When Samsung de Galaxy S20 Ultra at $ 1400, it felt like Samsung was trying to push its super-premium phones in a brand new tier, a tier that would justify its obscene $ 1,400 price tag. Although the S20 Ultra had a gigantic 6.9-inch screen and an enormous 10x lossless zoom, it lacked some of Samsung’s usual polish and just did not give enough to make me feel that all that money was worth it.
Just six months ahead, and now the arrival of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is sporting an even better screen with a variable 120Hz refresh rate, a much more refined design, faster performance, improved productivity, and an upgraded S-Pen. Oh, and it’s actually a little cheaper than the S20 Ultra. So after some careful repayment, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has become a fully armed and operational battle station, and it is the true heir of the empire.
Unlike the S20 Ultra which always felt sorta-sounding, between its signature Mystic Bronze finish and new matte glass backs, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra feels the first-class device that Samsung tried to deliver. In fact, apart from the reasonably large camera bulge, the body and bezels of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra are actually a bit thinner than the Galaxy S20 Ultras, so although both phones have 6.9-inch screens, the Note 20 Ultra feels it much wilder device. As for the camera bump, although it does not appear at all, given the number of buyers who immediately throw their phones in cases at the moment they get it, it is hard to complain too much. Large camera modules are here, and they do not go away quickly.
The Note 20 Ultra’s biggest upgrade is its new display of 120Hz variable refresh rate. Every year, Samsung maintains its best mobile screen for the Note, and this year Samsung is really up for the competition because there is no other display like this on the market. When tested, the display of the Note 20 Ultra reached a sharp brightness, just short of 800 nits (with Samsung claiming that in some circumstances the Note 20 Ultra can reach a maximum of 1000 nits), while also showing some of the heaviest , striking colors produced around.
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And on top of all that, Samsung has the Note 20 Ultra’s 120Hz display to support variable refresh rates, so that instead of being locked up to 60Hz or 120Hz as on the S20 Ultra, the display of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra can dynamically adjust its refresh rate, depending on what’s on the screen. This allows the Note 20 Ultra to save energy when doing less intense things, such as viewing photos or entering an email, which is important for you as a phone that supports full 5G connectivity when you connect to a following gene cell network, having extra juice in the tank is always welcome. And when you watch movies or play games, you can take full advantage of those high refresh rates to get super smooth video games and graphics.
On the inside, the Note 20 Ultra is also flooded with an abundance of specs and performance. Boasting a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ processor, 12GB of RAM, 128GB of basic storage (like 512GB when you upgrade), and a microSD card slot, Samsung’s hyperphone never feels like you’ve charging it, no matter how hard you try. Across the board, the Note 20 Ultra consistently ranks top-level benchmark numbers, including the highest score we’ve ever seen on Geekbench 5’s Compute test (3,658).
I also really appreciate that Samsung gave it the possibility to connect to any Miracast-enabled TV while using DeX, giving you yet another way to use all the performance of your phone. For a phone designed to power users, combined with Samsung’s usual wired DeX mode, this really elevates the Note 20 Ultra from a really powerful phone to more of a laptop replacement, or at least something you can really do get work in a pinch.
Speaking of work, next to the new screen of the Note 20 Ultra with variable refresh rate (VRR), Samsung has also reduced its touch input latency to just 9 milliseconds, just like what you see on the Tab S7 + as in iPad Pro. This makes notes, sketches or anything else when you use the S-Pen to make you feel incredibly smooth. And with five new Anywhere actions for going back, going home, calling up recent apps, using Smart Select, and enabling screenwriting, you could easily use a Note 20 Ultra to host a full Powerpoint presentation without ever hacking into a real computer. But that’s not all, because thanks to the ability to annotate directly to PDFs with the S-Pen, automatically sync the Samsung notebooks across multiple devices, and connect the Note 20 Ultra to a Windows PC via Your Phone app, with the Note 20 as complementary work equipment is now even easier.
Meanwhile, Samsung has rounded up the camera parts of the S20 Ultra remix for the Note 20 Ultra, so this time you get a 108-MP main cam, a 12-MP ultra-wide cam, and a 12-MP telephoto camera with a 5x optical zoom. And instead of a 3D time-of-flight sensor, Samsung introduced the Note 20 Ultra a new laser autofocus system. This is perhaps one of the smartest adjustments Samsung has made for the Note 20 Ultra, because by incorporating one lesser camera (especially one that was somewhat gimmicky), Samsung was able to lower the price of the components of lower the phone while also giving you better camera performance in the real world.
Well, the Note 20 Ultra’s cameras are not without their flaws, because they, like many Samsung phones, have a tendency to go a little too hard on sharpness and can sometimes shift the white balance to shift too yellow, but overall the image quality of the Note 20 Ultra is just a bit behind what you get from a Pixel 4, which is a respectable place to be. Details are generally sharp, shutter speed is almost non-existent (unless you turn on the full 108 MP resolution mode on the phone), and it’s Pro Video recording mode has even more features and settings for more advanced mobile videographers. And if you have a few Galaxy Buds Live, you can even use them as an external mic when filming when paired with the Note 20 Ultra.
Finally, although the Note 20 Ultra’s 4,500 mAh are not quite as large as what you get in a Galaxy S20 Ultra (5,000 mAh), thanks to the more energy-efficient processor and screen, the total battery life of 14 hours and 23 minutes was just 20 times shorter than the S20 Ultra (14:41). That’s better than an iPhone 11 Pro (13:00), and a Pixel 4 XL (12:36), but just a little shorter than a iPhone 11 Pro Max (15:00)
For a long time I have been wondering what the Galaxy Note line is other than just a Galaxy S with a built-in stylus, and with the Note 20 Ultra, Samsung has finally responded. The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has a beautiful screen with faster performance and even more productivity features than you get in the ultimate Galaxy S phone, along with way more productivity features and a price tag that is $ 100 less.
Honestly, the S-Pen is just a bonus, and when it comes to taking notes during meetings or just drawing sly shots on photos, I’m glad it’s still round. But even without it, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is still as much thought out and refined as the S20 Ultra, like any other super premium phone. Yes, even at $ 1,300, this thing is still very expensive, but in the end, Samsung has finally made something really worthwhile from that “Ultra ”tag.
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- Samsung says that the Zoom 20 Ultra’s zoom goes up to 50x, but that’s it really pressing. Stick to 5x to 10x for optimalall the results.
- It’s hard to capture in photos, but the new matte texture on the back of the Note 20 Ultra feels fantastic.
- Samsung’s new variable refresh rate display lets the Note 20 Ultra adjust its scan frequency based on the type of content you are viewing.
- Despite faster performance, a better screen and a built-in stylus, the Note 20 Ultra actually costs $ 100 less than an S20 Ultra.
- Samsung now supports three generations of Android OS upgrades on select Galaxy phones, including the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra (pre-installed with Android 10), making you feel better about the longevity of a phone so expensive.
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