Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Review

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is the epitome of Samsung's leadership in smartphone innovation: it fuses all the latest technology in redefined design. This is a tool—a powerhouse for serving many users, from professionals to tech enthusiasts.

The 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X is beautiful and color-rich, deep blacks, equipped with an ultra-smooth 120Hz refresh rate, thereby making it one of the best screens right now. These come complete with a mean camera system that easily outperforms all expectations in any kind of environment, allowing flexible styles from wide angle to periscope telephoto shots.

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra S Pen was not a mere stylus but a tool that significantly enhanced productivity due to low latency, air gestures, and a remote control that feels right at home over just about any other smartphone. Be it for note-taking, sketching, or presentation control, the S Pen really just adds another layer of functionality, and that's about it.

For a consumer who invested more wealth in the premium product, the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is a well-rounded package that gives value for money—so to say, it is a product that meets users' needs for today and hence becomes a benchmark for the products to come: solidifying the position of Samsung further strongly into the category leader.

Pros:

• Mystic Bronze color is elegant, offering a matte finish.

• The S Pen is more responsive than ever.

• Excellent triple-camera setup.

Cons:

• Battery life on the Exynos version could be better.

• Screen resolution limits can be frustrating.

Key Specifications

• Price: Dhs. 2,155.00.

• Operating System: Android 10.

• Display: 6.9-inch OLED, 120Hz Adaptive Refresh Rate.

• Processor: Exynos 990 or Snapdragon 865+ (varies by region).

• Camera: 108MP main, 12MP telephoto, 12MP ultrawide rear camera setup.

• Battery: 4500mAh.

Overview

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra: A phone full of features that really reach its glory in most respects, but flunks in a few others. It is the poshest flagship telephone that comes to mind, holding the most powerful specs, a superb screen, and a very strong camera system.

Pricey as it might be, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra gives much more value for the best features that the Galaxy Note 20 lacked. The device is available in the market in Mystic Bronze, Mystic Black, and Mystic White. There also are possible free Galaxy Buds Live for pre-orders.

Battery Life and Display

Really two of the Note 20 Ultra's marquee features: battery life and display. Inside, the phone contains a variable refresh rate screen; the display varies from 120Hz to as low as 1Hz, depending on your activity. That's meant to be a boost to your battery life; in practice, the gain may not be huge.

After using the Note 20 Ultra for about ten days, it's quite clear − even though the display is smooth and very bright, the battery life of this unit could have been so much better. You should expect around 5-6 hours of screen-on time in most scenarios, on average, which is nothing extra. Its 4500mAh unit is a tad smaller than the Galaxy S20 Ultra's, which probably only half explains the lackluster endurance. To add, Exynos one tests very poorly in battery life compared against the Snapdragon variant.

It charges up to a maximum of 25W and reaches a hundred percent within 90 minutes. Similarly, wireless charging also runs up to 15W. If at all anything's got to be the main highlight for the Super AMOLED display present on this 6.9-inch device, then it is the brilliant brightness, richness in colors, and deep blacks. It also graces superbly for HDR content, making it a great pick for good media consumption.

Design

Samsung redeemed themselves in the design department with the Note 20 Ultra. It has added a premium feel all over it, especially with the Mystic Bronze variant. The matte finish at its back bulks up towards more elegance of the phone, and the huge camera bump, controversially, is not just another one. Note 20 Ultra is larger only by scale size, but still feels oddly nice despite big phones clasping around the similar size of the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max. The S Pen, meanwhile, has moved to a different position and aside from that, the phone retains the rating of IP68 for resistance to water.

Performance and the S Pen

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra performance is a tale of two regions. It is powered by the Exynos 990 chipset in the UK and other markets, while the North American variant comes with Snapdragon 865+, which is a more powerful chipset. The Exynos 990, although powerful, has received flak for not keeping up well with the sheer muscle and frugal efficiency of Snapdragon, and this mostly shows in sections such as the battery and graphics. Not bothering the device, the Note 20 Ultra does justice to multitasking, heavy gaming, and running demanding applications. The simultaneously opened apps won't crash, which tells it all to make this device a power center for productivity and fun.

Much has been made better with the S Pen, the identity of the Note series. The latency is down to an impressive 9 milliseconds and it feels even more responsive, getting pretty close to a fluid writing on paper style with it. That really proves beneficial for people tied to a lot of writing and drawing and who are liable to navigate their device with the stylus. More uniquely, however, the S Pen now synchronizes written notes between devices with an Office 365 integration and is automatic in the better Notes app, two reasons that are enablers to professionals and creatives. The Note 20 Ultra has a 5G network that supports faster download and upload speeds on 5G-enabled networks.

The in-display fingerprint scanner is both secure and convenient, though a bit slow compared to the snappiness of older capacitive sensors.

Camera

The completely new top sensor in the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, above the really good S20 Ultra, is a sensor that's a psychotic 108 megapixels huge. Images really do come out super sharp and punchy.

This enables advanced focusing because the S20 Ultra focuses like a blur. So, the camera performance is much more reliable in delivering sharp and clear photos with the Note 20 Ultra. It is assisted by a 12MP ultra-wide and a 12MP telephoto camera aided by a periscope lens—one that offers 5x optical zoom. This setting offers a versatile photographer experience that eases users to snap anything, from wide landscapes to detailed close-ups, really comfortably.

Pictures from the Note 20 Ultra are colorful with great dynamic range, which helps sensibly in preserving information both in highlights and shadows. Not only this, but periscope zoom also did an impressive job in actual usage in helping a person zoom in further on a subject without ruining the quality of the captured image.

The great color reproducibility makes the impressive show of the same, thus making the color treatment uniform on all three lenses and ensuring that the transition through lenses will be easy. The 10MP front-facing unit, however, is no slouch either, churning out fairly in-focus, stand-out selfies even in slightly unfavorable lighting.

There are, however, a few cons regarding the camera. But look closely, and some users might notice the very faint halo effect that night mode with highlight control introduces around straight edges, especially those found when shooting architecture. While competent, the Night mode doesn't quite hold a candle to similar features on Huawei, Apple, or Google cameras. Despite these little idiosyncrasies, the Note 20 Ultra's camera remains flexible and powerful—seriously, it's up there for the title of best camera phone this year.

Should You Buy the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra?

For certain, the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is a premium device with just the best features you can think of regarding mobile technology, rightly equated to a meticulous niche.

This smartphone is perfect for people who need a large, color-saturated display, increased productivity with even more S Pen features, and a superb camera capable of great photography and videoing. The display on the Note20 uses a massive 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2×, already famous for being pixel-dense, featuring a large color palette and deeply contrasting colors, beyond being a visual bounty for media consumption, gaming, and productivity tasks.

And because this is part of the Note series, it carries inside the S Pen for peerless precision and value in note taking, drawing, and navigation around the device—now with added value for professional people to creatives. Still the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has its own lows. The battery life of this device is pretty decent, though the expectations of someone who uses it extensively throughout the whole day are quite high. Also, it doesn't give QHD+ and refreshes at the same time, meaning users either have to choose a higher resolution or a smoother refreshing rate.

In the same spirit, the other thorny issue concerns the price of your Note 20 Ultra, which is really quite high and hard to justify for most people. Wo generally had the opinion that the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is a great buy if you are a fan of the Note series and can forgive their above-mentioned sins done in the name of pragmatism, providing a decent mix of power and productivity.

Table: Summary of Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Features

FAQs

1. What is the price of Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra in Dubai right now?

The price of the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra in Dubai is Dhs. 2,155.00, placing it in the premium band of smartphones. This price point justifies premium specs from its gorgeous 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED display, to a very capable Exynos 990 or Snapdragon 865+ processor in some regions, up to its beefier camera system.

For everything it packs and for the brand that supports it, this is an affordable price in a flagship-dominated market. This considering also that this price can vary a bit with some promotions and availability that can run out with some different retailers in Dubai.

2. How does the battery life of the Note 20 Ultra compare to others in this class of flagship phones?

It may sound a bit indecisive, yeah, such a good battery life and yet falling short of class-leading amidst other top flagships smartphones.

It usually gets an average between 5 and 6 hours of screen-on time, which most of the flagship competition goes beyond, such as the iPhone 12 Pro Max or the OnePlus 8 Pro. Nevertheless, those few extra minutes that some phones get come from the fact that they have a more conservative processor or just better battery optimizations, both in software or use of more efficient cell technologies. Still, the Note 20 Ultra will make up for this due to features like faster charging and power-saving properties.

3. Is the price of the S Pen for the Note 20 Ultra justified?

Definitely, a feature to highlight under the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, in which this model has received key superior upgrades compared to its previous model, with the collaboration of 9 ms that the latency is reduced to writing on top of it. Add to this the extra functionalities like Air Gestures and remote control functions, and the S Pen becomes much more than a stylus but a potent tool for productivity, creativity, and control. With such an S Pen, in general, the value of the Note 20 Ultra—especially for people who tend to scribble or sketch more often—increases many folds.

4. What are the camera low light performance attributes of the Note 20 Ultra?

The 108MP primary sensor on the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra would grab a lot of detail in very low light, with the support of advanced sensor tech and software optimization. It also comes with a night mode, which very aggressively over-brings most images while not losing clarity and balancing noise just the right way. Still, compared to the low-light champions, such as the Huawei P40 Pro or Google Pixel 5, this is not the very best night mode. It still performs great, and most people will likely be satisfied with it.

5. Can the Note 20 Ultra be connected with the 5G?

Yes, the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra does absolutely support 5G networks, preparing it for the next upcoming mobile connectivities. It brings living in one of those extensive 5G coverage regions or newly introduced in one of the places to real experience; this assures loading and uploading speeds with the full edge, streaming quality, and low latency that just about assures the Note 20 Ultra has. This support covers the vast range of 5G bands deployed around the world, so you get those best possible benefits wherever you are—it turns out to be a reliable company device to keep you connected.