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The end of an era is upon us. After circulating rumors that we wouldn’t get a proper Galaxy Note successor in 2021, those whispers proved to be true. That means the Note20 Ultra in your hands may very well be the final version of one of the most iconic phone series of the last decade. Keep it safe for as long as possible with any of our favorite cases for the Note20 Ultra.
Samsung Note20 Ultra is on sale for $900 in beautiful Mystic Bronze (~$200 off)
Now this is a nice-looking Note
Samsung's plans for next year's Note may be up in the air, but you know what you're getting with the Note20 Ultra. It's a flagship phone with the Snapdragon 865+, 12GB of RAM, and a beefy 4,500mAh battery — and right now, the Mystic Bronze color is on sale for just $898.55 on Amazon, making for approximately $200 in savings.The Note20 Ultra is pretty much the best Samsung experience you can get right now. Everything looks gorgeous on the 6.9-inch OLED panel, and the 120Hz adaptive refresh rate makes the experience smoother than ever. Of course, an S-Pen is included in the box so you can whip out the phone and jot notes right on the screen, instantly becoming the coolest person in the room.
Samsung's new GameDriver promises better gaming performance on your S20 and Note20 (APK Download)
Additional devices and games will be supported in the future
Mobile gaming is more popular than ever before, and Samsung's flagship phones are perfectly suited to the task. Big high-refresh-rate displays, large batteries, and top-of-the-range processors means that these device can handle any game you throw at them. For an extra boost to gaming performance, Samsung is releasing its GameDriver software on the Play Store, letting it update GPU drivers without the need for full system updates.
Google Pay is mysteriously not working on some Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra handsets
A bummer if you're in a market without Samsung Pay
Samsung Pay is a big perk of ownership for Samsung's phones. The MST-based system on most of the company's phones works with plenty of card readers that don't actually support contactless payments, and that's especially handy these days. There's not a whole lot of reason to give it up, but if you do want or need to switch to Google Pay and you're using a Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, you might run into some trouble.
Note20 Ultra owners experience screen burn-in with official Samsung case
The S-View Flip Cover isn't playing nicely with Samsung's Note20 Ultra flagship
Samsung released the Note20 Ultra earlier this summer, and by almost all accounts, it's a great phone. Not everything is hunky-dory in Note20 land, however. One of the many neat case options for Note20 Ultra is Samsung's S-View Flip Cover, which allows for quick access to common functions without opening the cover and viewing the entire phone screen. While it sounds good in theory, it seems like the accessory might be causing more damage than it's worth.
Unlocked Galaxy Note20 and Note20 Ultra already $200 off, starting at $800
A solid deal for a brand-new phone
Samsung offered some decent trade-in values and a good amount of store credit with the launch of the Galaxy Note20 series, but if you'd rather have a good old discount, you're in luck. Amazon and B&H currently have the US unlocked models of the Note20 and Note20 Ultra for $799.99 and $1,099.99, respectively, representing a price drop of $200 for both.In our long-term Note20 Ultra review, one of our main complaints was the price. Both phones offer great performance, a handy S Pen, decent cameras, and good battery life, but there's no way around it — both the $1,000 Note20 and the $1,300 Note20 Ultra are very expensive. At least this discount somewhat brings prices back to reality.
Camera shootout: Galaxy Note20 Ultra vs. Pixel 4a
That we can even compare these phones on a level playing field is ludicrous
The Google Pixel 4a and Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra launched within a few weeks of each other, but they could not be more different Android phones. The Note20 Ultra is a humongous beast of a phone with all the latest and greatest hardware and an unsurprising $1,300 price tag. The Pixel 4a is smaller, less powerful, and only costs $350. And yet, Google's camera processing is so good that it can clobber phones that cost several times more. Is the Note20 Ultra one of them? Well, it depends on what you want out of a phone camera, but there is not a $1,000 gap in photo quality here.
The 5 worst things about the Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra
Are these shortcomings worth such a high price?
The Galaxy Note20 Ultra is the defacto flagship for Samsung fans this year. It's packed with plenty of processing power, a gorgeous 120Hz display, and an elegant design that makes other phones drool. But we're not here to toot Samsung's horn — that post is over here. Instead, we're going to take a look at 5 of the worst things about the Note20 Ultra, from its outrageous pricing to that offensively large camera bump.
One of the most noteworthy features of the Note phones has always been the inclusion of Samsung's S Pen. Whether you're keeping track of items on a shopping list or jotting down ideas for your next big editorial piece, the S Pen is always ready and waiting. Thanks to the Note20's 120Hz screen, the writing experience is better than ever this year, with under 9ms of latency. That's a ridiculous reduction from the 40ms lag on the Note10+ — Samsung is serious about investing in the S Pen. In David's review, he said "the ink practically feels like it's coming out of the tip of the S Pen — it's that responsive." It even makes fancy sound effects that mimic the actual sound of pen on paper, if you're into that. Just don't even bother trying to use the new gesture controls.
Samsung's Care+ protection plan can't be added to the Galaxy Note20 post-purchase
It seems like a permanent change this time
Samsung's flagships have never been cheap, but even base prices are now eclipsing the four-figure mark. It's no surprise, then, that customers often opt for the company's Care+ protection plan for a few dollars a month. Unfortunately, Note20 buyers are finding that they're unable to add Care+ after they've purchased the phone.
The Galaxy Note20 Ultra is undeniably an excellent phone, but like almost any product, there's still plenty of room for improvement; namely, the price is sky-high, its size poses usability issues, and we have some more subjective input we'd provide about features and design that would just make it a better phone in our eyes. At $1300, Samsung should be throwing in everything and the kitchen sink, so consider this our "kitchen sink" Galaxy Note20 Ultra wish list.
Samsung is shipping the Galaxy Note20 Ultra with two different cooling systems
Liquid cooling could be going the way of the dodo
Samsung introduced a pretty cool-sounding liquid cooling system with the Galaxy S7, and it's been using that ever since. However, an iFixit teardown recently revealed that Samsung is actually shipping Note20 Ultra units with two types of cooling systems: one being the liquid cooling (or, more accurately, the copper vapor chamber system), and the other being graphite thermal pads.
Shatter-resistant smartphone glass may finally be here
Note20 Ultra drop tests show Gorilla Glass Victus is serious business
There have been several iterations of Corning Gorilla Glass in the past years, and Gorilla Glass Victus is the latest to hit the market. Not much has changed between Gorilla Glass iterations in the past few years, so we didn't expect a whole lot new from Victus, but PhoneBuff's Galaxy Note20 Ultra drop tests have proven Victus to be surprisingly sturdy.
Samsung Galaxy Note20 and Note20 Ultra: Best deals, pricing, trade-in values, and availability
Where to find the best deals on Samsung's newest Note
Samsung's newest Note phones are here, and they're very, very expensive. These phones sport Samsung's latest displays, improved S Pens, and all the 5G you can handle. If you're dead-set on picking up the new Galaxy Note20 or Note20 Ultra, you've got several options. Samsung has the unlocked phone, of course, but you can also buy the phone from your carrier of choice. We've got all the details right here. Most pre-order deals are over now, and it'll probably be a few more weeks at least before there are new discounts.
Samsung's OneUI 2.5 finally lets you use Android 10's gesture navigation in third party launchers
The Note20, Note20 Ultra, and Z Flip 5G are the first to get it
As promised all the way back in March, we can confirm that Samsung's One UI 2.5 update finally delivers support for full-screen navigation gestures in third party launchers. It's unfortunate that it took Samsung so long — Android 11 is probably just weeks away, and Pixels got this feature last year — but better late than never, and we can confirm it works on OneUI 2.5 via the Note 20 Ultra.
Galaxy Note20 and Note20 Ultra hands-on: High end, high fashion, high price
Big phones that raise big questions
Samsung's first "Ultra" phone, the Galaxy S20 Ultra, received at best a lukewarm critical reception. Consumers didn't seem to respond, either, as sales figures have not been strong. And while some of that boils down to trying to sell an extremely expensive phone during a global economic and health catastrophe, a lot of it was just down to what you got for the money. Samsung banked big on cameras a key selling point for the S20 Ultra, and they simply weren’t up to scratch. There’s a lot riding on the Galaxy Note20 series to redeem that phone, and the Note20 Ultra in particular. We went hands-on with both of the new Notes, and here are our thoughts.The Note20 Ultra starts at $1,300, which is $100 less than the S20 Ultra but still an awful lot for a smartphone. In a world where you can get a OnePlus Nord for less than $500 and the excellent Pixel 4a for just $350, the Note20 Ultra faces an uphill battle in proving its worth. Meanwhile, the standard Note20 starts at a seemingly more reasonable $1,000, but it represents a substantial downgrade in multiple areas.I was invited to spend a little time with the new Note20 lineup at a socially distanced briefing event here in London, UK.
Weekend poll: Did you pre-order a Pixel 4a, Note20, or Note20 Ultra?
Did any of last week's new phones catch your eye?
This last week was pretty busy for smartphones. We got two major announcements almost back-to-back with Google's Pixel 4a and Samsung's new Note20 series. It's quite a spread, from midrange to literal "Ultra" flagship. While you can't zip down to the store and get one today, we're curious of any of our readers have pre-ordered either.
Galaxy Note20 vs OnePlus 8 Pro: Which should you buy?
In this pre-order period you can still do some comparison shopping
Samsung's Galaxy Note20 Ultra packs in plenty of high-end specs like a Snapdragon 865+, big 120Hz display, one of the biggest camera sensors you can get, plus a periscope-style telephoto camera, laser autofocus, and the well-known S Pen. But before you go dropping $1,300 on a pre-order, you might want to consider what you're looking for in a phone, and the OnePlus 8 Pro might also be on your radar.
The Note20 Ultra feels like the end of the smartphone's gilded age
$1300 phones just don't seem quite right anymore
The Galaxy Note20 Ultra is big, probably very fast, and has Samsung's most advanced stylus tech ever. Add in the obligatory 5G tax, and everyone knew this was going to be a very, very expensive smartphone: it is wholly unsurprising.
Samsung's Note20 Ultra is here, and as its name suggests, it shares quite a lot in common with the recent Galaxy S20 Ultra, and that includes a sky-high price tag. So, what did Samsung learn from the Galaxy S20 Ultra, and which should you get?