Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Everything We Know So Far

The Galaxy Note 20 range has, arguably, the most passionate smartphone fans in the world. So while Samsung’s all-new Galaxy S20, S20+ and truly bonkers Galaxy S20 Ultra (details) are grabbing all the headlines right now, Note fans know they should wait. And now the first Galaxy Note 20 leaks have arrived, waiting makes a lot of sense. This is why.

Tip: this article will be regularly updated, so bookmark it (Updated 03/29 below)

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 concept

Codename – the Galaxy Note 20 is codenamed “Project Canvas’ (edit: now official) and this is a big spoiler. While the Note range’s S Pen has already been great for taking notes (and pretty good at drawing), this specificity of the codename strongly suggests a big upgrade in 2020. Popular leaker Ice Universe has already revealed “new features” are coming, but expect this to be in both hardware and software. The Note range will switch to the same ‘20’ branding as the S series (which had a massive camera overall to mark this new beginning) and for the Galaxy Note 20 it’s the S Pen getting the big makeover.

Design – The Galaxy Note 20 models will mimic the Galaxy S20 design which, in turn, stole the centralised hole punch design from the Galaxy Note 10. Consequently, expect the Galaxy Note 20 models to look very similar to the concept renders in this article. You can see the latest high quality renders based on this information below:

Display – here we will get a step-up from the already superlative Galaxy S20 screens. We know this thanks to Samsung, which announced its new enhanced OLED displays have now entered mass production, meaning Galaxy S20 owners just missed out. Samsung promises lower power consumption and reduced blue light in these panels, saying: “Our 5G-optimized OLED display is taking the lead in the 5G era with its crystal clear imagery, distinguished designs, economical power consumption and increasingly eye-protective functionality.” Sorry, S20 owners.

03/24 Update: the true value of Samsung’s upcoming OLED displays have been revealed thanks to new tests from Anandtech on the Galaxy S20 line-up. Anandtech found that the phone’s new 120Hz refresh rate panels are battery killers, knocking 20-25% off battery life when enabled. This pushes the otherwise strong stamina of the line-up down to a level where they may not get you through a full day of use, especially for S20 phones equipped with Samsung’s Exynos 9820 chipset. But here is where Samsung’s new OLED displays come to the fore with Samsung saying they are 15% more power efficient than those in the S20 models. This will offset a large proportion of the 120Hz impact for the Galaxy Note 20 with Samsung now mass producing these panels for release in time to be included in the new Notes. And, trust me, when you pay this much for a flagship smartphone, you want 120Hz enabled. As Anandtech concludes: “the performance and fluidity it brings is outstanding”.

Samsung’s 120Hz mode is a quite power-hungry mode that’s seemingly not as optimised as one would hope it to be. While the performance and fluidity it brings is outstanding, expect on average a 20-25% power hit on your battery life depending on use-cases. People using their phones on higher brightness levels will see less of a percentage degradation, while those who prefer lower brightness levels will see larger degradations, due to the increased baseline power consumption of the phones.

Camera – As Samsung has done for several years, the new Galaxy Note lineup will use the same camera modules as the Galaxy S20 models. Given the seriously buggy launch for this otherwise outstanding hardware, expect updates to the S20 range to mean the Galaxy Note 20 series has a much smoother arrival out the gate. The only question is whether there will be a Galaxy Note 20 Ultra to use the crazy 108MP camera in the Galaxy S20 Ultra.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 concept

Waqar Khan

03/29 Update: acclaimed Samsung insider has added further substance to what we already knew, confirming that the Galaxy Note 20 phones are going to have the “same” cameras the S20 line-up. What Ice Universe doesn’t reveal, however, is how three will fit into two, given the S20, S20+ (same as the S20 with a ToF sensor on top) and S20 Ultra (all new camera system) will transfer to the (widely expected) two Note 20 models. Given the Note’s typically higher price tags, optimists will hope this means the pair get the S20+ and S20 Ultra arrays, but it remains equally possible that Samsung will use the S20 and S20+ arrays and leave out the S20 Ultra hardware completely.

Performance – there have been no Galaxy Note 20 spec leaks yet, but this is one area where we already know what will happen because it happens every year. The Galaxy Note 20 line-up will get the same Snapdragon 865 / Exynos 990 geographic split (US gets Snapdragon, everyone else gets Exynos) as the S20 line-up and 5G as standard. Key changes compared to the Note 10 and S20 line-up including new, more efficient RAM and blazing fast eUFS 3.1 storage is up to 3x faster (more information here).

03/26 Update: Credible (1,2,3) Samsung leak site 91Mobiles, has revealed that “The high-end [Note 20] is likely to ship with 16GB LPDDR5 RAM, up to 512GB internal storage and a 5,000mAh battery capacity.” They are specifications on a level with the S20 Ultra and, at this stage, there are no suggestions the Note 20 line-up will diversify beyond the two models Samsung introduced when it split the range last year. As such, whether Samsung will go for Note 20 models which more closely resemble the S20+ and S20 Ultra rather than the (as expected) S20 and S20+ is now open to question.

Connectivity and Ports – As mentioned above, 5G will come as standard (it’s a mandatory feature for manufacturer’s using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 chipset) along with next-gen WiFi 6. But an interesting leak says Samsung is considering bringing back the microSD slot which was controversially removed from the entry-level Galaxy Note 10 last year. That said, don’t expect a similar reprieve for the headphone jack, it has gone for good.

Biometrics – The big surprise with the Galaxy S20 range is Samsung did not use Qualcomm’s next-gen 3D Sonic Max fingerprint scanner, despite it being available to smartphone makers since September. The Galaxy Note 20 line-up surely fixes this mistake and given its faster scanning time, support for a much wider reading area (making no-look unlocks easier) and dual fingerprints, this would be a big upgrade from the hit and miss gen-one sensor in Galaxy S20 phones.

Battery Life – again expect the Galaxy S20 smartphones to have the best battery life due to the internal space set aside in the Note line-up for the S Pen. That said, Samsung went big on the battery capacity for the S20s, so expect the Note 20s to come close to these battery sizes:

Galaxy S20 – 4,000 mAh (S10: 3,400 mAh)
Galaxy S20+: 4,500 mAh (S10+: 4,100 mAh)
Galaxy S20 Ultra: 5,000 mAh

As for charging, 25W is standard for the Galaxy S20 and S20+ with 45W exclusive to the S20 Ultra (though with little real-world benefit). A similar split (especially if there is a Note 20 Ultra) makes sense here. Wireless charging and Wireless Power share (charging other devices), however, didn’t step up with the Galaxy S20 range, so maybe Samsung pulls some surprises here but nothing has leaked so far.

Price – This is perhaps the biggest worry for the Galaxy Note 20 phones. Samsung, arguably, pushed prices too high with the Galaxy S20 phones:

Galaxy S20 – 128GB, from $999
Galaxy S20+ – 128GB / 256GB / 512GB, from $1,199
Galaxy S20 Ultra – 128GB / 256GB / 512GB, from $1,399

How the S20 range sells will be a big indicator of whether Samsung sticks with the eye-opening strategy. I hope for a change of heart, but I suspect only a sales disaster will make Samsung change course.

Release Date – Samsung seems to move up the Galaxy Note launch date every year. August 7 was the launch of the Note 10s and I’d expect another early August launch for the Galaxy Note 20 lineup as Samsung tries to make some space for sales before Apple launches its next-gen iPhone models in mid-September.

Conclusion

The Galaxy Note 20 range will be heavily influenced by the Galaxy S20 models with design, performance, camera and (sadly) pricing all set to be similar. But there are also enough potential differences (display, biometrics and that big S Pen upgrade) to suggest this will be the most well-rounded and polished smartphone Samsung releases in 2020.

Galaxy Note fans will be happy to wait for its arrival. But, given the Galaxy S20’s bugs and high prices (big reductions will come), I’d suggest many Samsung fans should hold tight as well.

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