The world outside is shuttered for most, making it difficult to gauge the power of smartphones, especially on the camera and battery fronts. Times are strange but before me is the new Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra, which is supposed to be the rock-and-roll device of the year; it’s for users who are constantly switching between presentations, notes and video editing. It’s a premium device with big perks.

The adjective that describes the features on the phone is ‘big’. In fact, at 6.9 inches, it reminds one of the Nexus 7, which, with its seven-inch screen, was the best Android tablet one could find six-seven years ago. What Samsung has done is give the phone the best display money can buy while keeping bezels to the minimum. The brightness of the screen is just right to read news or watch films. One doesn’t even have to turn up the display settings from the default FHD Plus setting of 2326x1080 pixels to WQHD Plus, which is 3088x1440 pixels. Since the company has gone with Corning’s new Gorilla Glass Victus on the front and rear, there is no fear of scratches.

Being the new Note, we are keeping a close eye on the S Pen, which now has some productive tricks to offer while the updated layout in the Notes app is much appreciated. But the best part of the deal is the low latency between scribbling on the screen and seeing the words or lines appear. This is the best S Pen we have seen so far.

Many have been speaking about the camera bump at the back. Yes, it’s big because the phone appears slimmer. But it’s about what the 108MP shooter on the rear can do. Overall, daylight photography is out of the world. And thankfully, the company has gone with capping the “space” zoom capabilities to 50x. On the Galaxy S20 Ultra it’s 100x but frankly, it’s something few people use and that also a couple of times in six months! The 12MP ultrawide-angle photos are amazingly good, without any distortion around the edges. Night photography?

Keep an eye on the full review.

The biggest improvements we are experiencing have to do with productivity tools on which Samsung has worked with Microsoft. It allows a lot of synchronisation that may make this the go-to device for a lot of activities.
The question is: Can the S Pen do enough to make you want a phone with a stylus? It’s bigger and better. But wait for the full review to find out if it’s a practical phone to have.