Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G
RM5,199.00
Pros
- Definitely powerful
- S-Pen is awesome
- Awesome camera
- Great for power users
- Long lasting battery
Cons
- Thick camera bump
One of the most anticipated smartphone of 2020 is finally here. Samsung Galaxy Note20 was launched a few weeks back and it was well received by tech enthusiast and consumers alike. I too was in awe while watching the live stream of the launch. In my head, I was thinking that this device will be a big hit among power users. Those who needs that extra boost of power and large display will love the Note20.
I had the chance to review the new Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G for 2 weeks. It came in the new colour option – Mystic Bronze, to which I think is gorgeous to look at. I know there are many things I can do with the new Note20 that includes work tasks, photography, note taking and gaming.
And so after the 2 weeks of using the Note20 as my daily phone, here is my full honest review and what I think about this new powerhouse from Samsung.
First Look & Design
My first impression of the new Note20 is that it’s large, just like the other Note series before this. I don’t mind the large size. But this time the Note20 is a little thicker than the previous Note10. Not only it looks thicker, it feels thicker immediately when I held it in my hand. It is also a tad heavier than the Note10. I think this is probably because of the new larger camera modules.
The screen size is also increased to 6.9″, up 0.1″ from Note10. With that increment, the display size and resolution has also increased to 1440 x 3088 from 1440 x 3040. At the new size and resolution, the Note20 does feel a little bit taller. At the top of the display is where front facing camera is located. Samsung have been using the punch hole selfie camera for all their flagship smartphones so this has become a norm for them. Like I said many times before, I dislike notches. So this is fine for me.
The Note20 also comes with an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor under the display near the bottom of the screen. It is very responsive and quick to unlock. It also supports face recognition so I actually have used both methods. In the end, I prefer the facial recognition method to unlock the device. I find it to be much quicker and I don’t need to use both hands to unlock the phone.
On the right right of the phone, there is the volume rocker and power button placed at the usual position. On the left however, has nothing in it. The SIM and MicroSD slot if located at the top of the Note20 Ultra while the USB type-C port and a bottom firing speaker is at the bottom. The S-Pen is neatly placed on the left side of the bottom area. Just push the little bump on the S-Pen and it will pop out.
As we swing to the back, you can see the (very) obvious camera bump. I feel like it is much bigger (or thicker?) than my recently reviewed Galaxy S20 Ultra. I thought the S20 Ultra was thick, but I now that I’ve seen the Note20, I’d say the Note20 Ultra has a thicker camera bump. If you want to have it flushed, you may need to slap on a case on it. And with that, you need a thick case to hide the camera bump. And you will end up adding more thickness to the phone. But at least you will have that much extra protection.
Here is the full specification of the new Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G:
- SoC: Exynos 990 (7 nm+), Octa-core (2×2.73 GHz Mongoose M5 & 2×2.50 GHz Cortex-A76 & 4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55)
- GPU: Mali-G77 MP11
- OS: Android 10, One UI 2.5
- Memory: 128GB 6GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 512GB 8GB RAM
- Display:
Dynamic AMOLED 2X capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
6.9 inches, 116.7 cm2 (~91.7% screen-to-body ratio)
1440 x 3088 pixels (~496 ppi density)
HDR10+, 120Hz@FHD/60Hz@QHD refresh rate - Battery: Li-Ion 4500 mAh, non-removable, Fast charging 45W
- Camera:
108 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/1.33″, 0.8µm, PDAF, Laser AF, OIS
12 MP, f/3.0, 120mm (periscope telephoto), 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 5x optical zoom, 50x hybrid zoom
12 MP, f/2.2, 120˚, 13mm (ultrawide), 1/2.55″, 1.4µm
8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+, stereo sound rec., gyro-EIS & OIS - Selfie Camera:
10 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), 1/3.2″, 1.22µm, Dual Pixel PDAF
4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30fps - Sensors: Fingerprint (under display, ultrasonic), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer
- Colours: Mystic Bronze, Mystic Black, Mystic White
- Others: Samsung Wireless DeX (desktop experience support)
Performance & Usage
Here’s what I think of the new Galaxy Note20 Ultra. This is one mean smartphone device. Using it on daily basis has been nothing more than super productive and fast. I mainly use it for my daily driver like messaging, emails, PDF documents, managing my calendar, keeping up with Google Analytics, Google Ads, Facebook Ads and much more. Doing all these in any other Android devices has been good, but the Note20 made it feels much better. Better on normal smartphone setup that is. But I won’t compare it with my experience while using a tablet.
The large screen give me ample view area for any work that needs to be done. Using the S-Pen helps me out with precision selections when taking a screen grab or simply jotting down notes. Having said that, taking down notes on the Note20 Ultra is awesome. Just like the recently launched Tab S7+, the responsiveness by using the S-Pen is superb. It is extremely smooth with low latency to give that real life writing feeling.
I am never disappointed with the battery use as well. On full charge, the Note20 Ultra’s battery can last me almost 48 hours on normal use with minimal gaming. Charging up takes about an hour with the included fast 45W charging plug. An hour is just fine with this large 4,500mAh battery capacity. so I’m happy with that.
As for other performance based test that I usually do, gaming is the main method of measurement for me. I never hesitate to install PUBG Mobile as soon as I booted up the device for the first time. If I want to test a device, I will go at it full throttle. And the Galaxy Note20 Ultra is no exception.
After installing PUBG, I start up the game which took very little time to get to the login screen. I set everything up to the highest graphic settings that is possible. That from there, I was amazed by the fluidity and smoothness of the screen rendering. Everything is set to the max settings. The render, shadows, FPS, anti-aliasing….everything. And I love it! Graphic is super smooth, images rendered really well and the details are superb.
I have seen this similar graphic performance and that would be in the Galaxy S20 Ultra and the Galaxy Tab S7+. I usually bump up the graphic setting to the very max whenever I use a high-end device. And I was not disappointed. I also can’t remember how many Chicken Dinners that I got with the Note20 Ultra. All I can say, I totally love the gaming experience.
The Note20 Ultra is definitely a great mobile device for those who are active and always on the move. For note takers, this will be your great companion especially when you’re in a meeting or in a class. Note taking is easy and photo quality is equally great. Now speaking of photos, we will now look at the photography abilities of the Galaxy Note20 Ultra.
Camera & Photography
Let’s recap on the Note20 camera setup.
- Camera:
108 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/1.33″, 0.8µm, PDAF, Laser AF, OIS
12 MP, f/3.0, 120mm (periscope telephoto), 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 5x optical zoom, 50x hybrid zoom
12 MP, f/2.2, 120˚, 13mm (ultrawide), 1/2.55″, 1.4µm
8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+, stereo sound rec., gyro-EIS & OIS - Selfie Camera:
10 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), 1/3.2″, 1.22µm, Dual Pixel PDAF
4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30fps
The camera setup is nothing less than for a professional use. The 108MP camera sensor captures all the unseen details with the naked eye and the telephoto lets you zoom in to your faraway subjects. And it is surprisingly good. This is a camera setup that screams fun, every time!
Now let’s take a look at some photos.
A lovely day at the park. Above photo was taken with the ultrawide angle camera. Details are good. Colours are spot on. No obvious distortion around the edges.
Zooming in to the normal zoom camera setup. This is the main camera shooter. Not much to comment here because everything looks good.
Hitting the 2x zoom button brings us closer to the tree. Details are good and it maintains good exposure, colour and clarity.
Zooming in further, yes, across the field from the first photo. A little blur but still able to see who’s on the other side of the field.
And maxed out on the zoom resulted with this. I find it rather amazing that I can still get a decent photo out of the Note20.
Again, I was playing around with the zoom function to see how good it is. Above is a simple detailed photo of another park. But my son went out on his own towards to orange roof gazebo. Below is when I zoom in.
My son is the boy in green. Walking towards the said gazebo. With the Note20, I was able to keep an eye on him even from a distance.
Again, left photo is on normal zoom and on the right is my son again, this time with his God sister playing with a cat.
Details are great when taking still photos. Colours are spot on, and I really have nothing much to comment. It’s just that good. That is the same cat that my son was playing with.
Night shooting is rather interesting. On the left is normal main shooter and on the right is the ultrawide angle camera. Both are equally good. Good sharpness, details and colours. Very little noise as well.
More comparison between the normal zoom and ultrawide angle in low light.
I was sitting inside the car and decided to try the night mode. I was in almost complete darkness when the photo was taken. And yet, the details are good.
Another try with the night mode but this was taken in complete darkness. Very little light was emitted from the lamp post. And the field is in total darkness. Pretty good eh?
This photo was shot solely to check on the details using the main camera. Again, colours are good and exposure is spot on.
Checking more details on the grass. No blur, no distortion and in full detail.
Portrait shots are amazing too.
And selfies are great.
l have nothing much to say when it comes to the camera department. The Galaxy flagship always comes with great camera functions and the quality is impeccable. It almost never disappoint me. I said almost because nothing is perfect anyway. I would be very amazed if I can tether the phone for a photoshoot with multiple remote flashes. Now that would be awesome. And not one company have done that, yet.
As for videos, have a look at the samples below:
The above video was taken using the normal settings at 30fps. The image stabilization works really well to reduce shakes.
As for the above video, it was taken at 60fps. Image stabilization still works well and it turns out good.
Conclusion
The new Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra is a high-end device that works exactly how it is intended. It is great for work, note taking, multi-tasking, multimedia, photography and even gaming. I do have to include that it also comes with Samsung Dex, which you can turn it to be your personal desktop machine as well.
I have used the Note2 Ultra for two weeks. And in all that time, it never leave my side. Although it is big in size, but it is still portable enough for me to fit it in my pocket. Whenever I need a capable device for photography, the Note20 always get the job done. I actually have tons of photos taken with the Note20 Ultra but I’m not going to show all of it.
Video shooting is considered good as well. I actually preferred taking it at 30fps instead of 60fps but as a playback on the device itself, 60fps looks much better. The video also managed to capture good stereo sound and from a good distance too. Overall, it was good.
Of course, the Galaxy Note20 Ultra is not for everyone. But if you have the budget, it will be your best investment for long term use. I would say, it is future proof. It already has 5G, and it has enough processing power for any future apps that needs the extra boost. So yes, I would recommend the Note20 Ultra for long term use.
The new Samsung Galaxy Note20 is available for purchase now and it starts from RM3,899.00.
Thank you for sharing your honest review and detailed analysis of the Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra. It’s undoubtedly a smartphone that deserves attention, and your insights have been invaluable. For more details about the Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra and where to get it, check out TechTacX16 for the latest information.