Galaxy Note 20 Review

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra comes with some incredible specs and features. Sadly, the Galaxy Note 20 misses most of those specs and features. That might lead you to think of this handset as forgettable but wait. At $999, it is $300 cheaper than the Note 20 Ultra.

The Note 20 comes with the Snapdragon 865, which is undoubtedly one of the fastest smartphone processors on the market. The versatile S Pen and updated software make this handset a good choice from a lot of perspectives.

If you want to get the best camera and display, you can consider buying a Note 20 Ultra. However, the Note 20 will not disappoint if you are willing to sacrifice a bit on these two fronts.

Design

Although the Galaxy Note 20 has a plastic back instead of a glass, it doesn’t lose its luxuriousness. The fit, finish, and appearance of the Note 20 make it look as good as a phone with a glass back. The reinforced polycarbonate used in this phone design is a premium and fancy plastic material. This material may prove to be even better than glass due to its enhanced durability.

While there is a plastic back, the frame of this phone is still made of chromed metal. The brushed edges along the bottom and top make the phone look even classier.

While this phone has a big 6.4-inch screen, it is not heavier than the 5.8-inch iPhone 11. It is only a fraction taller than the S20 Plus.

Last but not the least, the Note 20 comes with an IP68 rating, meaning that it is adequately water-resistant.

Display

You may be a little underwhelmed by the display of the Note 20 due to its more conventional 1080p resolution and 60Hz screen refresh rate. As mentioned above, it may be one of the little sacrifices you may have to pay if you want a modern but cheaper flagship phone. Nonetheless, the 60Hz screen refresh rate is not bad in general, and you will fail to single out a pixel on the screen. So, 1080p may prove to be a good screen resolution.

The good thing about the display of this phone is that it consists of an AMOLED panel, which allows you to enjoy deep blacks and more vibrant colors. The contents on the screen respond exceptionally well when you use the S Pen.

Camera

While you won’t be able to enjoy a camera experience supported by the 108-megapixel primary sensor and 50x Space Zoom capability of the Note 20 Ultra, the Note 20 triple-lens setup still offers top-tier camera performance. Although the 64MP telephoto with 3x lossless zoom is not an optical zooming feature, it still takes clearer close-up shots of distant objects. Both the main lens and ultra-wide lens on this phone are 12MP.

Performance

The Snapdragon 865 plus helps the Note 20 to run every app more smoothly than you think. The fact of the matter is that you can use this phone as a gaming handset. You will not like the 60Hz screen, though. Most people have said that their Note 20’s didn’t get too hot when they ran games and other processor-intensive tasks.

Samsung Galaxy S21 vs. Apple iPhone 12

At this time of the year, we have leading handsets in the smartphone industry, both from Apple and Samsung. The iPhone 12 has been here for some time, while Samsung’s Galaxy S21 has been launched quite recently. With the OLED screen, powerful A14 chipset, and incredible camera upgrades, the iPhone 12 has proved to be a strong contender.

Samsung, on the other hand, has done quite well with its new Galaxy S21 series, which comes with strong specs and interesting features. The reason it is the best handset in the Android world is that it houses the latest Snapdragon 888 processor from Qualcomm. It has an impressive display with a higher refresh rate and a top-of-the-line camera pack.

With both handsets striving to win the race, it comes down entirely on what suits you best. In this article, we will discuss both these handsets briefly.

Specs

Price

Keeping the prices higher didn’t turn out to be a good decision by Samsung when it launched the S20 series. For the S21 series, the company has reduced prices by $200 across the board. The standard S21 starts at $799. The S21 is available at $999. And the S21 Ultra can be purchased at $1,199.

Apple, on the other hand, starts at $699 for its iPhone 12 Mini. The iPhone 12 costs $799. The iPhone Pro and Pro Max are available at $999 and $1,099, respectively.

Design

Both the iPhone 12 and Galaxy S21 are quite similar in terms of size and weight. The Galaxy S21 comes with dimensions of 5.97 x 2.8 x 0.31 inches and a weight of 5.96 ounces. The iPhone 12 measures 5.78 x 2.81 x 0.29 inches and weighs 5.78 ounces. In the real world, this difference is not noticeable at all.

Most of the Galaxy S21’s design is pretty much the same as that of the S20. It, however, offers some refinements. Similarly, the iPhone 12 is pretty much the same as that of the iPhone 11, except for the sharp, cornered edges, which are a trademark of the iPhone 4 series.

Samsung has changed the design of the camera bump in the S21 series. This arrangement now seems to originate from the side of the phone.

Display

Both these phones come with impressive displays. Both use OLED screens that radiate punchy colors and deep blacks. The bright ranges are also quite impressive.

The Galaxy S21 comes with a 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED display and FHD resolution. The screen refresh rate of this phone ranges between 48Hz and 120Hz, depending on the type of content on the screen. If you want to save on the battery life, you can lock the refresh rate at 60Hz.

The iPhone 12 comes with a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED and a sharper screen resolution of 2532x1170 pixels. The company has decided to go with a higher refresh rate.

Cameras

The iPhone 12 comes with the best camera in a smartphone. The dual-camera setup on the back takes excellent shots. This phone also has AI-based software that benefits from the most powerful processor chip in the smartphone industry. As a result, the iPhone 12 produces superior shots compared to every phone out there.

Samsung has used the same camera hardware in the Galaxy S21 as that in the S20. This camera pack consists of a 12MP main lens, 12MP ultra-wide camera, and a 64MP telephoto lens. From the perspective of hardware and number, the camera pack of the Galaxy S21 is superior to the one in the iPhone 12. The iPhone 12, however, delivers better quality shots.

Performance

The iPhone 12 delivers better performance compared to the Galaxy S21, thanks to the A14 Bionic chipset. While its hardware doesn’t seem much attractive in terms of numbers, it is pretty much composed and well-balanced.

Although Galaxy S21 may lag behind the iPhone 12, it offers a more promising performance over other phones available in the industry. The Snapdragon 888 offers an overall 25% boost in performance over the Snapdragon 865. Launching and running apps on this phone may prove to be a bit slower experience compared to the iPhone 12, but you won’t be disappointed.

Galaxy S10 vs. S10 Plus vs. S10e vs. S10 5G

While there is a lot of talking about the Samsung Galaxy S21 series, and you will want to get this phone due to its more promising specs, it comes with a big price tag. Nonetheless, it doesn’t mean that you should opt for a mid-range phone. If you are concerned about the price of a new phone, you may consider choosing one from the Galaxy S10 series.

In this article, we will compare Galaxy 10, S10 Plus, S10e, and S10 5G.

Specs

Price and availability

The best thing about buying Galaxy S10 phones in the year 2021 is that they all are pretty affordable now, and the specs are also quite promising. After the launch of the Galaxy S20 series, the price of 5.8-inch Galaxy S10e is $599 for 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The 6.1-inch Galaxy S10 costs $749 to $849 for 128GB of internal storage and 8GB of RAM. The 6.4-inch Galaxy S10 Plus is available at $849. This phone comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.

If you want to purchase the Galaxy S10 5G, you will have to pay $1,299. This phone comes with 8GB of RAM and internal storage of 256GB or 512GB.

Design, size, and display

The Galaxy S10 family comes with Samsung’s Infinity-O design. Instead of a notch hanging from the top, these phones feature a hole-punch on the right side of the screen. Both the S20 Plus and S10 5G have a pretty obstructive punch-hole due to the dual camera inside.

The key difference between all these phones is their size. The Galaxy S10e has a 5.8-inch display, which is the same as that of the iPhone 11 Pro. The Galaxy S10 comes with a 6.1-inch quad-HD display. The Galaxy S10 Plus has a 6.4-inch Quad-HD screen. The Galaxy S10 5G is the largest of the series, packing a 6.7-inch screen.

All phones in this series use Samsung's Dynamic AMOLED tech. none of these phones comes with a 120Hz screen refresh rate. Except for the S10e, all phones in the series come with curved edges on sides.

Fingerprint sensor

The ultrasonic fingerprint sensor is one of the most impressive goodies the S10 series comes with. with the help of this feature, you can unlock your phone fairly easily. The best thing about ultrasonic fingerprint sensors is that they provide better accuracy compared to other optical sensors, thanks to their ability to create 3D contours of fingertips. While this feature is not without issues, it is generally good for most users.

Cameras

The Galaxy S10e comes with the fewest of cameras compared to other phones in the series. But this camera pack is quite impressive. This camera system houses a 12-megapixel sensor and an ultra-wide 16MP lens. The Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus come with a third telephoto camera on the back. The S10 5G moves one step ahead of all by including a fourth lens in the pack. This additional camera is a time-of-flight sensor.

All these phones have the same 10-MP on the front. The S10 Plus houses a secondary depth-sensing camera. The S10 5G also comes with a secondary lens, which is another time-of-flight camera.

Performance

The Snapdragon 855 is a powerhouse of a chipset in the Android world. The S10 series uses this chipset in the US. For S10 phones in other parts of the world, Samsung uses its own Exynos 9820 chipset. Both these processors are incredibly fast, allowing users to use their phones without any glitch in the performance.

The battery performance of these phones varies, depending on the model you choose. The S10e comes with a 3,100 mAh battery. The S10 has a 3,400mAh battery unit. The S10 Plus houses a 4,100 mAh unit, which is quite decent. And the S10 5G comes with the most potent of the pack 4,500mAh unit.

All in all, these are the great phones that you can purchase for less in the year 2021. All these phones provide the best user experience, except for a quite ordinary battery performance of the S10e.