After using this device for a few weeks, I have to admit, it is a very powerful device. It feels like a very premium device, which it shouldwith the price mark. I have the Mystic Black Note 20 Ultra 128 GB model. Coming from a Galaxy and never owned a Note before, the first thing I was attached to was the S Pen. I will have to admit I really do like the S Pen. I enjoy taking notes without even turning the screen on. The S Pen is also good for things I use on a daily basis such as smart select, quick commands such as launching an app, and taking pictures, I love that I can use the S Pen as my shutter button.
I had a chance to try out the air actions, but it does not seem too stable… specifically with the anywhere actions. I would press and hold the button on the S Pen and draw a back arrow or up arrow and sometimes it would do the wrong command, but most of the time it would just bring up the Pen options on the side. None the less the biggest thing I love about the S Pen is note taking. And that is something I do not get on the Galaxy devices. It really does feel like writing on paper and I love the sound it makes when jotting down notes.
When I first got this device, I immediately switched it to 120 Hz, but the first thing I noticed was my battery. The 120 Hz drains the battery super fast. In addition, you cannot use WQHD+ (3088 x 1440) screen resolution with 120 Hz refresh rate. So, you have to choose between them. After noticing that my battery would not even last me a full day on 120 Hz, I switched back to standard (60 Hz refresh rate) and now it feels back to my Galaxy where I can get a full day on a single charge. I am also a heavy user and spend hours and hours on my device.
Another thing I noticed when charging my device was the estimated time remaining. This kind of worries me. I would notice my battery is charging and at 90% yet it still says 20 mins till full charge. It would hit 100% withing 5-10 minutes so not sure why the estimated time is so far off. When I plug in my charger, it says about 1hr 5 mins when the battery is about 15%. It takes just a bit longer than that to get to a full charge, so there is some room for improvement with the estimated time.
I was also quite surprised that the Note 20 does not support 45W charging. The Note 10 did, the Galaxy S20 did not, and the Note 20 does not. Quite unfortunate, but for those who have a Note 10 and are using the 45W charging, do you really notice a faster charging time? Please leave your comments below.
The camera is quite nice, I am not a fan of the 50x Space zoom as images get blurry when digitally zoomed in that much. Even on my Galaxy S20, I barely used the 30x zoom. The night mode is quite impressive as I was able to take some stunning pictures with low light. The screen is quite big, but It feels pretty good in my hands. The overall design is really nice, the camera bump on the rear is quite thick, even thicker than the camera bump on the Galaxy S20 Ultra, but I do use the Genuine Samsung Leather cover, which makes it flesh so I barely notice it.
I am using this device a lot for taking notes, both vertical and landscape. I know on previous note devices the S Pen holstered on the right side, and on the Note 20 it holsters on the left side. Since this is my first Note I am not too picky, but as a preference, I would recommend having it on the right side, mostly because I am right-handed, and it would feel more naturally.
I made some calls using the speakerphone, and it seems a bit louder and clearer. Listening to music on this device, the speakers are great and go nice and loud. I like where the microphone position is so there is no way to cover it with my finger despite whichever way I hold my phone.
Besides that, there is not too much difference between my Note 20 and my Galaxy S20. I am still learning to use the different gestures with my S Pen and I might look at posting up a follow up review in a few weeks.
@Snowcat19 wrote This kind of worries me. I would notice my battery is charging and at 90% yet it still says 20 mins till full charge. It would hit 100% withing 5-10 minutes so not sure why the estimated time is so far off.
The last 10 % is slow on the device to protect your battery of heating or surcharge and this is completely normal. Also, it's better to use normal charge instead of quick charge. Also, It's best not to let your battery go under 20%.
Cool beans.. regarding your 120hz drain I'm wondering if that is more associated with the typical first few days of the battery AI organizing itself.
The 120hz is supposed to be adaptive, so if it's doing the right job, it shouldn't be getting in the way... perhaps even providing a battery benefit because it should be throttling down the refresh rate depending on the activity.... for instance, if you are reading static text it slows to 10hz, and when you start scrolling it amps to 120hz.
Question if ya don't mind. I want the 120mz daily benefit, but I also want to take advantage of WQHD when using certain applications such as Netflix. I dont need 120mz when Netflix broadcasts at 24 or 60hz.
Currently I use Bixby Routines to deploy a series of actions when opening certain apps (see attached screenshot). Im wondering if the option is available in N20U to force a higher resolution and dump out the 120mz. I assume its still there, can you check?
If we can still leverage Bixby Routine to override the 120hz by specific application, I think users can get the best of both worlds as opposed to manually toggling between resolution and refresh rate every time.
