Samsung announced the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra two weeks ago, a cell phone that wastes power and with a 6.9-inch screen for a fairly high price, $ 1,299.99 but is justified as being the best of the Korean manufacturer's catalog. The Galaxy S line of devices (like the epic S20 Ultra) has proven to be just as powerful. But the Note is still a very differentiated device thanks to its digital pen.
In our tests of the Note 20 Ultra, we have found that the three main cameras, a 120 Hz screen, an extremely fast processor, and a sleek build make up a great cell phone.
But at $ 1,299.99, should it be your next cell phone? We've been using it for two weeks now and we think the Note 20 Ultra has a ton to offer.
Triple camera
The Note 20 Ultra has three cameras and a crucial laser autofocus sensor. Most notably, Samsung fixed one of the S20 Ultra's camera weaknesses: shaky shots that came out somewhat blurry. While we especially noticed this when using 100x digital zoom, it also happened with general shots. For a $ 1,399.99 cell phone, it is inadmissible.
After several days of testing, it is clear why Samsung added the additional autofocus sensor in the Note 20. Not only does it help with general shots by ensuring sharp results, but it provides less blurry zooms, especially when combining digital zoom with the lens increases.
It also uses pixel-binninng technology, which takes advantage of a high-resolution lens to capture a shot by combining each of the points. Essentially, the 108-megapixel sensor offers 27-megapixel shots by combining four pixels into one. This is the same technology used in the S20 Ultra, which has been adopted by other companies as well, such as Motorola on the Edge +.
The cameras included in the Note 20 Ultra are:
- A 12 megapixel ultra wide angle camera: This gives you the ability to capture a wider field of view without physically moving.
- A 108 megapixel wide angle camera - This is a normal lens with a higher number of megapixels to capture more details. You have the ability to shoot at a full 108 megapixels if you want, but the norm is to combine several pixels to get a 27 megapixel image with more detail.
- A 12 megapixel telephoto camera: This telephoto lens allows you to capture more details when you want to get closer to the subject, it offers up to 5x optical zoom that is combined with digital.
- A laser autofocus sensor: This helps reduce the chance of blurry shots and speed up focus on cameras.
The Note 20 Ultra's camera setup offers a versatile range of lenses to help you capture great photos. Overall, we are impressed with the speed of capture and the transition between different lenses. The photos had the classic (and a bit excessive) saturation that Samsung phones give, but we didn't experience as many focus issues or end up with as many blurry photos as with the S20 Ultra.
The first time you open the camera app, you see a 1.0x view, which uses the standard 108 megapixel camera. You can easily switch between cameras and zoom level by pressing the tree icon above the shutter button. You can also set the camera to 0.5x, 2.0x, 4.0x, 5.0x, 10x, 20x, and 50x, the highest level of digital zoom on the Ultra, but which is 50% less than on the S20 Ultra.
Why less? While it's great to get 100x closer with the Galaxy S20 Ultra the result was almost always an unusable photo, too blurry even with a tripod.
And that's really what Samsung fixed here. At 50x, you still need a steady hand, but the image has more detail. Better yet, it's a usable image that you might want to post on Instagram.
You can also tell a story when you go from 0.5x to 50x. Take a look at the embedded New York gallery from the Jersey side.
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Ultrawide to 50x #SpaceZoom of the #freedomtower on the # Note20Ultra.
A post shared by Jake Krol (@ jake31krol) on Aug 9, 2020 at 4:48 pm PDT
There are many details in the wide angle shot. The Note 20 Ultra was able to contrast the deep darkness of the coastal rocks with a variety of blues in the river towards a balance, not overexposed, of lower Manhattan. In fact, you can even see buildings like 30 Hudson Yards near the Hell's Kitchen area.
If you scroll through the gallery to 50x zoom, you can still find details on the top ring and spire of the Freedom Tower. You can see details in the windows without a crazy amount of blur; Thanks to that laser autofocus sensor, it does a good job.
Another more practical example. In this sequence we zoom in to see a sign for parking fees.
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First ultra wide to 50x zoom on # Note20Ultra. Pretty impressive and images at higher zoom are both less shaky and more detail filled over the # S20Ultra. Excited to put this to the test. #shotongalaxy #galaxynote # galaxynote20 #spacezoom #photography
A post shared by Jake Krol (@ jake31krol) on Aug 6, 2020 at 7:29 pm PDT
The lighting here is correct, and although it was a somewhat cloudy day, the Note 20 Ultra did not feel the need to increase the vibrancy. The 50x zoom is blurry, but you can read the text.
And in everyday use, when you're not zooming 50x, the Note 20 Ultra performs very well. Makes a great auto bokeh effect without being in Live Focus (equivalent to Samsung's portrait mode).
The front camera on the Note 20 Ultra is a 10 megapixel camera with an 80 degree field of view. You get wide and ultra-wide settings, with solid shots. Facial smoothing is not on by default either, so selfies are sharp and detailed.
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A socially distant selfie.
A post shared by Jake Krol (@ jake31krol) on Aug 14, 2020 at 7:00 pm PDT
One such example, the Note 20 Ultra was able to clearly pick the gray on top of the head, fun, yes, but it shows that it can focus and capture details. It also added a nice bokeh effect on the New York skyline and the Hudson River. There is a hazy effect on the horizon, but it was a difficult shot with the sun shining on it. We like how it captured the river and waves, even with some light reflection.
In typical Samsung fashion, the Note 20 Ultra has a solid video mode. You can record video up to 8K at 24 frames per second in a 21: 9 or 16: 9 ratio. The only problem is that you will need an 8K TV to see the videos in all their glory.
The good news? Unlike the S20 Ultra, which had focus and rolling shutter issues , the Note 20 Ultra doesn't. Videos look sharp when played on the Ultra, and we experience no shutter issues.
In the various test videos, which can be seen below, the Note 20 Ultra did a great job. In captures with bright areas, we did notice some cloudiness, but it was only at specific times. It may be automatic video processing, but messing with the settings helps alleviate it.
This cell phone flies
To put it mildly, nothing we pitted against the Note 20 Ultra lowered its performance, which is, let's say, what you'd expect from a $ 1,299.99 smartphone.
Inside the Note 20 Ultra is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ processor with 12GB of RAM. Let's reiterate that last part: 12 GB of RAM. That's more than a base MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and even a 27-inch iMac. On a cell phone.
That's a bit of jargon, but essentially that means you can leave the apps open, and we mean a lot of them. You can multitask with ease. It's fluid, and even photo edits in Photoshop Express happen quickly. And for Note fans, that means the S Pen feels closer to paper than ever.
We switched to the Note 20 Ultra as our diary, which means it has to run all of our work, personal and productivity apps, and even games. To give you an idea: Slack, Outlook, Twitter, Trello, Apple Music, Spotify, Gmail, Chrome, Instagram, Office, OneDrive, LinkedIn, Duo, Skype, Samsung Pay, «Real Racing 3», «Fortnite» (pre -ban), "Forza Street", Disney +, Netflix, Hulu, AT&T TV and many others.
We did not experience any slowdowns or hiccups with the apps. The Note 20 Ultra flies, whether with one app open or with dozens. Use Android 10 with Samsun's One UI. You get all the traditional preloaded apps, but in 2020 you also get a promise: Samsung guarantees support for three generations of Android updates. That means you'll get a longer lifespan on the Note 20 Ultra (this also applies to the Note 20).
Unlocking via facial recognition, although not as secure as FaceID on the iPhone, happened quite quickly. It doesn't use biometrics with a depth sensor like the iPhone, but rather the standard front camera to recognize your face. Using the in-display fingerprint sensor resulted in a success rate of approximately 99%. Setup was noticeably faster than on the S20 Ultra, and we had a better success rate in use.
As we do with each review, we ran a battery of tests on the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. These are the same tests we run on any device we review to qualitatively compare cell phones.
The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra scored a 972 on single-core processes and a 3229 on multicore. That beats the base Note 20, and notably the Galaxy S20 Ultra, which scored a 901 on a single core and a 3203 on a multi-core. That puts this above the iPhone 11 family, Pixel 4 and most other Android smart phones. Seriously impressive and frankly, you'll have a hard time finding a way to harness all this power.
Samsung hasn't changed much in the S Pen for 2020 but the latency drops to 9 milliseconds. Essentially, the Note 20 Ultra can double as a mini notebook for jotting down notes during a meeting. We especially like that you can take out the S Pen with the screen off and start typing. Better yet, you can put the S Pen back in the Note 20 and it will automatically save the note you just took.
The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has a 4,500 mAh battery inside and is more than enough for the day, even with a high level of use. Interestingly, it is 500 mAh smaller than the S20 Ultra. In our tests, the battery life has been really solid, lasting for 10-12 hours with moderate use, which is essentially on par with the S20 Ultra.
120 Hz
As we said in our Galaxy Buds Live review, we love the Mystic Bronze color, and while it's not quite as bright on the Note 20 Ultra, it's quite stylish.
Mystic Bronze is like brushed rose gold. It has a nice glossy finish on the sides, while the back is a frosted matte finish. It feels good to the touch and shows no fingerprints. That's an advantage over the Note 10+ and the S20 Ultra.
With its 6.9-inch screen, it's a big cell phone, but it doesn't feel too big in your hand. And surprisingly, it's not that heavy. The Note 20 Ultra is just 8.1 millimeters thick and weighs just 208 grams. The upper part of the device is home to the combined SIM and microSD card slot, while the lower part houses the S Pen and USB-C port. The left side is empty while the right gets the power button and volume rocker.
The display is a Quad HD + Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity-O display. It measures 6.9 inches when measured diagonally, giving you plenty of room to play. It comes in at a resolution of 3,088 by 1,440 and measures at 461 pixels per inch. The result is an incredibly vibrant image, thanks to the AMOLED panel.
Games look fantastic and that's thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate (essentially how many times in a second the screen can refresh). It surpasses the 60 Hz that is in the iPhone and, yes, it shows. There is a certain smoothness to navigating through the app pages, even when browsing the timelines on Twitter or Facebook. You can only use 120Hz when the display is set to 1080pHD, but it's worth it.
conclusion
The Note 20 Ultra is the best Android phone of 2020 and we don't say it lightly. At $ 1,299.99, it's in line with most other flagships, but at the end of the day, you really can't go wrong with it. Although it's not for sale yet, you can pre-order. It will hit the market on August 21.
Note: The above prices reflect the price at the time of publication of the article.