After months of rumors and leaks, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra are, in spite of everything, official. Samsung made this announcement at its first Virtual Unpacked event, along with a number of other Galaxy devices. Pre-orders for the device start tomorrow.
As always, Note devices come with large screens and have a sublime design, this time with a neat matte finish that adjusts speed from the same brightness as always. They also have large bumps on the camera to show their prowess in pictures.
Given the multitude of leaks, the specifications are not a big surprise, but Samsung is taking on another technique this year. While the Note series has long had strict specifications, samsung uses another technique by providing the Note 20 in “standard” and “Ultra” variants, and the differences go beyond the length of the screen.
The popular Note 20 is largely an S20 with an S-Pen, but with some notable omissions:
A missing detail here is a higher refresh rate display; The popular Note 20 is glued to an old 60 Hz, which is disappointing for a flagship telephone at $999 in 2020; even the fundamental S20 had a 120 Hz display. The telephone also does not have an expandable garage like the S20.
On the other hand, the Note 20 has a faster processor, mmWave 5G and, of course, an S-Pen, so maybe Samsung’s idea was a fair compromise.
The Note 20 Ultra is more in line with what we expect from the Note family, with maximum specifications that fit its huge $1,299 value:
In addition to the fundamental specifications, Samsung said it has made major innovations in the S-Pen, reducing perceived latency to nine ms through a combination of faster refresh rates (on the Ultra) and using AI to wait where your hand will be moving.
Samsung also says that you can now automatically record your doodles on Microsoft’s OneNote, allowing you to take notes smoothly on your PC. Other updates included extensive S-Pen gestures, PDF annotations in the Samsung Notes app, and the ability to record audio while writing notes.
Samsung builds on its partnership with Microsoft offering 3 months of access to Xbox Game Ultimate Pass, coming soon for the xCloud beta edition. You’ll also be able to run apps on your phone and access certain features directly from your PC through the Microsoft Your Phone app, with the ability to run multiple apps at once “later this year”.
The Note 20 will charge you $999 in the U.S. And it can be obtained in Mystic Bronze, Mystic Grey and Mystic Green, while the Note 20 Ultra starts at $1299 and can be obtained on Mystic Bronze, Mystic Black and Mystic White. Pre-orders for devices start tomorrow, August 6, and devices will be available on August 21.
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