(smooth jazzy music)
- So this week I spent an hour
and a half with the Note 20
and the Note 20 Ultra,
which we usually think of as Samsung's
most souped up, powerful devices.
But what became very clear to me
wasn't the differences
between this year's models
and last year's models.
It was the differences between
the two models this year,
and how in my mind, only
one of these devices
really earns that, oh gee,
this is the most powerful
phone, Note title.
Let's get into it.
(upbeat music)
First, these phones do
share some common features.
So let's get those out of the way.
The Note 20's both have S pens, of course,
they both have a power button
and volume markers on one side,
they both have USBC ports on the bottom,
and Samsung claims that both now have 25%
brighter screens at peak brightness.
And both devices come with
Snapdragon 865 Plus processors,
and they both support
full 5G with both sub six
and millimeter wave.
But when it comes to pretty
much every other hardware spec,
their differences start to show.
So the Note 20 comes in mystic bronze,
mystic gray, and mystic green,
while the Note 20 Ultra
comes in mystic bronze,
mystic black, and mystic
white, that's right.
I only saw the mystic bronze
color of both of these phones,
which is the only color they share.
Now they have this great
matte finish on them,
and Samsung says that's, you know,
gonna take away from
all those fingerprints
that we usually get on these phones.
But I mean, for me, I film
a lot of these phones,
so I'm just happy that it's
not like a straight mirror
looking back at me for once.
Now, let's talk displays.
The Note 20 has a 6.7
inch FHD plus flat screen
with a slight bezel and
center hole punch camera,
while the Ultra rocks a 6.9
inch WQHD plus edge screen
with almost no bezels and a
smaller camera hole punch.
The Ultra also supports an
adaptive 120 Hertz refresh rate,
but only at HD plus resolution.
Now personally, I'll take the 120 Hertz,
even if it means a lower
resolution, because well,
a higher refresh rate is
way more noticeable to me
than a screen resolution.
Am I the only one that's like disappointed
by the 60 Hertz screen on the S 20?
I mean like, 2020, this
one's a thousand dollars.
Should probably have
120 Hertz refresh rate.
Maybe it's just me.
Now looking at the Note
20 and the Note 20 Ultra,
they look different.
I mean, aside from the Ultra
being physically bigger
than the Note 20, the Note
20 is a bit more rounded
on its top and bottom corners,
and the rounded corners
of the screen really drive
that whole more rounded design home.
And for the first time in this line,
that design really
differentiates the two models.
But I mean, let me know what you think,
but I always really dug
the squared off look
of the Note line.
I mean, for starters, it
looked more like a notebook.
Gotcha.
But also that edge
display really hides the
rails of the phone in such a nice way.
It was kind of weird to see a
Note looking like it belonged
in the S line, but more on that later.
Anyhow, both devices
certainly still feel bulky
with the Note 20 weighing in at 193 grams,
and the Ultra coming in at 208 grams.
Couple that weight with the size and well,
with my small hands,
it was almost impossible to do
anything with just one hand,
but that's standard for
the Note line and me.
Both devices, of course, support DeX,
and this year they're
getting the wireless glow up.
So you'll be able to use DeX wirelessly
with anything that supports Miracast.
also Samsung Notes will sync
with Outlook's One Note,
and the S pen in these
devices has the same
accelerometer and gyroscope
for motion controls,
but with some new gestures.
I didn't have a whole lot
of time to test these out,
so you'll have to tune
into our full review
in the coming weeks for more on that.
But by far the most noticeable
change in the Note line
this year is it's camera array,
and dudes like, staring at that
camera array staring at you
is intense, like camping.
I can't help myself!
Get it, like in tents,
like camping, like tent.
Let's run this down.
Both phones have a 10 megapixel
F 2.2 front facing camera.
So the Note 20, you've got
a 12 megapixel F 1.8 wide,
a 64 megapixel F two tele
with a hybrid 30 X zoom,
and a 12 megapixel F 2.2 ultra wide.
That's all fairly standard stuff.
Now on the Note 20 Ultra,
you've got an 108 megapixel F 1.8 wide,
a 12 megapixel F three tele
with five X optical zoom
using this like sick Periscope design,
and the Samsung space zoom going 50 X,
and finally a 12 megapixel
F 2.2 ultra wide.
There's also a new laser auto focus sensor
that comes as a welcomed improvement
to the slow focus issues that totally
plagued the S 20 Ultra's cameras.
I can't wait to test that
50 X zoom out though,
like, I couldn't really test it
in the first look environment I was in
because I simply wasn't far
away enough from anything
to see if it actually holds up.
But overall, these cameras
offer a wide variety
of lens options that at this point
we've come to expect from flagship phones.
On the video side, both phones support
four K 60 on the front facing camera,
and around back they do eight K 24.
And if you're a monster,
they'll do eight K 30,
but remember, you're a monster.
I'm just so excited to put
this camera to the test.
I mean, every time a new
phone comes out, I'm like,
let's shoot a movie on this thing.
And I have this series called
Full-Frame where we talk
anything and everything cameras.
And I legitimately built a
camera in the last episode.
So if you didn't see that
go watch me struggle.
But also when I'm shooting Verge videos,
I have totally taken to
using phone footage in them.
So eight K is a welcomed resolution
for all the punching in I do.
Pow, pow.
Battery should hopefully not be
a problem with these devices.
Both have 45 watt fast charging
that can charge up to 50% (Correction: The Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra support 25w charging)
in a half hour, with the Note 20 using
a 4,300 milliamp hour battery,
and the Ultra coming in
at 4,500 milliamp hours.
The Note 20 Ultra comes with
128 gigabytes of storage
with 12 gigabytes of ram for 1,299.99,
or 512 gigabytes of storage and
12 gigabytes of ram for 1,449.99.
The Note 20 is available
with 128 gigabytes of storage
and eight gigabytes of ram for 999.99,
999.99, 999.99, nine, nine,
nine, nine, nine, nine, nine.
(laughs)
With pre-orders for both
devices starting on August 6th,
and shipping beginning on August 21st.
So the Note 20 line,
do you remember when the Note line was
legitimately so souped up, it was fire?
- And out of that stunning
recall of Samsung's
Galaxy Note seven.
- [Announcer] Some of
them were overheating
and even catching fire.
- I'm sorry, I just
can't talk about a Note
without thinking about the Note seven,
but it also had decent specs, and well,
that's the Note 20 Ultra,
minus the fire, I hope.
Now it just seems like
Samsung uses this line
to make minor fixes to the
S line and add an S pen.
I mean the Note 20 is almost
spec for spec an S 20 plus,
with actually a bit
smaller battery and fair,
the S 20 only has a Snapdragon 865,
and not 865 Plus processor,
but the Note 20 Ultra,
that feels like a Note to me.
I mean, those are the spec funds
I expect to see in this line.
So it seems like to me,
if you're looking for
the most specced out,
bad-ass Samsung phone,
the word to look for now
is not Note, it's Ultra.
Thanks so much for watching buds.
I appreciate you, also,
we're going to have a full review
of the Note line coming hella soon,
and we've got tons of
coverage over on the site
of everything Galaxy unpacks.
So be sure to check that out.
Anyway, be well, I hope that
everyone around you is well,
and that you are well,
and that the world gets
well real soon, and okay,
that's it for me, bye buds.
