The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 is one of the latest premium flagships that packs a powerful processor and an equally valuable camera. To top it off you have the charm of the new One UI. As you know, software plays a vital role in defining your overall experience. And luckily, the Galaxy Note 20 has incredible settings and customization options that will really help you use it to its full potential.
So if you want to get the most out of your new phone, here are some incredible tips and tricks to help you customize it to your preference.
It’ll be long, let’s get started, shall we?
Samsung Galaxy Note 20
Check out the Galaxy Note 20 if you haven’t bought it yet.
1. Unlock with S Pen
Did you know you can unlock your phone with the S Pen? Yes, you read it right! If you are working with the S Pen and the phone is locked, you can unlock it by simply pressing the Pen button. Is not it beautiful?
To enable it, go to Settings > Advanced Features > S Pen and change the S Pen unlock key. Next time your phone will lock itself, just press the button and the phone will be unlocked in seconds.
note: This feature will not work if you manually lock the phone or if the S Pen is inside the phone.
2. Enable Adaptive Display
Galaxy Note 20 has Adaptive Display feature thanks to the VRR OLED display. Using this, you can choose a variable refresh rate on your phone.
When enabled, your phone’s screen may drop as low as 10Hz when you’re not scrolling and reading a long-form post like our detailed descriptions. And when you open a game, the refresh rate goes up again.
To enable Adaptive Display, go to Settings > Display > Motion smoothness and select Adaptive. This feature is also battery friendly. Samsung claims to save 22% of battery.
However, there is a slight catch. Not available in higher WQHD+ resolution. To change the resolution back to FHD+, go to Display > Display Resolution.
3. Enable Video Enhancer
The display of the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is one of the best among the smartphone products available. It is clear and alive.
And watching videos and movies on it is an attraction. But what if I told you, you can improve it further? Say hello to Video Enhancer.
As the name suggests, this nifty feature makes videos livelier. And the best part is, once enabled, it works on any type of video, whether it’s an offline video app or streaming platforms like Netflix. Is not it beautiful?
This feature is available under Advanced Features. All you have to do is change the key.
4. Customize Side Key Function
Do you want the good old Power Key back? By default, Bixby comes to life when you long press the Side Key on your Note 20. Sometimes, it can be a little annoying.
You can always turn off the phone with the Power button in the Quick Settings menu, but this is not possible. Call it muscle memory, but when I want to restart or turn off my phone, my thumb automatically goes to the power key.
Fortunately, there is a way to bring back the power menu. To do this, go to Advanced Features > Side key and select the Shut down menu under the ‘Hold’ list, that’s it. The shutdown menu will reactivate.
Don’t worry, Bixby isn’t going anywhere. If you need to wake Bixby, you can choose the second option under Double-press. Or you can long press the home button to bring up the voice assistant. Make sure to select your voice assistant from the Device Assistance menu.
5. Always On Display
The Always On Display (AOD) feature has been one of the signature features of all Samsung phones with AMOLED displays. This nifty feature lets you check the time, notification and battery percentage without waking your phone.
The good news is that you can now also view the information of the currently playing song. And it doesn’t end there. You can also play/pause the song or skip to the next song without waking your phone. Is not it beautiful?
To enable it, go to Lock Screen settings > Always On Display and toggle the Show music info switch.
The next time you listen to your favorite song, the song information will appear in the AOD. To switch or play/pause songs, double tap the song information, it displays the music widget.
6. Customize S Pen Gestures
The S Pen comes this time with even more features and options. Where previously this little magic wand let you click pictures or scroll through long pages with the push of a button, it is now armed with nifty little gestures.
For example, if you want to scribble a note quickly, after pressing the Pen button, all you have to do is make a scribble gesture (circled below). The S Pen supports a total of five gestures, and you’ll find you use them more often than you think.
To check the option go to Advanced features under Settings and select S Pen > Air Actions and look under the ‘Anywhere’ card.
The best part is that the actions are not hard coded and you can reassign the actions. So if you want to assign the Shake action to open Instagram, click the action and select the app from the list.
To test it, go to the home screen and press the button and do the gesture and Voila!
Pro Tip: For Samsung apps, you can also define actions for the Pen’s button.
7. Convert Your Handwriting to Text
Speaking of the S Pen and its features, did you know that you can convert your handwriting to text? Over time, the handwriting recognition feature of Samsung phones has improved a lot. Your handwriting no longer has to be perfect to be recognized accurately.
After writing a note using the S Pen, tap and hold the text part and you will see the Convert to text option. Tap on it and the converted text will be displayed immediately. If correct, hit the Convert button. Simple, see.
And this is not the end of the story. You can even save these notes as PDF files or MS Word files. To do this, press the three-button menu, choose Save as File and choose the appropriate option.
8. Discover Share Nearby
The Galaxy Note 20 is one of the first phones to feature Android’s Nearby Share. Like Apple’s AirDrop, this feature is a unified platform for Android users to share files with their contacts. It uses Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, peer-to-peer WiFi or Location to find and establish the connection, and the transfer happens when the other person accepts the transfer.
To share a file or picture, tap on the Share icon and you will see the Nearby Sharing option. After granting the necessary permissions, you will see the ‘Searching for nearby devices’ prompt. If Nearby Sharing is enabled on the recipient’s phone, their Google ID will be displayed.
As soon as you tap the ID, the transfer starts and the other person accepts the request. The process is fast and fast. We shared 127MB 8K video from Galaxy Note 20 to Galaxy S10 Lite and the transfer was completed in seconds. The same was true for about 32 image files.
The only problem is that the other phone has to stay unlocked and close to your phone.
Pro Tip: There are also some privacy options. If you don’t want your device to be visible to everyone around you, go to the Share with Nearby settings (tap and hold the Nearby Settings icon in the Quick Settings menu) and select Device visibility. You can also change the device name.
9. Magnify Details with S Pen
Another S Pen quirk is that it lets you magnify and zoom in on objects on the screen. Let’s say you want to check intricate details on a new earring or bike, you have to point the pen at the screen to enlarge it.
However, the Magnify app is not in the Air Actions menu by default. To add it, open Air Actions > Shortcuts and click the Edit button in the lower left corner.
Tap the Grow app to add it to the list.
When scrolling through an interesting article on a new gadget, select the Magnify app and hover over the picture. Yes, you can thank me later.
Pro Tip: You can also drag apps to change their location.
Take Notes on Note
These were some of the changes you made to your Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra to get the most out of it. These aren’t the only options on the phone.
If you are a Windows user, you can enable Windows Link feature to access pictures and messages stored on your phone on your Windows 10 machine. And if you’re an audiophile, don’t forget to tweak the Dolby Atmos settings.
Next: Should you still buy the Galaxy Buds Plus? Check out the comparison between Galaxy Buds Plus and Jabra Elite 75t.
Samsung Galaxy Note 20
Check out the Galaxy Note 20 if you haven’t bought it yet.
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