holgs/iStock(NEW YORK) — Samsung revealed a slimmer, more powerful Galaxy Note on Wednesday.
The company launched its Galaxy Note 10, a smartphone, at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center Wednesday afternoon. For the first time, the company is offering the Galaxy Note in two sizes: the sleek Galaxy Note 10 with a 6.3-inch display, and the Galaxy Note10+ boasts a 6.8-inch screen.
“Every element of the Galaxy Note 10 was designed to help users achieve more,” DJ Koh, president and CEO of Samsung’s IT and Mobile Communications Division, told the crowd. “Whether they’re finishing a big project for work, capturing and editing a video, or playing their favorite mobile game, the Galaxy Note10 will help them do it faster and better.”
For stylus devotees, the accompanying S Pen features even more advanced functions, including a feature that converts handwriting to text, which can be exported to different formats, including Microsoft Word. The S pen also acts as a remote control for the phone, enabled by gestures. For example, pressing a button on the S pen can make the phone snap a photo, even if it’s across the room. The zoom-in mic is improved and reduces background noise in videos. There’s also an AR (augmented reality) doodle feature that allows users to draw over photos and videos.
The Galaxy Note 10s are available for pre-order starting on Thursday, and in select stores on Aug. 23.
The base Galaxy Note 10, with 256 gigabytes of memory, retails at $949 in the U.S. The larger Galaxy Note 10+ will price at $1,099 in the U.S.
The new phones can also sync with Windows 10-enabled devices.
The Microsoft partnership was a key part of the Samsung Unpacked event. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was greeted with applause when he walked on stage.
The new launch comes at a precarious time for Samsung and the smart phone industry as a whole. Sales of phones have been slowing worldwide, as the market has become saturated and prices hover around $1,000, making all but the most fervent early adopters reluctant to upgrade. At the same time, the Trump administration has threatened a new round of tariffs on products imported from China, which could hit consumer electronics coming into the U.S. as early at Sept. 1.
Meanwhile, Samsung’s Chinese competitor, Huawei, remains in the U.S. crosshairs. On Wednesday the Trump administration moved to ban government agencies from doing business with Huawei.
Still, the South Korean electronics giant remains in competition with Cupertino-based Apple for the high end of the market.
“Samsung is aggressively going after Apple’s base and gaining market share on its latest slew of product launches including the Galaxy Note 10,” Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives told ABC News ahead of the event. “This new smartphone will have enhanced camera functionality, a stronger processor, and an impressive design with color schemes which could sway consumers.”
At Wednesday’s launch, there was no mention of Samsung’s big bet on the future of mobile phones, the $2,000 foldable Galaxy Fold. The Fold’s launch was pushed back to September after several media outlets reported problems with review copies.
“The foldable phone remains Samsung’s biggest bet and we believe the delayed launch and high price points speaks to some challenges ahead for this product to gain broader adoption. In the smartphone arms race Samsung is going after foldable and 5G with Cupertino share gains in its sights,” Ives said.
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