty little tricks, it is convenient for sure. You’ll get used to the remote shutter option easily and I think that’s what you’ll mostly use the S-Pen for.
But then, there’s air gesture support. Just like with every other first-gen product or software, it seems more like a gimmick rather than a feature. The movement tracking for actions such as scrolling between pictures in your gallery by flicking right or left in the air or moving the S-Pen clockwise or anti-clockwise to change the camera angle and for cropping in selfies, as of now is a little finicky and the chances are you’ll get annoyed pretty soon.
With a whole lot of features baked into the air gesture, it will take either a little getting used to or a better gesture identification software to garner the experience and to let users fully soak into it. Let’s hope that the future updates brush the bugs off but as of now, the full Harry Potter vibe is not something you’ll find yourself entertaining.
The much-loved Screen Off Memo is present and accounted for and the AR Doodle that’s baked into the native camera app is a little fun and can come in handy sometimes, especially for the creative interior designers and architects among you.
Regardless, it’s a wonder on its own that a mere S-Pen is worth explaining the features separately and that’s interesting on its own and here onwards, things can only go uphill. With the SDK available for the creators around the globe, third party software can also add a bunch of utility to the S-Pen.
That about wraps it up for the S-Pen. For more updates stay tuned to E-Nepsters.
