The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is official, how does it compare to Samsung’s previous flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra? So we are going to compare these two devices and we tell you the best about Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra.
Galaxy Note 20 Ultra | Galaxy S20 Ultra |
Dynamic 6.9-inch 120Hz display | Excellent rear camera performance |
Bright and beautiful 120Hz display | Blazing-fast performance |
Cool features like Wireless DeX | Huge, 5000 mAh battery |
S Pen feels more fluid | Zooming up to 10x is fantastic |
No headphones in the box | No headphone jack |
Key Specification
Galaxy Note 20 Ultra | Galaxy S20 Ultra | |
Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ | Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 990 |
Display | 6.9 inches | 6.9 inches |
Memory | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB-12GB RAM | 12 GB-128 GB |
Camera | 108 MP + 13 MP + 12 MP | 108 MP + 48 MP + 12 MP |
Fingerprint Sensor | Under display | Under display |
Design
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra | Galaxy S20 Ultra | |
Dimensions | 164.8 x 77.2 x 8.1 mm | 166.9 x 76 x 8.8 mm |
Weight | 208  grams | 220  grams |
Screen Size | 6.9 inches | 6.9 inches |
Display | 3088 x 1440 pixels | 1440 x 3200 pixels |
Colors | Mystic Bronze, Black, White | Cosmic Grey, Cosmic Black |
So initially looking at the size and design, the Note 20 Ultra is a little bit slimmer, it’s a little bit shorter, but it’s a little bit wider. And that is because it’s got more squared-off edges. Now, this is in line with the Note 20 series, which we’ve been seeing for many years. Now both devices do have curved glass on the back as well as somewhat curved glass on the front.
The curves on the Note 20 Ultra are more significant compared to the S20 Ultra, which is a little bit flatter. But the S20 Ultra does have Gorilla Glass 6, whereas the Note 20 Ultra has Gorilla Glass 7, which is more durable, and it’s also more scratch-resistant. In addition to that, S20 Ultra just comes in a grey and a black and The Note 20 Ultra does come in a black, a white, as well as a bronze. So overall we do like the design better on the Note 20 Ultra. We do have aluminium frames for both devices, as well as IP68 water and dust resistance.
Performance
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra | Galaxy S20 Ultra | |
Processor | Octa-core, 3000 MHz | Octa-core, 2840 MHz |
GPU | Adreno 650 | Adreno 650 |
RAM | 12GB LPDDR5 | 12 GB |
Internal storage | 128GB | 128 GB |
Storage expansion | Up to 1000 GB | Yes up to 1 TB |
OS | Android (10), Samsung One UI | Android v10 (Q) |
Now let’s talk about the chipsets, what’s powering these devices. So the S20 Ultra has either the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset or the Exynos 990 and Note 20 Ultra has The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ Chipset or the Exynos 990. And when it comes to storage, the S20 Ultra is available in a 128-gigabyte version, or 512 gigabytes but Note 20 Ultra comes with 128 GB/ 256 GB/ 512 GB. And for RAM, we do have 12 gigabytes as a base on both devices, but you can get up to 16 gigabytes of RAM on the S20 Ultra.
Camera
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra | Galaxy S20 Ultra | |
Rear | 108 MP + 13 MP + 12 MP | 108 MP + 48 MP + 12 MP |
Front | 10 MP (PDAF, HDR) | 40 MP f/2.2 |
Video recording | 7680×4320 (8K UHD) | 7680×4320 (8K UHD) (24 fps), 3840×2160 (4K UHD) (60 fps), 1920×1080 (Full HD) (240 fps), 1280×720 (HD) (960 fps) |
We have the punch out for Note 20 Ultra the front-facing camera. And the S20 Ultra actually has a higher resolution, 14-megapixels versus 10-megapixels. Now the S20 Ultra generally still shoots at 10 megapixels unless you actually force it to go to 14 megapixels. And that is because it uses pixel binning, so it combines four pixels into one to give you 10 megapixels anyway. And that’s the way you’ll be able to get the best out of the front-facing camera on the S20 Ultra. So in our brief testing, both seem to take very similar selfies, but we do have some differences for the rear-facing cameras.
There are Three main cameras on both devices. We have an ultra-wide camera, we’ve got a primary camera, as well as an optical zoom camera, which uses Periscope technology. The ultra-wide camera as far as we can see is pretty much the same and we’ll see how much it has been improved because we did have some issues with a dynamic range on the S20 Ultra. Now, when it comes to the Periscope zoom cameras, the S20 Ultra does have 48 megapixels. But the Note 20 Ultra firstly, does have a wider aperture, and it also has better optical zoom up to five times compared to four times on the S20 Ultra. So overall you are getting a few more advantages on the Note 20 Ultra in the way of cameras.
Multimedia
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra | Galaxy S20 Ultra | |
Headphone jack | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
Speakers | Multiple speakers | Multiple speakers |
Audio Features | Dolby Atmos | Dolby Atmos |
FM Radio | No | No |
For the speakers, the good news is we do have stereo speakers on both devices, which are tuned by AKG. We’ve got one in the earpiece, and one button (indistinct). They do sound very very good. The bad news which you should be expecting by now is there is no 3.5-millimetre headphone jack.
Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra | Galaxy S20 Ultra | |
Capacity | 4500 mAh | 5000 mAh |
Quick Charging | Yes | Yes |
Type | Li-ion | Li-ion |
User Replaceable | No | No |
Wireless Charging | Yes | Yes |
The S20 Ultra has had pretty good battery life, the better battery life on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 version. Now the Note 20 Ultra, you do have the improved display, which does have the adaptive refresh rate, so in theory, that should give you better battery life. Now, both devices do support 25 watts charging, and you do get a 25-watt charger out of the box. Both devices do have wireless charging.
Connectivity
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra | Galaxy S20 Ultra | |
SIM | Dual SIM, GSM+GSM | Dual SIM, GSM+GSM |
Bluetooth | 5.0 | 5.0 |
Wifi | 802.11, a/ac/ax/b/n/n 5GHz, MIMO | 802.11, a/ac/ax/b/n/n 5GHz, MIMO |
NFC | Yes | Yes |
Sensors | Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Barometer | Light sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Barometer, Compass, Gyroscope |
Which is better!
The Note 20 Ultra is actually coming in cheaper, compared to what the S20 Ultra came in at. In the U.S. you still get the same 128-gigabyte storage as a base, but it is a hundred dollars cheaper to what the S20 Ultra came in at initially. Which does make the Note 20 Ultra the better overall deal, but you do have to consider that the S20 Ultra has been out for a longer period of time. So you might be able to get a better deal on the S20 Ultra. However, You will be tempted to go towards the Note 20 Ultra because of all of those improvements, and the fact that you will be getting those updates for a longer period of time.