Samsung unveiled their latest flagship devices– the Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra and there’s one big takeaway from their unveiling: stay clear from the Note 20.
It is paramount to note that the Note 20 Ultra is fully feature packed unlike it’s Note 20 sibling. “In fact, most of Samsung’s employees are not optimistic about Note 20,” says the anonymous leaker, explaining that the phone’s design was part of pressure from leaders within the company to “maximize profits and limit costs”. This seems to have backfired, however, with reception to the device being highly critical (in contrast to the popular Note 20 Ultra).
The poll above says a lot, with over 26k votes its clear that many people don’t desire to buy the Note 20 and this for several reasons. Lets explore them.
1. The Note 20 Design
The Note 20 is not just a predictable step back from the Note 20 Ultra, it is a step back from the entry-level Note 10. The Note 20 has thicker bezels on all sides and is the first Note since 2014 not to ship with a glass back, using a polycarbonate plastic chassis instead.
2. Display
Jumping from the Note 10’s relatively portable 6.3-inch form factor to a massive 6.7-inch display will polarize opinion, but using two year old Gorilla Glass 5 when the Note 10 uses Gorilla Glass 6 and the Note 20 Ultra uses the latest Gorilla Glass 7 (aka ‘Victus’) is a slap in the face.
3. Price
Paying over UGX 3.8 million ($1,000) for the Note 20 is totally not worth it. That’s a premium price, but there’s very little that’s premium about this phone.
4. Refresh Rate
Every Galaxy S20 shipped with a 120Hz fast refresh rate display, even the Note 10 and Galaxy S10 have the option to enable this. Not so the Note 20, which is stuck at 60Hz. With the cheaper OnePlus Nord offering a 90Hz refresh rate, this is an inexcusable backwards step for a $1,000 outlay.
5. Future Proofing
Despite being seen as a major shortcoming in the Note 10, the Note 20 again comes with no expandable storage. Both the Galaxy Note 10+ and Note 20 Ultra offer this. The Note 20 Ultra also added Ultra wideband (UWB) for super fast file transfers and Samsung has grand plans to use it for improved positional tracking and AR technology. Apple is also betting big on UWB. The Note 20 doesn’t have it.
6. Performance
The Note 10 and Note 10+ both used the same Snapdragon chipset, but the Note 20 gets Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 when the Note 20 Ultra has an upgraded Snapdragon 865+. The 865 remains a fast chipset, but if Apple can put the same chipset in its $399 iPhone SE as its $1,100 iPhone 11 Pro Max, then Samsung should be offering parity with its sibling for $1,000. Edit: the Note 20 will have the Qualcomm 865+. To make matters worse regions out of the USA will be getting the under peforming Samsung-made Exynos chipset.
7. S Pen
The primary reason to pay so much for a Galaxy Note is its S Pen, but even here the Note 20 is inferior to the Ultra. The former has a 26ms response time, the latter a significantly better 9ms. At least this is one area where the Note 20 does improve on the 2019 Note 10.
In sum, the Galaxy Note 20 is not a $1,000 smartphone and, in many ways, it is inferior to last year’s Note 10 and Note 10+ – both of which can now be bought for a lot less. No doubt that history won’t remember the Note 20 kindly.
