The killing the Galaxy Note series altogether. In its place, Samsung now bundles the S Pen with its Galaxy S Ultra flagships.
While both smartphones feature a boxy build and an inbuilt slot for the S Pen, there are notable differences in the design. The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has a massive camera island on the rear , unlike the Galaxy S23 Ultra that features individual protective rings around its cameras. The Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with a 6.8-inch AMOLED display (500ppi) that s a variable refresh rate of up to 120Hz and a peak brightness of 1,750 nits. Even though the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra's 6.9-inch AMOLED screen (496ppi) is a tad bigger, it doesn't a variable refresh rate. s can set the screen at either 60hz with QHD resolution, or 120Hz with FHD resolution. The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra's peak brightness is also lower, maxing out at 1,500 nits.
Galaxy S23 Ultra Vs. Note 20 Ultra: Processor & Camera
Under the hood, S23 Ultra is powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, a custom 4nm chip that is much faster than the 7nm Snapdragon 865 on the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. To provide a reference, the Galaxy S23 Ultra scores about 1,390 points in single-core and 4,880 points in multi-core in the Geekbench performance test. On the other hand, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra manages 869 points and 2,974 points in single-core and the multi-score scores, respectively. For s upgrading from the Note 20 Ultra, the Galaxy S23 Ultra should feel significantly more responsive.
Both Samsung's flagships feature a multi-camera setup, but the Galaxy S23 Ultra has come a long way in the last few years. It features a powerful 200MP ISOCELL HP2 sensor (f/1.7, OIS), compared to the 108MP ISOCELL HM1 (f/1.8, OIS) on the Note 20 Ultra. Other cameras on the Galaxy S23 Ultra include two 10MP telephoto sensors that provide up to 3x and 10x optical zoom and a 12MP (f/2.2, autofocus) ultra-wide camera. The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has a 12MP (f/3.0, OIS) telephoto camera with up to 5x optical zoom and a 12MP (f/2.2) ultra-wide camera.
When it comes to video recording, the Galaxy S23 Ultra can record 8K videos at 30 fps, while the Note 20 Ultra maxes out at 24 fps at the same resolution. Both phones can record 4K videos at 60 fps from the rear and front cameras (12MP on the Galaxy S23 Ultra and 10MP on the Note 20 Ultra). Features exclusive to Galaxy S23 Ultra include up to 100x Space Zoom, 4K HDR videos at up to 60 frames per second, 4K Portrait videos at 30 fps, Dual Vertical Transfer Gate for maintaining the right exposure, and Super QPD for sharp focus in low light.
Galaxy S23 Ultra Vs. Note 20 Ultra: Battery & Software
Since the lithium-ion batteries degrade over time, Galaxy Note 20 Ultra's 4,500mAh battery won't hold up as well as the 5,000mAh battery on the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Even the maximum charging speeds have increased from 25W wired on the Note 20 Ultra to 45W wired on the S23 Ultra. Both smartphones wireless and reverse wireless charging and have an in-display ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. However, the S23 Ultra offers better connectivity options such as Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and mmWave and sub-6 5G.
As far as the S Pen is concerned, the Galaxy S23 Ultra's S Pen has a latency of 2.8ms, while the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra's S Pen has 9ms latency. While the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has been updated to Android 13, it won't be receiving any more software updates. The Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with four years of OS upgrades and five years of security updates, and a starting price of $1,199. Given that software for the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is ending, s should seriously think about upgrading, and the Galaxy S23 Ultra will make the ideal replacement.