There’s a sense of deja-vu around the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. Samsung’s stylus-toting smartphone won’t get to be its 2020 flagship – that honor is reserved for the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 2 – but with its combination of S Pen, big screen, big spec sheet, and big price tag, the newest Note is a...

Fantastic display with a smooth 120Hz mode; S Pen remains the go-to tool for mobile notetakers; Cameras capable of some great photography; Powerhouse specs

Expensive; Can't have 120Hz with maximum screen resolution; Occasional camera autofocus issues; Battery might not satisfy power users

Samsung has settled into a new routine for its Galaxy Note line of smartphones: take some of the major new features from the flagship Galaxy S updates from earlier in the year, improve on them slightly, and add a stylus.

Fast performance; Samsung Notes with the S Pen is great; Multiday battery life

Selfie camera (the “Hamcam”) oversmooths faces; Expensive compared to non-stylus competitors; Ads in Samsung apps; Gigantic with a gigantic camera bump

While the Note 20 Ultra 5G doesn't offer a huge leap forward from existing Notes and Galaxy S phones, it comes packed with the best specs around, is beautifully designed, and has one key feature that you can't really find anywhere else – that useful S Pen stylus.

Packed with powerful components; Giant; gorgeous-looking screen; The S Pen continues to improve

Costs a lot of money; Huge camera bump; Stock Android still superior

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra should easily knock out the competition. Instead, it's playing catch-up....

Solid display Good performance Sharp cameras High-quality hardware S Pen stylus Windows PC tie-in

Oversized Only average battery life Gets hot

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is a great phone, but it should offer more storage while letting you max out the display for its maxed out price.

An Ultra-impressive flagship phone from Samsung, but there is a worthy alternative

Big; colourful screen; Great camera and zoom; Smart design

Beaten for audio performance; Rivals deliver more detailed video

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra cements Samsung's place as one of the best phone makers in the world delivering a stunning display, great camera and a wealth of S Pen productivity perks

Bronze colour is really nice, and adds a matte finish ; S Pen even more responsive than ever ; Really good triple camera; The best looking phone around;

Battery life, on Exynos version, isn’t good; Screen resolution limits are annoying;

Go big or go home. That’s always been Samsung’s motto with the Galaxy Note series, and the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is its biggest effort yet. The screen is even larger than last year’s Galaxy Note 10 Plus, and there’s also more power, more features, and more technology — all aimed at improving productivity and increasing its media capabilities. Your wallet had better be bigger too, as the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra starts at $1,299. Samsung’s approach to outdoing the competition is simple: Beat them into submission by offering everything a phone buyer could possibly want, in a phone that will last for years. Pushing the boundaries of what’s acceptable in terms of device size and price, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra claims the top Android option among the best smartphones this year, even outdoing the Galaxy Note 10 Plus — a phone we called the best Android phone of 2019. Updated on September 23, 2020: After several software updates following release, I used the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra for another week. ...

Massive 120Hz screen looks great; S Pen is unique and handy; Versatile camera; Future-proofed hardware and software; Full-day battery even with heavy use;

Big and heavy; Security features are finicky;

How does this large-screen, productivity-focused flagship smartphone stand out in a crowded market, photography wise? Andy Westlake finds out

Useful set of lenses ultra-wide, wide and telephoto, Huge, beautiful 6.9in screen, Straightforward, intuitive camera app, Images look attractive on social media, Handy S-Pen stylus can be used as a remote release

DNG raw files can only be recorded from main camera, May be too large for some users, Pricey

The Galaxy Note is an unusual smartphone for one reason, and one reason only in 2020: its stylus, the beloved S Pen. And while everything else about it feels incredibly familiar, it's impossible to deny that no other phone can scratch the very particular itch Samsung does with the Note.

Display It's huge, it's bright, it's vivid, and has adaptive 120Hz refresh. In any practical sense, this is the best smartphone display on the planet right now., S Pen Lowering the latency to 9ms has a noticeable effect, and makes the S Pen feel significantly more realistic to scribble with (even if...

Cameras, again Samsung's processing is not for everyone, and while the periscope camera is good, it still has drawbacks, like its strangely soft optics. The 50x zoom claim is also nonsense.