The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, proper, and Note 20 are arresting, however costly. Will they be definitely worth the value?
Richard Peterson/CNET
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G jogs my memory of a determine straight from Greek mythology. With its smooth profile, resplendent bronze end (for its signature shade), and thick digicam bump on the again staring out like a set of compound eyes, it would not take way more than a look to see this new cellphone for energy customers could be very a lot siren-meets-cyclops.The Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra’s seems are only the start of the story — and there is much more under — together with one genuinely shocking change. But earlier than we go there, it is essential to know the context into which these telephones are coming to gentle. The Galaxy Note 20 telephones can be found for preorder now and are anticipated to reach by the official sale date, Aug. 21. The Note 20 begins at $1,000 (£849, AU$1,499) and the Note 20 Ultra begins at $1,300 (£1,179, AU$1,849).The coronavirus pandemic has turned the world on its head, endangering lives, launching a worldwide recession and throwing into query the necessity for a premium cellphone whose least expensive mannequin prices $1,000, which is $50 greater than final yr’s entry-level Galaxy Note 10. But whereas Samsung asks us to think about the deserves of a 5G gadget with juiced-up cameras and a few options higher suited to the boardroom than the lounge, Google has simply launched a superb $349 no-frills cellphone that appears extra in keeping with these lean and uncertain days.

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The timing is coincidental, however unlucky. Phones can take greater than a yr to cycle via the pipeline, so when Samsung’s designers and engineers have been plotting the Note 20 refresh, the characteristic roadmap was properly established. The Note line has at all times stood for software program and specs that went above and past. While lots of the options and updates, like new S Pen gestures tuned to working EnergyPoint displays, will make sense for a post-pandemic world, the state of COVID-19 instances at this time varieties a weak argument for the “normal” actions that advantage such a tool.That is not to say that the Note 20 and 20 Ultra will not have a spot within the who’s who checklist of 2020 telephones, although it is too quickly to know. I spend all day on my laptop computer, however nonetheless typically attain for my cellphone as a second and even most popular display to learn in mattress, on the sofa or on the kitchen desk after I need a change of tempo. I exploit cell funds greater than I ever did earlier than, as outlets in my space eschew money in favor of touchless transactions. And battery life continues to be of the utmost significance as I reconnect with associates and coworkers throughout hours-long walks with simply my cellphone as a technique to get contemporary air. Samsung, too, says cell utilization has been up throughout this time.

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First Look: Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra

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The distinction is that, with out an finish to the pandemic in sight, it feels tougher to get on board with a cellphone whose most important options really feel much less compelling on the outset by dint of the instances. In fact, I hope the Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra win me over after I get to check out the assessment items. I hope Samsung’s trade-in and yearly improve packages entice its loyal prospects to improve to a tool which will properly ship the form of core performance, long-term battery life and pleasing extras that may make a cellphone enjoyable to make use of for years.I’m prepared for the Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra to persuade me, or at the very least attempt their hardest — top-heavy digicam bulge and all. (Psst. Samsung additionally introduced the Galaxy Z Fold 2 on Wednesday. Although it is positive to price much more than the Note 20, its capacity to remain open whereas folded has me genuinely excited to see extra.)  

Galaxy Note 20 vs. Note 20 Ultra: Surprising variationsSamsung eased us into the concept of a extra entry-level Note cellphone in 2019, however this yr, there is a broad gulf between the usual Galaxy Note 20 and the Note 20 Ultra. (Scroll to the tip for the total specs comparability.)
Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra are available in a hanging bronze shade
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Note 20 Ultra: What you might want to knowThe Ultra has a 6.9-inch curved display, a extra squared-off form and all of the perks, together with the higher-powered digicam tech, assist for Google’s Nearby Share via its UWB Share (extremely broad band) characteristic and a microSD card slot as much as 1TB. The display has an choice to flip right into a 120Hz refresh price, the place every pixel refreshes 120 instances per second, making scrolling liquid-smooth. (We’ll must see how this impacts battery life.)And then there’s that digicam bulge. Full disclosure: I have never had an opportunity to see both Note 20 in particular person right here in California, however my New York colleague, Richard Peterson, was in a position to deal with and videotape each gadgets, and try to reply my laundry checklist of questions. Attending a digital briefing and poring over our footage, it is clear that from one angle, the Note 20 Ultra seems smooth and attractive. From one other, it is unpleasantly top-heavy in a method that makes my thoughts leap to a case as a necessity to guard the Note 20 Ultra’s digicam mount. The proven fact that the digicam array protrudes so removed from the physique makes this space much more prone to breaks, cracks and scratches when dropped or dragged alongside a floor — for instance, for those who lay the cellphone on its again. We’ll put the Note 20 Ultra’s new Gorilla Glass Victus shielding on either side to the take a look at, however I’ve banged up sufficient cellphone cameras throughout my profession as a reviewer to counsel avoiding that threat in any respect prices.The mystic bronze shade sports activities a matte end, whereas mystic black and mystic white are shiny glass.That digicam mount on the Note 20 Ultra is critical enterprise.
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Note 20: Did somebody say plastic?The commonplace Note 20 has a 6.7-inch flat display with no curved sides (a staple on the Note line for years). But here is the clincher — it has a plastic again, which Samsung prefers to name polycarbonate. There’s no microSD card slot (identical as final yr) and small options are lacking. There are stepped-down digicam specs (together with no professional video mode), a much less superior display expertise with no 120Hz refresh price possibility, a smaller battery capability (4,300 mAh versus 4,500 mAh), much less RAM (8GB versus 12GB), and no UWB sharing.Embracing pastel, the Note 20’s mystic inexperienced, mystic bronze and mystic grey tones all include a matte end.The Note 20 shares the identical core specs because the Note 20 Ultra. The 10-megapixel selfie digicam, new S Pen gestures and Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus processor are a part of each telephones. But again to the Note 20’s plastic backing: That feels out of character for a cellphone household that is usually about showcasing the very best of the very best Samsung has to supply. Without having reviewed the cellphone but, a $1,000 cellphone with a plastic again appears laborious to swallow. Maybe I’ll change my thoughts.Note 20 cameras: 108MP, professional video mode, 8K video seizeThe digicam array is the place Samsung desires the Note 20 telephones, and particularly the Note 20 Ultra, to shine. It’s taken a step again from the ostentation of the Galaxy S20 Ultra, which boasted a 100x Space Zoom characteristic and a most important digicam able to capturing a 108-megapixel photograph, concentrating as an alternative on the concept of cropping in for extra element. 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

Samsung nonetheless gave the Note 20 Ultra an 108-megapixel digicam possibility — you faucet it to show it on once you need the total decision. When it involves zoom, the Note 20 falls again to 50x zoom, with the Note 20 settling in at 30x. It’s fascinating to see Samsung backtrack like this, however the firm appears to be responding to suggestions that the S20 Ultra was too costly and its 100x zoom wasn’t ok or helpful sufficient to justify the worth.The Note 20 Ultra has 5x optical zoom, which ought to make photographs taken in that vary crisper and clearer than utilizing digital zoom alone. We’ll quickly see.Faster autofocus within the Note 20 Ultra can also be designed to offer it an edge over the usual Note 20, so you’ll be able to snap photographs of squirmy pets, amusing facial expressions and flapping hummingbirds quicker, with out lacking the shot. A professional video mode packs in additional handbook instruments and choices for capturing footage, which ought to make aspiring moviemakers joyful. This has been certainly one of Samsung’s weaker areas for a number of years, in comparison with the newest iPhone. As with the Galaxy S20 Ultra, each telephones assist 8K video seize. Just remember, it will make video information monumental on and off your cellphone.Writing is one factor Galaxy Note telephones do finest.
Richard Peterson/CNET
The Note 20 telephones get new S Pen stylus and observe app methodsWhat would the Galaxy Note be with out its stylus? For loyalists, scribbling, navigating and annotating are a part of the cellphone’s allure. So is the truth that the Notes app means that you can do the entire above. Here are the most recent options for each Note 20 fashions.New S Pen gesture navigation: Pointing the pen tip away out of your physique (and at a distance from the cellphone), press and maintain the stylus button whereas making certainly one of 5 new gestures to return, go dwelling, open a current app or take a screenshot with Smart Select. You can even squiggle the pen to seize your entire display.The S Pen is extra responsive on the Note 20 Ultra when the 120Hz display possibility is on.Handwriting recognition will get higher with instruments together with autostraighten. Samsung Notes will get dwell auto-syncing in the end. This will retailer a observe within the cloud so that you can entry from every other gadget — so long as you are signed right into a Samsung account.Attach and time-sync voice recordings. You can get your voice observe to sync with what you write so it’s going to play again from the time you point out the phrase.Import a PDF to annotate or spotlight. Instead of printing out a web page or downloading it to signal after which add or ship out once more, you’ll be able to merely mark your signature and export it again once more.Other Note 20 options and goodiesUWB assist for sharing information like a digital key. Point to share with different Samsung gadgets utilizing UWB. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate offers you entry to over 100 video games you’ll be able to play on the fly. Samsung’s Microsoft partnership: Drag-and-drop and syncing from Windows gadgets and apps to your Samsung cellphone, together with notes and reminders.Samsung DeX, the imaginative and prescient for changing your laptop along with your cellphone, now helps you to join to a different display wirelessly to view your content material, say in your TV display in your front room. You can pair a Galaxy Note 20 with the brand new Galaxy Buds Live to activate noise cancellation. In the taped demo I noticed, you continue to hear lots of static and distortion, but it surely did lower out interfering conversations.Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra specsGalaxy 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)

161.6×75.2×8.3 mm

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 EnergyShare; water-proof (IP68)

5x optical zoom, UWB sharing, S Pen stylus; 5G connectivity; Wireless EnergyShare; water-proof (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