Samsung Galaxy Note20 / Note20 Ultra

[Dave245]

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 ?

My upgrade cycle really depends on weather Apple wow me, for example my first iPhone was the 3GS, followed by the 4S, then the 5S followed by the 6 Plus, 7 Plus, iPhone X then the latest I have is the 11 Pro Max. The Apple Watch I’m similar with, I didn’t upgrade this year because there simply wasn’t enough for me to jump from my Series 4.

I don’t think we will either, most of my meetings are now online (as of today they all are). But i much prefer in person, I don’t really like carrying too many things around with me either. I usually carry my iPhone 11 Pro Max and my iPad Pro or MacBook 2019.

At the moment I will be sending the Note Ultra back. Battery life has been bad for the last few days, pictures taken on the camera seem over exposed and far too unrealistic and apps don’t seem to be as reliable as on my iPhone.

 

[_karrol]

My upgrade cycle really depends on weather Apple wow me, for example my first iPhone was the 3GS, followed by the 4S, then the 5S followed by the 6 Plus, 7 Plus, iPhone X then the latest I have is the 11 Pro Max. The Apple Watch I’m similar with, I didn’t upgrade this year because there simply wasn’t enough for me to jump from my Series 4.

I don’t think we will either, most of my meetings are now online (as of today they all are). But i much prefer in person, I don’t really like carrying too many things around with me either. I usually carry my iPhone 11 Pro Max and my iPad Pro or MacBook 2019.

At the moment I will be sending the Note Ultra back. Battery life has been bad for the last few days, pictures taken on the camera seem over exposed and far too unrealistic and apps don’t seem to be as reliable as on my iPhone.

That's an interesting thing you said about the apps, what do you mean and which apps?

 

[Dave245]

That's an interesting thing you said about the apps, what do you mean and which apps?

One that I’ve noticed more than any is the Blink app for our cameras at the house. On the iPhone when the camera detects motion it’s a near instant notification. The last couple of days, I’ve had no notifications on the Ultra, yet when I go into the app itself it shows that the camera has been triggered.

 

[SteveJUAE]

At the moment I will be sending the Note Ultra back. Battery life has been bad for the last few days, pictures taken on the camera seem over exposed and far too unrealistic and apps don’t seem to be as reliable as on my iPhone.

Have you tried looking at the same photos on more familiar devices to see if you just have vivid on or could adjust the Note screen colour to match similar temp your use too ?

Many apps you can adjust frequency of checks or notifications, I have my lessor used emails set to only update hourly or less as an example to cut down on excess background activity and clutter

 

[Dave245]

Have you tried looking at the same photos on more familiar devices to see if you just have vivid on or could adjust the Note screen colour to match similar temp your use too ?

Many apps you can adjust frequency of checks or notifications, I have my lessor used emails set to only update hourly or less as an example to cut down on excess background activity and clutter

Yea I messed around with the Vivid and natural setting on the Ultra. I also looked at the pictures on my iPhone to make sure it wasn’t just the screen on the Ultra or even my eyes (LOL).

As for the Blink App i played around with the settings to make sure they were the same as the one on my iPhone. With it being a security camera I obviously want to get notifications as soon as they are available, especially if it triggers motion and we are not expecting anything at the house that day (delivery’s or visitors).

 

[The_Interloper]

One that I’ve noticed more than any is the Blink app for our cameras at the house. On the iPhone when the camera detects motion it’s a near instant notification. The last couple of days, I’ve had no notifications on the Ultra, yet when I go into the app itself it shows that the camera has been triggered.

Make sure you set your Blink app to never go to sleep in the background: https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/05/30/how-to-prevent-apps-sleeping-in-the-background-on-android/

 

[Dave245]

Make sure you set your Blink app to never go to sleep in the background: https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/05/30/how-to-prevent-apps-sleeping-in-the-background-on-android/

Yea I already did that.

 

[michael9891]

@Dave245 If you return your Note because of the battery, definitely don't rule them out in the future. Especially as you obviously like what it offers. If the Exynos 1000 (and future chips) is as power efficient as expected, it will almost certainly greatly improve battery life.

With the current top of line flagships with the high end components, you're unlikely to see 11 Pro Max level battery life now that 5G is the norm for almost every phone. The new iPhones show that.

And I'll always advocate for importing phones if the cpu is better. And they're always cheaper.

 

[Dave245]

@Dave245 If you return your Note because of the battery, definitely don't rule them out in the future. Especially as you obviously like what it offers. If the Exynos 1000 (and future chips) is as power efficient as expected, it will almost certainly greatly improve battery life.

With the current top of line flagships with the high end components, you're unlikely to see 11 Pro Max level battery life now that 5G is the norm for almost every phone. The new iPhones show that.

And I'll always advocate for importing phones if the cpu is better. And they're always cheaper.

I wouldn’t rule them out I definitely like the Note devices, that I’m sure of. I just think the Exynos needs to be greatly improved along with battery life.

That being said I do think Android has greatly improved over the years (from the S4 i used years ago anyway) and the S-Pen is a great tool that is the stand out reason for me to get a Note. If I do return this one, I’ll definitely be keeping my eye on the Note series going forward (including next years and so on).

 

[jamezr]

Got a new Lattercase for my Note20U.
Really liking it so far and how it protects the camera bump.

 

[Healer Flame]

They really look nice .

 

[yui4]

Really like my note 20 ultra........

hasn’t stopped me pre ordering the 12 pro max. Lol

 

[Dave245]

Really like my note 20 ultra........

hasn’t stopped me pre ordering the 12 pro max. Lol

Think I’m going to send mine back. If in the future they either improve the Exynos or replace it greatly and battery life, I would be interested in picking another one up. (Possibly the Note 21?). But for now the iPhone is still my favourite everyday phone. The Note has better features but they are not worth the compromise in battery life (at least for me).

 

[SteveJUAE]

Think I’m going to send mine back. If in the future they either improve the Exynos or replace it greatly and battery life, I would be interested in picking another one up. (Possibly the Note 21?). But for now the iPhone is still my favourite everyday phone. The Note has better features but they are not worth the compromise in battery life (at least for me).

Dave this has nothing to do with Exynos, you have 20 days left and barely got the phone bedded in, you have nothing too loose in trying to resolve what you are doing different etc to your normal usage pattern

 

[Dave245]

Dave this has nothing to do with Exynos, you have 20 days left and barely got the phone bedded in, you have nothing too loose in trying to resolve what you are doing different etc to your normal usage pattern

The Exynos is why the battery life is lower (When compared to the SD version) hence why I said that. Resolve what I’m doing different? I’m not really doing anything different. The only difference between what I’m doing with the Note vs what I do with my iPhone is the S-Pen (which obviously the iPhone doesn’t have but really should).

 

[SteveJUAE]

The Exynos is why the battery life is lower (When compared to the SD version) hence why I said that. Resolve what I’m doing different? I’m not really doing anything different. The only difference between what I’m doing with the Note vs what I do with my iPhone is the S-Pen (which obviously the iPhone doesn’t have but really should).

You do not know that for your usage as you have no reference point, your just guessing and if you want to guess maybe 30 mins difference is likely, but you are complaining of hours

 

[jamezr]

Really like my note 20 ultra........

hasn’t stopped me pre ordering the 12 pro max. Lol

Same! Got my pre-order 12 PM Pacific Blue in this morning

 

[SteveJUAE]

Same! Got my pre-order 12 PM Pacific Blue in this morning

I was going to order a mini for a bit of fun, but unlike Dave here you have to commit as there are no returns LOL

 

[Dave245]

You do not know that for your usage as you have no reference point, your just guessing and if you want to guess maybe 30 mins difference is likely, but you are complaining of hours

Yes I do, my iPhone 11 Pro Max gets ALOT more hours. For example this morning i took the Note 20 Ultra off charge after leaving it on cha all night. It dropped fro, 100% to 99% in a matter of minutes! as a reference I can use my iPhone 11 Pro Max for a lot longer before it drops too 99%

the battery on the Note 20 Ultra is not good at all! its even worse with 120hz screen turned on. You can’t think that it’s acceptable for a company to charge as much as they do for a phone and expect people to turn off the majority of features just to get decent battery life.

I’m not the only one, if you look online (I’ve seen Youtube videos) saying the same thing about the Exynos version. Surely it isnt a coincidence, that the SD version gets around 20% more battery life than the Exynos.

 

[_karrol]

Guys... Chill, these are just phones, there's more to life than that @Dave245 return it and enjoy your iPhone again, will you be ordering the 12 Pro Max now? @SteveJUAE let's be honest, if someone is coming from an 11 Pro Max which apparently was a battery champ, the Note20U with Exynos can only be a disappointment and the battery will not settle to give Dave a few more hours of use to compete with the iPhone. I agree that iPhones feel very outdated in comparison to Samsungs now, but battery life is one thing we cannot really deny.

 

[yui4]

November update for uk model is here

 

[SteveJUAE]

Yes I do, my iPhone 11 Pro Max gets ALOT more hours. For example this morning i took the Note 20 Ultra off charge after leaving it on cha all night. It dropped fro, 100% to 99% in a matter of minutes! as a reference I can use my iPhone 11 Pro Max for a lot longer before it drops too 99%

the battery on the Note 20 Ultra is not good at all! its even worse with 120hz screen turned on. You can’t think that it’s acceptable for a company to charge as much as they do for a phone and expect people to turn off the majority of features just to get decent battery life.

I’m not the only one, if you look online (I’ve seen Youtube videos) saying the same thing about the Exynos version. Surely it isnt a coincidence, that the SD version gets around 20% more battery life than the Exynos.

Dave the reference point is owning both SD and the Exynos version, which you do not have, you are going on largely hearsay

I have a SD in my Fold and the battery % falls of rapidly as any Samsung device does as soon as it is of charge 2-5% is not uncommon in mins of usage, it means nothing and we told you that before

We also told you that the battery indicator is not indicative especially Apple that seems to pretend to not move for a long time initially

Everyone's usage pattern is different and given there are far more Exynos versions out there of satisfied customers the vast majority are happy and if you check the so called SD petition it barley got 80k subscribers etc etc Zzzzzzzzzzzz as most realized Dual sim and extra memory is worth more than 20 mins of endurance

Regardless of chipset you will take a good 20mins hit for having 5G on even if you do not use it and similar if you have 120hz adaptive on just for scrolling then set your adaptive brightness default too high then your in for a massive hit especially if you are doodling with the SPen. Then you have fiddling and mucking about as a newbie to the equation.

Stop doing your normal clutching at straws of internet views which is exactly what you did with your Surface Pro

Your Iphone 11 has good battery life as it's old tech now with limited features to the Note so no one would expect like for like endurance, but not hours of difference you have

 

[SteveJUAE]

Guys... Chill, these are just phones, there's more to life than that @Dave245 return it and enjoy your iPhone again, will you be ordering the 12 Pro Max now? @SteveJUAE let's be honest, if someone is coming from an 11 Pro Max which apparently was a battery champ, the Note20U with Exynos can only be a disappointment and the battery will not settle to give Dave a few more hours of use to compete with the iPhone. I agree that iPhones feel very outdated in comparison to Samsungs now, but battery life is one thing we cannot really deny.

Never doubted the Iphone 11 endurance I pointed that out previously to Dave but it's not about what your little % bar shows, that's how simplistic he's being

 

[Dave245]

Guys... Chill, these are just phones, there's more to life than that @Dave245 return it and enjoy your iPhone again, will you be ordering the 12 Pro Max now? @SteveJUAE let's be honest, if someone is coming from an 11 Pro Max which apparently was a battery champ, the Note20U with Exynos can only be a disappointment and the battery will not settle to give Dave a few more hours of use to compete with the iPhone. I agree that iPhones feel very outdated in comparison to Samsungs now, but battery life is one thing we cannot really deny.

Agreed. I will not be ordering the 12 Pro Max, my 11 Pro Max is good enough. It’s a shame because I’m not denying that the Note 20 Ultra is a good device, it is and there are things I really like. The screen is great (especially the QHD) the S-pen and the design. For me it all falls apart with battery life, like I said if you have to turn 120hz off in order to get even half decent battery life, it’s a bad trade off (in my opinion). I certainly can see why Apple haven’t put a 120hz into the iPhone 12 this year, it would be a big battery hog.

 

[Dave245]

Never doubted the Iphone 11 endurance I pointed that out previously to Dave but it's not about what your little % bar shows, that's how simplistic he's being

What, of course it‘s about that! battery life is important. In my usage the Note 20 Ultra hasn’t even lasted me a full day. I can’t speak for everyone, people have different usage but I can say from my own experience.