South Korean tech giant Samsung has unveiled its new phone range and accessories line to mark the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 20.
In the company’s first-ever Samsung Unpacked digital event, the company released the much-leaked Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra smartphones, along with an upgraded folding smartphone, the Galaxy Z Fold 2.
Here’s what you need to know about the new phones.
Samsung Galaxy Note 20: Smaller size, comparatively
It says something about the state of smartphones when Samsung is launching a new phone range and the device with a 6.7-inch full HD+ display is the smallest one available, but that’s the way things are with the new Note 20. Keep in mind last year’s Note 10 was a much more feasible 6.3-inch.
The size may be an issue for some but don’t forget the handy S Pen, the integrated stylus which comes with the phone. The S Pen has been upgraded so it offers a lower latency of 9 ms, down from 42 ms on the Note 10 range, so you can interact with more precision and greater accuracy. The Air Actions feature allows you to remotely control the device and this has been expanded on, so you can swipe the pen in the air to go backgrounds, home, and access most recently used apps.
Other new productivity features for the Note range include improved hand-writing recognition and an auto-straighten tool that will make your scribblings easier to read. There’s also the DeX feature so you can connect the phone to a screen, either a computer screen or Smart TV, and start working just like you would on a laptop. A feature coming later this year will allow you to run multiple apps side by side on your Windows 10 PC from your phone, like the way you can do with Apple’s iPad Pro and Mac.
The partnership with Microsoft is visible in other ways such as the ability to play Xbox console games with Game Pass Ultimate, so you can stream games directly to your phone. In particular, this is where the 5G version of the Note 20 will come in handy for that ultra-low latency, as well as the new fast Samsung Exynos 990 processor.
The camera isn’t too bad either. The Note 20 range has been upgraded so it can now capture 8K video without any extra equipment needed, along with new tools for focus, audio, exposure, lighting and zoom. There’s a 12MP dual-pixel lens, 64MP telephoto lens and a 12MP ultra-wide angle lens, so not quite as many lenses as the Note 20 Ultra.
Prices for the Samsung Note 20 will start at £849 for the 4G version, going up to £949 for the 5G version. Both variants will be available with 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and a 4,300 mAh battery, and in three colours: mystic grey, mystic green and mystic bronze. You can pre-order the new phone now and it will ship from August 21.
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra: 5G powerhouse
Samsung has taken things up a level with the Note 20 Ultra, which features a 6.9-inch curved AMOLED display, bigger than last year’s 6.8-inch Note 10+, and an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate, keeping this to only 60Hz on the normal Note.
The bigger phone also gets better protection, with Gorilla Glass 7 protecting the front and the back of the glassy design. There’s also a Mystic White colour variant for the Note 20 Ultra.
The Ultra device also has better camera specs with an additional telephoto lens for improved zoom capabilities. Will it offer the same type of zoom feature we saw on the S20 Ultra device? We’ll have to try it out and see.
You get all the other same features as the Note 20 including the S-Pen, Samsung DeX, and the access to Xbox’s game streaming service.
Something that will be fun to try out is the Nearby Share feature, which works in a similar way to Apple’s AirDrop feature using Ultra Wideband technology. Want to share a file with another Note 20 Ultra phone owner? Simply point the device at another phone and a list will pop up of all the people you’re facing in the sharing panel. You can then send the file to them in a fast and seamless manner. CCS Insight’s chief of research Ben Wood thinks this is going to be a popular feature and Samsung says other features will be coming which rely on this UWB tech such as unlocking smart home devices with your phone as a digital key.
The Note 20 Ultra is only available in 5G with prices starting from £1,179. It’s available to pre-order now and will ship on August 21, and if you do decide to pre-order now you’ll get a pair of the new Samsung Galaxy Buds Live, the company’s wireless earbuds thrown in, the same with the Note 20.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2: Third-time lucky?
Samsung is also releasing its third folding smartphone, the Galaxy Z Fold 2, which improves on last year’s Galaxy Fold. The cover screen is 6.2-inches, whilst inside the main screen opens up to a whopping 7.6-inch display, a lot bigger than the first Fold. That cover screen looks a lot better than the blocky, iPhone 5-esque front screen that the first Fold had too.
It will also come in two colours, the Mystic Black and Mystic Bronze available in the Note 20 range.
At the moment, there’s no price or release date yet for the Galaxy Z Fold 2 but you can register on the Samsung website to find out more information when the company is ready to release it.
