Note 20 Ultra not the upgrade I expected

[L0n3N1nja]

Bought a Note 20 Ultra, haven't played with it much but my initial opinion is that it's far more similar to my N8 than I had expected. It's not a very big upgrade, at least not from the user experience. Software feels near identical which I didn't expect. Screen is near identical as well. I also notice no increase in performance, I'm sure if I set the phones side by side and used a high speed camera the N20 Ultra is faster but it's just not needed for how I use a phone. While I'm also happy with my N8 battery I'm sure I'll get better on the N20 Ultra.

Now where I noticed an obvious difference immediately is the audio quality on loudspeaker while listening to music or watching videos.

The camera is also a major improvement, to be honest the camera is the entire reason I bought the phone so as long as I'm happy with the results I get I'll be happy with my purchase.

I intend to push the camera like a photographer would and answer questions I have that no review I've found have covered. I'll see what I can achieve with the 108mp mode, and more importantly want to push the RAW files to their limit and see what a sensor this size is capable of.

 

[Hermes Hidayat]

Bought a Note 20 Ultra, haven't played with it much but my initial opinion is that it's far more similar to my N8 than I had expected. It's not a very big upgrade, at least not from the user experience. Software feels near identical which I didn't expect. Screen is near identical as well. I also notice no increase in performance, I'm sure if I set the phones side by side and used a high speed camera the N20 Ultra is faster but it's just not needed for how I use a phone. While I'm also happy with my N8 battery I'm sure I'll get better on the N20 Ultra.

Now where I noticed an obvious difference immediately is the audio quality on loudspeaker while listening to music or watching videos.

The camera is also a major improvement, to be honest the camera is the entire reason I bought the phone so as long as I'm happy with the results I get I'll be happy with my purchase.

I intend to push the camera like a photographer would and answer questions I have that no review I've found have covered. I'll see what I can achieve with the 108mp mode, and more importantly want to push the RAW files to their limit and see what a sensor this size is capable of.

erm...N8 has 6.3" screen with 521 PPi wheres the N20U has a 6.9" screen with 496 PPI...thus it seems near identical...as for performance it varies on what you use your phone for.im no processor junkie but SD865+/Exynos 990 is faster than SD835/Exynos 8895... according to benchmark tests the N20U performs 2 times better at minimum than the N8...

 

[o4liberty]

The speed of the device compared to your 8 should be a big difference very noticeable.

 

[Gary02468]

Camera improvements are the main factor for me too. Having 15% more screen area is also good. The 120Hz screen refresh is nice, but I prefer to keep the 1440p resolution. Stereo speakers are surprisingly helpful (compared to the Note8's mono).

 

[donm527]

Bought a Note 20 Ultra, haven't played with it much but my initial opinion is that it's far more similar to my N8 than I had expected. It's not a very big upgrade, at least not from the user experience. Software feels near identical which I didn't expect. Screen is near identical as well. I also notice no increase in performance, I'm sure if I set the phones side by side and used a high speed camera the N20 Ultra is faster but it's just not needed for how I use a phone. While I'm also happy with my N8 battery I'm sure I'll get better on the N20 Ultra.

Honestly I get where you're coming from and once the N20U was fully setup almost identical to my N8, using it on a day-to-day doesn't feel much different when I had the N8. Which is a good thing since again it's basically setup identically when upgraded but it means that the updating everything is noticeable and a few things more than others... but basically means there wasn't anything revolutionary on the phone from N8 to N20U...

6.9" display... nice and bright and super sharp... so was the N8. Best display of its time. One of the brightest where following year N9 and maybe N10 didn't have the max nit the N8 has. Yes smaller but I didn't care... I actually prefer the 6.4" as the sweet spot/max preference for me. I'm ok with the N20U since it's about N10+ size and the Kevlar LaterCase doesn't add any more size making it practically the size of my N8 with Spigen Neo Hybrid.

Battery... much better than N8. Not super battery 2-day battery but gets me 24 hours easy and probably push 1.5 days. But no complaints with the N8 except it probably lost 20% by year 3.

5G... eh. I was getting 300 Mbps in some spots in my area with near 100 Mbps most areas with AT&T 5Ge so I would have been ok if I didn't just recently upgrade my data to 5G but since I got my daughter a 12 Pro I did it... and it surprisingly lowered my monthly a little and I get 30gb for hotspot if needed so oh well.

Audio... That was the downside with living with the N8 for three years when they came out with stereo with the N9. Not loud enough in more than quiet areas. That's the big plus with N20U... definitely louder with the stereo speakers so watching my shows on IPTV much more enjoyable.

Performance... I see a little more peppi-ness in loading a running apps. Does it feel 2X faster?? Dunno. Maybe I got use to the setup being like my N8 and had no real complaints on it I can't really tell now. Its not the major difference like I have going from an iPad Air 2 to my iPad 11" Pro (understand more years between the two in that comparison but still).

Camera... I do play with the zoom even up to the 50X so that it a nice upgrade. But non-zoom. The pics are same to me... super outdoors in bright light... still find it inconsistent other times. Same as Note 8. Still think wife's 11 Pro or daughter's 12 Pro have better consistency so take better pics most of time.

Lastly though... in-glass FPS... WIN!!! Besides the stereo speakers this is other upgrade that stands out. Talking 90%+ time no problem. Three years with the N8 and that stupid FPS... and I'd be lucky if I got 20% during that time.

Love the N20U. For $300 using a 3-year old N8 it was a no-brainer and should serve me well for at least the next 30 months. But the differences between N8 to N20U were incremental updates with a few upgrades IMO. I suspect the same next year so personally no plan to go N21U even if it's the last year Note... unless I can get it for the same through other channels I may have.

 

[Darth Mo]

The Bluetooth connected S-Pen is certainly a significant upgrade over the Note 8. If you bought the phone for the camera, having a "remote shutter" bundled with the other incremental improvements should make it well worth it for you.

 

[donm527]

The Bluetooth connected S-Pen is certainly a significant upgrade over the Note 8. If you bought the phone for the camera, having a "remote shutter" bundled with the other incremental improvements should make it well worth it for you.

I personally didn't use the S-Pen a whole lot on my Note 8 and barely have so far with the N20U besides an occasional Note jotting. So I don't use the S-Pen waving around features and guess most people will to. I bet a few do use those so that's cool.

I was joking in another post of using the silo for accessories like a bluetooth charging Vape stick or something... but I kinda wish they did a couple of accessories for the people that didn't use the pen much... I would have liked a bluetooth charging laser for using as a pointer during a presentation.

 

[Rukbat]

The differences between Android 9 and Android 10 aren't great, but they're noticeable. The big difference will be in the speed - the 865 is a major improvement over the 835 (or Exynos equivalents).

 

[mustang7757]

The differences between Android 9 and Android 10 aren't great, but they're noticeable. The big difference will be in the speed - the 865 is a major improvement over the 835 (or Exynos equivalents).

I agree the chip is .

 

[L0n3N1nja]

The speed of the device compared to your 8 should be a big difference very noticeable.

Outside of benchmarks it's not, my N8 is still fast and snappy, they both open apps so quickly it feels instant. I'm sure if I fire up Fortnite or another game I'll see a difference, or if I edited a video. I know the hardware is much more powerful in the N20 Ultra but for the way I use a phone it's not really noticeable.

 

[frederickdawg]

You didn't notice a difference in screen size?

Bought a Note 20 Ultra, haven't played with it much but my initial opinion is that it's far more similar to my N8 than I had expected. It's not a very big upgrade, at least not from the user experience. Software feels near identical which I didn't expect. Screen is near identical as well. I also notice no increase in performance, I'm sure if I set the phones side by side and used a high speed camera the N20 Ultra is faster but it's just not needed for how I use a phone. While I'm also happy with my N8 battery I'm sure I'll get better on the N20 Ultra.

Now where I noticed an obvious difference immediately is the audio quality on loudspeaker while listening to music or watching videos.

The camera is also a major improvement, to be honest the camera is the entire reason I bought the phone so as long as I'm happy with the results I get I'll be happy with my purchase.

I intend to push the camera like a photographer would and answer questions I have that no review I've found have covered. I'll see what I can achieve with the 108mp mode, and more importantly want to push the RAW files to their limit and see what a sensor this size is capable of.

 

[mustang7757]

Outside of benchmarks it's not, my N8 is still fast and snappy, they both open apps so quickly it feels instant. I'm sure if I fire up Fortnite or another game I'll see a difference, or if I edited a video. I know the hardware is much more powerful in the N20 Ultra but for the way I use a phone it's not really noticeable.

Congrats on the new phone

I could feel the difference in speed from when I had the Note 10+ , not crazy but still seen it .

 

[L0n3N1nja]

Overall I think the N20 Ultra is the best phone on the market, I'm not trying to bash it in anyway. It's just after upgrading my phone yearly for almost a decade, and now using my N8 daily for 2 1/2 years(also a N9 for 2 years on a separate line) I'm just shocked how little improvement there is from a user experience vs what the spec difference is. Maybe this is just an indication Android is mature and we've plateaued in a number of ways. Samsung doesn't seem to feel the need to overall their UI on such a drastic measure anymore either. I can fully understand why Google didn't feel the need to put top of the line specs in the Pixel 5, it's just not needed anymore.

My main take away from this experience is I don't need a flagship phone anymore, it's over kill for me.

 

[L0n3N1nja]

Congrats on the new phone

I could feel the difference in speed from when I had the Note 10+ , not crazy but still seen it .

I think the issue is I just don't do much with a phone anymore besides browse the web, social media, take photos, listen to music, and call/text. My 2 1/2 year old Note 8 still has 19Gb of free storage out of it's 64Gb.

 

[mustang7757]

Overall I think the N20 Ultra is the best phone on the market, I'm not trying to bash it in anyway. It's just after upgrading my phone yearly for almost a decade, and now using my N8 daily for 2 1/2 years(also a N9 for 2 years on a separate line) I'm just shocked how little improvement there is from a user experience vs what the spec difference is. Maybe this is just an indication Android is mature and we've plateaued in a number of ways. Samsung doesn't seem to feel the need to overall their UI on such a drastic measure anymore either. I can fully understand why Google didn't feel the need to put top of the line specs in the Pixel 5, it's just not needed anymore.

My main take away from this experience is I don't need a flagship phone anymore, it's over kill for me.

Yeah true, one UI was best UI Samsung done and it's great that user experience didn't diminish which not supposed to through UI .
What do you think about 120hz display compared the 60 ?

 

[mustang7757]

I think the issue is I just don't do much with a phone anymore besides browse the web, social media, take photos, listen to music, and call/text. My 2 1/2 year old Note 8 still has 19Gb of free storage out of it's 64Gb.

Yeah understand.

 

[L0n3N1nja]

You didn't notice a difference in screen size?

It didn't really feel any larger in hand, I actually put them side by side to confirm the N20 Ultra was larger. It's bigger, but not something that changes the experience for me.

 

[L0n3N1nja]

Yeah true, one UI was best UI Samsung done and it's great that user experience didn't diminish which not supposed to through UI .
What do you think about 120hz display compared the 60 ?

The 120hz is nice but I think I'd rather run the higher resolution. While I can see the improvement it isn't a game changer like some people claim it is. It's definitely smoother than 60hz just again kind of expected more based on feed back from others.

 

[mustang7757]

The 120hz is nice but I think I'd rather run the higher resolution. While I can see the improvement it isn't a game changer like some people claim it is. It's definitely smoother than 60hz just again kind of expected more based on feed back from others.

Gotcha, hope you enjoy the new phone .

 

[Mike Dee]

The Note 8 was a great device but there are tremendous improvents going into the Note 20 Ultra if you take advantage of them.