Galaxy Note Tips & Tricks

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Top 10 new features of Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ you should try

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Top 10 new features of Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+Although Galaxy Note 10 received a mixed reception, there are many new features of Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ you may enjoy.

In this post, I will summarize the top 10 new features of Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+, which are quite impressive and exciting. They include Samsung DeX for PC, updated video editor, native screen recorder, the new S Pen, 25w/45W Superfast charging, 3D scanner (Galaxy Note 10+ only, not released yet), wireless Powershare, AR doodle, zoom-in mic, and the night camera mode.

The missing features of Galaxy Note 10 can be found here. An overview review of Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ was posted here.

In this guide, Galaxy Note 10 refers to both Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10+ unless the special features are on Galaxy Note 10+ only. If this is the case, we will use Note 10+ explicitly. The differences between Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10+ are discussed in this post.

#1. Samsung DeX for PC: the best new feature of Galaxy Note 10

Samsung DeX, which was introduced in Galaxy S8 and later available on Galaxy Note 8, Note 9, S9,  S10, and now Note 10,  is probably the most useful innovation bringing Android to a bigger screen, It transforms your phone into an Android desktop when connected to a large screen.

For Galaxy S8 and Note 8, you need to use the DeX station to connect the phone to the external monitor.  The slimmer DeX Pad was introduced with Galaxy S9 and can be used on Galaxy S8 and Note 8 as well. Galaxy Note 9 introduced the DeX cable, and you only need a USB-C to HDMI cable to use DeX with Note 9. This feature was ported to Galaxy S9 after the Android Pie update.  Currently,  Galaxy Note 9,  Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy S9, and Galaxy S10 can use any of them (DeX cable, Dex Station, or DeX Pad) to switch to the DeX mode. Galaxy S8 still needs a DeX Station or a DeX Pad to launch Samsung …

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Top 10 missing features of Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ you should know before buying

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Top 10 missing features of Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ you should know before buying

When you decide to upgrade or switch to Galaxy Note 10, you need to know these 10 missing features of Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+. You may check this page for the top 10 new features of Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+.

For the first time, Samsung announced two models of Galaxy Note line-up: Galaxy Note 10+ and Galaxy Note 10. Galaxy Note 1o+ is a successor of Galaxy Note 9, and Galaxy Note 10 is a stripdown (budget? but still too expensive) version of Galaxy Note 10+.

As pointed in this Galaxy Note 10 review, both Galaxy Note 10 and Note 1o+ are targeted at the mainstream users (mass market), instead of the hardcore Galaxy Note users (niche market). The comparison of Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10+ was discussed here.

After playing around Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+, we summarized the top 10 missing features that matter for traditional Galaxy Note owners.

#1.  Notification LED light: the most annoying missing feature of Galaxy Note 10

When Samsung switched to the punch-hole design on Galaxy S10, they removed the notification LED light.

Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ followed this design and removed the notification LED light. This is the first Galaxy Note device without the notification LED light.

It is obvious Samsung is willing to sacrifice any features and functions if they impact the “look” of the phone.

Do we buy a phone to look or to use in 2019?

Such small convenience features in old Galaxy phones actually are a magnet for many buyers.  Sadly, Samsung will eventually evolve their smartphones into a beautiful brick without any functions.

For example, you now have to check the phone screen to see whether the battery is fully charged or not when charging the Galaxy Note 10 battery.

#2. Capacitive fingerprint reader

Both Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ use an in-display fingerprint reader introduced in Galaxy S10 and S10+.

It sounds great. And of course, it “looks” great (see Galaxy Note 10 layout).

But in reality, it is a step …

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Galaxy Note 10 review: the death of Galaxy Note

Samsung is destroying Galaxy Note with Galaxy Note 10

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Galaxy Note 10 review: the death of Galaxy NoteWith the official announcement of Galaxy Note 10 (and Note 10+), many long-term Galaxy Note owners are disappointed, although there are many BS articles claiming how innovative and how exciting Galaxy Note 10 is. This is a no BS Galaxy Note 10 review from a long-term Galaxy Note owners who owned every Galaxy Note devices.

This Galaxy Note 10 review is an overall review about Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ (the difference between Note 10 and Note 10+ can be found here). The detailed review of the new features of Galaxy Note 10 (and Note 10+) is posted here. And the detailed review of the missing features of Galaxy Note 10 (and Note 10+) can be found here.

When the first Galaxy Note was announced in 2011, many are not convinced. They were correct, and they are still correct.

Galaxy Note is for a niche market where owners use two hands (instead of one) and like to use the S Pen to “write” (instead of touch). So, it is not for the mainstream phone users.  The screen size of the 5.3″ Galaxy Note is more than twice (actually 2.23 times, 81.4  vs. 36.5 cm²) of that on the 3.5″ inch mainstream phone (iPhone 4) in 2011.

The growing user community who enjoys the bigger screen helped Samsung lead the industry in adopting a bigger screen in the mainstream phones. Today, most smartphones have a screen larger than 5″.

But the success of Galaxy Note is not just the big screen.

The success of Galaxy Note is due to 1) Big screen, and 2) S Note

The early adopters of Galaxy Note consisted of two groups of buyers:

  1. People who prefer a big screen to read books/website, to play games or videos on the phone.
  2. People who like to write on the big screen with the S Pen.

For the first group owners, they have got more and more choices over the years because all smartphone manufacturers gradually increased the screen size of their flagship smartphones. So, they are …

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How to change Galaxy Note 9 S Pen nib?

Everything about Galaxy Note 9 S Pen nib (tip)

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change Galaxy Note 9 S Pen nib?Many users are not aware they can try different Galaxy Note 9 S Pen nibs to get different experiences from the S Pen.

The spare S Pen nibs and the tool are often neglected by Galaxy Note device owners. It is a waste for many users who feel the S Pen is too sticky or too slippery.

This S Pen guide explains the different usages of the spare Galaxy Note 9 S Pen nibs and how to change the nib for Galaxy Note 9 S Pen.

Items related to Galaxy Note 9 S Pen nib in the Galaxy Note 9 box

Galaxy Note 9 introduced many new features and updated S Pen with Bluetooth support.

In your Galaxy Note 9 box, you may notice the following small plastic bag. Some users may think it is a weird connector for some ancient devices and throw it away.

Do NOT throw it away.

You will need the items inside it when you want to change the Galaxy Note 9 S Pen nib.

In the plastic bag, you can find:

  1. Tweezers. This is provided as a tool for S Pen nib removal.
  2. Another tiny plastic bag with two (2) pieces of spare Galaxy Note 9 S Pen nib (tip).

Prior to Galaxy Note 9, there are 5 pieces of spare S Pen nib. It seems Samsung is less generous on accessories for the more expensive Galaxy Note 9.

 Galaxy Note 9 S Pen nib in the Galaxy Note 9 box

When and why you need to change Galaxy Note 9 S Pen nib?

When you use the S Pen on Galaxy Note 9 screen, some users may feel it is too sticky. Some may feel it is too slippery.

Even for the same phone, after you apply a screen protector, you may find it is a bit harder to use the S Pen.

In these cases, you may change the S Pen nib to see whether the performance of the S Pen is better.

Besides, if you are a heavy user of S Pen (e.g., frequently using the S Pen for design or note-taking), the S Pen nib may experience severe …

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How to use S Pen remote control on Galaxy Note 9?

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use S Pen remote control on Galaxy Note 9S Pen remote control on Galaxy Note 9 allows you to use the new S Pen to control some apps remotely through a Bluetooth connection.

You can even customize the app actions corresponding to the single press (press the S  Pen button once) and double press (press the S Pen button twice).

This Galaxy Note 9 S Pen guide explains how to use and customize S Pen remote control on Galaxy Note 9.

What is S Pen remote control on Galaxy Note 9?

The Galaxy Note 9 S Pen is Bluetooth-enabled. And Samsung wants you to use it as a remote control so that you can free your hands from the phone screen.

If you ever used a selfie stick, you may already know the importance of a remote shutter for the selfie stick.

Now, with Galaxy Note 9, you can just press the S Pen button once to take a photo. You can press the button twice to switch between the front and rear camera.

Or when you hook Galaxy Note 9 to a projector to do a presentation (in either screen mirroring or Samsung DeX mode), you can use S Pen as a wireless presenter.

Besides the camera app and PowerPoint app, you can also use S Pen remote control on Galaxy Note 9 to control a few other apps.

There are 3 categories of S Pen remote control on Galaxy Note 9:

  1. Open app or S Pen function. You can designate one app to be opened when you press the S Pen button (and when you are in Galaxy Note 9 Home screen or Apps screen). You can also choose one S Pen feature (e.g., smart select) if you do not want to open an app.
  2. App actions. You can choose the corresponding operations for single press and double press of the S Pen in supported Samsung and Google apps.
  3. Universal control or master control. You can assign operations for all third-party camera apps and media apps.

In short, S Pen remote control allows you to perform operations in some apps without looking …

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How to use Galaxy Note 9 S Pen?

Everything about the Bluetooth enabled Galaxy Note 9 S Pen

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Everything about the Bluetooth enabled Galaxy Note 9 S PenGalaxy Note 9 S Pen is a productivity and content-creation tool for Galaxy Note 9.  It received a major update since its inception 7 years ago with Bluetooth features.

You can now use Galaxy Note 9 S Pen as a remote control for several apps, in addition to the traditional S Pen features such as air command and screen-off memo.

This Galaxy Note 9 guide explains the new features of this new S  Pen, how to charge Galaxy Note 9 S Pen, and how to check the battery and Bluetooth connection status.

Please note, this guide is for the new S Pen bundled with Galaxy Note 9.  For S Pen with previous generations of Galaxy Note devices (e.g., Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy Note 7,  Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note 10.1, Galaxy Note Pro, and Galaxy Note 8.0), please check this page.

Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10+ have an updated S Pen with gesture support. You may check this guide on how to use the Galaxy Note 10 S Pen.

What’s new in the Galaxy Note 9 S Pen?

S Pen differs Galaxy Note devices from other Android phones and tablets.  Samsung included S Pen in a few Galaxy Tab S and Galaxy Tab A tablets after they stopped making Galaxy Note tablets.

Over the years, Samsung only slightly tweaked the S Pen. From Galaxy Note to Note 4, there were no noticeable changes. Since Galaxy Note 5, a new design with a release spring has been adopted up to now. But it is only a cosmetic, not functional revision.

Galaxy Note 9 S Pen probably can be considered as a new generation of S Pen.

Although the physic design of the Galaxy Note 9 S Pen is almost identical to that of Galaxy Note 8 (or Note 5), there are considerable new features introduced in the new S Pen on Galaxy Note 9.

The most significant change in Galaxy Note 9 S Pen is Bluetooth LE support.

So, in addition to all existing S Pen features…

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Official Samsung Galaxy Note 9 user manual

Get Samsung official user guide for Galaxy Note 9 in your local language

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The official Samsung Galaxy Note 9 user manual shows you how to use the new features of Galaxy Note 9 in your local language.

You may waste hours of time by trying some features in Galaxy Note 9 (e.g., the new Galaxy Note 9 S Pen or S Pen remote). These features and functions are very likely explained or mentioned in these official Samsung Galaxy Note 9 user manuals.

We are trying to include all available languages of the official Samsung Galaxy Note 9 user manual in this page, and therefore you can get the most appropriate version of the Galaxy Note 9 user guide for your local market.

How to use the official Samsung Galaxy Note 9 user manual?

You can download the official Samsung Galaxy Note 9 user manual in your language to your PC or smartphone, then read it offline.

As all Galaxy Note 9 user guides are in PDF format, you only need to use a PDF reader app (which was included in Galaxy Note 9 already) to read the Galaxy Note 9 user manual.

Normally, it is NOT necessary to read from the beginning to the end. You will not be able to remember it.

Instead, you may save the official Samsung Galaxy Note 9 user manual as a reference book in your Galaxy Note 9. When you have doubts or problems on some features of Galaxy Note 9, or some apps in Galaxy Note 9, or some settings for Galaxy Note 9, you may search the relevant content from the table of contents, or search the keyword in the PDF file.

If you still need a hard copy of the official Samsung Galaxy Note 9 user manual, you have to print it by yourself or use some printing and binding vendors. Samsung does not offer hard copies.

List of  the official Samsung Galaxy Note 9 user manual in all languages

This is a live page. We will add more language versions of  Galaxy Note 9 user guide once they are available during our routine website updating period.

If you cannot find the user …

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Top 9 new features of Galaxy Note 9

Should you upgrade to Galaxy Note 9? Is Galaxy Note 9 a right phone for you?

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Top 9 new features of Galaxy Note 9Samsung unveiled Galaxy Note 9, the 8th generation of Galaxy Note devices, on August 9 (press release).  You will be able to get one in retail stores on August 24.

As the latest generation of Galaxy Note devices, you should expect some new features of Galaxy Note 9 in this phablet.

This guide will explore the top nine new features of Galaxy Note 9 (compared to Galaxy Note 8) to help you understand the differences and enhancements in Galaxy Note 9.

You may check and download the official Samsung Galaxy Note 9 user manual in your local language to try these features.

#1. Top 9 new features of Galaxy Note 9: Bluetooth-enabled S Pen

S Pen is one of the signature accessories for all Galaxy Note devices although a few Samsung tablets (e.g., Galaxy Tab S4 and Tab A) started to get S Pen bundled.

But S Pen in Galaxy Note 9 got a significant update: the S Pen is now Bluetooth enabled.

In addition to all existing S Pen features, you can now use the S Pen as a remote control for Galaxy  Note 9: a remote shutter for Galaxy Note 9 camera, a remote control of media player, a presenter for your presentation with Galaxy Note 9, a remote launcher of some apps. You may check this guide on how to use S Pen remote control on Galaxy Note 9.

You do not need to worry about the battery life and charging the battery in the new S Pen. You put the S Pen in the S Pen slot in Galaxy Note 9 for 1 minute; the S Pen will be ready for use up to 30 minutes.

The secret lies on the supercapacitor, not a regular battery, which powers the S Pen. The lifespan of a supercapacitor is also far longer than a standard lithium battery, and therefore you should never need to replace the supercapacitor even if you use Galaxy Note 9 for the next 10 years.

Please check this page on how to use and charge the new Galaxy Note 9 …

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Official Samsung Galaxy Note 8 User Manual

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Galaxy Note 8 introduced several new features and improvements compared to Galaxy Note 7 and Galaxy Note 5.  You may want to read the official Samsung Galaxy Note 8 user manual to get used to new functions and features, in addition to following Galaxy Note 8 how-to guides.

How to use and download  Samsung Galaxy Note 8 User Manual?

This post is a collection of the official Samsung Galaxy Note 8 user manual in different languages.  All of these user guides are in PDF format. You can download them and read them later. You can also print them if you want.

If you want to read Galaxy Note 8 user manual in your phone,  then what you need is a PDF reader app, for example, Adobe Acrobat reader.

As there are many different language versions of Galaxy Note 8 user manual, we update this post regularly by adding more languages. If you cannot find the local language version of Galaxy Note 8 user guide you need, please let us know your request in the comment box below. We will try to add them as early as possible.

All the user guides in this post are for Galaxy Note 8 only. For other Galaxy Note phones, you may check the official user manuals in these pages:

List of available language versions of official Samsung Galaxy Note 8 user manual

This is a live page. We will add the official Samsung Galaxy Note 8 user manuals in all languages here once they are released.

1. Official Samsung Galaxy Note 8 user manual in English language (UK) for international versions of Galaxy Note 8 (Android Nougat 7.1, English, Europe, Latin

…

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Top 8 new features of Galaxy Note 8

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Top 8 new features of Galaxy Note 8As the successor of the defunct Galaxy Note 7, Galaxy Note 8 (Samsung officially named it as Note8) brings many new features and improvements. These new features of Galaxy Note 8 differentiate Galaxy Note 8 from previous generations of Galaxy Note devices, and also from other Android phones you can buy.

Even compared to this year’s flagship Galaxy S8 which was launched less than 6 months ago, Galaxy Note 8 offers considerable upgrade and new features.

This post summarizes the most notable new features in Galaxy Note 8 you should try. These top 8 new features of Galaxy Note 8 are also the important factors that may help you decide whether Galaxy Note 8 is the right phone for you.

You may also check the official Galaxy Note 8 user guide in your own language to know the phone better.

Dual rear cameras

Dual rear camera is not new. Many other Android phone manufacturers like LG and HTC offered dual cameras in their flagship phones for one or two years already. Even some iPhones (for example iPhone 7 Plus) have dual rear cameras.

Samsung added a few useful features to Galaxy Note 8’s dual camera:

  • Optical image stabilization (OIS) for both of the rear cameras. All other vendors offer OIS only in one of the rear cameras.
  • 2x optical zoom, in addition to digital zoom. This is the first Galaxy phones with optical zoom.
  • Live focus. You can blur the background and focus on specific object. Photos taken with live focus can be modified by adjusting the  level of background blur in the future.
  • Dual capture.  When live focus is on, you can take 2 pictures individually with the two cameras.

Dual camera probably is one of the most useful and attractive new features of Galaxy Note 8.

6.3 inch screen

The infinity display may be not the cake for some Note users. But the bigger display is definitely an exciting feature of Galaxy Note 8.

Most Galaxy Note users prefer bigger screen: when the mainstream of the screen was 3.5 inch, we …

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Top 12 new features in Galaxy Note 5 Android Nougat udpate

Android Nougat update for Galaxy Note 5 brings you some useful new features including Grace UI, device maintenance, new multi window, screen zoom, screen resolution adjustment, new camera app, performance mode, data saver mode and many more....

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Top 12 new features in Galaxy Note 5 Android Nougat udpateGalaxy Note 5 Android Nougat udpate is the last major update for Galaxy Note 5 in most regions. You may check the the Official Samsung Galaxy Note 5 user manuals with Android Nougat update here.

Just like other major Android updates, there are many new features and improvements in  Galaxy Note 5 Android Nougat update.  Some of these new features and improvements are from Android Nougat 7.0; and others are customized by Samsung for their Galaxy devices.

This post will summarize the top 12 new features and improvements in Galaxy Note 5 Android Nougat udpate to help you get the most from the new firmware in your Galaxy Note 5.

New UI in Galaxy Note 5 Android Nougat udpate

Samsung finally ditched the old blue/green UI and moved to new Grace UI , which was first spotted in the defunct Galaxy Note 7.

Actually, the new Grace UI is now standard in all Samsung devices with Android Nougat.

With the new UI, Galaxy Note 5 looks like a modern device. The old UI is really old-fashioned (arguable).

Of course, some Galaxy Note 5 may not like the white color based theme in the Galaxy Note 5 Android Nougat udpate. They can easily find many dark themes for Galaxy Note 5.

New device maintenance entry in Galaxy Note 5 settings

In Galaxy Note 5 Android Nougat udpate, you can find a new entry named device maintenance.

Device maintenance offers one-button optimization including:

  • Checking background apps;
  • Freeing up storage;
  • Detecting abnormal battery usage;
  • Detecting app crashes;
  • Detecting malware apps.

In addition, in device maintenance,  you can also:

  • check battery usage and enable battery saving modes;
  • choose and customize 4 different performance modes;
  • manage storage;
  • check memory usage and clean memory;
  • enable /disable Intel Security Anti-malware (actually it is re-branded McAfee VirusScan). It is NOT recommended if you get apps from reliable sources.

So, device maintenance in Galaxy Note 5 Android Nougat udpate is just a combination of various device management and optimization tools.

New Calendar app replaces S Planner

Do not confuse the new Calendar …

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How to check whether you have a safe Galaxy Note 7 battery?

How to know whether your Galaxy Note 7 battery is safe or not? This guide shows you 3 different methods to check whether you get a safe Galaxy Note 7 battery: IMEI number, battery icon in status bar and always-on display, and power button options.

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Following the global Galaxy Note 7 recall, in the market, there are two types of Galaxy Note 7 devices: Galaxy Note 7 to be returned (but the owners have not done so) and the safe Galaxy Note 7 devices (with a safe Galaxy Note 7 battery).

For your own safety, you should make sure your Galaxy Note 7 now has a safe battery inside. If the battery is not safe, you should return the phone to local Samsung office.

Do not risk your safety.

This guide shows you various methods to check whether you have a safe Galaxy Note 7 battery in your Note7.

Method 1: use IMEI number to check whether you have a safe Galaxy Note 7 battery

You can use the IMEI number (which is unique for each mobile device) of your Galaxy Note 7 to check whether the Galaxy Note 7 battery is safe or not.

For dual SIM models, there are two IMEI number. Normally, you just use the IMEI number for SIM card slot 1.

You can find out your Galaxy Note 7’s IMEI number in any of the following 4 ways:

  • Outside Galaxy Note 7 box.  Outside of the box, the IMEI number usually is usually printed in a white label.
  • Inside Galaxy Note 7 box. Inside the Galaxy Note 7 box, there are some sticks. Some of them are for IMEI numbers.
  • Back of Galaxy Note 7 device.  IMEI number is always printed in the back of your Galaxy Note 7 near the main antenna area.  You can find the tiny characters under CE0168 or something similar. Anyway, the characters are always small! The IMEI number is sectioned by “/”. You need the whole string, then remove the “/”.
  • In Galaxy Note 7. In your Galaxy Note 7, you can find IMEI number in Settings — About device — Status — IMEI information.

You can use any of the above-mentioned 4 methods to get the Galaxy Note 7 IMEI number. If you are not sure, you can always visit local Samsung service center or carrier’s store to get the …

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Questions and Answers on Galaxy Note 7 Recall

Everything you need to know about Galaxy Note 7 recall due to potential battery quality issues.

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Questions and Answers on Galaxy Note 7 RecallNote: I compiled the following info for our Galaxy Note device community.  If you need official answers on Galaxy Note 7 recall, please check local Samsung service center.

Today (September 2, 2016), Samsung announced globally (excluding China) voluntary recall for Galaxy Note 7 due to possible battery quality issues in some phones.

The official statement can be found here and quoted below.

Samsung is committed to producing the highest quality products and we take every incident report from our valued customers very seriously. In response to recently reported cases of the new Galaxy Note7, we conducted a thorough investigation and found a battery cell issue.

To date (as of September 1) there have been 35 cases that have been reported globally and we are currently conducting a thorough inspection with our suppliers to identify possible affected batteries in the market. However, because our customers’ safety is an absolute priority at Samsung, we have stopped sales of the Galaxy Note7.

For customers who already have Galaxy Note7 devices, we will voluntarily replace their current device with a new one over the coming weeks. Instructions on the replacement process will be shared next week.

We acknowledge the inconvenience this may cause in the market but this is to ensure that Samsung continues to deliver the highest quality products to our customers. We are working closely with our partners to ensure the replacement experience is as convenient and efficient as possible.

Why Samsung recall Galaxy Note 7 globally?

The Galaxy Note 7 recall is due to reported battery issues.

According to Samsung, there are 35 cases reported till September 1 (among about 1 million sold Galaxy Note 7 devices).

Up to now, nobody is injured. The damage is limited to Galaxy Note 7 devices only.

Because Samsung cannot identify the batch of batteries with potential quality issues from one of its two battery cell suppliers, as a preventive measure, they decided to recall all Galaxy Note 7 voluntarily.

What does voluntary recall mean?

A product can be recalled due to demands of local authorities, or court coders. These are compulsory product recalls…

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Galaxy Note 7 New Features

Top 7 Galaxy Note 7 features: iris scanner, water resistant, SD card support, bigger battery, new S Pen tricks, USB Type-C and curved screen.

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Galaxy Note 7 New FeaturesLike it or not, Galaxy Note 7 will be one of the best selling smartphones in 2016.

Although Galaxy Note 7 have almost identical hardware specs as Galaxy S7 edge (except S Pen and iris scanner), Galaxy Note 7 is a major udpate for Galaxy Note 5.

As explained in Galaxy Note 7 specs post, Galaxy Note 7 is a major update for Galaxy Note 5, not for Galaxy S7 (or S7 edge).

In this post, let’s explore top 7  Galaxy Note 7 new features .

These top 7 new features in Galaxy Note 7 makes the phone apart from previous generations of  Galaxy Note devices, mainly, Galaxy Note 5 or Galaxy Note 4.

1. Iris scanner:  the most noteworthy Galaxy Note 7 new feature, but is it just a fad?

Before Galaxy Note 7 was announced, Samsung deliberately leaked the iris scanner as one of the top Galaxy Note 7 new features.

But many long-time Samsung customers (you should NEVER trust experts…..) had thought the new feature would not work well until 2 or 3 generations later.

If you can remember the awkward (and inaccurate) fingerprint scanner in Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4, you would think iris scanner probably would be an usable feature in Galaxy Note 8 or Galaxy S9!

It seems most of us are wrong.

Iris scanner in Galaxy Note 7 works surprisingly well: both fast and accurate.

But the question is whether this new feature makes any sense.

Currently, iris scanner in Galaxy Note 7 can be used:

  • to unlock the phone. It is not as natural or easy as using fingerprint.  You also have to wake up the screen to use Galaxy Note 7 iris scanner. Of course, iris may be more secure. But do we need such a security for the lock screen?
  • to use secure folder. This is simply a folder secured by your eyes. Technically, it is similar to use password to encrypt a folder.
  • to authenticate your Samsung account, or to use in Samsung Pay.

Anyway, the good thing on Galaxy Note 7 iris scanner …

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Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Specifications

Hardware and software specifications of Galaxy Note 7. Official infographic of Galaxy Note 7 specifications vs Galaxy Note 5.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Specifications

Update 1: Samsung Galaxy Note 7 user manuals in more than 40 languages are available for download.

Update 2: Galaxy Note 7 guides page is alive. You can check detailed Galaxy Note 7 how-to guides here.

On August 2,2016, Samsung announced the 6th generation of Galaxy Note phones: Galaxy Note 7 (they skipped Galaxy Note 6 to match generation numbers of Galaxy S series).

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Specifications indicate this is an update for Galaxy Note 5. It is NOT targeted for Galaxy S7 0r S7 edge users because essentially Galaxy Note 7 is Galaxy S7 edge with a S Pen.

This post will focus on hardware and software  aspects of Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Specifications. Discussions, comments, and guides on Galaxy Note 7 will be available in other posts/pages.

Galaxy Note 7 Specifications: hardware design

Galaxy Note 7 is water and dust resistant  with a IP68 rating. This is the first Galaxy Note devices that are waterproof.

Another hardware design change from Galaxy Note 5 is curved screen, in addition to the curved back. In other words, the curved screen is similar to that on Galaxy S7 edge.

Galaxy Note 7 is also the first smartphone with Gorilla Glass 5 for both front and back panel.

Galaxy Note 7 Specifications: CPU

Galaxy Note 7 has two variants in CPU configuration.

For US and other north American markets, Snapdragon 820, not the latest Snapdragon 821, will be used. This means Galaxy Note 7 has identical CPU as Galaxy S7, which is almost half-year old.

For other markets, Galaxy Note 7 will get  Exynos 8890, which is identical to that in Galaxy S7 and S7 edge in these markets.

Again, Galaxy Note 7 is an update for Galaxy Note 5, not for Galaxy S7 edge.

Galaxy Note 7 Specifications: RAM

Galaxy Note 7 has 4GB RAM, same as Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S7.

Nothing to complain. 4GB should be good enough for 99.99% users for today’s apps. 6GB probably will be a waste for 99.999% users, at least in 2016 and 2017.

Galaxy Note

…

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Top 5 defects of Galaxy Note 5

Galaxy Note 5 vs Galaxy Note 4: what are the missing features? No Micro SD card support, non-removable battery, no IR blaster, smaller battery, and missing Lollipop features.

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Top_5_defects_of_Galaxy_Note_5Update 1: Galaxy Note 5 S Pen is another design defect.  If you accidentally insert the Galaxy Note 5 S Pen in wrong direction, Galaxy Note 5 will not be able to detect whether the S Pen is in the slot or not. There are no solutions except visiting service center. Please rad this page for details.

As detailed in this post, Galaxy Note 5 comes with some new or improved features, for example, new design with curved glass back, fast wireless charging, improved S pen features, improved camera, more RAM, faster CPU, better fingerprint sensor.

You will surely enjoy these features and the new Galaxy Note 5.

However, it seems Samsung  failed to get some user feedback of the defects or design flaws of Galaxy S6  and Galaxy S6 edge.  Galaxy Note 5 share some similar defects.

This post will try to summarize the top 5 defects in Galaxy Note 5.

Top 5 defects of Galaxy Note 5:  1. No micro SD card support

All previous generations of Galaxy Note devices, including Galaxy Note tablets (Galaxy Note 8.0, Galaxy Note 10.1, Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition and Galaxy Note Pro), have a micro SD card slot for you to expand the storage or to transfer files.

But Galaxy Note 5 stops this trend. Galaxy Note 5 does not support micro SD card. There is no micro SD card slot.

As micro SD card has similar size to SIM card,  micro SD card slot does not necessarily reside inside the phone.

If you have a SIM card slot, then technically, there is no problem to put a micro SD card slot.

One of the excuses of missing SD card slot is that Galaxy Note 5 is using UFS 2.0 storage, which is 3 times faster than eMMC storage. The micro SD card is too slow to match the performance of UFS 2.0 storage.

The truth is in your PC, you very likely have a very fast SSD drive, together with traditional, slower mechanical hard disk. It does not make sense you should throw away your …

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