Rumours and leaks were cascading forth, right up until the eleventh hour, but that hasn’t stopped the official launch of the new Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra from still being an exciting affair.
Serving as the linchpin in Samsung’s 5 August Unpacked event, the new Note 20 line is here to double-down on taking “productivity to the next level” – Samsung’s words, not ours.
What that really boils down to, though is a pair of powerful phablets, complete with new S Pen (Samsung’s signature stylus) features, improved specs, cameras, displays and software – as you’d expect for a pair of phones that hover either side of the £1000 mark.
Alongside an improved camera setup, new navigation-focussed Air Gestures and a more advanced Samsung Notes experience – with tighter Microsoft integration, Samsung also brought out Xbox’s Phil Spencer to outline the new Note’s tighter integration with the company’s forthcoming cloud-gaming service, currently under the guise of Project xCloud.
Here’s are the spec highlights of everything being brought to the table, starting with the Note 20:
- Flat 6.7in Full HD+ 20:9 60Hz AMOLED display
- In-display ultrasonic fingerprint sensor
- S Pen (40% latency improvement from Note 10)
- Samsung Exynos 990 (Europe), Snapdragon 865+ (US)
- 8GB RAM
- 256GB storage
- 12Mp main camera, 64Mp telephoto camera w/ 3x ‘hybrid’ zoom, 12Mp ultrawide camera
- 10Mp front-facing camera
- Samsung Knox security
- 4G and 5G models
- WiFi-6
- 4300mAh battery
- 25W fast charging
- IP68 certified
- 192 grams
- Gorilla Glass 5 front, ‘Glasstic’ premium polycarbonate back
- Colours: Mystic Bronze, Mystic Green, Mystic Grey
And here are the Note 20 Ultra’s specs:
- Curved 6.9in WQHD+ 19.3:9 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED 2x display
- In-display ultrasonic fingerprint sensor
- S Pen (9ms latency)
- Samsung Exynos 990 (Europe), Snapdragon 865+ (US)
- 12GB RAM
- 256GB/512GB storage + microSD expandability
- 108Mp main camera, 12Mp telephoto camera w/ 5x optical zoom, 12Mp ultrawide camera, laser autofocus
- 10Mp front-facing camera
- Samsung Knox security
- 5G
- WiFi-6
- 4500mAh battery
- 25W fast charging
- IP68 certified
- 208 grams
- Gorilla Glass 7 front and back
- Colours: Mystic Bronze, Mystic White, Mystic Black
Price and availability
In the UK, the base Note 20 will arrive in both 4G and 5G variants, with a £100 difference separating them. The 4G Note 20 starts at £849, while the 5G version will start at £949.
The Note 20 Ultra, meanwhile is 5G-capable as standard and starts at £1179 – that’s actually £20 less than the launch price of the Galaxy S20 Ultra, which launched back in March.
Both Note 20 phones will be available to purchase on 21 August, direct from Samsung’s website and “select partners,” which we assume to include the likes of Amazon – we’ll update this piece once we know exactly who Samsung is referring to.
Following the phones’ 5 August unveiling, between 6 August and 20 August both the Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra will be available for pre-order, with those who partake enjoying a ‘Galaxy Gaming’ or ‘music reward’.
In the case of the former, Samsung is offering up the recently-unveiled PowerA MOGA XP5-X+ Controller – a third-party Xbox One-style Bluetooth gamepad with an integrated smartphone mount – as well as its own wireless charging stand (Note 20 pre-order get a stand which charges wirelessly at up to 7.5W [ EP-N5105], while Note 20 Ultra pre-orders include a stand that charges at up to 15W [ EP-N5200]).
As for the music reward, Note 20 buyers can expect a pair of Galaxy Buds+, while Note 20 Ultra buyers will get their hands on the brand new Galaxy Buds Live, which launched alongside the