Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra review: The pros and cons

 

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is the ultimate Android phone for the ultimate price

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra (starting at $1,299) is the most advanced big-screen phone yet because it's much more than a phone. It's a highly evolved note-taking device, a powerful 50x zoom camera and even a mini Xbox and desktop PC all rolled into one gadget.

But is it worth the ultra-premium price? After thoroughly testing the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, I'd say the answer is yes — if you're the type of power user who can appreciate all of its bells and whistles. 

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 20 ULTRA SPECS

Price: $1,299
OS: Android 10 with One UI 2.0
Display: 6.9-inch AMOLED (QHD; 120Hz)
CPU: Snapdragon 865 Plus
RAM: 12GB
Storage: 128GB, 512GB
Rear camera: 108MP wide (ƒ/1.8); 12MP telephoto with 5x optical zoom (ƒ/3.0); 12MP ultrawide (ƒ/2.2)
Front camera: 10MP (ƒ/2.2)
Battery: 4,500 mAh
Battery life: 10 hrs 26 min (7:59, 120Hz mode)
Colors: Mystic Bronze, Mystic Black, Mystic White
Size: 6.48 x 3.04 x 0.32 inches
Weight: 7.33 ounces

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra boasts a huge 6.9-inch display with a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate, a sharp 108MP camera with laser auto focus and a more responsive S Pen with a 9ms response rate. The regular Galaxy Note 20 lacks these perks, though the two phablets share the same speedy Snapdragon 865 Plus chip and and most of the S Pen upgrades. 

So between the two I would definitely go for the Ultra. It's so good we're naming this phablet to our best phone list. Our Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra review will help you decide if this phablet is right for you.

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Galaxy Note 20 Ultra review: What I like

• The design makes the iPhone look boring: Samsung knows how to make sleek looking hardware. The Mystic Bronze finish on the Note 20 Ultra not only looks elegant but manages to give off a sheen without attracting lots of fingerprints.
• Dynamic 120Hz display is great: Scrolling feels like butter when you have the Adaptive motion smoothness setting turned on. And optimized games like Dead Trigger 2 look really smooth.
• The Note 20's S Pen feels better than pen and paper: You get a fast 9ms response time and offer a pen-to-paper feel. Scribbling notes on this panel feels completely natural to the point I forget I'm writing on a screen.
• Space Zoom camera is very impressive: I got in very close with the Note 20 Ultra's 5x optical zoom, putting my iPhone 11 Pro Max's 2x zoom to shame. And the digital zoom stayed steady up to 20x; it got shaky at 50x.
• New S Pen tricks are addictive: The new Air Actions can come in handy (like drawing a a quick arc in the air to go Home). But they don't always work the first time.
• Wireless DeX mode and Link to Windows work (pretty) well: I managed to get the Note 20 Ultra to connect to my TCL Roku TV wirelessly and use the phone as a touchpad. And Link to Windows lets you run Android apps on your PC.

Galaxy Note 20 Ultra review: What I don't like

• This camera bulge is quite large: The camera patch on the back of the Note 20 Ultra protrudes a great deal.
• Curved display can get in the way: While it looks cool, the curved display can sometimes lead to accidental screen taps when holding the phone.
• Very pricey: $1,300 is a lot to pay for a phone, even one as fully loaded as this flagship.

Galaxy Note 20 Ultra review: Release date and price

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has a release date of August 21 and is now available through all of the major carriers. The 128GB version of the Galaxy Note 20 costs $1,299. The 512GB version costs $1,449 — the same price Samsung charges for its Galaxy Z Flip 5G foldable phone. 

Wireless carriers have started announcing their own Galaxy Note 20 Ultra deals, which you can find in our guide on how to pre-order the Galaxy Note 20.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra review: Design

Samsung has made its most elegant looking phone yet with the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. The squared off edges combined with the sophisticated Mystic Bronze color give this handset a corner office vibe.

I also like that the finish does a good job resisting fingerprints, unlike the Aura Glow finish on the Galaxy Note 10 Plus. You can also get the Note 20 Ultra is Mystic Black and Mystic White.

There’s a couple things I don’t like about the design. One, the camera patch on the back is big and bulky, which not only reminds me of brass knuckles — it props up the entire phone. You can hear the phone wobble when you press down on the top of the display.

And while the curved display is sexy, it can sometimes cause accidental taps when you’re just holding the phone. In some cases my screen taps did not register, as I didn't realize my other hand holding the phablet was interfering.

Measuring 6.49 x 3.03 x 0.32 inches (164.8 x 77.2 x 8.1 mm) and weighing 7..3 ounces (208 grams), the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is not as big as the Galaxy S20 Ultra (6.6 x 2.7 x 0.34 inches and 7.7 ounces), but it’s still a handful compared to the Galaxy Note 10 Plus (6.4 x 3 x 0.31 inches and 6.9 ounces) which had a smaller 6.8-inch display. 

There have been some complaints from Galaxy Note 20 Ultra owners that the camera housing has been collecting dust and condensation underneath the glass. However, our review unit has not exhibited this issue. 

Overall, despite some minor complaints the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra really does look and feel like a $1,300 handset.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra review: Display

The massive 6.9-inch OLED quad HD+ display on the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is big, bold and colorful. More important, this is the first Samsung phone to offer a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate. 

The Galaxy S20 lineup introduced a faster refresh rate to Samsung phones, delivering smoother scrolling as well as better visuals, especially for games and movies. But it was a feature you had to manually adjust. With the Note 20 Ultra, the refresh rate automatically adjusts based on what content is on screen, which should save on battery life. 

When using the display I found scrolling to be super smooth and fast in Chrome with Adaptive mode turned on. You can always choose 60Hz manually if you want to save every last drop of juice.

I also tried the Dead Trigger 2 games, which is one of the titles optimized for the 120Hz panel. As I ran around shooting zombies and navigating dark corridors the game looked smooth and felt extremely responsive.

The Note 20 Ultra's panel is exceedingly bright and is fairly easy to read in direct sunlight. The display hit a fairly high 662 nits on our light meter, which is very good but not as high as the iPhone 11 Pro's 752 nits. 

The Note 20 Ultra's screen produced 121.5% of the sRGB color gamut in Natural Mode and 201.2% in Vivid mode, compared to 118.6% for the iPhone 11 Pro Max. The Note 20 Ultra beats Apple on accuracy, registering a Delta-E score of 0.24, compared to 0.28 for the iPhone 11 Pro Max (where 0 is perfect).

Some Galaxy Note 20 Ultra owners are complaining that a green tint is appearing on the screen when the brightness is lowered. We have not experienced this issue on our review unit. We reached out to Samsung but they do not have any comment at this time.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra review: Cameras

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra features a trio of rear cameras, plus a laser auto-focus sensor that should address one of our bigger complaints about the Galaxy S20 Ultra and its issues with focus.

The phablet's camera array starts with a 108MP wide camera with a a f/1.8 aperture, and it’s paired with a 12MP ultra-wide camera with a 120-degree field of view and f/2.2. The 12MP telephoto lens delivers a 5x optical zoom and up to a 50x super resolution zoom. 

I tired out the powerful Space Zoom on the Note 20 Ultra with this tree as the subject. As you can see in the gallery below, the results look fairly sharp all the way up to 10x zoom, but the 20x and especially the 50x shots The 108MP camera option may seem like overkill, but it can come in handy when you want to have the freedom to crop way into a photo after the fact. Just make sure you have enough ambient light, as this setting is best used outdoors.

As you can see in this photo of Halloween decorations, I could crop in on just a few of the straw the people, a ghost and witch, and you can still make out plenty of detail. There's just a bit of noise in the frame.

look blurry. Still, this is better than what you get from the iPhone right now.

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra's Night Mode is good but it's not quite as bright or colorful as what the iPhone 11 Pro could muster. You can see the difference in this photo of a fruit basket taken in almost complete darkness. You can make out more of the lemons and Apples, as well as the basket itself.

The Note 20 Ultra delivered better results than the iPhone 11 Pro in this close-up of a flower.  The Note 20 Ultra's shot is closer to reality as the petals look more red than violet and the white balance is better. However, the iPhone's shot blurs out less of the background.

The Note 20 Ultra did a fairly good job with portraits, but Samsung's tendency to slightly wash out faces is prevalent here, and you can see that it had a bit of trouble with the sunlight on my arm. The iPhone 11 Pro Max's portrait is more pleasing and make me pop more against the background, even if the pic is overly warm.