Samsung Galaxy Note20 / Note20 Ultra

[Dave245]

Yeah that’s not good. Generally i was recharging at 9pm or being on 5-10% at 11pm but saying that during the week i was not getting loads of screen on time. Mine was draining in standby which i think exynos is known for...on my SD fold 2 the standby time is generally very good

Yea i have noticed that it is draining even in standby mode i'm down to 80% currently. It seems the Exynos is a BIG battery drain. The thing is the usage isn't even with me at full work load. With COVID i'm spending more time at home, but when everything is back to normal i will be calling a lot more.

IF i have to return it, how painful is the process? there is no damage to the phone. I did rip the cardboard where the sim ejector tool attaches tho when i first got it, i'm hoping that if i do have to end up returning it that something like that won't effect it?

 

[The Game 161]

Yea i have noticed that it is draining even in standby mode i'm down to 80% currently. It seems the Exynos is a BIG battery drain. The thing is the usage isn't even with me at full work load. With COVID i'm spending more time at home, but when everything is back to normal i will be calling a lot more.

IF i have to return it, how painful is the process? there is no damage to the phone. I did rip the cardboard where the sim ejector tool attaches tho when i first got it, i'm hoping that if i do have to end up returning it that something like that won't effect it?

Nah the return process should be fine, found Samsung UK to be fine to be fair. As long as device is fine all will be OK. On my note ultra I felt like I had to turn off features to get the phone to last which you shouldn't need to do

 

[Dave245]

Nah the return process should be fine, found Samsung UK to be fine to be fair. As long as device is fine all will be OK. On my note ultra I felt like I had to turn off features to get the phone to last which you shouldn't need to do

Ok that's good, i was a little worried that because the cardboard had ripped they may not accept it back. The phone itself is as good as when they sent it. It's been in a clear case.

Yea i'm finding the same, i have had to turn off the 120Hz because it drains the battery a lot more. The thing is the results i'm currently getting are with most of the features turned off

 

[michael9891]

Are you keeping the Buds Live? Be surprised if they accept those back for hygiene reasons.

 

[Dave245]

Are you keeping the Buds Live? Be surprised if they accept those back for hygiene reasons.

Yes i would return the Buds Live, i personally think the AirPods Pro are better and since i already have the AirPods Pro i have no use for the Buds Live. They both came as part of the same package, because it was a deal where if you buy the Note 20 Ultra and the Buds Live you got more money knocked off. I would see what Samsung say in that instance.

 

[maka344]

Samsung returns are fine, just a little slow. This is the problem with the Exynos version, the SD gains 20% better battery which is the difference between lasting until bedtime or not.

If you like the phone, but you are struggling with the battery, considering importing a SD version which would cost the same as the device you have after import fees. I have read that the battery does imperils after a week once it has learnt your usage patterns, do give it a bit more time but don’t switch anything off feature wise.

This is (supposedly) the reason Apple didn’t go with 120hz screens this year, the battery hit was just too much. But again, you’re getting world leading features and hardware.

I would also recommend a look at the OnePlus 8 Pro as an alternative. It sports the SD and is equally as good. It can be had for £649 from Amazon and their version is Android is excellent with speedy updates.

 

[_karrol]

Ok that's good, i was a little worried that because the cardboard had ripped they may not accept it back. The phone itself is as good as when they sent it. It's been in a clear case.

Yea i'm finding the same, i have had to turn off the 120Hz because it drains the battery a lot more. The thing is the results i'm currently getting are with most of the features turned off I

I wouldn't count on more than 5 hours screen time with the exynos (edit: after the battery settles in), this is what I've been experiencing (although I have all features on, including 120Hz and Always On) at least, but boils down to your personal use case. For me it's fine, but I can also understand the frustration...

 

[Dave245]

I wouldn't count on more than 5 hours screen time with the exynos, this is what I've been experiencing (although I have all features on, including 120Hz and Always On) at least, but boils down to your personal use case. For me it's fine, but I can also understand the frustration...

I tried turning them off and i still get what i would consider meh battery life. While i'm at home it's fine, but commuting to London (when everything moves back to normal after COVID) i can't have it dying on me while i'm mid business call or when i go to use my e-ticket for the underground/ train service.

The thing is like @The Game 161 has said, we shouldn't have to turn features off. At the price point they are we should be getting great battery life with ALL features on.

Samsung returns are fine, just a little slow. This is the problem with the Exynos version, the SD gains 20% better battery which is the difference between lasting until bedtime or not.

If you like the phone, but you are struggling with the battery, considering importing a SD version which would cost the same as the device you have after import fees. I have read that the battery does imperils after a week once it has learnt your usage patterns, do give it a bit more time but don’t switch anything off feature wise.

This is (supposedly) the reason Apple didn’t go with 120hz screens this year, the battery hit was just too much. But again, you’re getting world leading features and hardware.

I would also recommend a look at the OnePlus 8 Pro as an alternative. It sports the SD and is equally as good. It can be had for £649 from Amazon and their version is Android is excellent with speedy updates.

I can certainly see why Apple didn't put 120hz in the iPhone this year. With it turned on it's even more of a battery hog. I'm going to give it time (within the 28 days return period) and if battery life doesn't improve, i will send it back. At least i will have tried it and killed the curiosity of a Note device, which is what i have been wanting. Kind of like looking over the neighbours fence and seeing into a different garden lol.

 

[yui4]

Yesterday it was about 6pm evening time. Maybe the battery needs time to settle in?

Put it on charge whilst you're eating your tea! You'll be fine

 

[Dave245]

Put it on charge whilst you're eating your tea! You'll be fine

At the moment that’s fine, but when everything is back to normal and I’m in London commuting a lot for meetings, that won’t be very practical unfortunately.

 

[yui4]

Are you keeping the Buds Live? Be surprised if they accept those back for hygiene reasons.

They do. I've returned a pair without issue

 

[Ludatyk]

I can certainly see why Apple didn't put 120hz in the iPhone this year. With it turned on it's even more of a battery hog. I'm going to give it time (within the 28 days return period) and if battery life doesn't improve, i will send it back. At least i will have tried it and killed the curiosity of a Note device, which is what i have been wanting. Kind of like looking over the neighbours fence and seeing into a different garden lol.

I understand your frustration, I truly do. But you seem like you have one foot outside the door while the other one is inside. As others have noted.. sometimes the battery needs to settle in and Samsung needs to learns your usage patterns. Another tip would be schedule a turn off in the middle of a night.

But I wouldn't go so far as to turn off 120hz... you have to monitor what apps are potentially causing drainage. You can choose to put apps to sleep during background activities. I know for me.. I keep Device Care as a widget to monitor my RAM. But I feel if you truly like the phone... then travel with a battery pack to give you that extra push to last throughout the day.

 

[SteveJUAE]

Yesterday it was about 6pm evening time. Maybe the battery needs time to settle in?

Dave

You do need to let it settle and it's a bit like your experience with your SP6 your so use to Apple usage you forget that what comes with more choice and options also comes with more responsibility

While you can be nannied using Android battery management it will take some time to learn your usage patterns which currently during your honeymoon period they are not normal

There are plenty settings you can do manually to hurry the experience along, you also have to remember while your Iphone Pro 11 did have stunning endurance it is also several generations now behind on the tech baked in to your Note and even the latest Iphones are still only 60hz screens

Android if left untethered can show poor endurance and even the SD version that most only get 20 mins more out of them can suffer the same issues for a device that costs more has half the ram and no dual sim, so the grass is not necessarily greener

Do some simple research on tips and tricks and stop watching the battery % and start enjoying IMO

PS I do not know why you find the buds uncomfortable they are not suppose to be rammed in to your ears LOL and that is part of the reason NC is not as good as full in ear headsets, they are different for a good reason IPods compared to other similar in ear headsets are poorly rated so you must do Apples to Apples LOL

 

[Dave245]

I understand your frustration, I truly do. But you seem like you have one foot outside the door while the other one is inside. As others have noted.. sometimes the battery needs to settle in and Samsung needs to learns your usage patterns. Another tip would be schedule a turn off in the middle of a night.

But I wouldn't go so far as to turn off 120hz... you have to monitor what apps are potentially causing drainage. You can choose to put apps to sleep during background activities. I know for me.. I keep Device Care as a widget to monitor my RAM. But I feel if you truly like the phone... then travel with a battery pack to give you that extra push to last throughout the day.

Dave

You do need to let it settle and it's a bit like your experience with your SP6 your so use to Apple usage you forget that what comes with more choice and options also comes with more responsibility

While you can be nannied using Android battery management it will take some time to learn your usage patterns which currently during your honeymoon period they are not normal

There are plenty settings you can do manually to hurry the experience along, you also have to remember while your Iphone Pro 11 did have stunning endurance it is also several generations now behind on the tech baked in to your Note and even the latest Iphones are still only 60hz screens

Android if left untethered can show poor endurance and even the SD version that most only get 20 mins more out of them can suffer the same issues for a device that costs more has half the ram and no dual sim, so the grass is not necessarily greener

Do some simple research on tips and tricks and stop watching the battery % and start enjoying IMO

PS I do not know why you find the buds uncomfortable they are not suppose to be rammed in to your ears LOL and that is part of the reason NC is not as good as full in ear headsets, they are different for a good reason IPods compared to other similar in ear headsets are poorly rated so you must do Apples to Apples LOL

Thanks guys, I will see what happens. I did mention that it may need to settle in. I have played around with the settings, turned some things off and used the Care setting that looks at apps in the background and so on.

hopefully it levels off and battery life improves. If it doesn’t it’s a no go for me unfortunately. We will see tho as I still have more than enough time until 28 days are up!

 

[Dave245]

PS I do not know why you find the buds uncomfortable they are not suppose to be rammed in to your ears LOL and that is part of the reason NC is not as good as full in ear headsets, they are different for a good reason IPods compared to other similar in ear headsets are poorly rated so you must do Apples to Apples LOL

They still sit in the ear, the speaker still goes into the ear canal. I find that they don't fit my ears very well and after a short time they are uncomfortable to use. The AirPods Pro just sit right in the ear and even on a run they don't fall out (however I did have the static issue and Apple replaced them in the end).

The blue colour of the Buds Live is really nice, however the ANC and fit are not that good.

 

[Ludatyk]

hopefully it levels off and battery life improves. If it doesn’t it’s a no go for me unfortunately. We will see tho as I still have more than enough time until 28 days are up!

Not trying to make it a battle amongst iPhone and Samsung. Reason I bring that up, just by viewing from your perspective. I think Samsung is in a losing battle.

As soon as I switched to the Note10+ beginning this year... I went in committed. I sold my iPhone and gave my sister the AW. I came into it with the mindset I’ve grown annoyed of iOS, it just didn’t excite me enough to stay on the iPhone regardless of how much I enjoyed the AW. And so far, I don’t regret it... not looking back. Heck, I went so far as to upgrade to the Z Fold 2 after owning the Note 10+ for only 10 months.

If its not for you.. no need to struggle with trying to make it work... that’s the beauty of competition, so many options to choose from.

 

[yui4]

Dave

You do need to let it settle and it's a bit like your experience with your SP6 your so use to Apple usage you forget that what comes with more choice and options also comes with more responsibility

While you can be nannied using Android battery management it will take some time to learn your usage patterns which currently during your honeymoon period they are not normal

There are plenty settings you can do manually to hurry the experience along, you also have to remember while your Iphone Pro 11 did have stunning endurance it is also several generations now behind on the tech baked in to your Note and even the latest Iphones are still only 60hz screens

Android if left untethered can show poor endurance and even the SD version that most only get 20 mins more out of them can suffer the same issues for a device that costs more has half the ram and no dual sim, so the grass is not necessarily greener

Do some simple research on tips and tricks and stop watching the battery % and start enjoying IMO

PS I do not know why you find the buds uncomfortable they are not suppose to be rammed in to your ears LOL and that is part of the reason NC is not as good as full in ear headsets, they are different for a good reason IPods compared to other similar in ear headsets are poorly rated so you must do Apples to Apples LOL

This is a hitting the nail on the head post with regards comparing the iPhone battery with Samsung IMO

 

[Dave245]

This is a hitting the nail on the head post with regards comparing the iPhone battery with Samsung IMO

I do agree in some parts. Personally what I’ve noticed that I personally prefer is that with iPhone and Apple devices in general, you don’t have to worry about apps running in the background, using up ram and draining battery. Being nannied as Steve puts it is what I like to a certain degree with my devices.

However there are things that I like about the device (screen, s-pen, multi Windows) it just seems that they are coming at a cost (just as @SteveJUAE has said) I do think Android has gotten a lot better from the days of S4. I’m going to continue with it for a few more days and will see how it goes.

I can’t completely walk away from Apple as some have suggested, simply because i love my Apple Watch (I don’t like the circle design of the Samsung Watch‘s) also i love Mac and iPad Pro. My intention with the Note 20 is to try a different device that I have been curious about for a while. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out! Nothing is lost as I can return within the 28 days.

 

[SDColorado]

Not trying to make it a battle amongst iPhone and Samsung. Reason I bring that up, just by viewing from your perspective. I think Samsung is in a losing battle.

As soon as I switched to the Note10+ beginning this year... I went in committed. I sold my iPhone and gave my sister the AW. I came into it with the mindset I’ve grown annoyed of iOS, it just didn’t excite me enough to stay on the iPhone regardless of how much I enjoyed the AW. And so far, I don’t regret it... not looking back. Heck, I went so far as to upgrade to the Z Fold 2 after owning the Note 10+ for only 10 months.

If its not for you.. no need to struggle with trying to make it work... that’s the beauty of competition, so many options to choose from.

I did much the same. Used my iPhone as a trade-in for the Note 10+ and never looked back.

Went from that to trading in the Note 10+ on the Note 20 Ultra, the iPhone is long gone.

 

[Ludatyk]

I can’t completely walk away from Apple as some have suggested, simply because i love my Apple Watch (I don’t like the circle design of the Samsung Watch‘s) also i love Mac and iPad Pro. My intention with the Note 20 is to try a different device that I have been curious about for a while. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out! Nothing is lost as I can return within the 28 days.

I’ll never walk away from Apple. Yeah, they can make some choices I don’t agree with... but I’m going to always be a supporter of Apple. I been an Apple user since ‘07... with the introduction of the iPhone, then in ‘08 with the first aluminum unibody design of MacBook. I like their careful attention to the user experience.

But it’s cool trying out new devices from time to time. I was just commenting on your approach to the Note 20 Ultra... sometimes it’s tough to pull away from the iPhone, all credit goes to Apple in that regard.

 

[Dave245]

I’ll never walk away from Apple. Yeah, they can make some choices I don’t agree with... but I’m going to always be a supporter of Apple. I been an Apple user since ‘07... with the introduction of the iPhone, then in ‘08 with the first aluminum unibody design of MacBook. I like their careful attention to the user experience.

But it’s cool trying out new devices from time to time. I was just commenting on your approach to the Note 20 Ultra... sometimes it’s tough to pull away from the iPhone, all credit goes to Apple in that regard.

I agree. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out.

 

[The Game 161]

I’ll never walk away from Apple. Yeah, they can make some choices I don’t agree with... but I’m going to always be a supporter of Apple. I been an Apple user since ‘07... with the introduction of the iPhone, then in ‘08 with the first aluminum unibody design of MacBook. I like their careful attention to the user experience.

But it’s cool trying out new devices from time to time. I was just commenting on your approach to the Note 20 Ultra... sometimes it’s tough to pull away from the iPhone, all credit goes to Apple in that regard.

Agreed

For me I’ve realised no matter how good or bad the stuff apple bring out it’s the products i will always pick first as it just works the best for my daily life and what i want from the ecosystem

. I always try android and go back to IOS....how to solve this problem? Enjoy both....i know most won’t be able to justify a fold 2 and a pro max lol but i love this combo. So while i can’t use android as my daily phone it sort of is as i have a different sim in my fold 2 so technically it’s my 1B daily if that makes sense... but i will always need an iphone and Apple Watch with me at all times. Plus i use my iPad for work which i would say is maybe my most used device that ecosystem is too great to go away from.

 

[Healer Flame]

 

[yui4]

Beta enrolment still not available in UK

 

[_karrol]

I tried turning them off and i still get what i would consider meh battery life. While i'm at home it's fine, but commuting to London (when everything moves back to normal after COVID) i can't have it dying on me while i'm mid business call or when i go to use my e-ticket for the underground/ train service.

The thing is like @The Game 161 has said, we shouldn't have to turn features off. At the price point they are we should be getting great battery life with ALL features on.




I can certainly see why Apple didn't put 120hz in the iPhone this year. With it turned on it's even more of a battery hog. I'm going to give it time (within the 28 days return period) and if battery life doesn't improve, i will send it back. At least i will have tried it and killed the curiosity of a Note device, which is what i have been wanting. Kind of like looking over the neighbours fence and seeing into a different garden lol.

Yeah, I totally understand that. It is a trade-off when you come from an 11 Pro Max. I switched from the X which I had to plug in around 2-3pm anyways, so the battery is actually an improvement (even if it could be better, I admit) and to boot the Note makes the X feel absolutely antiquated.

It is all a matter of perspective On the other hand, do you upgrade every year? I cannot see that we are out of the pandemic and back to the normality before spring and from spring it is just a few months before you can upgrade again to the next iPhone 😂