Did Samsung Fail Me Again? - Note 20 Ultra Review

- Why do I still drive a two-generation Note9 every day? Well, the thing is, when I switched to the Note10 for a few weeks after my

review

, my complaints were as follows. It lost features over the previous generation (clears throat) like the headphone jack and iris scanner. Pinhole cameras are unpleasant. The side bezels were too small. And because of the latter, there wasn't enough room at the top, making the Note10 work better as a vibrator than a speaker when you turned up the music. So I jumped ship immediately and returned to my Note9 after handing the 10 to our cameramen for B-roll.

Fortunately, the time has come. I have Samsung's next version of its flagship, the Note20 Ultra. Let's see if it ends up in my pocket or in the box. Ridge Wallet wants to redefine the wallet with its compact frame and RFID blocking plates. See how Ridge Wallet can keep your vault low and use offer code Linus to save 10% and get free worldwide shipping. (upbeat instrumental music) Before we get into my experience, we need to talk about positioning, because this phone is in a bit of a confusing situation. And it's curious because the Samsung range has not always been so complicated.

Even a few years ago, it was much simpler, if we ignore the midrange clutter. The S series was the everyday star with top-notch specs in a reasonably sized chassis at a high but not exorbitant price. Then, for those who wanted the biggest and best Samsung had to offer, there was the Note. Sure, it cost quite a bit of money, but as expected, it was a virtually no-compromise experience. Until the Note10 started losing features compared to the previous generation and was launched alongside a confusingly smaller Note10 with a lower pixel density display and no expandable storage. So the plus model was no longer simply a larger version of the same phone, but there was this strange feature disparity.

Sure enough, when the S20 launched, it became even more confusing. There was the S20, the S20+. And, oh, that's the Ultra, whatever. The fact is that there are three different phones. So the Ultra ended up with a completely different set of cameras, different RAM and storage options, and a gigantic price tag. If nothing else, at least the S20 Ultra looked like the other devices in its family, which is more than I can say today. This is the Note20 Ultra. And this is the Note20, it's not really Ultra. Not only does it look like a completely different device, but it's actually plastic instead of glass, it has a 60 Hertz screen compared to the Ultra's 120 Hertz, not to mention all the S20s also have 120 Hertz screens.

It has less memory than all the S20 and Ultra. No expandable storage. There is no

ultra

-wideband connectivity, more on that later. And it's priced at $1,000! So here's my quick

review

of the non-Ultra Note20. Buy an S20 or S20+, unless you need a pen, in which case you should save a bunch of that hard-earned money and buy a used Note10 or Note10+. Or get ready for the Note20 Ultra. Honestly, it seems like the Note20's only reason for existing is to make other Samsung phones look better by comparison, like this one. Because, on paper, the Note20 Ultra looks pretty good, improving on the Note10 line in virtually every way, and it actually costs less than the S20 Ultra.

Now as before, I'm not a big fan of the punch-hole display. Look, look at it, huh. But admittedly, the hole is much smaller, to the point where it's aligned with the notification shade icons and that's fine, I'll allow it. Don't get me wrong, I still can't wait for them to be replaced by under-screen cameras. But if the impact is so small, it's probably worth the slight aesthetic hit over the durability concerns of a motorized camera, at least for clumsy people. Now the screen itself is visually stunning. The bezels are still small, but Samsung seems to have tweaked its edge rejection enough that accidentally opening the notification screen during a movie or accidentally hitting letters when you run your hand across the keyboard is practically a problem.

I also noticed what appears to be a proper speaker grill on top, unlike the Note10, meaning it doesn't vibrate when you turn on the movie like a cheap toy. But man, let's get back to the screen. If you thought Samsung's industry-leading displays couldn't get any better, you obviously haven't been paying attention, because you keep doing so. Not only is the Note20 Ultra around 20% brighter than the last generation, but Samsung continues to set the standard for color accuracy and outdoor readability. Trust me, if there's one thing this phone is amazing at, it's content consumption. It will probably be the most attractive display in your home.

And it will probably look closer to new for longer than expected. Corning's new Gorilla Glass Victus is found on both the front and back of this device, and Corning claims that for the first time, they've made significant improvements to drop and scratch resistance in a single generation. Apparently, this new version can withstand a 6 1/2 foot drop compared to 5 1/4 for its previous generation. And they've also improved drop resistance: Victus typically survives 70-foot drops, while Gorilla Glass 6 can only withstand about 15. As for the real world, well, I dropped it a couple of times without a case and it did not.

Does not break. So, mission success? Now you may remember that I criticized Samsung when the Note10 launched for limiting itself to 60 Hertz when competitors were shipping 90 and even 120 Hertz displays. This time around, however, the Note20 Ultra features a thick, full 6.9-inch QHD+ AMOLED display, with the option of crisp 120 Hertz smoothness. It really looks great. But like the S20 series, it is limited to Full HD resolution when running in 120 Hertz mode. Something that Samsung has not yet offered an explanation for. Although, as I said last time, I personally don't find much difference in daily use with this size.

It's more of a kind of provocation, right? Not allowing both full refresh rate and full resolution at the same time, especially considering that the Exynos and Snapdragon processor versions of this could technically support it. And competitors like OnePlus already do it. As for processors, inside our Note20 Ultra we have the latest Snapdragon 865+, it is incredibly fast. I really don't know what else there is to say about it. Phone processors have gotten to the point where they were honestly fast enough that you wouldn't notice slowdowns a couple of years ago. But the power management was also excellent, which is certainly a plus.

And I even survived spending the night at the lake without a charger, that's a win in my book. Now some issues with heat and power consumption have been reported on the Exynos variant, but unfortunately we were unable to validate it. So if you live in those regions, you better do some more research. Below the screen, what has become a Samsung staple is Samsung's signature

ultra

sonic fingerprint sensor. It's not the fastest in the world, but it works well and consistently, very good job. And then, alternatively, there's face unlock. But with the current state of the world, I imagine most people will stick with the fingerprint sensor.

By the way, can I take a moment to say iris scanner master race, love you, Note9, thank you. Anyway, the rest of the device will look quite familiar to Note10 series owners, except for the side buttons, which have been moved to the right side, like the S20 series. Something that most people will probably find easier to achieve on a device of this size. The iconic Note S Pen is virtually identical, except for the greatly reduced latency, nine milliseconds less than 45. Now I mainly use my S Pen to take quick

note

s or annotate screenshots. So for me, that wasn't exactly a game changer, but it definitely felt smoother while sending nightly

note

s to my staff.

Like, "Hey, why this?" And you know, writing about things. Although it could simply be a placebo effect. Back to size, back, we have a sweet honey barbecue! Biggest camera shot I've ever seen. I mean, remember when people were complaining about the iPhone 6 crashing? "Oh, camera bump, this is disgusting!" Or the one with the Pixel 4 or the S20? How did Samsung think this was reasonable? If you place the phone on a table and touch almost any part of the screen, it will wobble. Now, luckily, if you move something like a dbrand grip, it takes up the space where the camera isn't.

But I usually don't make a case, so it's a little awkward for me. At least a solid technical reason for the huge hit. Below is the periscope superzoom camera, this time with a lower resolution, but with larger pixels and locked at 50X compared to the maximum of 100X on the S20 Ultra. He once said, "Wow, that's cool." And then I never touched it

again

. I mean, at least Samsung realized that 100X was a joke, because of all the post-processing required, and limited it to zoom. I can say with a straight face that it is usable. I don't know, maybe if you like wildlife photography, but on your smartphone.

Because I really don't know what else that 50X zoom that isn't illegal would be useful for. Of course, you can record and edit 8K videos

again

, like on the S20 series. But again, this is mostly a marketing gimmick. Yes, there is a little more detail in the 8K footage. But when I say slightly, I mean slightly. The overall picture in 4K still feels better. And if you shoot a lot of video, well, frankly, you'll probably want an iPhone anyway. The Note20 Ultra's photos consistently have Samsung's usual cooler white balance, but contain plenty of detail. Its Auto HDR wasn't as good at balancing sky lights with darkness using the wheels in this shot here, compared to the Pixel 4.

And the amount of detail was definitely less. But if you're not looking at pixels, the Note20 Ultra, like the rest of Samsung's lineup, is eons ahead of where they were just a few years ago, and they even fixed the S20 Ultra's focus issues with the addition of autofocus. laser. Kudos to Samsung for the camera here. As for the rest of the changes this time, the Note20 Ultra has something new, which is ultra-wideband. UWB is a short-range wireless communication protocol, much like Bluetooth or WiFi. But what makes it special is that it operates at very high frequencies, allowing equipped devices to precisely track the relative position and movement of each other.

Now, it doesn't have a use case yet, other than accelerating Google's Airdrop competitor, Nearby Share. But in the future, we could see devices like a smart door lock that could detect exactly where you are in relation to the door, allowing it to unlock by proximity only when you're right outside, rather than unlocking, you know, when you approach from the inside, For example. That would be nice, right? And then Samsung's desktop replacement, DeX, is now wireless on the Note20 series too, so you can stream to a compatible Samsung TV. It works well, but it's not something that has really served me well, so your mileage will vary there.

So that's it. The hole is smaller, cool. And the edge rejection issues are resolved, fantastic. It doesn't shake like my old Lambo when you turn up the volume, woo. So should you buy one or should you? Well, the unfortunate truth is that regular smartphones, like Samsung's S series, have gone up so much in price and features that they've actually taken over much of what a Note used to do. The basic version costs 1,300 US dollars. And that's a pretty penny. I mean, I guess if you want a phone that does everything really well, with a big, beautiful 120 Hertz screen, a huge battery, and a huge camera, then hey, maybe the Note20 Ultra is for you.

But the Pixel still takes better pictures. An iPhone still shoots better video. And if you don't want to spend that much, the regular S20 is only missing the stylus and fancy zoom camera which I think most people probably don't need to spend $300 on. As for me, the Note20 Ultra will be back in the box with his older brother. Do you know what brand? I've had enough of your bull (bleep). What about these amazing textured vinyl designs that are available for laptops, phones, tablets, consoles, controllers and more? I'm sick of this! They are made from such high quality 3M vinyl that it just makes all your competitors look bad, okay?

The patented adhesive leaves no residue on my devices! What is my excuse for replacing my phoneall the time, if it doesn't have an ugly, disgusting residue, you know, when I change my skin to another color? And the precision! He is uncompromising! It's like a factory setting for my device. It even keeps it protected when I accidentally drop it all the time! I mean, look at this, I don't have my phone with me. So I'm going to grab my remote control. Look, we all know I do that! And their customer service. I mean, I've never used it because I'm an influencer, so I only talk directly to higher-ups.

But as I heard, it's also pretty good. Then you can, well, it's pretty rude. But other than that, it's good. Check it out at the link in the video description. Dbrand are bad people, but with good stickers. Thanks for watching, guys. If you enjoyed this video, maybe check out the... Actually, go to our ShortCircuit channel, where I saw a Xiaomi phone with a 120X zoom. As expected, the zoom is bad, but the phone was really great. So you have to go see that.