OCTOBER 2020 T3 75Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G
zoom is going to get you closer to
whatever subject it is that you’re
photographing. The triple-lens 108MP
wide, 12MP periscope telephoto and
12MP ultrawide rear camera produces
pictures that are fantastically bright
and sharp, with excellent colour
reproduction that’s maybe a touch too
vibrant in certain situations. Dark
and light spots are well-handled by
the HDR processing, focus and
shutter speed are good, and overall
this is a camera that’s definitely
worthy of a flagship phone.
Night mode shots come out
reasonably well too, though we think
that the Google Pixels and even the
Apple iPhones are ahead of Samsung
in this area. The brightening effect
Samsung uses is just a bit too
aggressive, though it will definitely
help the camera pick out details where
there’s very little light available.
Slick scribbler
Battery life is satisfactory without
being spectacular, which is perhaps
to be expected considering the huge
screen, super-fast processor and 5G.
While you will make it to the end of
most days with some charge left, you
might need a top-up during the day if
you’re really stressing your phone.
There’s a huge amount of power
on board, led by the Exynos 990
processor. That’s paired with 12GB of
RAM and up to 512GB of storage,
which would outclass many a laptop,
never mind other smartphones. 5G is
included, as the name gives away, but
you’d expect that at this price.
We can confirm that the phone is
blazingly fast in day-to-day use, even
if you’ve got all of your favourite apps
loaded up at once and dozens of tabs
on the go in your web browser. This is
one of the most powerful smartphones
ever released – so powerful in fact,
that it offers more speed than a lot of
people are really going to need.
Once again though, the key feature
of the Note 20 Ultra 5G is the S Pen.
This super-responsive stylus is the
main reason most people will get this
phone, and it gives you the usual slick
pointing and scribbling performance
we’ve become accustomed to from
this accessory. As well as reducing the
latency even further from the Note 10,
it now supports more remote
shortcuts and gestures than ever
before, and it’s really handy foroperating the phone camera via
remote control.
The phone comes with Android 10
on board, and the OneUI that
Samsung sticks on top of that
continues to improve (even if we still
prefer the stock Android experience).
With a starting price above £1,000,
this is not a phone for the faint-
hearted. In the end, the Samsung
Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G is the phone
for the person who wants everything:
a premium design, fine performance,
a really good camera, 5G connectivity
and a stylus, all wrapped up in one
very expensive package. If that
sounds like you, and you have the
cash, you won’t be disappointed by what
this Samsung flagship has to offer.WE’RE IMPRESSED Powerful
components; giant, gorgeous
screen; S Pen keeps improving.
WE’D IMPROVE Costs a lot of
money; huge camera bump; stock
Android still superior.
THE LAST WORD While it
doesn’t offer a huge leap forward,
it comes packed with the best
specs around, is beautifully
designed, and has one key feature
\RXFDQèWUHDOO\ĆQGDQ\ZKHUH
else – that useful S Pen stylus.VERDICT
The triple-lens
camera produces,
as you’d expect,
absolutely brilliant
picturesAPPLE
iPHONE 11 PRO MAX
Until the iPhone 12 arrives,
this is Apple’s biggest and
most powerful phone,
ZLWKbDLQFK2/('
screen, A13 chip and
12MP ultra-wide, wide and
telephoto cameras.
£1,149, apple.com
SAMSUNG
GALAXY S20
ULTRA
Don’t fancy an S Pen?
Then save yourself some
cash and net an equally
expansive screen and a
slightly better battery
and cam to boot.
£1,099, samsung.comTHE ALTERNATIVES
Find the best deals for the Note
20 Ultra 5G at: bit.ly/t3nt20ult