Samsung Galaxy Note 20 looks set to be a truly high-end handset. In addition to the enormous screen (rumoured to clock in at 6.8" for the Note 20 Plus) and the redesigned S Pen, the phone is also set to come with a lot of the features that made the Samsung Galaxy S20 so great. Its Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset, its awesome Super AMOLED 120Hz display and its excellent One UI 2.0 Android 10 OS.
- Just in: Samsung Galaxy Note 20 design leaks in handset war upset
- Best 5G phones
- Samsung Galaxy S20 deals
The Note 20, however, will miss out on one of the key selling points of the high-end Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra handset: the enormous 100x "space zoom" camera.
Leakster-in-chief Ice Universe took to Twitter to tell us the Note 20 would be omitting this feature. Ice doesn't disclose their source on this, but they have a great track record of Samsung leaks, so we're inclined to believe. Check out the Tweet in question below:
Note20 series no longer retains 100X zoom functionMay 19, 2020
The S20 Ultra's 108MP 100x digital zoom camera system was a remarkable achievement, but fully zoomed in, much detail was lost. The phone worked best at mid-ranges, which still packed an eye-popping amount of detail into its snaps from a very long way away.
It was the S20 Ultra's big USP, but we can see why not including it in favour of say, the S20's 30x zoom makes sense: although it's a premium high-end handset, the Note 20 is already covering a lot of bases. It's primary function is to use the additional screen space in conjunction with the S Pen stylus to be great for creative work and play.
It doesn't NEED to over-large camera to be a fine handset in its own right: it would excel with either the S20 or the S20 Plus' camera systems, still capable of taking gorgeous HD photos and using the Note 20's creative muscle to edit them on the fly.
The Samsung Galaxy S20 cameras
However, the iPhone 11 Pro was rated "the best camera system on a smartphone" when we reviewed it last year. Cameras have long been voted one of, if not THE, most import smartphone feature for fans. If the Note 20 places less emphasis on the camera in favour of its other selling points, it risks getting eclipsed by Apple's big iPhone 12 launch.
The phablet phone is reportedly set to be unveiled in July, alongside the hotly-tipped debut of the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2. However, this launch could be pushed back, for obvious reasons: the global health crisis continues to dominate every aspect of everyday life, causing disruptions across the entire tech industry. Even if Samsung can get the phones ready in time, would it want to launch in such a turbulent environment?
Due to a combination of supply chain disruptions and the changing priorities of its customers, Apple is pushing back the iPhone 12 reveal by at least a month, from September to October-November time. This leaves a September slot open for Samsung, if it wishes to allow the industry more time to return to normal following the year's massive disruptions. Regardless of when it's actually released, we look forward to seeing what Samsung has come up with.
Liked this?
