Unpacked 2020: Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra officially debut

Similar to Apple's WWDC 2020 event in June, Samsung just held its first-ever virtual-only Unpacked 2020 presentation. Even before any of the announcements were made, people already had an idea of what will be unveiled. One of those – the Galaxy Z Flip 5G – made its debut earlier than what was expected. Nevertheless, the rest of the hardware lineup was exactly what tech pundits speculated. These include the Galaxy Buds Live, Galaxy Watch 3, Galaxy Tab S7/S7+, Galaxy Z Fold 2, and the Galaxy Note 20/20 Ultra.

A common theme the company immediately pointed out is the Mystic Bronze colour scheme for its devices. Every model features at least one version in the aforementioned shade. This time the flagship-tier models are the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. Unlike the Galaxy S20 series, there does not seem to be a middle ground this time around. It's either the standard or premium variant.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra

Consumers who want a versatile handset with productivity capabilities in mind probably skipped out on the Galaxy S20 series a few months ago. The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is the range-topping variant which is reportedly available in LTE and 5G options. It sports a 6.9-inch 3088 x 1440 Dynamic AMOLED display with a 120 Hz refresh rate.

The latter, coupled with the new S-Pen technology, purportedly reduces latency and introduces predictive algorithms to improve the writing experience. The screen is protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus, which is allegedly its toughest one so far. Power-wise, it runs on a 4,500 mAh lithium-ion battery that supports 25W fast charging technology.

Much like the imaging capabilities of the S20 Ultra, it is equipped with a 108-megapixel wide-angle, 12-megapixel periscope telephoto (50x hybrid zoom), and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera module. Meanwhile, the front-facing 10-megapixel wide-angle sensor is housed within a punch-hole cutout on the top-middle portion of the display.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20

The smaller model features a 6.7-inch 2400 x 1080 Super AMOLED Plus panel, which still makes it a big handset. The main camera assembly includes a 12-megapixel wide-angle main, a 64-megapixel telephoto (3x hybrid optical zoom), and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle. Similar to its bigger sibling, the selfie camera is a 10-megapixel wide-angle unit. As for the battery, it is slightly smaller at 4,300 mAh and still supports 25W fast charging technology.

Shared tech specs

Both the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and Galaxy Note 20 are equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ SoC paired to 12 GB or 8 BG of RAM respectively. Storage sizes start at 128 GB and go up to 512 GB for the bigger smartphone. Samsung confirms availability on Aug. 21, 2020, for major retailers and networks across the globe.