Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G Review

The latest Galaxy Note 20-series line-up has garnered mixed reactions worldwide and specifically in the Indian market. The super-premium Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G has been launched with the Samsung’s in-house Exynos 990 chipset in the country. At an asking price of Rs. 1.05 lacs, the Note 20 Ultra is the most expensive Galaxy Note […]

PROS

PROS Most Premium Looking Smartphone Latest Corning Gorilla Glass & IP68 Certified Excellent Camera Performance Delightful 6.9-inch OLED Screen Fluid 120Hz Refresh Rate microSD Card Support Improved S-Pen Is A Great Productivity Tool

CONS

Display Refresh Rate Capped At 1080p Resolution Battery Life Could Have Been Better Heating Issues Expensive Price I have been using the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G in the Mystic Bronze color variant. The design screams elegance and the phablet also brings the largest ever OLED screen on the productivity centric Galaxy Note line-up. Additionally, the new Galaxy Note 20 Ultra also improves the camera performance with a glorious camera bump featuring a periscope module capable of 50x hybrid far-field zoom. But most importantly, Samsung has made some significant improvements to the signature S-Pen stylus. The new S-Pen now delivers more realistic note-taking and drawing experience for on-the-go productivity. It' smarter, durable and gives the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G a definite advantage over the competition. Let's discuss everything in detail in the following review.

Display- Gigantic Curved Quad HD+ OLED

The biggest ever Galaxy Note device is a sheer delight for multimedia consumption and productivity jobs, thanks to the humongous 6.9-inches screen. It is essentially an edge Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity-O display. The gigantic curved edged Super AMOLED panel has a tiny punch hole at the top-centre to house a 10MP selfie camera. The Quad HD panel offers a screen resolution of 3088 x 1440 and a pixel density of 496 PPI. The display feels super fluid. The animations are 2x smoother than any conventional 60Hz refresh rate panel due to 120Hz refresh rate making scrolling and UI navigation buttery smooth. Importantly, the dynamic 120Hz refresh rate panel was smart enough to adjust the refresh rate based on the on-screen content to save some battery life. For instance, the UI scrolling and navigation works at max 120Hz while video playback runs at lower 24Hz.

Camera- 108MP Quad-Lens Camera With 50x Digital Zoom Similar to

the Galaxy S20 Ultra, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G also flaunts a 108MP OIS-enabled primary camera that uses the Samsung's own ISOCELL Bright HM1 sensor. It is a large 1/1.33" sensor (f/1.8 aperture) with impressive shallow depth-of-field for pleasing bokeh results. The massive camera sensor is paired with a 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera and a 12MP OIS-enabled telephoto sensor with the periscope setup to offer the far-field 50x hybrid zoom. Samsung has also added a laser autofocus sensor in the setup to improve the camera's autofocus capabilities. The Note 20 Ultra 5G can record 8K videos in 24fps and 4K UHD videos in 60 and 30fps, 1080p videos in 60 and 30fps and 720 videos in 30fps. The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra also supports the ‘Super Steady mode' for shake-free video recording but enabling it reduces the video resolution to standard 1080p 30fps. You can also record super slow-motion videos and the standard slow-motion and time-lapse videos. Additionally, you get HDR10+ video recording support, Pro Video mode and features like Zoom-in mic. Overall, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has a very feature-rich camera system but how does it perform? Let's find out.

Battery Life & Connectivity

Samsung ships its mid-range Galaxy phones with massive 6,000mAh battery cells but offers a rather modest 4,500mAh battery unit on the flagship Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. The 4,500mAh battery cell has to support the humongous 6.9-inch OLED panel and it does a decent job. If you are running the screen at 120Hz, which naturally means at 1080p resolution, the phone will last you a day with moderate usage. Playing videos on stretch and long gaming sessions take a toll on battery life. You will have to plug in the device twice in a day if you are a power user. To my surprise, the adaptive refresh rate doesn' t help much in improving the battery life. The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra supports wireless charging and ships with a 25W fast-charger that takes 60 minutes to refuel the battery from flat to 100%. As far as connectivity is concerned, the 5G-enabled Galaxy Note 20 Ultra supports both NSA and SA modes for new-age connectivity means. The smartphone also supports enhanced 4x4 MIMO for 4G connectivity, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, Wi-Fi 6 (2.4G+5GHz) and comes packed with a hybrid SIM card tray that takes in two one nano-SIM card and a microSD card with up to 1TB storage support. Most importantly, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra also supports e-SIM connectivity which means you can have two active phone numbers and a microSD card for storage expansion. In short, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is a no-compromise smartphone in terms of storage and connectivity.