The easing of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions around the world has led to the sudden release of a large number of new gadgets, including smartphones.
Among those new devices to hit the market is Samsung's latest Note phablet – the Note 20 Ultra 5G.
The Note is already a well-honed workhorse for large smartphone lovers, and the new device takes those strengths up a further notch.
DESIGN
The first thing to note about the Note, is that it is big. Very big.
77.2mm wide by 164.8mm, it is a handful to hold. In fact, for many tasks you will find two hands will be needed.
From the front it is quite an angular looking device - the four pointed corners giving way to a screen that’s curved at either edge, in what blends into quite a nice look.
The rear of the phone though is a different story.
The large rectangular camera block protrudes in a way that I haven’t seen before on a handset.
It looks, to be honest, pretty unattractive. The block is also offset to one side, not centred, which means when lying flat it isn’t entirely stable when writing with the S-Pen.
It may be necessary in order to house the impressive camera set-up (more on this later).
However, you cannot but think it would look better if the block weren’t so obtrusive or prominent.
Of course a fitted case or cover will help smooth out the bump.
On the bottom, as well as the USB-C charging and connection port, there’s the slot for the stylus.
The right side is home to the volume rocker and power on /Bixby button, while the top is where you will find the SIM/SD card tray.
The metal body of the Note 20 Ultra comes in three colours – Mystic Bronze, Mystic Black and Mystic White.
It all amounts to a modern and stylish, but slightly uninspiring new look, which won’t disappoint anyone but is also unlikely to set the design world alight.
DISPLAY
The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra comes with a 6.9" edge Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED display (the smaller Note 20 uses a 6.7" flat FHD+ Super AMOLED Plus variant).
The screen is covered in what's claimed to be the toughest Gorilla glass ever used in a smartphone – Gorilla Glass Victus – which apparently can withstand a drop from 2m.
The quality of the resulting picture is really impressive. At the QuadHD level, which has a refresh rate of 60Hz, its razor sharp and the slight tardiness in the refresh speed isn’t apparent for most everyday functions.
But if speed does matter to you, like for gaming for example, the resolution can be downgraded to 1080p with a corresponding increase in the refresh rate to 120Hz.
Luckily this process of upgrading and downgrading of resolution happens automatically in the background, so you don’t have to choose, unless you particularly want to.
Embedded in the screen is the fingerprint reader.
Samsung has done an impressive job here – the technology of how a fingerprint reader can be embedded in a screen still amazes me – although it isn’t always 100% accurate when used and takes some getting used to.
At the top of the screen in the centre is a small hole for the front facing camera – it is pretty subtle, but we still await another amazing innovation that will enable it to disappear altogether.
PERFORMANCE
Samsung’s marketing states the Note 20 Ultra 5G is "a PC in your pocket with the power to do things unlike any PC."
It is a substantial claim to make for a small device, but in truth it lives up to the hype in many ways.
The big device packs a large engine, delivering supreme smartphone power.
It’s driven by the fastest processor of any Samsung Galaxy device – a Snapdragon 865 Plus – which coupled with a whopping 12GB of RAM (in the Ultra 5G version – it is 8GB in the Note 20 and Ultra LTE versions) means it zips along at lightning pace.
There is very little that you might want to do on a smartphone that it appears to not be able to handle – multitasking is smooth, games and video run with glitches, productivity apps show no signs of struggling.
The handset also comes with between 128GB and 512GB of internal storage and it accommodates a MicroSD card of up to 1TB. There’s also a dual SIM model.
However, be aware that it is only the Note 20 Ultra that has expandable memory – the Note 20 can’t.
The big boast of the Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra range is that they come with a 5G option, if that’s important to you.
Being such a large device, you’d expect battery life to be decent and it is. You should easily make it through the day without reaching for the charger once your usage patterns are reasonably normal.
When it comes to charging, you can use the in-box 25W wired charger or charge wirelessly.
It is also possible to use the phone to charge other wirelessly chargeable devices, like ear buds perhaps, if something requires a quick top up on the fly.
CAMERA
The camera setup on the Note 20 Ultra once again takes imaging technology to the next level.
Both it and the Note 20 have a triple camera offering. On the Ultra it is a 12MP Ultra Wide Camera, a 108MP wide angle sensor and a 12MP telephoto snapper (on the Note 20 that’s a 12MP, 12MP and 64MP equivalent).
The Note 20 Ultra’s main camera unit also has a laser autofocus sensor built in.
When it comes to zooming, the combo allows for a 5x optical zoom and a 50x digital option.
It sounds like an impressive offering, and on the optical front it is. The digital is good too, but like all digital zooming, it has its useful limits before you reach the 50x.
That said, if you catch the right subject in the right light, it can still make for eye-catching results.
Overall though, the quality of the images from each of the three cameras is top notch in a variety of light levels, including at night thanks to larger pixels and other gadgetary.
The camera interface and the extra gizmos and functionality that Samsung has packed in there are eye-catching too.
There’s remote gesture controlled selfie-taking, a dizzying array of different photo modes and intelligent features like scene optimizer and shot suggestions, as well as a super-steady video recording mode.
The main camera records 8k video – which is a headline grabber, but really probably not of massive practical use to the average user.
Perhaps one useful feature is the ability to turn an 8k video frame into a 33MP image.
But other video recording options, like the ability to shoot 24fps and choose 16:9 or 21:9 aspect ratios are more generally practical.
The super slow-mo mode also enables video to be recorded at 120fps, allowing it to be slowed down without losing any smoothness.
The truth is there is so much to the camera setup that it could justify a full review of its own.
Many of the features you might never use. But if photography or video production is your thing, you’ll find lots to like in the Note Ultra 20 and if you are just a point and shoot kind of person, you’ll still end up with great images and video.
OTHER FEATURES
The S Pen remains an important selling point of the Note range for some people.
It has been made more useful in multiple ways.
There’s a screen-off mode, which allows you to write a quick note while the screen is locked and pin it to the screen.
You can also make notes on something you are reading and capture that screen in one go.
There’s plenty of intelligence in there too – written notes can be turned into text with a tap, while writing can be straightened out if not written straight.
There’s also a very handy feature where a note is made while recording audio that sticks to the correct point of the audio recording.
In the sound department, the Note 20 Ultra offers AKG speakers that pump out pretty decent audio.
The device carries an IP68 rating, meaning it can be submerged for up to half an hour in 1.5m of water, but isn’t suitable for beach or pool use.
On the security front, it utilises Samsung’s Knox platform, with both fingerprint and face recognition biometrics.
CONCLUSION
The Note 20 Ultra is a feature packed device, with excellent execution in multiple ways.
The camera setup is probably the best available on the market right now, the screen is top notch, the S Pen increasingly clever and the device is a powerhouse when it comes to performance.
There aren’t many drawbacks. But some will find the design uninspiring and that camera block is pretty obtrusive despite what it enables the phone to do. It’s also very very big to handle.
However, the most likely turn-off for the majority of people will be the price.
Starting at a €1,349, the Note 10 Ultra 5G is very pricey, even though there’s plenty of bang for the bucks (the Note 20 starts at €999).
That’s more expensive that the iPhone 11 Pro Max and Apple’s latest iPhone release is likely only weeks away.
However, it is less than the €1,399 you’ll pay for the Huawei P40 Pro+.
But if large phones are your thing, you want a powerful smartphone with excellent camera capabilities and have deep pockets then the Note 20 Ultra 5G has much to offer.
