Samsung unveils the Galaxy Note20 and Note20 Ultra

by Mark Tyson on 5 August 2020, 18:21

Tags: Samsung (005935.KS)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qaengt

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At its Galaxy Unpacked virtual event livestreamed from Korea today, Samsung launched five powerful new Galaxy devices. The quintet included a pair of smartphones, very highly anticipated by Android power-users, the Galaxy Note20 (£849 (4G) and £949 (5G)) and Note20 Ultra (from £1,179). Both new Note devices feature the most powerful hardware yet, with an advanced S Pen a more flexible and useful note taking experience with better cross platform interoperability, advanced DeX, cinematic-style film-making, and optimised experience when partnered with an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

Before reading further into the descriptive detail, take some time to peruse the raw tech specs that I have summarised below. With these specs in mind we can then discuss the finer points of these devices and the new gestalt Note20 experience.

 

Galaxy Note 20

Galaxy Note 20 Ultra

Screen type

Infinity-O Dynamic AMOLED, 60Hz refresh, HDR10+ certified, protected by Gorilla Glass 5

Infinity-O Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz refresh, HDR10+ certified, protected by Gorilla Glass Victus

Screen resolution

2,400x1,080 (393ppi)

3088x1440 (496ppi)

Screen size

6.7 inches

6.9 inches

SoC

  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus octacore at 2.84GHz, with Adreno 650 GPU
  • Exynos 990 in Europe and India
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus octacore at 2.84GHz, with Adreno 650 GPU
  • Exynos 990 in Europe and India

RAM

8GB

8GB (12GB for 5G model)

Internal storage

128GB/256GB

128GB/256GB/512GB

External storage

NA

microSD, up to 1TB

Rear camera(s)

  • 12MP Ultra-wide (f/2.2), 12MP
  • Wide (f/1.8, dual-pixel AF, OIS), 64MP
  • Telephoto, (f/2.0, 3x optical zoom, 30x Space Zoom)
  • 12MP Ultra-wide (f/2.2, PDAF,120° field of view),
  • 108MP Wide (f/1.8, OIS), 12MP
  • Telephoto (f/3.0, 5x optical zoom, 50x Space Zoom)

Front camera(s)

10MP, f/2.2

10MP, f/2.2

Video capture

Up to 8K at 24fps

Up to 8K at 24fps

Battery

4,300mAh

4,500mAh

5G

Yes, sub-6 and mmWave

Yes, sub-6 and mmWave

Wi-Fi

Dual band, 802.11ac/ax

Dual band, 802.11ac/ax

Bluetooth

v5.0

v5.0

Other features

IP68 certified, USB-C, WPC wireless charging, in-display ultrasonic fingerprint sensor

IP68 certified, USB-C, WPC wireless charging, in-display ultrasonic fingerprint sensor

OS

Android 10

Android 10

Dimensions

161.6 x 75.2 x 8.3mm

164.8 x 77.2 x 8.1mm

Weight

194g

208g

Pricing

£849 (4G) and £949 (5G)

From £1,179

 

As is commonplace with a Note launch we are seeing the "Mightiest S Pen Yet". The new S Pen is said to offer a significantly reduced latency (9ms), providing users with a more fluid, immediate and natural drawing experience. This is even more evident with the Note20 Ultra with its 120Hz display, says Samsung.

The S Pen's off the screen control powers have been enhanced too. Now, the five so-called 'Anywhere Actions' can navigate and interact with the phone's content with customisable gestures for; Back, Home, Recent App, Smart Select, and Screen Write.

Expanding the appeal and usefulness of the central Note taking functions Samsung has implemented auto-syncing of notes across mobile, tablet and Windows PCs, for anywhere notes access, with more note taking, editing, and managing features than ever before. Closer integration with Microsoft Office apps (including Outlook and OneNote) further extends the usefulness of Samsung's Note20 line. I work have previously worked a lot with PDFs, so the ability to "annotate and highlight PDFs in Samsung Notes app," in this latest version would have been appealing.

Last year we saw the reintroduction of pairs of Galaxy Notes launched simultaneously but the new Note20 devices are more similar in size than last year's models. The standard Galaxy Notye20 has a 6.7-inch screen, significantly up from the 6.3-inch diagonal of its processor and not very far off the larger Note 20 Ultra's 6.9-inches. That isn't the only difference between these new Note20 devices though, the Ultra's screen has curved edges as well as the faster max refresh rate (120Hz vs 60Hz).

Earlier today HEXUS reported upon the news of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate getting a cloud gaming boost from 15th Sept. Samsung says that its new Note20 devices offer an optimised cloud gaming experience. Particularly the Note 20 Ultra with its 240Hz touch sampling rate. Pre-order customers can choose a gaming offer with a wireless charger plus wireless game controller with 3 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, or a pair of Galaxy Buds+ earphones.

The Galaxy Note20 series will be available in select markets starting 21st August, 2020.

  • Galaxy Note20: Mystic Bronze, Mystic Green, Mystic Gray
  • Galaxy Note20 Ultra: Mystic Bronze, Mystic Black, Mystic White


HEXUS Forums :: 13 Comments

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Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus octacore at 2.84GHz,
with Adreno 650 GPU
Exynos 990 in Europe and India

Why we get that in EU/India is it better or worse?!? either way it is very missleading what are we buying?
QuorTek
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus octacore at 2.84GHz,
with Adreno 650 GPU
Exynos 990 in Europe and India

Why we get that in EU/India is it better or worse?!? either way it is very missleading what are we buying?

The US versions need modems which work with CDMA.
QuorTek
Why we get that in EU/India is it better or worse?!? either way it is very missleading what are we buying?

It's worse, and yes it is! They've a history of sending out solely the Snapdragon versions to reviews, too.
It does feel like the Exynos is being made just to cheap out in the EU/India. Wonder why? If I was tempted by a £850 (yikes!) phone then cutting corners like that would put me off. Heck it would put me off my usual £200 odd phone.
The standard Note has a ton of mid-range spec components - but still £850. Ouch.