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Today, Samsung unveiled its latest flagship Note devices, the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, and teased a successor to its original Galaxy Fold. The new devices bring improved specifications across the board, including an upgraded three-module camera system.
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While similar in name, the two devices appeal to different user bases, with the Galaxy Note 20 being the more entry-level phone, while the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra goes big across the board with a massive screen, tons of RAM and an impressive camera setup.
Galaxy Note 20
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As their names suggest, the Galaxy Note 20 is the more basic of the pair, but it still has plenty to offer. The phone is built around a massive 6.7” AMOLED display with a 20:9 aspect ratio and a 60Hz refresh rate. It’s constructed of Samsung’s ‘Glasstic’ plastic, uses Gorilla Glass 5 for the front display and is IP68 certified.
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In North America, the device will use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 Plus CPU and the global version will run on Samsung’s Exynos 990 CPU. Inside, it has 128GB of internal storage (no microSD card slot), 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM, 5G, Wi-Fi 6 and a 4,300mAh battery that can charge at 25W wired and up to 15W wirelessly.
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Moving onto the camera setup, the Galaxy Note 20 offers three camera modules on the back: a 12MP F1.8 optically-stabilized wide-angle camera with 1.8?m pixels, a 64MP F2.0 telephoto (hybrid 3x zoom) camera with 0.8?m pixels and a 12MP F2.2 wide-angle camera with 1.4?m pixels. The front of the devices uses a 10MP F2.2 camera module with 1.22?m pixels. As for video capture, the Galaxy Note 20 can record 8K video at up to 24fps in either 16:9 or 21:9.
The Galaxy Note 20 comes in ‘Mystic Gray,’ ‘Mystic Green’ and Mystic Bronze, and will start at $ 1,000.
Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
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The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra takes the ‘bigger is better’ approach in nearly every way. The phone has a 6.9” AMOLED 120Hz display that wraps around the edge of the phone to form a 19.3:9 ratio. It’s constructed of metal and glass, with a Gorilla Glass 7 display cover, and is IP68 certified.
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| A front-view comparison between the Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra. |
The CPU options for the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra are the same as the Note 20: a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus in North America and a Samsung Exynos 990 CPU for the global version. Inside is 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM, a 4,500mAh battery that can charge at 25W wired and up to 15W wirelessly, 5G, Wi-Fi 6 and the option for either 128GB or 512GB of internal storage (no microSD card slot).
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For photography, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has the same 108MP F1.8 wide-angle optically-stabilized camera module found in the Galaxy S20 Ultra, a 12MP F3.0 telephoto (5x zoom) camera module and a 12MP F2.2 ultra-wide cameras, as well as a Laser AF module for improved autofocus speed and accuracy. It can record 8K video at up to 24fps in either 16:9 or 21:9, identical to its non-Ultra counterpart.
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The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra comes in ‘Mystic Black,’ Mystic White’ and Mystic Bronze, and will start at $ 1,300. Pre-orders for both phones start at 12:01 AM August 6th, with the first units expected to ship on August 21.
Galaxy Z Fold 2
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In addition to the two Note devices, Samsung also showed off the Galaxy Z Fold 2, a successor to its original Galaxy Fold phone release last year. Samsung didn’t divulge too many specifications for the new folding phone, but does appear to use the same camera setup found on the Galaxy note 20, based on the product images. Samsung says it will reveal more information on the Galaxy Z Fold 2 on September 1.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)