Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra thread

NIZMOZ

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Surprised no one had one started yet. Ordered my Ultra 512 from At&t for $1000 in credits for trading in a old iPhone 7.
Work is actually replacing my s9 plus with a regular Note 20 too.
 
I was about to make a thread for them, but was pretty disappointed by them, esp. the smaller Note 20.

It's pretty annoying to me how much they watered down the Note 20 while still keeping it at $1000. They didn't even match the base S20's 120 Hz QHD display and halved both aspects at 1080p 60 Hz and even put a plastic housing on it, which would be fine at a more reasonable price.

I would personally pay as much as the Ultra for the smaller version with the exact same specs, but they had to ruin it. I'm still holding onto my 2 XL for now to see if Google disappoints again with the Pixel 5, and if they do I'll probably just go with a 4a or S20+ until another phone comes along at a reasonable price for its specs and has decent software support still.
 
Does anyone know if the Note or S20 for that matter have a dedicated headphone DAC like LG V series? Or is it just LG that has that feature. I like the S20 and Note, but if it does not have a dedicated DAC for head phones it's a deal breaker for me.
 
They have a Dolby Atmos switch you can turn on. It makes the sound a lot better, It won't be the same level as LG DAC though, plus no headphone jack on Samsungs.
 
Lack of a 3.5mm audio jack really ruins it for me. I have too many really nice IEMs and Bluetooth simply doesn't hold a candle to what a good wired IEM is capable of.

Was still plugging along on a S7. Work is now going to upgrade me to a S10e. It at least has the 3.5mm jack. Going to stick with that.
 
Well, there are USB-C adapters you can plug in that give you the audio that way. Samsung use to include one.
 
Well, there are USB-C adapters you can plug in that give you the audio that way. Samsung use to include one.

It's kind of idiotic that an adapter is needed. Just something else to lose/break and have to carry around. Not that hard to keep a 3.5mm port on a device that large. I blame Apple.
 
It's kind of idiotic that an adapter is needed. Just something else to lose/break and have to carry around. Not that hard to keep a 3.5mm port on a device that large. I blame Apple.

The way I see it, if you carry wired headphones with you, you leave the adapter plugged into the headphone wire, and just plug it into your phone when you want to use it. It's not noticeable of a loss then.
 
The way I see it, if you carry wired headphones with you, you leave the adapter plugged into the headphone wire, and just plug it into your phone when you want to use it. It's not noticeable of a loss then.

Sorry, excuse no worky. It's like having to use a condom after having paid for a vasectomy.

Just another dongle to have to buy that can fray/break which adds weight and creates yet another electrical connection. It would also have to be traded out all the time in that I have/use multiple IEMs depending on mood and what I am listening to. Hard pass for me. Guess I'm just picky. May work fine for others.
 
The way I see it, if you carry wired headphones with you, you leave the adapter plugged into the headphone wire, and just plug it into your phone when you want to use it. It's not noticeable of a loss then.

This is what I do and the advantage now too using adapters is that you're getting a better DAC than you would built into the phone anyways and you can also use that adapter on other devices like laptops or desktops if you want as well. So it's kinda funny that Supercharged_Z06 has nice IEMs to use, but doesn't want to drive them properly with a decent Quad DAC adapter instead of the comparatively garbage internal DACs on Samsung (or any other non-LG) phone.
 
I convinced my boss to buy me the Note 20 Ultra instead of an iPhone 12 Pro for work. I should have it by the 21st and will post pics/comments in this thread.

I still plan on buying the Pixel 5 for my personal phone.
 
This is what I do and the advantage now too using adapters is that you're getting a better DAC than you would built into the phone anyways and you can also use that adapter on other devices like laptops or desktops if you want as well. So it's kinda funny that Supercharged_Z06 has nice IEMs to use, but doesn't want to drive them properly with a decent Quad DAC adapter instead of the comparatively garbage internal DACs on Samsung (or any other non-LG) phone.

Hah! Oh I drive them properly. Here's what I normally use for music playback to drive my IEMs. But there are times I just have my phone on me and a pair of knock around wired IEMs for on the go use. It would be really nice if a $1200+ flagship phone actually had good audio internals and supported a 3.5mm jack though... just say'n.
Having to buy an adapter for such a phone at that price just to be able to plug in an IEM really blows.
 
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I convinced my boss to buy me the Note 20 Ultra instead of an iPhone 12 Pro for work. I should have it by the 21st and will post pics/comments in this thread.

I still plan on buying the Pixel 5 for my personal phone.
Why would you need such an expensive phone for work?
Do you work on your phone instead of PC?
I get it that some companies have lots of money,but why spend if on useless stuff :rolleyes:
 
But there are times I just have my phone on me and a pair of knock around wired IEMs for on the go use. It would be really nice if a $1200+ flagship phone actually had good audio internals and supported a 3.5mm jack though... just say'n.

Considering no flagship phone has ever had a decent DAC onboard anyways save for LG and HTC phones (when they were relevant), seems like you would want a relatively cheap and decent DAC adapter to keep on those IEMs regardless since it would be considerably better than the onboard DAC... just say'n.

I agree flagship phones should still include the headphone jack too and think whatever reason they're using to drop it is BS, but personally it's a non-issue since I leave the DAC adapter attached to my headphones like we suggested and I get considerably better audio because of it as well. You're going to have to do the same anyways on your next upgrade too unless you get a mid-range, budget, or some other niche phone that will come with a whole bunch of other tradeoffs as well (most likely decent software support and updates).
 
Why would you need such an expensive phone for work?
Do you work on your phone instead of PC?
I get it that some companies have lots of money,but why spend if on useless stuff :rolleyes:
Do you always make wild assumptions about that which you know nothing?
 
Companies get discounts from providers. Instead of a $1k phone we have to pay, they get it for half the price a lot of times. And they also pay the old contract price not a next type of plan.
 
Companies get discounts from providers. Instead of a $1k phone we have to pay, they get it for half the price a lot of times. And they also pay the old contract price not a next type of plan.

^^^ This.
Most large companies get huge discounts and plan deals. My company phone is discounted and the company's locked-in enterprise contract plan is under $40 a month for unlimited internet/voice/text + mobile hotspot. Consumers don't get these sweet enterprise deals simply because they aren't buying thousands of phones/contracts in one go.
 
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Waiting on my ultra pre order. Trading in my note 8 64 gig for 1k off was too good to bypass. And clearly I keep a phone for 3 years ;) also ordered the otterbox case for it. If anything it will mask the camera bump when I want to lay it flat.

Oh and I went for the 512 gig option too. Oh and I went with the black one.. The copper. Or. Bronze color was oos.

Funny story. I was telling my boss about it who's into photography. He was saying how he preferred his dslr's and they are nice. But when I mentioned 108 megapixel he stopped.. "really?". Lol
 
Traded in my S9 for the Note 20 Ultra, also bought the Buds Plus to pair.
 
My Note 20 Ultra case was delivered today - Speck Presidio Grip.

IMG_20200810_165819.jpg


IMG_20200810_165729.jpg
 
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I'm on a Sammy s5 still lol this is the time to upgrade. Im debating whether to get the note 10+ when it goes on a big sale or the new note 20 ultra? What's the consensus? !
 
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I went with the tride and true Otterbox. Those cases have served me well.

Much thinner TPU cases have served me well too, like the Supcase Unicorn Beetle cases I used on my previous two phones that fell from a roller coaster onto a concrete pad, then from another carnival ride into gravel, and countless 3-4' spills onto pavement or tile as well. I've had this Caseology TPU case on my 2 XL for over 2 years now and my phone still looks pretty new after several nasty spills (notably down a flight of concrete stairs one time) as well. It's amazing how perfectly suited the TPU material is to protecting a phone without being too thick or bulky. So those overkill/overpriced cases really never made sense to me really.
 
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Much thinner TPU cases have served me well too, like the Supcase Unicorn Beetle cases I used on my previous two phones that fell from a roller coaster onto a concrete pad, then from another carnival ride into gravel, and countless 3-4' spills onto pavement or tile as well. I've had this Caseology TPU case on my 2 XL for over 2 years now and my phone still looks pretty new after several nasty spills (notably down a flight of concrete stairs one time) as well. It's amazing how perfectly suited the TPU material is to protecting a phone without being too thick or bulky. So those overkill/overpriced cases really never made sense to me really.

Meh I get them for almost 50% off so the price isn't that bad. Plus I've had great support from them on sending replacement cases when they take damage in the line of duty.
 
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While I am not fond of removed headphone jacks, hole-punched screens, removal of the iris scanner, hideously large camera bumps when they could thicken up the entire phone to match and stuff a bigger battery in there, having to choose between 120 Hz and 1440p resolution, and wind up paying even more for the "privilege" (Note 4 was like $750 unsubsidized, Note 8 was $930 before discounts, Note 20 Ultra 512 GB is a whopping $1,450), I'm going to bite.

Why? Because the Note 8's already not getting any more feature updates (and I can't just Treble Generic System Image my way into newer versions because us Americans always get screwed with locked bootloaders) and I'm a smidge curious about 5G network performance and the reduced pen latency in 120 Hz mode. That, and Samsung's at least nice enough to offer up some store credit that I'll need for those new beans Galaxy Buds Live they've been showing off, considering this new phone doesn't have the headphone jack.

And thank goodness said Buds Live score pretty highly from the iFixit crew, because any wireless device with a sealed battery and no wired fallback is living on borrowed time.

By the way, I'd be a bit more at ease about losing the headphone jack if we got a second USB-C port in its place, but that's apparently a bit too much to ask for the vast majority of smartphone manufacturers, never mind that these phones are starting to cost more than those much-maligned single-USB-C-and-a-headphone-jack MacBooks that need dongles to do anything useful with that one port, especially if trying to charge it at the same time.

Waiting on my ultra pre order. Trading in my note 8 64 gig for 1k off was too good to bypass. And clearly I keep a phone for 3 years ;) also ordered the otterbox case for it. If anything it will mask the camera bump when I want to lay it flat.

Oh and I went for the 512 gig option too. Oh and I went with the black one.. The copper. Or. Bronze color was oos.

Funny story. I was telling my boss about it who's into photography. He was saying how he preferred his dslr's and they are nice. But when I mentioned 108 megapixel he stopped.. "really?". Lol
Where are you getting $1,000 trade-in value for your Note 8? Samsung only offered me $250 for mine, at which point I was like "Nah, I'm keeping this as a backup."

Heck, I still have my Note 4, though seeing as it's the N910P Sprint variant and Sprint just got gobbled up by T-Mobile with the very real likelihood that CDMA's getting the axe (good riddance), it probably won't be getting 4G on anything ever at this rate.

Rest assured, I plan on some kind of comparison between the three once the Note 20 Ultra arrives.
 
While I am not fond of removed headphone jacks, hole-punched screens, removal of the iris scanner, hideously large camera bumps when they could thicken up the entire phone to match and stuff a bigger battery in there, having to choose between 120 Hz and 1440p resolution, and wind up paying even more for the "privilege" (Note 4 was like $750 unsubsidized, Note 8 was $930 before discounts, Note 20 Ultra 512 GB is a whopping $1,450), I'm going to bite.

Why? Because the Note 8's already not getting any more feature updates (and I can't just Treble Generic System Image my way into newer versions because us Americans always get screwed with locked bootloaders) and I'm a smidge curious about 5G network performance and the reduced pen latency in 120 Hz mode. That, and Samsung's at least nice enough to offer up some store credit that I'll need for those new beans Galaxy Buds Live they've been showing off, considering this new phone doesn't have the headphone jack.

And thank goodness said Buds Live score pretty highly from the iFixit crew, because any wireless device with a sealed battery and no wired fallback is living on borrowed time.

By the way, I'd be a bit more at ease about losing the headphone jack if we got a second USB-C port in its place, but that's apparently a bit too much to ask for the vast majority of smartphone manufacturers, never mind that these phones are starting to cost more than those much-maligned single-USB-C-and-a-headphone-jack MacBooks that need dongles to do anything useful with that one port, especially if trying to charge it at the same time.


Where are you getting $1,000 trade-in value for your Note 8? Samsung only offered me $250 for mine, at which point I was like "Nah, I'm keeping this as a backup."

Heck, I still have my Note 4, though seeing as it's the N910P Sprint variant and Sprint just got gobbled up by T-Mobile with the very real likelihood that CDMA's getting the axe (good riddance), it probably won't be getting 4G on anything ever at this rate.

Rest assured, I plan on some kind of comparison between the three once the Note 20 Ultra arrives.

The thousand dollar trade in is only from. AT&T.
 
The thousand dollar trade in is only from. AT&T.
I'm on T-Mobile, so that does me no good. Thanks for the clarification, though!

At any rate, I got my Note 8 unlocked directly from Samsung, so I'm thinking the Note 20 Ultra will go over about as smoothly, accessories included - even if I don't get a surprise upgrade with a 256 GB microSD card over an advertised 128 GB one this time around, due to the nature of their pre-order promotion.
 
I got a $200 credit when I ordered my Ultra. Put it towards the new Galaxy Buds and a leather case. I'm just going to sell them.
 
Just got the shipping confirmation from Samsung. My Note will be delivered on Wednesday. (y)
 
Yup, mine is arriving today too. I assume everyone will be shipping their trade-in once this is received. Are you guys planning to use the provided envelope to ship it? My concern is that it's not protected enough therefore the screen could crack in the process of shipment.


Looks like mine is out for delivery today by UPS from AT&T/Samsung.
 
The provided envelope is to return the device for a refund (the Note 20). Not to trade in. If you use it to trade in your device will get lost. They send a separate label and instructions to you once your new phone is activated.
 
It has been a long time since I have purchased a Samsung Galaxy Note... I had the Note 2, 3, 4, 5 and the 7 before it was finally recalled. That is the time when I was forced to return it and get something else. Ended up going with Google Pixel, 1, 2, 3, 4 XLs... Samsung hardware was way better, but I like some things about the Pixel software experience...

Having said that... The price of the Note 20 Ultra is pretty ridiculous here in Canada. It is $1819.00 for the 128GB version (only option). If I am going to even entertain the possibility of spending that much money, I would be more interested in something that is actually innovative like the Galaxy Z Fold 2, but I expect that will probably be $2600+... Just not sure I can convince myself to spend that much on a smartphone... Note devices used to be ~$800... That made sense... Oh and if you buy this through a carrier with their financing the price of the phone is like $2300, LOL.

The Note 20 is touted as a more affordable option, but I would say they cut too many corners on that phone and priced it to high. Knock a couple hundred off the price and it begins to make sense IMHO.

I'm not usually so sensitive about price, but the price increases in recent years have gotten out of control for the actual innovation and improvement that has actually been happening year over year in the smartphone world...

I hope everyone enjoys their Note 20 / Note 20 Ultra devices, especially if you are lucky enough to get your employer to buy you one and you don't have to soak the cost yourself. My employer went iphone only for corporate phones and they try to stick with the cheapest model and have you use it for 4 years or whatever they can get, haha.
 
So mine should arrive tomorrow. One thing... Make sure you download the Shop Samsung app. Starting tomorrow it will give you the ability with your new note 20 to claim a 150 (ultra) or 100(non ultra) Samsung store credit for your order. That's a long way to making the buds live cheap. Just saying.
 
The provided envelope is to return the device for a refund (the Note 20). Not to trade in. If you use it to trade in your device will get lost. They send a separate label and instructions to you once your new phone is activated.
Not sure what they told you. When i spoke to ATT, they had me go thru the trade in process with a specific code to put so in that way I'll get the full 1k credit. They then sent the padded envelope to send my current phone.

Not sure why they would send an envelope to return the Note 20.



Get rewarded for your old devices. Trade-in as part of a promotion or receive the value of your old device in the form of an AT&T Promotional card, good for products and services at AT&T.

Learn how to get up to $1,000 off the new Samsung Note20 or Note20 Ultra 5G for both new and existing customers.

Switching to AT&T? Learn how to get up to $1,000 off an iPhone 11 Pro/Pro Max or $700 off other select smartphones when you switch to AT&T and bring your number. If adding a new line to your account get up to $400!

Upgrading a device? Learn how to get up to $300 if purchasing an eligible Apple, LG, Google or Samsung device.

Learn how to get $5/mo off when purchasing a Samsung A71 5G or S20 5G for both new and existing customers as well.


Use code TRADEINOFFER20 at checkout. See full offer details


https://tradein.att.com/offer-details
 
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Got mine set up. Not nearly as big as I thought, which is a good thing. Screen is beautiful, but disappointing that you must choose between WQHD+ and 120Hz. Super fast and smooth. Still need to install my work-related apps and get it registered so I get my reimbursement. Will update with my thoughts as I use it.

IMG_20200819_190051.jpg
 
Don't forget to register for the 150 or 100 dollar samsung credit too. Just download and open the shop samsung app and there is a my emails or my messages section when you click the menu thing in the upper left. Go there and you can see if your device qualifies for the promotion. Good way to get you an pair of Galaxy buds live for next to free. ;)
 
You know this phone out the door was 1400 bucks.. But getting 1k off brings that to 400 then an additional 150 knocks that down to 250. Even if it's 350 that's a hell of a good price for this device.
 
Not sure what they told you. When i spoke to ATT, they had me go thru the trade in process with a specific code to put so in that way I'll get the full 1k credit. They then sent the padded envelope to send my current phone.

Not sure why they would send an envelope to return the Note 20.



Get rewarded for your old devices. Trade-in as part of a promotion or receive the value of your old device in the form of an AT&T Promotional card, good for products and services at AT&T.

Learn how to get up to $1,000 off the new Samsung Note20 or Note20 Ultra 5G for both new and existing customers.

Switching to AT&T? Learn how to get up to $1,000 off an iPhone 11 Pro/Pro Max or $700 off other select smartphones when you switch to AT&T and bring your number. If adding a new line to your account get up to $400!

Upgrading a device? Learn how to get up to $300 if purchasing an eligible Apple, LG, Google or Samsung device.

Learn how to get $5/mo off when purchasing a Samsung A71 5G or S20 5G for both new and existing customers as well.


Use code TRADEINOFFER20 at checkout. See full offer details


https://tradein.att.com/offer-details

You misread. I said, the return envelope that AT&T provides for you to trade in the device. You get it 7 days later or so after activating the device. Do not use the envelope/box that was used to send you the Note 20. That is for returning the Note 20 only if you decide not to keep it. Also, I and I know many did not need to enter any code to get the $1k trade in value on AT&T site. Just select the 1k trade in package, and what line you upgrad, and model of new note 20, and you are done.
 
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