Note 20 Ultra Vs S20 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra vs Galaxy S20 Ultra: What should you purchase?

(Image credit: Hereafter)

Update: We recommend that most phone buyers wait for the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, which is expected to launch in February and include the latest Snapdragon eight Gen 1 chip, an integrated Due south Pen and improved photographic camera.

Original commodity: Samsung has ii ultra-premium, big-screen beasts to choose from in the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and Milky way S20 Ultra. And while both sport 6.9-inch displays and top-stop specs, there are plenty of differences between these phablets, from the price and specs to special features.

In a nutshell, the Note 20 Ultra is optimized for productivity because of its S Pen, while the S20 Ultra is a better bet for entertainment. But both big phones are designed for work and play.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra review: Pros and cons
See our full Samsung Milky way S20 Ultra review
Samsung Galaxy Note xx Ultra vs. Galaxy Annotation 10 Plus: What's different?

If you lot're looking for Samsung'southward latest and greatest phones, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is a improve phone to compare to the Notation 20 Ultra considering the erstwhile offers S Pen support. Just this Annotation 20 Ultra vs Galaxy S20 Ultra guide well help you make up one's mind which one is right for you lot betwixt these ii phones.

Galaxy Annotation xx Ultra vs Galaxy S20 Ultra specs

	Galaxy Note twenty Ultra	Galaxy S20 Ultra
Price	$1,299, $1,449	$ane,399, $1,599
Screen size	6.ix inches (3096 ten 1444)	6.ix inches (3200 x 1440)
Screen refresh charge per unit	120Hz dynamic	120Hz
CPU	Snapdragon 865 Plus/Exynos 990	Snapdragon 865
RAM	12GB	12GB
Storage	128GB, 512GB	128GB, 512GB
Rear cameras	108MP main, 12MP telephoto, 12MP ultrawide, laser focus sensor	108MP main, 48MP telephoto, 12MP ultra-wide, VGA ToF
Zoom	5x optical, 50x digital	4x optical, 100x Space Zoom
Front camera	10MP	40MP
Battery size	4,500 mAh	5,000 mAh
Charging	25W	25W, 45W (optional)
5G?	Yes	Yes
Size	6.48 ten 3.04 x 0.32 inches	six.half dozen x ii.7 x 0.34 inches
Weight	vii.33 ounces	7.77 ounces

Milky way Notation 20 Ultra vs Galaxy S20 Ultra: Toll

The Samsung Galaxy Note twenty Ultra starts at $1,299 for 128GB of storage and goes upwardly to $one,449 for 512GB.

The Galaxy S20 Ultra is the pricier of these ii handsets. Information technology starts at $one,399 for 128GB model and goes up to $1,599 for the 512GB version.

Nosotros highly recommend looking for the best Milky way Notation xx deals and Galaxy S20 deals, every bit many retailers and carriers are offering big discounts.

Milky way Note 20 Ultra vs Milky way S20 Ultra: Pattern

The Galaxy Notation 20 Ultra delivers a huge 6.9-inch screen in a smaller bundle than the S20 Ultra. The Note 20 Ultra measures six.48 x 3.04 ten 0.32 inches and weighs seven.33 ounces, compared to 6.6 10 two.vii 10 0.34 inches and 7.77 ounces for the S20 Ultra. Our guess is that the Space Zoom photographic camera on the S20 Ultra adds to its heft.

The Annotation xx Ultra is a sleek phablet with a professional vibe, and it'south available in three colors: Mystic Bronze, Mystic White and Mystic Blackness. The S20 Ultra comes in just to colors: Cosmic Gray and Cosmic Black.

Galaxy Note 20 Ultra vs Galaxy S20 Ultra: Display

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra review display — (Image credit: Futurity)

The Galaxy Note twenty Ultra and Milky way S20 Ultra both take half-dozen.9-inch displays with a 120Hz refresh rate, simply the Annotation twenty Ultra has an advantage. Because the panel is dynamic on the Note twenty Ultra, it's smart enough to adapt its refresh rate on the wing based on the content that'south on screen. With the S20 Ultra, you have to manually toggle between 60Hz and 120Hz.

Otherwise, both OLED displays are gorgeous, and the S20 Ultra's screen is a little bit sharper at 3200 x 1440 pixels versus 3096 x 1444 for the Note 20 Ultra. Y'all can also wait a broad color range from both phones and ultra-wide viewing angles.

Both panels are quite vivid, equally they each hit 662 nits using our light meter and are easy to run across outdoors (if y'all put adaptive effulgence on).

Galaxy Note xx Ultra vs Galaxy S20 Ultra: Cameras

Best camera phone: Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The Annotation 20 Ultra takes a slightly different approach to its cameras than the S20 Ultra. While information technology offers the aforementioned 108MP main camera, it complements information technology with a laser motorcar focus sensor that results in faster focusing, especially when shooting video. The Galaxy S20 Ultra lacks this feature.

On the other hand, the Galaxy S20 Ultra has a bigger Space Zoom that goes up to 100x, compared to a 50x digital zoom for the Note 20 Ultra. Notwithstanding, the Annotation xx Ultra's 5x optical zoom is better than the 4x optical zoom on the S20 Ultra.

Up forepart, the S20 Ultra has the sharper selfie photographic camera at 40MP, compared to 10MP for the Annotation twenty Ultra.

Milky way Notation 20 Ultra vs Galaxy S20 Ultra: S Pen

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra S Pen 9 ms — (Epitome credit: Future)

The biggest deviation between the Milky way Note 20 Ultra and S20 Ultra is that the Annotation features an South Pen. This stylus lets you accept notes, draw and sketch on the go, and Samsung has included some new features this time around to boost the productivity of this phablet.

The new Samsung Notes app automatically syncs your notes to the cloud, then you can access them from any device. And if you're taking vox memos, your scribbles will exist in sync with your recordings, which is convenient for meetings or classes. Plus, the South Pen in the Note 20 Ultra now supports a agglomeration of new air gestures for things similar returning to the home screen or quickly taking screen shots.

Galaxy Note twenty Ultra vs Galaxy S20 Ultra: Performance

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra review 120Hz display Dead Trigger 2 — (Image credit: Time to come)

The Milky way Note twenty Ultra has a slight edge here, thanks to the new Snapdragon 865 Plus chip. This provides a clock speed bump over three GHz while improving graphics performance past ten%. Information technology'south not a huge leap, but power users will probably appreciate the extra oomph.

On Geekbench 5, which measures overall performance, the Milky way Note twenty Ultra hit a mult-core score of iii,294, compared to 3,076 for the S20 Ultra. On the GFXBench graphics test, the Galaxy Note xx Ultra scored ane,455 frames on the Aztec Ruins (High Tier) off-screen benchmark, compared to one,319 for the S20 Ultra.

Both the Note 20 Ultra and S20 Ultra come with a robust 12GB of RAM, as well as 128GB of storage standard. Y'all tin upgrade to 512GB if you're willing to pay more. And both phones allow you aggrandize the storage via a microSD bill of fare.

Milky way Note 20 Ultra vs Galaxy S20 Ultra: Battery life

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra has an edge over the Galaxy Annotation 20 on battery capacity, as the former phablet packs a 5,000 mAh battery into its chassis. The Note 20 Ultra has a 4,500 mAh battery.

On our web surfing battery examination, the Galaxy S20 Ultra lasted 11 hours and 58 minutes in 120Hz fashion and 9:thirteen in 60Hz mode. The Notation twenty Ultra lasted a shorter 10 hours and 26 minutes and 7:59, respectively, at 60Hz and 120Hz.

In terms of charging, the Galaxy S20 Ultra and Note 20 Ultra both support 25W fast charging, merely only the S20 Ultra supports even faster 45W charging as an option.

Galaxy Note 20 Ultra vs Galaxy S20 Ultra: Verdict

If I were spending my own money, I would buy the Galaxy Notation xx Ultra over the Galaxy S20 Ultra. For $100 less, you get a dynamic 120Hz display, a laser auto focus sensor for the camera, and a smaller than lighter design. Even if you don't really need the S Pen, the Note 20 Ultra is the better phone.

The Galaxy S20 Ultra has a couple of things going for it with its more powerful Space Zoom and especially beefier bombardment. And that's actually the only reason to opt for the S20 Ultra: longer endurance.

Overall, the newer Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is truly the phone to go considering it offers amend cameras than the Note 20 Ultra. Merely if yous desire an S Pen built in, the Note 20 Ultra is my choice.

More: Galaxy Note twenty vs Galaxy Annotation ix: Should you upgrade?

Mark Spoonauer is the global editor in main of Tom's Guide and has covered engineering science for over 20 years. In addition to overseeing the direction of Tom'south Guide, Marker specializes in covering all things mobile, having reviewed dozens of smartphones and other gadgets. He has spoken at key industry events and appears regularly on TV to talk over the latest trends, including Cheddar, Fob Concern and other outlets. Mark was previously editor in principal of Laptop Mag, and his work has appeared in Wired, Popular Science and Inc. Follow him on Twitter at @mspoonauer.