OCTOBER 2020 PCWorld 49designed One UI to be friendlier to giant
phones. The menus, navigation, and layout all
make the Note 20 a little easier to handle.
You’ll still need two hands, but One UI is a
pleasure to use.
A MORE RESERVED, MORE
REFINED CAMERA
The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has a camera system
rivaling that of any smartphone
out there, but it’s not quite as
extravagant as the S20 Ultra’s.
That’s a good thing. The 100X
Space Zoom that was plastered
across the camera array on the
S20 Ultra has been lowered to
50X, and the DepthVision lens
has been replaced by laser
autofocus.
Both changes serve the Note
20 Ultra well. While the 108MP
lens is still largely unnecessary—I
couldn’t tell the difference
between 108MP pictures and
12MP “binned” images—the
Note 20 Ultra is definitely
Samsung’s best smartphone
camera. It’s no coincidence that
it’s also the least gimmicky,
eschewing features like Dual
Exposure on the Note 9 for the
things that matter: improved
night mode, lightning-fast focus,
and realistic zoom.
The zoom has its limits. When pushed to
50X, the Note 20 Ultra still produces noisy
shots. Drop to 30X and they’re useable, but
10X yields the best results. If I were in charge
of the Note 30’s camera, in fact, I’d make 30X
the upper limit and work on perfecting it.
Samsung’s zoom is its biggest advantage over
Google and Apple (for now). Even with fewer
megapixels in its telephoto lens (12MP versusThe Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has impressive zoom, seen here at 1X (top
left), 10X (top right), 30X (bottom left), and 50X (bottom right).