Two weeks today

[Mike Dee]

I had the 20U for the 15-days Samsung said I had before returning it - which is unheard for me considering I've had the Note 3, 5, 8, 9 and currently use the 10+. Each was better than the previous. I am and avid photographer and I take thousands of photos every year - sometimes over 2000 for a 3-day event. The 20U cameras were horrible/useless compared to my 10+. I posted my problems and sample photos in the Samsung community and most commentors agreed that the 10+ photos were far superior when it came to focus/sharpness - especially when taking up-close almost macro photos (which the 20U seems to not be able to do - at least mine could not). Besides all of the camera issues, I too saw some pretty big battery draining issues, especially when connected to my Orbi and Wi-Fi 6.

That's very odd because I've have had the S10+, Note 10+, and still have an S20 Ultra. The Note 20 Ultra takes far better pictures than the 10+ series. I guess it's possible you had a bad unit. Battery has been just as good as the Note 10+ also.

 

[zforray]

I tried every combination of the 12MP camera (which takes lesser quality images than the 12.2MP camera in my Note 10+) and the 108MP camera and all had focusing/clarity issues - often focusing in the wrong place or having such a terrible aperture selection, no one area was sharp enough. I thought this was really ironic considering all I read about the 20U 'fantastic laser focusing system' versus the ToF focusing system in the 10+. My 10+ focus is spot on 98% of the time.

 

[Morty2264]

Love the snappyness of the 865+ and the performance has been amazing. But there are a few issues like the battery life not lasting a day. Otherwise I have no complaints as the device has been amazing performance wise.

Perhaps the battery will improve the more you use it!

 

[AndroidFanboy8]

I've already installed the bixby hack to set the device to medium power mode while still maintaining 120mhz adaptive. That's ok noticed it a bit longer actually.

Perhaps the battery will improve the more you use it!

 

[zforray]

That's very odd because I've have had the S10+, Note 10+, and still have an S20 Ultra. The Note 20 Ultra takes far better pictures than the 10+ series. I guess it's possible you had a bad unit. Battery has been just as good as the Note 10+ also.

As I mentioned, I took a sampling of photos with both phones and all cameras. Here is a Google Photos album with those tests. The Description/Caption of each photo tells you which phone/camera I used:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZLgQK1w3kScyechy6

 

[Morty2264]

I've already installed the bixby hack to set the device to medium power mode while still maintaining 120mhz adaptive. That's ok noticed it a bit longer actually.

That's awesome, and that also sounds like a neat trick! Don't think I've heard of it as of yet, so thanks for mentioning it!

 

[cache11]

I get approx. 10 hrs of SOT w my iPhone 11 Pro Max. There is not a Samsung that can come close to that—even the S20U.

Your little antiquated iPhone doesn't have 5G, 120Hz, a smaller display, fewer pixels and the screen doesn't get as bright as Samsungs best so it should get better battery life. You'll see what happens when the iphones finally get the premium options we've been enjoying.

 

[Talderon]

Your little antiquated iPhone doesn't have 5G, 120Hz, a smaller display, fewer pixels and the screen doesn't get as bright as Samsungs best so it should get better battery life. You'll see what happens when the iphones finally get the premium options we've been enjoying.

Someone should take an Android Phone with similar specs as the iPhone 11 Pro Max and see how they compare with battery.

That would be a more apples-to-apples comparison.

I agree, trying to compare a phone that has nowhere near the specs that the N20U has and stating that the phone with the older tech is better because the battery lasts longer is like staying I'm going to return my Ferrari for a Honda because the Honda gets better gas mileage regardless of the other differences.

(I have nothing against Ferrari's or Honda's, FYI)

 

[Venom0642]

Your little antiquated iPhone doesn't have 5G, 120Hz, a smaller display, fewer pixels and the screen doesn't get as bright as Samsungs best so it should get better battery life. You'll see what happens when the iphones finally get the premium options we've been enjoying.

There's no more for him to say anything as you can see he's gone there's no say on this no more he knows the Note20 Ultra will blast the iPhone lol.

 

[Talderon]

I generally don't argue with people for their opinions or tastes, but there are times where people just really poke for the sake of poking and it drives me nuts.

As stated in this thread, trying to compare a phone with specs that are not even on-par with each other and blast ONE THING (battery life in this case), it aggravates me.

If we were to "cripple" the N20U, put it at 60Hz only, lowest resolution, 4G/LTE only, we STILL could not get it low enough to compare fairly, but I am sure the N20U will kill the 11 Pro Max in battery life just due to the fact that the battery is so much bigger anyway.

Someone who has the time/inclination to do so, should drop all the features as stated above and see how much SOT they get. LOL

 

[Mike Dee]

I generally don't argue with people for their opinions or tastes, but there are times where people just really poke for the sake of poking and it drives me nuts.

As stated in this thread, trying to compare a phone with specs that are not even on-par with each other and blast ONE THING (battery life in this case), it aggravates me.

If we were to "cripple" the N20U, put it at 60Hz only, lowest resolution, 4G/LTE only, we STILL could not get it low enough to compare fairly, but I am sure the N20U will kill the 11 Pro Max in battery life just due to the fact that the battery is so much bigger anyway.

Someone who has the time/inclination to do so, should drop all the features as stated above and see how much SOT they get. LOL

As someone who uses both iphone and Android, I find iphone battery life only much better on standby. That's great if you don't use your device alot. Personally, battery life is irrelevant for my usage because I don't have an issue with charging when needed. I can't speak for others that can't or don't want to top off.

 

[o4liberty]

As someone who uses both iphone and Android, I find iphone battery life only much better on standby. That's great if you don't use your device alot. Personally, battery life is irrelevant for my usage because I don't have an issue with charging when needed. I can't speak for others that can't or don't want to top off.

Feel the same way I have chargers everywhere I go so battery worry is a thing of the past.

 

[zforray]

I am curious about whether I simply got a bad 20U or are there real issues with the cameras (especially since Samsung recently released patches for the Note 20 which included something for the cameras).

Looking at the metadata for a 12MP photo, my Note 10+ shows 12.2MP 3024×4032 2.1 MB while the photos I took with the 20U I sent back, when selecting the 12MP camera (vs 108MP), it showed 12MP 3000×4000 2.2 MB - which seemed odd to me since I thought they were using the same 12MP camera as the Note 10+

 

[tadpoles]

I am curious about whether I simply got a bad 20U or are there real issues with the cameras (especially since Samsung recently released patches for the Note 20 which included something for the cameras).

Looking at the metadata for a 12MP photo, my Note 10+ shows 12.2MP 3024×4032 2.1 MB while the photos I took with the 20U I sent back, when selecting the 12MP camera (vs 108MP), it showed 12MP 3000×4000 2.2 MB - which seemed odd to me since I thought they were using the same 12MP camera as the Note 10+

I'm pretty sure there's a difference in pixel size and that may account for the discrepancy.

 

[kixfan]

Check out that zerolemon battery case

I had one of those a few phones ago. It turned my small blue V10 into a giant black brick that I swear I could've used as a weapon to hit someone with. LOL

 

[srbell67]

There's no more for him to say anything as you can see he's gone there's no say on this no more he knows the Note20 Ultra will blast the iPhone lol.

You android-fan boys can say whatever you want, but I have both an iphone 11 pro max and a Note 20 Ultra and the battery comparisons aren't even fair as my iphone can achieve about TWO TIMES the SOT of the Note's. I run adaptive 120 hz and automatic brightness on my Note and achieve about 5 hours of SOT per day. The iphone? About 9-9.5 hours. Again, it isn't even close and yes, the iphone is slightly smaller and can't run 120hz, but come on! For a $1300 phone and the fact that the Note was ALWAYS hailed by Samsung as their powerhouse/power user device, they obviously skimped on the battery this year for the sake of keeping the phone slim and/or because of the camera bump. The S20 Ultra has a bigger and better battery than the Note's. When has that ever happened before. Again, for a $1300 phone?! Who buys a $1300 phone and doesn't want to rock it out w all of its best features: screen size/brightness; 120hz; media consumption; etc. Which power user is going to accept 5 hours of SOT? They're not and is why the Note's battery is getting slammed by youtube and other tech reviewers. Again, $1300.

NO ONE can doubt how well apple is able to harmonize and optimize its hardware along w ios--they control all of it. If anyone is going to set the bar for battery life on a large device running 120hz, let's see how the iphone 13 pro max or whatever they will call it (yes, a year away) does.

 

[Mike Dee]

I am curious about whether I simply got a bad 20U or are there real issues with the cameras (especially since Samsung recently released patches for the Note 20 which included something for the cameras).

Looking at the metadata for a 12MP photo, my Note 10+ shows 12.2MP 3024×4032 2.1 MB while the photos I took with the 20U I sent back, when selecting the 12MP camera (vs 108MP), it showed 12MP 3000×4000 2.2 MB - which seemed odd to me since I thought they were using the same 12MP camera as the Note 10+

The amount of difference you are stating in file size is pretty insignificant.

 

[zforray]

The amount of difference you are stating in file size is pretty insignificant.

Yes I realize dropping from 3024px to 3000px is insignificant but then why did the file size grow? Can anyone out there with a 20U and 10+ take 12MP photos of the same object to compare them and perhaps post them here? Just trying to figure out why the 20U I got was sooo bad when it came to photography (and other issue such as very slow response when using the S-Pen as a camera shutter/trigger as well as constantly changing what the S-Pen did!)

 

[sp44]

As someone who uses both iphone and Android, I find iphone battery life only much better on standby. That's great if you don't use your device alot. Personally, battery life is irrelevant for my usage because I don't have an issue with charging when needed. I can't speak for others that can't or don't want to top off.

I listen to talk radio or music on the phone while working all day. I find the battery drains faster on my Note than it did on my iPhone.

 

[tadpoles]

You android-fan boys can say whatever you want, but I have both an iphone 11 pro max and a Note 20 Ultra and the battery comparisons aren't even fair as my iphone can achieve about TWO TIMES the SOT of the Note's. I run adaptive 120 hz and automatic brightness on my Note and achieve about 5 hours of SOT per day. The iphone? About 9-9.5 hours. Again, it isn't even close and yes, the iphone is slightly smaller and can't run 120hz, but come on! For a $1300 phone and the fact that the Note was ALWAYS hailed by Samsung as their powerhouse/power user device, they obviously skimped on the battery this year for the sake of keeping the phone slim and/or because of the camera bump. The S20 Ultra has a bigger and better battery than the Note's. When has that ever happened before. Again, for a $1300 phone?! Who buys a $1300 phone and doesn't want to rock it out w all of its best features: screen size/brightness; 120hz; media consumption; etc. Which power user is going to accept 5 hours of SOT? They're not and is why the Note's battery is getting slammed by youtube and other tech reviewers. Again, $1300.

NO ONE can doubt how well apple is able to harmonize and optimize its hardware along w ios--they control all of it. If anyone is going to set the bar for battery life on a large device running 120hz, let's see how the iphone 13 pro max or whatever they will call it (yes, a year away) does.

Okay, so the moral of the story may be that if you want a ho-hum device with better mileage get the iPhone/Toyota Prius. If you want a more involving device with more features but less mileage get the Note 20/Lexus GS350F. Different people will have different priorities. I tried the iPhone/Primus, it wasn't for me per se but I know a lot of folks love it.