Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs. Galaxy Note 20 Ultra: Time to trade up

• Source: Samsung

  Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

  Spiritual successor

  Note in everything but name, the S23 Ultra continues the S Pen legacy

  The Galaxy S23 Ultra is the spiritual successor to the Note 20 Ultra and carries that burden with pride. With a vast 6.8-inch canvas, the S Pen has never been better in this form factor.

  Pros

  • Variable refresh rate at 1440p
  • Bigger battery
  • Four years of Android updates ahead

• Source: Samsung

  Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra

  Last of a dying breed

  The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is the last phone released under the Note brand

  The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra was the last of the beloved Note family. It may be getting long in the tooth, but it’s still a powerful smartphone with decent specs, good cameras, and the mighty S Pen.

  Cons

  • Flawed zoom system
  • No more Android updates
  • Smaller battery
  • Unable to run 120Hz at 1440p

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra was the last phone to be released under the Note name before it was merged into the Galaxy S Ultra lineup. It’s the pinnacle of what the Note range achieved and is still considered an excellent smartphone.

Now, two and a half years after the release of the Note 20 Ultra, many people still using one may be looking to upgrade. Enter the newly-announced Galaxy S23 Ultra, the latest phone to carry the S Pen, and push the envelope in terms of tech specs. Is this the phone to upgrade to? Let’s break down the pros and cons and compare experiences, starting with the specs:

Price and availability

The Note 20 Ultra is an older phone now, so unlike some of the best Samsung phones, you’ll only find it on the used market. The S23 Ultra is a different story, available in dozens of countries unlocked and on most major networks. While the S23 Ultra starts at $1,200, many preorder deals make it significantly cheaper, especially if you’re trading in an older phone.

Design and build quality

The Galaxy S23 Ultra inherits much of its design from the Note 20 Ultra. The boxy design is iconic at this point, and from the front, it can be hard to tell these phones apart. Things get easier around the back, with the Note 20 Ultra housing its cameras within a camera bump, while the S23 Ultra has individual lenses. Overall, the S23 Ultra is better looking — but a lot can be said about the Mystic Bronze color that the Note 20 Ultra made so popular.

Although the build quality is exceptional for both phones, the material quality is better on the S23 Ultra. The older Note is made of stainless steel and Gorilla Glass Victus, while the S23 Ultra uses armor aluminum and Gorilla Glass Victus 2.

Both phones come with the legendary S Pen, stored within the phone where it charges wirelessly. One thing the S23 Ultra lacks compared to the Note is a microSD card slot, but with the S23 Ultra starting at 256GB and maxing out at 1TB, the lack of expansion will only be an issue for some.

Software and performance

Source: Samsung

The Note 20 Ultra shipped with Android 10 but now runs Android 13 with One UI 5.0 on top. The S23 Ultra is launching with One UI 5.1 atop Android 13. One UI 5.1 adds some handy new features, like a battery widget, easy access to the Expert RAW app, and more. The Note 20 Ultra should get updated to One UI 5.1, but that’s it for major updates. Android 13 is the last Android version it will see, but it will continue to get security patches.

The Note 20 Ultra was no slouch when it launched in 2020. With a Snapdragon 865+ and 12GB of RAM, this phone lived up to the reputation set by its predecessors as a multitasking powerhouse. But times have changed, and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in the S23 Ultra is more powerful and efficient. Unfortunately, it comes with less RAM than the Note unless you pay extra for the 512GB model. But even so, the S23 Ultra will feel noticeably faster.

Battery and charging

Despite the S23 Ultra having a slightly smaller display and still housing an S Pen, its battery is much larger at 5,000mAh versus the 4,500mAh cell found in the Note. However, charging specs are the same, with 45W wired, 15W wireless, and 4.5W reverse wireless charging available on both phones.

Although we haven’t been able to test the battery life on the S23 Ultra yet, it’s almost a given that it’ll be better than the Note 20 Ultra’s battery. In addition to the battery being 500mAh larger, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 will be much more power efficient. The 8+ Gen 1 helped last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 4 attain solid endurance with a battery the same size as the Note 20, so pairing its successor with a 5,000mAh cell should result in some impressive numbers.

Display

The Note 20 Ultra has a 6.9-inch QHD display that can reach 120Hz, while the S23 Ultra has a 6.8-inch QHD display that can also reach 120Hz. Besides the 0.1-inch, there are some significant differences. For example, the Note 20 Ultra doesn’t have a variable refresh rate, so you can run it at either 60Hz or 120Hz, choosing between them in the settings menu. It’s also unable to run at 1440p and 120Hz simultaneously, so you need to pick between smoothness and sharpness.

The S23 Ultra doesn’t make any of these sacrifices, and it can automatically vary its refresh rate anywhere from 1-120Hz based on the content being displayed. It’s also much brighter, reaching a maximum brightness of 1,750 nits, while the Note maxes out at 1,500 nits. Overall, the newer display in the S23 Ultra walks all over the older panel in the Note.

Cameras

The Note 20 Ultra uses the first-generation 108MP sensor paired with a 12MP 5X periscope zoom lens and a 12MP ultrawide. These cameras were excellent at the time, but the S23 Ultra is far better. The 5X lens on the Note was great for taking photos of things far away, but if you only wanted a small amount of zoom, say 2X or 3X, the Note would be digitally cropping the 108MP sensor.

The S23 Ultra has dual 10MP lenses, one a 3X telephoto and the other a 10X periscopic lens. This makes the camera system far more versatile. The ultrawide is about the same, though it can double as a macro camera in the newer phone.

The big upgrade on the S23 Ultra versus any of Samsung’s older phones is the new 200MP primary sensor. We’ll have to wait until we’ve spent more time with it before commenting on photo quality. But on paper, this should be the best camera Samsung has ever put on a phone.

Should you upgrade?

In short, yes. The only thing the S23 Ultra lacks is an SD Card reader, but in our opinion, that’s not enough reason to stick with the Note 20 Ultra. The S23 Ultra has a better display, superior performance, and improved battery life. The cameras are better in almost every way, especially the zoom lenses.

Samsung usually has incredible trade-in deals when a new phone is up for preorder, so if you can get a heavy discount for trading in the Note 20, you should go ahead and order one. In addition to the hardware upgrades, you’ll benefit from years of software support.

Source: Samsung

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

The Galaxy S23 Ultra is the spiritual successor to the Note 20 Ultra, and carries that burden with pride. With a vast 6.8-inch canvas, the S Pen has never been better in this form factor.

Source: Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra was the last of the beloved Note family. It may be getting long in the tooth, but it’s still a powerful smartphone with decent specs, good cameras, and the mighty S Pen.