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First Impressions

donb2010

Member
May 19, 2010
85
23
I received my new Note 20 ultra earlier today and have been playing with it all day, so far so good, but I did however noticed that when I press the "recently used apps" button the screen does flicker slightly, no idea why? and secondly, This is going back to the Note 10, but I guess we can no longer display our "contact info / name" on the Always on display screen. I was hoping that would be an option to have back (guess not) other than these two things I'm pretty happy with the phone.
 
what carrier? I dont see any flickering. I have my dev options set to .05 if that matters and i'm on Tmobile. unlocked bought from samsung direct.

I also use performance mode so the screen refresh is standard since i have the highest screen resolution.

what you are experiencing does not sound like its normal. did you use a backup of an old device? i never do this as I feel you may install some old data to a new phone that may cause issues.

seems that option to show your info is now moved to the lock screen.
 
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what carrier? I dont see any flickering. I have my dev options set to .05 if that matters and i'm on Tmobile. unlocked bought from samsung direct.

I also use performance mode so the screen refresh is standard since i have the highest screen resolution.

what you are experiencing does not sound like its normal. did you use a backup of an old device? i never do this as I feel you may install some old data to a new phone that may cause issues.

seems that option to show your info is now moved to the lock screen.

I did a wipe cache partition and it fixed it. I guess it was all that "setting up the new phone" that caused it.

I'm pretty bummed about not having the contact info on the AOD too. This was available on my Note9, but then some update took it away quite a while ago.

I found that putting my info on a photo and using it as my AOD display is good alternative.
 
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I went to the Samsung Community's Note 20 section and left this little love letter:

Samsung, you have lost your way with the Galaxy Note

I pre-ordered the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, hoping to take advantage of Wireless DeX and improved connectivity with my Windows PC. After using the Note 20 Ultra for several days, however, I have to say that I'm disappointed - and saddened - that Samsung seems to have lost its vision on what makes the Galaxy Note so unique and special.

It isn't the camera.
It Isn't the processor.
It isn't the screen.

It's the S Pen.

The S Pen is at the core of the Galaxy Note experience! All other features and considerations should be secondary to the S Pen!

Yet, Samsung thought it was a great idea to put such a monster camera module into the Note 20 that the S Pen had to be moved to the opposite side of the phone. HUGE MISTAKE, SAMSUNG.

This phone is a dream for left-handed people... but most people, like me, are right-handed. What was a natural motion is now an exercise in frustration: up to the Note 10, removing the S Pen was as easy as popping it out with my right hand and using it. Now, I have to turn the phone away from me to extract the S Pen... and that causes me to lose focus on what's happening on the screen.

When I'm holding the Note 20 in my left hand (which is how most people hold it), I can't naturally remove the S Pen because my hand is in the way. I have to twist the phone just to access the S Pen, extract it, turn the phone back and use the S Pen. When I'm finished, I have to twist the phone again to re-insert the S Pen. Besides that, guess where my left index finger wants to naturally rest? Right on that camera lens. So now I'm having to change my grip to suit the phone. Wrong answer.

Again, Samsung: the Galaxy Note shouldn't be centered around the camera or anything else except the S Pen and its usability for us. If I need a pro-level camera, I'll go buy a camera! I want a Galaxy Note with useful features but with an S Pen that isn't frustrating to use - and I pay a lot of money for that. I'm still deciding whether to send this back and keep my Note 10+ and yes: it's that frustrating. Hopefully the Note 21 (or 30, or whatever you call the next model) will correct this lapse of judgment.

I don't know, but right now I'm leaning towards returning it. The vulnerability of the camera module scares me, so I HAVE to buy a case for it now (AND a separate protector for the camera)... but my prime issue is this left-handed S Pen! It's infuriating to use!

What are your thoughts on this matter?
 
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I went to the Samsung Community's Note 20 section and left this little love letter:

Samsung, you have lost your way with the Galaxy Note

I pre-ordered the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, hoping to take advantage of Wireless DeX and improved connectivity with my Windows PC. After using the Note 20 Ultra for several days, however, I have to say that I'm disappointed - and saddened - that Samsung seems to have lost its vision on what makes the Galaxy Note so unique and special.

It isn't the camera.
It Isn't the processor.
It isn't the screen.

It's the S Pen.

The S Pen is at the core of the Galaxy Note experience! All other features and considerations should be secondary to the S Pen!

Yet, Samsung thought it was a great idea to put such a monster camera module into the Note 20 that the S Pen had to be moved to the opposite side of the phone. HUGE MISTAKE, SAMSUNG.

This phone is a dream for left-handed people... but most people, like me, are right-handed. What was a natural motion is now an exercise in frustration: up to the Note 10, removing the S Pen was as easy as popping it out with my right hand and using it. Now, I have to turn the phone away from me to extract the S Pen... and that causes me to lose focus on what's happening on the screen.

When I'm holding the Note 20 in my left hand (which is how most people hold it), I can't naturally remove the S Pen because my hand is in the way. I have to twist the phone just to access the S Pen, extract it, turn the phone back and use the S Pen. When I'm finished, I have to twist the phone again to re-insert the S Pen. Besides that, guess where my left index finger wants to naturally rest? Right on that camera lens. So now I'm having to change my grip to suit the phone. Wrong answer.

Again, Samsung: the Galaxy Note shouldn't be centered around the camera or anything else except the S Pen and its usability for us. If I need a pro-level camera, I'll go buy a camera! I want a Galaxy Note with useful features but with an S Pen that isn't frustrating to use - and I pay a lot of money for that. I'm still deciding whether to send this back and keep my Note 10+ and yes: it's that frustrating. Hopefully the Note 21 (or 30, or whatever you call the next model) will correct this lapse of judgment.

I don't know, but right now I'm leaning towards returning it. The vulnerability of the camera module scares me, so I HAVE to buy a case for it now (AND a separate protector for the camera)... but my prime issue is this left-handed S Pen! It's infuriating to use!

What are your thoughts on this matter?

Not a fan of the S-pen being on the left side now, but I can live with it since I'm not a heavy user.

How does it feel in your hand @donb2010?

It feels OK, but because there's such a big camera bump it does get kinda awkward sometimes.
 
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I got my phone yesterday around 1:30pm. Transferring everything over was a breeze with smart switch, plugged from Note9 to Note20 Ultra. Also, all my media is on my SD card, so that saved HOURS of potential transfer if I relied on local storage.

First impressions? Meh. Yup, "Meh" :(

Quality
Not saying it's a bad phone, but I don't know, it's just well, a let down. Yes the camera bump is ridiculous, but that was to be expected. But also, the phone in general feels cheap compared to my 9. I swear, the back does NOT feel like glass. I got the Mystic Black, and when you tap on it with your fingertips it feels and sounds like plastic compared to the front. Back to the camera, if you shake the phone, the stuff in the camera rattles quite a bit at times. MKBHD (YouTube reviewer) mentioned this in one of his videos and Samsung told him it's normal.

Signal / Network
Side by side with my Note9 last night on my couch, I opened my security camera app and it seemed laggy trying to display all 10 of my active cameras, The 9 opened and displayed seamlessly. Both phones were connected to my WiFi. This morning in my driveway when trying to close my garage door with my phone (yes, there's an app for that!) I had the Exclamation mark on my WiFi icon. My router is in my office directly in front of the house on top of the garage. I had to disconnect WiFi to get onto 4G to be able to close my door.

Right now, I'm at work, running speed tests right now, with Ookla app, Both phones connected to same WiFi router, sitting a foot apart on my desk.

First test: Note9: 274 megs down, 17.6 up. Note20 Ultra: 31.5 megs down, 14.1 up. (ran simultaneously)
Second test: Note9: 237 megs down, 20.3 up. Note20 Ultra: 16.5 megs down, 16.5 up. (ran simultaneously)
Third test: Note9: 246 megs down, 28.3 up. Note20 Ultra: 10.6 megs down, 27.6 up. (ran apart)

Manually disconnected Note20 Ultra from WiFi and reconnected right away, ran 3 more tests:

First test: 265 megs down, 29.1 up
Second test: 260 megs down, 29.1 up
Third test: 247 megs down, 29.3 up

Much better results. I will attribute this whole thing to a possible random poor connection to router since after manually reconnecting, the results went way up. Still feeling a little uneasy about the situation though, as it seems I had poor connection at home too. Will definitely run it through the ringer this weekend, putting it to the full test.

Just ran speed tests on 4G (all on Note20 Ultra)

First test: 118 megs down, 12.2 up
Second test: 129 megs down, 12.0 up
Third test: 144 megs down, 11.3 up

I don't feel like switching the sim back to my Note9, so no 4G tests to compare to.

Display
Yes, bigger display is NICE! BUT, the colors do not even come close to my Note9. Using the same custom wallpaper on the new phone, it seems warmer, with more orangish red tints. The blacks aren't as black on most screens, and whites aren't as white. I messed around with the vivid mode in display settings, moved the white balance to all settings, but barely makes a difference. I also tried FHD and WQHD resolutions. Seems like no matter what I try, the colors look washed out, and not crisp like they do on the Note9.

Sound
I use my phone as my primary music player everywhere I go. Bluetooth to my car, motorcycle, home speakers, headphones. So far, I've only tested it on the motorcycle, and home speaker, Doesn't seem like it's quite as loud as the Note9, but not too much of a noticeable difference. Will need to play around with it more.
On board sound, notifications, alarms, ringtones, very loud and crisp, that's good.

Battery
I kept it on the charger yesterday when setting it up, and went home with 95% charge. Went to bed with 75%. Right now, I've been off the charger for an hour and a half and am down to 92% Screen on time: 52 minutes. So no real good tests or evaluations yet.


These are just my first impressions, haven't even had it 24 hours yet, but as mentioned, I'm a little let down with it. I mentioned before in another post that the 10 is the only Note I haven't had since the 3, so I guess I was expecting more out of this phone after not upgrading in 2 years this time.

Will see how things go during the weekend and next week before I make any final decisions to keep, or revert back to the 9. I'm still pretty happy with my 9. The only thing wrong with it is the USB port. doesn't seem to want to hold a steady connection to any plugs, and I do only use OEM plugs. But that's not really an issue for me as I rarely have a need to plug it into anything.
 
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I'm finding that the disadvantages of this phone outweigh the benefits. It has features that the Note 10+ does not... but might with an upcoming firmware update. However: the camera module is ridiculous; the S Pen is perfectly situated for left-handed people (I'm not); Android Auto is an absolute mess and I've yet to connect the phone to my Explorer (it's installed but there's no icon! I had to search for it in Settings!); I'm leaning very heavily toward returning it... I'll give it a few more days but it had better start impressing me fast.
 
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I did forget to mention the S-Pen. I'm a lefty, and this is a God send! LOL.

I spent soooo much time with the phone on Saturday, and am getting better second impressions. The screen ain't so bad when I don't hold it side by side with the Note9. I just ended up using a different wallpaper as the other one that looked great on the 9 didn't look as vibrant on this one. The screen size on this one is as bid as the complete phone height of the 9, so that's a major win here.

I still haven't bothered looking for cases yet. I like the feel of the phone, minus the bump, but I think I can get used to that. I was talking on the phone last night, and as mentioned, I'm a lefty, so when holding the phone to my ear oldskool like we did 20 years ago, I found my index finger was often times touching the bump, and greasing up the lenses lol. So while being a lefty is great for the new pen placement, it's not so great with the camera placement. The other thing is laying the phone flat on a surface, it obviously wobbles. I have a stand at my desk at work, so that's good, and also the old Verizon branded wireless charging stand I still use on my nightstand still works well. The top of the back of it is like a millimeter below the camera bump. Got lucky there!

I never did have anymore wireless connection issues, so I'm guessing that first time was a fluke.

All in all, though there are some disadvantages with this phone, I'm now leaning more towards the idea that it will be a keeper. Will see how this week goes.
 
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FOLLOW-UP:

After living with the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra for a week, I've decided to return it. The disadvantages of owning this expensive little thing far outweigh its benefits for me.

I've already mentioned some of my complaints with the phone (I'm happy for you lefties out there... but I ain't one) so I won't repeat those. S Pen placement aside, it's just a myriad of little annoyances that prevents my enjoyment of the phone. If I experience annoyance with a device more than I enjoy using it, it's outta here.

After 5 days I finally got Android Auto working (sort of). Here's my latest PITA: I have a LOT of gift card money in my Sonic drive-in account. I decided to order ahead and take breakfast home on the way from the gym, so I went to log in on the Note 20. Account credentials are correct; VPN turned off. The "Sign In" bubble is ghosted out and I can't log in! Rebooted the phone... same thing. Ordered at the stall and paid cash at Sonic, got home and turned on the Note 10. Same OS, same Sonic app on the same version. Logged in just fine. New phone refuses to log in at all! And this is AFTER having used Smart Switch!

20200826_112819.jpg

This was really the last nail in the coffin. I have the return authorization; it is boxed up and ready to go back to Samsung today. Back with Jeanette the Note 10+
 
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Just got the Note Ultra black yesterday and been playing with it for solid few hours. As someone that's coming from a Note 8 this was to big of an upgrade to pass up. I passed on the 9 and the 10 because of the sensor and overall I'm glad I did. Again my comparison to my Note 8 maybe a bit biased since to me it feels like apples and oranges at the moment. The phone is extremely fast! Heck it maybe even faster then my i7 32GB RAM and SSD laptop at home. The camera quality is mind blowing especially in low light. I'll try to post the test I ran last night it's a picture of a rose hope it uploads to this post. I have yet tried the video but I'm sure it wont be a let down. Still so much to learn and do on this thing and I'm glad I made the jump and man was it a big one. My only meh and not really a deal breaker as many mentioned is the camera lens pop out which I feel like every time I put my phone down I have to be careful so the lens does not scratch. Also the phone itself feels super slippery and even with a guy with big hands I still feel like I'm going to drop this thing. However I got a case on it's way that will be here tomorrow so guessing that will solve that small problem. Overall anyone on the Note 8 or even older phones dish out the painful 1500 get the Ultra with 5G it's worth it. I know I had to think once, twice, three and maybe 100 times until this purchase but as an avid phone user and in the IT field I am always on my phone and this was a excellent investment for me. More updates to follow if I can think of anything else.
 

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My plan was to wait on the Note 21 but I cracked the screen on my Note 10 + and it is giving me problems, so I don't think holding out for the 21 is possible, especially if if doesn't arrive this year. I guess my question is for those of you with the 20 Ultra (especially those who came from the Note 10+,) are you happy with it or do you wish you would have waited? I always have the option to replace the screen and wait, just not sure I want to dump $300 into this one.
 
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I came from a note 9. (and had almost all of them before that). I skipped the 10 because I was pretty happy and content with the 9. I got the 20 ultra during launch, pre-ordered and all. Overall, I'm pleased with it, but a couple things that bother me are that it physically feels much cheaper than the 9 did. Again, I didn't have the 10, so I'm not sure what that one was like. The 20 just feels lighter, and when tapping on the phone (front or back) it just doesn't feel or sound as solid. If you shake the phone, the camera rattles. Normal or not, it bothers me lol. Also, the bump... Yeah. for the first time in many years, I was forced to get a case to flatten out the back of the phone so I can set it down on a table without it wobbling when using it. Software wise, it's great. Nice and fast, and very adequate as a power user. Only minor things upset me, such as when the OS upgraded, some of the features in Samsung Good Lock quit working. AOD clock style went away, but came back sometime around late Jan / Early Feb, but I never got my task changer back. I use Nova Home Launcher, and have tried a few things, but it keeps telling me that I need to update "Home Up"

Other than All that, I am actually happy over all, and do not regret getting it. It's got far more pro's then the few con's I've listed above. I'll probably skip the next note, and keep this one for another year or so, and see where the Notes go in 2022 (if they continue), or eventually get sucked into the folding phones if they kill off the notes.
 
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I came from a note 9. (and had almost all of them before that). I skipped the 10 because I was pretty happy and content with the 9. I got the 20 ultra during launch, pre-ordered and all. Overall, I'm pleased with it, but a couple things that bother me are that it physically feels much cheaper than the 9 did. Again, I didn't have the 10, so I'm not sure what that one was like. The 20 just feels lighter, and when tapping on the phone (front or back) it just doesn't feel or sound as solid. If you shake the phone, the camera rattles. Normal or not, it bothers me lol. Also, the bump... Yeah. for the first time in many years, I was forced to get a case to flatten out the back of the phone so I can set it down on a table without it wobbling when using it. Software wise, it's great. Nice and fast, and very adequate as a power user. Only minor things upset me, such as when the OS upgraded, some of the features in Samsung Good Lock quit working. AOD clock style went away, but came back sometime around late Jan / Early Feb, but I never got my task changer back. I use Nova Home Launcher, and have tried a few things, but it keeps telling me that I need to update "Home Up"

Other than All that, I am actually happy over all, and do not regret getting it. It's got far more pro's then the few con's I've listed above. I'll probably skip the next note, and keep this one for another year or so, and see where the Notes go in 2022 (if they continue), or eventually get sucked into the folding phones if they kill off the notes.

Thanks, yes I think my reluctance in getting the 20 is that it doesn't look as well made as previous notes, my 10 plus is a very solid and nice looking phone. I haven't actually been in to look at one of the 20 ultras, maybe I need to do that. Right now I am leaning towards repairing the screen on my 10+ and waiting.
 
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Spent most of this evening configuring my new Note 20 Ultra 5G to as I wanted it. So far I'm very impressed with it. Transferred by apps and data from the Mate 10 using Smart Switch via WiFi. It is a China version device, that didn't come with the Play Store, but installing Play Store I done by just sideloading the APK from APKmirror, and it works no problems on this device.
 
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