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Samsung's Note series are always among the hotly-anticipated phones for the second half of the year. Packed to the brim with hardware, featuring a new magical gizmo or two from Samsung's R&D labs, and holding one of the best styluses for a smartphone — the S Pen — right in their body.
Just like last year, we have two variations of the phone — Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. The Note 20 is the... "more affordable" option, while the Note 20 Ultra goes all out.
Phone
Galaxy Note 20 5G
Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G
Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G
Variation
8 GB RAM, 128 GB Storage
12 GB RAM, 128 GB Storage
12 GB RAM, 512 GB Storage
Price
$999.99
$1,299.99
$1,449.99
Best cases for Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
If you've already ordered one of Samsung's latest shiny jewels, you might want to snag a Galaxy Note 20 Ultra case to keep it safe! Head here and make your pick:
Samsung and Microsoft have been best buddies for a couple of years now. In 2020, this partnership goes on — Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra customers will get Xbox Game Pass and will able to game on Microsoft's Project xCloud — the cloud gaming service, which will launch in September. Additionally, the Your Phone app in Windows can now sync up with the Galaxy Note 20 not only to view your messages and calls, but also open your Android apps in the Windows environment.
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 5G camera
The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has a 108 MP main camera, a 12 MP ultra-wide, and a 12 MP telephoto camera. It offers 5x optical zoom and 50x super resolution (a.k.a. digital) zoom. The Galaxy Note 20 has a 12 MP main camera, 12 MP ultra-wide, and 64 MP telephoto camera — at least that's how it's listed. It actually offers 3x hybrid (crop-in) zoom-in to achieve the telephoto effect. It's super res zoom caps out at 30x.
Nevertheless, both phones share a lot of features and camera app DNA. Both are capable of 8K video recording at 24 FPS and full manual controls when recording — even the directional microphones can be tinkered with.
As for selfies, both the Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra have a 10 MP front-facing camera, right in the top center of their screens.
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 5G design and display
The Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra look like two different beasts. While the Ultra has a curved "edge" display on the front, the regular Note 20 goes with a flat screen. Furthermore, the Note 20 Ultra is slightly bigger — it measures at 3.03 x 6.49 x 0.32 in (77.2 x 164.8 x 8.1 mm) where the Note 20 is 2.96 x 6.36 x 0.33 in (75.2 x 161.6 x 8.3 mm). The subtle size difference comes from the screens — the Ultra has a 6.9-inch display with a 1,440 x 3,088 pixel resolution (19.3:9 aspect ratio), the Note 20 has a 6.7-inch screen and a resolution of 1,080 x 2,400 (20:9 aspect ratio).
We've got two beautiful AMOLED panels, of course, but only the Note 20 Ultra gets the super-high refresh rate that you'd expect on a 2020 flagship. Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has 120 Hz refresh rate, while the Galaxy Note 20 only has 60 Hz.
We have Samsung's OneUI 2.5 skin running over Android 10. The Note series will get 3 years worth of Android upgrades, which means the Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra should hit Android 13, in 2023.
OneUI is well-known for changing the face of Android entirely and adding a huge amount of extra bells, whistles, and features that both enhance the user experience and hold up the Samsung ecosystem by making interactions with other Samsung smart devices easy and pain-free.
The S Pen that comes with the Note phones is not only super sensitive and accurate, it also has a plethora of software features dedicated to it alone.
Cameras: 108 MP main, 12 MP zoom, 12 MP ultra-wide; 10 MP front camera
Battery: 4,500 mAh
The Galaxy Note line has always been the cream of the crop. Keeping in line with this, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and Note 20 are both powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ in the US. An octa-core beast, built on a 7 nm process — the 865+ is a slightly improved version of the regular Snapdragon 865 that powers the Galaxy S20 series.
Abroad, the Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra will have Samsung's own Exynos 990 chip inside — the very same processor that powers the international S20 models.
We have different RAM and storage tiers. The regular Galaxy Note 20 comes with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB or 256 GB of storage. The Note 20 Ultra has variants with 8 GB of RAM and 12 GB of RAM, as well as storage tiers from 128 GB to 512 GB.
All of this is powered by a 4,300 mAh battery in the Note 20 and a 4,500 mAh cell in the Note 20 Ultra.
The Samsung DeX is a pretty cool niche feature, that we are happy to see keep evolving. It turns your phone in a mini PC, completely changing the interface into a desktop-like environment — you only need to connect it to an external monitor and keyboard.
When you connect via DeX, the Note becomes a touchpad
In the past, you needed a DeX dock for this. Then, a DeX cable. Well, in 2020 — it's wireless! You can connect your Galaxy Note 20 or Note 20 Ultra to any smart TV (Miracast) and you will get that desktop interface in a pinch.
Improved S Pen
Samsung's S Pen has always been the best in-the-box stylus you can get for a phone. Thanks to the Note handsets' Wacom digitizer, the S Pen is accurate, fast, and sensitive. However, the Apple Pencil really gave it a run for its money when it comes to latency. Samsung has upgraded the S Pen in the Note 20 series to now have ultra-fast, 9 ms response time for a "real feel experience", putting it on par with the Apple Pencil.
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra tips and tricks
Rad Slavov is the Editor-in-Chief at PhoneArena. He joined the media in 2008, right on the cusp of the modern smartphone revolution. Through time and perseverance, he amassed a great deal of knowledge and industry know-how, allowing him to guide and organize the company's growing line-up of talented content creators and ever-expanding content portfolio.
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