Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, Note 20, Galaxy Buds,Tab and Galaxy Watch were all launched in the Galaxy Unpacked event on 05/08/2020.Not surprisingly the Notes are the most talked about of all the gadgets that were released.
Galaxy Note after its first release has raised the bar every time and this year was no exception.For the past few years it has been Samsung’s trend to launch two sets of flagships in a year,S- first the S series and later the Note series.As most of you already know the Galaxy Note is a class apart from all smartphones simply because of the S-Pen and the features it brings.
S-Pen is not simply a stylus,it is like a magic band and truly you can do a lot of things by just waving the S-Pen.Well coming back to the launch Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy Note 20 are the two new Note flagships.The Ultra model is perhaps the most powerful smartphone in the world at this moment and here we will have a look at what it has to offer.We will discuss the Note 20 in a later post.
Before moving on farther let’s see the price of these new devices.The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra will cost Rs.1,04,999(1400$) and the Note 20 Rs.77,999(1000$). Evidently these are not for the masses. No Note device has been except the Galaxy Note 10 Lite but are they worth the value.Time will tell.
The New Design
The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is a work of art and the looks are killing.The Mystic Bronze colour, which is the signature colour of this year’s Note devices and accessories, has enhanced the aesthetics taking it beyond competition.The phone is also available in Mystic Black colour.
Changes have been made design wise.The metal frame is pronounced than any other Samsung device and the bottom looks beautiful.The camera bump housing the triple camera set-up with flash and laser auto focus sensor is the biggest I have seen.It protrudes out even more than that of the S20 Ultra but somehow instead of making the module look bumpy it actually makes the phone look even better.
The front and back are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus the latest and the strongest.Yes it can withstand a fall of 2m on any hard object.The front has a very very small punch hole camera on the top middle.The display is curved over the edges and bezels are almost not present.There are two speaker grills and astonishingly the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has a shared micro SD card slot in the dual SIM tray.
Yes the phone is IP68 certified water and dust resistant.The back though made of glass has a satin texture which makes it feel beautiful to hold and also enhances the grip a bit.The dimensions of Note 20 Ultra is 164.8mm×77.2mm×8.1mm and it weighs 208g.
The Best Display in a Smartphone
Only OnePlus 8 Pro was in competition with Samsung in terms of display but they also used a Samsung panel.Anyways the 6.9″ Dynamic Amoled display on the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is simply the best.The peak brightness advertised is 1500nits!!
The maximum resolution is QHD (1440×3088) and the screen to body ratio is 91.7% highest for any Samsung device.The pixel density is 496ppi.Topping all these is the 120Hz refresh rate.Your haptic feedback,scroll, swiping and video watching experience will be of a new level.
There is a glitch though the same that was present in the S20 series.For 120Hz refresh rate you cannot use the maximum resolution.It is only applicable to FHD resolution and on the maximum QHD you will get the 60Hz refresh rate.This I feel should have been rectified by Samsung.
But the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra comes with Adaptive Refresh rate which means that the phone will automatically switch to any lower refresh rate depending on the task.For example if you are on any app which is compatible with say 30Hz the Note 20 Ultra will reduce the refresh rate of the screen to 30Hz.Hence you save a lot of battery.
HDR10+ supported and the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has an Always on display.It is also SGS certified for Eye Care protection.
OS, PROCESSOR AND STORAGE
The latest One UI 2.5 is slapped over Android 10.One UI is arguably the best UI along with Oxygen OS of OnePlus.It comes with a lot of bloatware, mainly Samsung apps but the shortcuts and gestures are beautiful.Bixby, Samsung’s own voice assistant,the Samsung Knox security also come pre installed.The best feature of One UI though is the DeX which allows you to easily connect with any PC easily and you can work on both together.
The one thing that is poor in the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is the Exynos 990 chipset in the global version.Samsung claimed that they have upgraded it after all the complaints from customers but that is not proved yet.It becomes worse when you come to know that US and South Korea will have the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ SoC under the hood.
Snapdragon 865 was better than the Exynos 990 and this time it is the Snapdragon 865+ widening the gap even farther.Anyways both the chipsets run on 7nm+ technology and have octacore processors-(2×2.73GHz,2×2.50GHz,4×2.0GHz) for Exynos 990 with Mali-G77 MP11 as GPU and (1×3.0GHz,3×2.42GHz,4×1.8GHz) for Snapdragon 865+ with GPU Adreno 650.
12GB RAM and 256GB onboard storage variant is going to be the available one.You can expand storage upto 1TB with the help of a micro SD card.RAM is LPDDR5 and the storage is UFS3.1 powered.
An Excellent Camera Set-Up
108MP Rear Camera
On the back of the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is a big protruding camera module which houses a 108MP primary sensor with f/1.8 and featuring OIS,a 12MP periscope telephoto zoom lens with f/3.0 and supports 5X optical zoom and 50X hybrid zoom and a third 12MP f/2.2 ultra wide sensor with 120° field of view.
On the camera module is also a LED flash and a Laser Autofocus sensor.This sensor enables very fast autofocus and solves the problem of focusing that some of you had complaints about in the 108MP camera of the Galaxy S20 Ultra.
Auto HDR is present along with loads of camera features like Single Take.Single Take has been upgraded.In this mode you can capture a moment for a time of your wish with a single click and the phone will deliver multiple shots and videos to choose from.The best will also be saved.The Night Mode is excellent.Post processing of images is wonderful in this phone.
8K VIDEOS
[email protected] can be captured and this time in two different aspect ratios of the normal 16:9 and the cinematic 21:9.Editing videos is also of the highest quality and you can zoom in or out while shooting a video thereby creating a cinematic effect.Even you can choose whether you wish to shoot with only front audio or you need surround sound.This you can do by selecting which microphone should be active while shooting.
4K [email protected]/60fps,1080p @30/60/240fps and super slow motion 720p [email protected] can be shot.OIS and gyro EIS enhances video capturing.
Front Camera
The front camera of the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is in the form of a tiny punch hole on the top middle and houses a 10MP f/2.2 wide sensor with dual pixel technology.Auto HDR is supported and the front camera of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra also supports dual video calling.
4K videos can also be shot at 30/60fps along with 1080p [email protected]
What is new in the S-PEN
S-Pen is the highlight of any Note device.This time Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has raised the bar by quite a big margin.The latency of the new S-Pen is 9ms(milliseconds) which in the earlier Galaxy Note was 42ms.So the jump has been quite a lot.
Latency refers to the time difference between your touch and the result to come out on the screen.9ms will feel like you are actually writing with a pencil as the result will be instantaneous and the sound effects are also present.The S-Pen feeling is also enhanced by the high refresh rate display.
As it is bluetooth integrated you can use it like a remote control for your phone and can capture images with a click of the S-Pen.Besides this the other customary features of jotting down notes on the screen and saving it as text is present.You can even write when the screen is locked and it will be saved.
The new feature is if you scribble down something in any angle with a single click it will be straightened.Then saving it as text and using it in Power Point etc. is also super easy.S-Pen also has some gestures which can be activated via the settings menu.
Just for reminders you can write down anything on a screenshot or saved image with the help of the S-Pen.Searching has also been made easier.Just write and search it from there.
Some Cool Features
The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has the Ultrasonic fingerprint sensor under display.Face unlock can also be used besides pattern or password as your means of unlocking the phone.
Sharing made easy
Sharing between two Note devices,or from phone to tablet or PC has been made very easy.You can send a photo or document by pointing your phone towards the receiving device and making a gesture.
I have already mentioned Samsung DeX which has been present in Samsung flagships for a long term.With the help of it you can use your TV or monitor as a second display.Moreover you can use your phone at the same time.New in DeX is the fact that now you can transfer something wirelessly.Yes it sounds like the Air Drop feature of Apple.
Audio
The new normal for a flagship device is the absence of a 3.5mm jack for wired headphones.Stereo speakers have been provided with multiple microscope support.Dolby Atmos is supported in the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.
Usual Things
Gaming mode is a must.The excellent Amoled display, bright colours and 120Hz refresh rate guarantees immersive gaming experience which will be boosted by the Gaming mode.
Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth,USB Type C are all supported.Moreover the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is 5G ready.
BATTERY AND COLOURS
A 4500 mAH battery powers the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultrawhich supports 25W fast charging.Fast wireless charging and 9W fast reverse wireless charging is also available.
Some of you may point out that the Galaxy S20 Ultra has 5000mAH battery but you need to remember that the processor at least in the US has been upgraded which enables less battery drainage.Moreover UFS3.1 flash storage and the Adaptive refresh rate also lengthens the battery life.
Mystic Bronze and Mystic Black are the colour variants.
CONCLUSION
Well all the things beside the Exynos Processor have been upgraded and modified than it’s predecessors.You may have noticed that the 100X space zoom of the Galaxy S20 Ultra has been removed which is a very welcome step as practically it was of no use.The 50X zoom is more than enough.
Although you have to spend a huge amount for the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra but the experience you will be having is unmatched.Not all love a stylus but believe me the S-Pen is a technological revelation.You have to use it to realise what it offers.
Exynos chipset globally and the fact that 120Hz cannot be used for the maximum resolution are the only glitches I found in the new note.What do you think? Do you have any more issues with this lovely smartphone? Please comment and let me know.