LikeModern traces, matte bronze finishExceptional display screen high quality and 120Hz refresh rate5x optical zoom captures sharp photographs in ample lightS Pen creates standout alternatives for utilizing the cellphone
Don’t Like$1,300 is simply too costly proper nowA giant, heavy, awkward phoneUnsightly digicam bump that invitations breakageNote 20 Ultra rocks while you lay it down flat
The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G is an attractive, ultrapremium cellphone that is filled with high-end options I genuinely take pleasure in utilizing, like an distinctive 6.9-inch display screen, sharp 5x optical zoom digicam and a stylus that matches into my pure circulate, particularly for annotating screenshots and taking notes. This Note 20 Ultra is Samsung’s most superior cellphone when it comes to what it may well do and it does make small however important enhancements over the Note 10 Plus, particularly when it comes to pictures.It does not make sense, nevertheless, in a world of deep international recession, unemployment and waves of lockdowns. Unless you already know you may’t dwell with out it, it is arduous for me to advocate for all however essentially the most loyal Note followers or individuals upgrading from older telephones.
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To start with, the Note 20 Ultra is actually costly, beginning at $1,300 (£1,179, AU$1,894) for the 128GB model (you may also purchase it in 512GB). Then there’s the truth that in case your lively work and social life-style has modified in any respect, like mine has, you will not actually reap the benefits of all of the options it has to supply. Will the Note 20 Ultra nonetheless be the cellphone you wish to use post-pandemic or will a greater improve come alongside?
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I’ve all the time loved utilizing a Galaxy Note, for the stylus in addition to the sleekness of the road’s design. It’s actually good high quality, checks all of the packing containers, and I wish to find it irresistible. But for me, it does not completely come collectively, and when it comes to worth, it is a miss.If you get a adequate trade-in deal or bundled supply, I believe you will be pleased with the options and efficiency, even when some facets, just like the digicam bump, aren’t your favourite. But if you wish to reserve a bit cash this 12 months and save your splurge when you’ve gotten extra certainty and freedom of motion, there are many wonderful units nicely beneath $1,300 that can see you thru till then, together with the Google Pixel 4A, Samsung Galaxy A51, iPhone 11 or 11 Pro and OnePlus 8 or 8 Pro. Scroll all the way in which to the tip for the complete listing of specs in comparison with the usual Galaxy Note 20. Samsung additionally has yet another super-ultrapremium cellphone deliberate for the tip of the 12 months: its Galaxy Z Fold 2, which matches on preorder Sept. 1.
Samsung’s Note 20 Ultra 5G is placing from each angle
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Is the Note 20 Ultra’s mystic bronze colour actually all that? Can you continue to see fingerprints? I’m in love with the mystic bronze colour of my Note 20 Ultra assessment unit. It’s acquired a delicate shimmer that to me feels understated and stylish, with out shedding a dynamic end. In sure lighting, it appears rose gold. The matte end does so much to maintain fingerprints on the again to a minimal — I can barely see them.Switching to the S Pen will instantly preserve the display screen cleaner than typing along with your fingers, however I take advantage of each enter strategies on the cellphone. Mystic white and mystic black, which I’ve not seen in individual, have shiny glass backings. How good is the display screen? The 6.9-inch show is great: clear and sharp, with an strategy to the 120Hz display screen refresh price that is way more polished and helpful than Samsung’s first try with the Galaxy S20 Plus and S20 Ultra. The default mode is “Adaptive” movement smoothness, which activates 120Hz refresh while you’re scrolling or utilizing options that may reap the benefits of the quicker display screen. It’ll flip to the 60Hz normal when the display screen is static, saving on battery total. You can even toggle to 60Hz if you would like to protect much more. You commerce off giant digicam sensors for a giant ol’ bump that retains the cellphone from mendacity flat while you put it down.
Angela Lang/CNET
Is the Note 20 Ultra’s curve nonetheless related in 2020? I like the fashionable, immersive look of a curved, waterfall edge. But the Note 20 Ultra’s true edge-to-edge show made it arduous to put the cursor on the edges of the display screen the place I wished it to go, and I seen — particularly when mendacity down — that gripping the cellphone whereas typing or navigating usually referred to as up different apps or options unintentionally, or else closed out what I wished to do. Slightly extra grip buffer — or higher contact rejection alongside these edges — would go a good distance. What type of glass protects the digicam and cellphone? Samsung makes use of the brand new Gorilla Glass Victus on the Note 20 Ultra’s back and front. Corning claims the duvet materials can face up to drops as much as 2 meters (about 6.5 toes) and can also be twice as scratch-resistant in comparison with Gorilla Glass 6, which is rated for a 1.6-meter (5.25-foot) fall.But the digicam module, which stands proud from the again, is roofed with Gorilla Glass 6, that means that if the cellphone have been to fall on its again and hit this half first, it will be theoretically extra susceptible to breaking than the remainder of the system. (Stay tuned for our upcoming torture take a look at.) I’ve had cracked glass over my digicam lens earlier than and it ruined each portrait shot I attempted taking after. A case may actually assist fill within the empty area and distribute forces within the occasion of a fall. What concerning the Ultra’s large digicam bump? When I first acquired the assessment unit from Samsung, I described the design as siren-meets-cyclops. It’s truly properly styled, nevertheless it’s nonetheless simply too large. The fundamental drawback is that while you place the Note 20 Ultra on a flat floor, like your desk, and begin writing or navigating with the S Pen, the cellphone truly rocks. This has occurred on all of CNET’s assessment models. Is the fingerprint reader higher than on different Galaxy telephones? Yes. Fingerprint scanning errors nonetheless occur, however few and much between, and I normally get in on the second attempt. This makes cell funds so much simpler. My professional tip for the reason that S10 is that this: Enroll your dominant thumb twice, your different thumb as soon as and your dominant index finger as soon as. You have a complete of 4 fingerprint profiles to work with. The Note 20 Ultra has a crisp, vibrant display screen.
Jessica Dolcourt/CNET
How is the Note 20 Ultra’s zoom high quality? The cellphone’s 5x optical zoom is actually sharp and produces wonderful photographs when there’s ample lighting. I favored how a tip popped up on display screen as I took a photograph of a buttery, multilayered croissant, suggesting I shoot at 2x and pull again. Much higher photograph. Samsung pulled again from 100x Space Zoom on the S20 Ultra and I’m glad. The 50x zoom on the Note 20 Ultra is sufficient for many makes use of, and far improved with the upper optical zoom output to begin with. Use it to seize scenes you may ordinarily be too far-off to get, like a cute canine with its head out the window, a hawk circling overhead or capturing a humorous road signal.I took this image utilizing auto mode on the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.
Jessica Dolcourt/CNET
Here we’re at 50x zoom, the best the Note 20 Ultra will go.
Jessica Dolcourt/CNET
What about the remainder of the cameras? Taking photographs with the Note 20 Ultra cellphone was numerous enjoyable. I used to be a bit restricted by the current circumstances with the vary of photographs I naturally wished to take, however I nonetheless discovered photographs I beloved: purple clouds rippling in an impossibly pink summer time sky, a scrumptious picnic lunch and a glowing candle at an outside restaurant at night time. Shot in auto mode on the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra — no filter.
Jessica Dolcourt/CNET
The Note 20 Ultra has a 108-megapixel digicam function, which helps you to take an in depth shot and crop photographs after the very fact. My outcomes have been uneven, with a blown out photograph of a flower that utterly lacked element, to a reasonably profitable shot of a bug that had landed on my shirt. Night mode and selfie high quality have been strong, and I particularly like the brand new selfie filter that permits you to heat up or settle down the tone earlier than you are taking a shot.
Pro video mode is a Note 20 Ultra unique, and is filled with settings which can be frankly over my head as a result of I’m not an expert videographer. I did like with the ability to change the microphone path, and easily zooming in was a pleasant function, however high quality throughout night time shoots was poor. Keep an eye fixed out for our in-depth Note 20 Ultra versus iPhone 11 Pro Max digicam comparability. A nighttime photograph taken with out night time mode from the Note 20 Ultra.
Jessica Dolcourt/CNET
Note 20 vs. Note 20 Ultra digicam
Galaxy Note 20
Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
Main digicam
12-megapixel (F1.8, Dual Pixel AF, OIS, 1.8μm, 79-degree FOV, 1/1.76 inch picture sensor)
108-megapixel (F1.8, OIS, 0.8μm, 79-degree FOV, 1/1.33 inch picture sensor)
Ultrawide angle
12-megapixel (F2.2, 1.4μm, 120-degree FOV)
12-megapixel (F2.2, 1.4μm, 120-degree FOV)
Telephoto
64-megapixel (F2.0, 0.8μm, 76-degree FOV)
12-megapixel (F3.0, 1.0μm, 20-degree FOV)
Front-facing digicam
10-megapixel (F2.2, 1.22μm, 80-degree FOV)
10-megapixel (F2.2, 1.22μm, 80-degree FOV)
Zoom
3x hybrid
5x optical
Super Zoom
30x
50x
Laser auto-focus sensor
No
Yes
Video seize
8K
8K
How’s battery life? The Note 20 Ultra’s 4,500-mAh battery is smaller than the S20 Ultra’s 5,000-mAh battery, however lasted for much longer throughout my testing interval. I’m not hotspotting for hours throughout a commute as of late or going out from early morning till late night time, which makes it more durable to match anecdotally. However, I’d name battery life good, not wonderful, and it will actually take you thru a typical day. On my heaviest use days, I navigated with Google Maps for about an hour and a half and spoke on the cellphone for over an hour with no important drain. I routinely take two hours of conferences calls whereas on a stroll, with out subject. I’ll replace this assessment as soon as I’ve outcomes from our extra formal lab assessments in New York. Are there any standout S Pen options within the Note 20 Ultra? Because of the 120Ghz refresh price, the S Pen writes noticeably quicker. There’s additionally decrease latency total (beneath 9 milliseconds, in accordance with Samsung). I additionally really feel my writing is neater. Samsung introduces new options, like handwriting auto-straighten and PDF importing, which I like.The S Pen writes higher and quicker on the Note 20 Ultra.
Jessica Dolcourt/CNET
Then there are the 5 new air gestures, which felt gimmicky. They’re customizable — a superb factor, however I by no means discovered tips on how to naturally incorporate them into days spent at dwelling, and your actions must be gradual and consider to get the gestures proper. My favourite S Pen tips are oldies-but-goodies: Using the S Pen to sketch a conceptMagnifying tiny font on a pageAnnotating something and all the piecesTaking exact screenshots and highlighting simply the precise textual content I wish to copy and pasteTaking a selfie by urgent the S Pen button What’s the Note 20 Ultra’s processor like? The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus processor on my Note 20 Ultra assessment unit is, in a phrase, snappy. Extremely quick, completely competent, nothing acquired in its means. Benchmarking scores have been additionally top-notch. However, some areas use Samsung’s house-made Exynos 990 chipset, which is similar because the Galaxy S20 line. (The Note 20 Ultra with Exynos additionally has 256GB storage versus the 128GB of my configuration.) I have not had an opportunity to check the Exynos model, however will replace this with perception from my colleague within the UK. Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra specs Galaxy Note 20 vs. Note 20 Ultra
Samsung Galaxy Note 20
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
Display dimension, decision
6.7 inches; 2,400×1,080 pixels
6.9 inches; 3,088×1,440 pixels
Pixel density
393 ppi
496 ppi
Dimensions (inches)
6.36×2.96×0.33 in
6.49×3.04×0.31 in
Dimensions (millimeters)
161.6×75.2×8.3mm
164.8×77.2×8.1mm
Weight (ounces, grams)
6.84 oz, 194g
7.33 oz, 208g
Mobile software program
Android 10
Android 10
Camera
12-megapixel (ultrawide), 12-megapixel (wide-angle), 64-megapixel (telephoto)
12-megapixel (ultrawide), 108-megapixel (wide-angle), 12-megapixel (telephoto)
Front-facing digicam
10-megapixel
10-megapixel
Video seize
8K
8K
Processor
Snapdragon 865 Plus
Snapdragon 865 Plus
Storage
128GB
128GB, 512GB
RAM
8GB
12GB
Expandable storage
No
Up to 1TB
Battery
4,300 mAh
4,500 mAh
Fingerprint sensor
In-screen
In-screen
Connector
USB-C
USB-C
Headphone jack
No
No
Special options
S Pen stylus; 5G connectivity; Wireless PowerShare; waterproof (IP68)
5x optical zoom, UWB sharing, S Pen stylus; 5G connectivity; Wireless PowerShare; waterproof (IP68)
Price off-contract (USD)
$1,000
$1,300 (128GB); $1,450 (512GB)
Price (GBP)
£849
£1,179
Price (AUD)
AU$1,499
AU$1,849