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Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Hands On, Quick Review

Author
Vikrant Gupta
Published
3 years ago

Samsung Galaxy Note series since born has gained a lot of fan following across the world. There is absolutely no substitute to Note series when it comes to the stylus. And pushing forward the Note legacy, today, Samsung has introduced an all-new 2020 Note series smartphones to the world. The 2020 Note series succeeds 2019 generation Note smartphones in almost every aspect, a better chipset, better design, better battery, and most important of all a better and improved Stylus.

There are two Note smartphones this year as usual, but unlike last year, there is no plus model to be found, it is replaced with an ultra moniker.

Samsung Note 20 Series Design

To the surprise, Samsung Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra comes in a different chassis. Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra comes as a glass-metal-glass packet, while vanilla Note 20 has got a plastic back. 

Also this time around, the curved screen has been kept exclusive to the ultra model, and there is no curved screen to be found in vanilla Note 20. Nevertheless, Note 20 comes with a 2.5D glass for an added premium touch, and it doesn't feel any bit less premium than the Ultra model. In fact, loss of curved screen has made up for more practicality - no ghost touch, temper guard issues, or compromised durability. 

One thing that I don't find amusing about vanilla Note 20 is its curves. Vanilla Note 20 edges, though flat, are not as flat as its ultra sibling, I don't know, why Samsung did this, but it's a huge turn off for me as Note series flat curves have always been one prominent reason I have loved them so much.

Moving to the back, The back panel of both of these smartphones feature a triple camera setup, almost identical in looks, but different configuration, I'll come back to it later. For authentication, they both come equipped with an in-display ultrasonic fingerprint scanner.

The bottom of Note series is quiet busy. There is S-Pen, which is now located on the left side of the bottom pane unlike previous Note smartphones. The S-Pen is followed by a loud speaker, a USB Type-C Charging port and a mic as we move toward right pane.

Samsung Note 20 Ultra Display

Like the name itself signifies, it is a replica of Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra + stylus + less rounded edges. Upfront, there is the same 6.9 inches 1440p+ resolution 2X capacitive Dynamic Super AMOLED screen with a punch hole cut out located at the top center of the screen. But unlike 40MP selfie shooter available in S20 Ultra, Note 20 Ultra comes with just a 10MP selfie cam. 

Anyways, Note 20 Ultra Display comes built around a modern 20:9 aspect ratio with a 120Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch sampling rate. There's a catch though, 120Hz refresh rate is available only when Note 20 Ultra display resolution is set to FullHD+ or lower. At QuadHd resolution, You only get to use a 90Hz refresh rate.

 The display also supports HDR+ content and has an overall pixel density of 502ppi. The punch hole in Note 20 Ultra is the tiniest one I have seen to date, smaller as compared to the vanilla Note 20, but it's a partiality since both carry the same 10MP selfie cam. 

Overall, Samsung Note 20 smartphones duo display, as you would expect from a flagship Samsung smartphone, looks super stunning. It can go as dim as any smartphone possibly can, and on the other hand, it can reach up to 1500 nits of peak brightness.

Note 20 Ultra S Pen - Highlights

For improved stylus performance, the Wacom layer located below the screen has been tweaked, and now it comes with 9ms latency. Samsung said that at this point, the writing experience with Stylus is the same as writing on a paper. Moreover, The notes written by Stylus can now be converted to MS Office format and can be synced across other devices via Samsung Notes. 

This time S pen also comes with a cool feature called Anywhere Actions. With anywhere actions (air gesture), you can open recent apps, navigate back, or to the home screen without touching the screen, just by drawing in the air with nowhere being close to the smartphone screen itself.

Note 20 Ultra Gorilla Glass Victus

Another major upgrade in the display department is its protection. Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra comes protected via Gorilla Glass Victus, which has better drop protection and is less prone to scratches. Note 20 Ultra also features IP68 water and dust protection.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Camera

Samsung Note 20 Ultra comes with a tri camera setup at its back. The camera consists of a primary 108MP module capable of capturing 12MP photos with binning. It also supports 8K video recording at 24fps with a 21:9 cinematic aspect ratio. For stabilization, Samsung Note 20 Ultra comes with optical stabilization, and the Phase Detection autofocus is now augmented with Laser AF.

The primary lens is followed by a 12MP periscope lens, unlike the 48MP periscope lens of Samsung S20 Ultra. It may look like a downgrade, but this 12MP periscope camera actually comes with an improved aperture (f/3.0 in Note 20 Ultra VS f/3.5 in S20 Ultra), and a better magnification (5X optical magnifications of Note 20 Ultra VS 4X optical magnification in S20 Ultra).

The last camera to be found in Samsung Note 20 Ultra is f/2.2 12MP ultra-wide camera having a 120 deg field of vision, same as that of Samsung S20 Ultra.

Samsung Note 20 Ultra Processor

Samsung Note 20 Ultra comes powered with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ chipset under the hood. Snapdragon 865+ is an overclocked Snapdragon 865 with a 10% performance boost. Unfortunately, India and Europe will still get the same old Exynos 990 with Samsung Note 20 series smartphones, with this I doubt any good sales figure for Note series smartphones in any of these continents since everybody knows about the throttling issues in Exynos 990 chipset.

Samsung Note 20 Ultra is being offered in two memory configurations - 12GB of RAM paired with either 128GB, 256GB or 512GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage. There is also a dedicated MicroSD slot available that supports a microSD card up to 1TB.

Samsung Note 20 Ultra Battery

The battery in Samsung Note 20 Ultra has been increased by 200mAh over last year Note 10+ and counts to 4500mAh, 500mAh smaller as compared to S20 Ultra. The battery in Note 20 Ultra supports only up to 25W of fast charging, unlike 45W fast charging support in Samsung S20 Ultra. It also supports 15W wireless charging and 9W reverse charging tech for charging wireless buds or a smartwatch.

Samsung Note 20 series other Highlights

Other than stylus with its new anywhere feature and the response of 9ms latency, Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Duo comes with another cool tech bundled within. Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Duo owners, starting mid-September this year, will be able to play 1000+ Xbox games on their smartphones using a controller with Xbox game pass ultimate. The controller won't be a part of the box and will be sold as an accessory. The exact pricing of the controller is yet unknown.

Samsung Note 20 Ultra Pricing

Available in three color options - Mystic Bronze, Mystic Black, and Mystic White, the price of Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra in the USA starts at 1300$. The price of Samsung Note 20 Ultra in Europe starts at €1,266. In the UK, Poland, Scotland, Samsung Note 20 Ultra will cost £1,180. In India, Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra will cost approx INR 1,00,000 (1 lakh Rupees). For the money, you get a 12GB/256GB variant. 

Note

Those who'll preorder either Note 20 will get to choose between two perks - wireless buds+ or a Samsung Gaming bundle. Samsung Gaming Bundle will include a wireless charger, a wireless game controller, and 3 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

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