Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra vs. Galaxy S20 Ultra, Performance, battery life, and charging

Arga Dwi Ihsanul

Thursday, Aug 06, 2020 | 09:15 am

Samsung

Both phones provide very similar performance, but the Note 20 Ultra has the distinction of running off a newer processor. It ships with the Snapdragon 865 Plus in the United States and comes with the Exynos 990 elsewhere in the world. The S20 Ultra runs on the earlier 865, which won’t make a massive difference in practice but could mean that the Note 20 Ultra handles certain workloads a little more effortlessly than the S20 Ultra.

Other than that, both smartphones pack 12GB of RAM, although the S20 Ultra line offers a model with 16GB, so any computing difference may be canceled out by buying the S20 with extra RAM. The Note 20 Ultra provides 256GB of internal storage standard and can be bought in a 512GB version, while the S20 Ultra is divided among 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB models.

When it comes to the battery, it’s the S20 Ultra that has the advantage. It’s furnished with a hefty 5,000mAh battery, while the Note 20 Ultra is powered by a 4,500mAh cell. We haven’t had the chance to fully test the Note 20 Ultra yet, so we’re not sure if this 500mAh difference will result in a big difference in daily lifespan. But the fact that 4,500mAh is very big will likely mean the Note 20 Ultra will keep you going for at least a day before needing a recharge. It supports 25W fast charging, and the S20 Ultra goes up to 45W, so it won’t take long to bring either back to life. Both phones also offer 15W wireless charging.

Assuming that there is a noticeable difference in battery life, we’re going to give a narrow victory to the S20 Ultra. The option to buy it with 16GB of RAM may also mean that it runs a tad faster than the Note 20 Ultra, so it may be the superior smartphone performance-wise for those who can afford to upgrade.