Samsung Note 20 Ultra - My initial thought's.

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi Everyone,

Very early days for me just yet.

Received the phone Monday 24th direct from Samsung UK.

I have the Exynos  N20 Ultra 256gb in the Uk. I now have the SnapDragon 865+ Samsung N20 Ultra 256Gb model. 

August Update.
120Hz adaptive refresh rate is On.
Dark Mode.
Brightness around half way.

Bluetooth On.
Battery on Optomise setting but not adaptive.
Screen time out 2 minutes.
I don't have lots of apps as I only use a select few to be honest.

Any google apps / services I remove or disable especially Google Chrome as I use Samsung Internet. 

5G turned Off as I can't use it anyway with my Carrier.
Installed back up from Samsung Cloud and Apps from Playstore My Library to give a clean install as possible.

I'm not keen on Smartswitch.

Some who have used Smartswitch and are experiencing issues have said they are contemplating factory resetting and using a clean install.

I have put some apps to sleep and some to deep sleep which is what i did also on my N10+ 5G. Habit really !!

I use a burner sim card at first when setting up my new phone's and keep my previous phone as my daily driver while I'm taking my time tweaking my new phone's settings and preferences.

I've read a few posts from people who said they could see the battery % drop even when not doing anything on the phone. Although background activity and processess still happen, network signal and mobile data or WiFi will be On, and the phone is in learning mode and any backups downloaded into the phone will be indexing so battery consumption will happen.

So after my Samsung Cloud restore finished and my apps were put on via the Playstore and everything was updated and fully synced I then cleared my System Cache file's.

I then charged the phone to 100% and left it sat there all day with mobile data , Bluetooth, Nfc all On , and WiFi Off.

From 05:30 to 18:00 it went from 100% to 96% battery which I think is reasonable as notifications and background activity is still happening.

I give my phones around 10 days to fully learn and optimise. Then and only then will i give my thoughts on battery usage.

I understand and appreciate some owners are experiencing their own issues with usage / battery usage and I in no way play down any of this. I urge people to make use of the Samsung Members App to send feedback. The more the better as Samsung then react via updates.

Charging and discharging the battery will help the battery reach optimum output.

I also keep a close eye on the Google Play Services in my battery stats.

This should be around 2% to 3%.

High usage for this can cause high battery drain.

This can mean Google apps and Services are communicating too frequently and sync issues maybe happening.

After a few more days of setting the phone up and tweaking my settings and preferences I'll start to use it more for surfing , use the apps and social media And see how it goes.

As long as I get a day with a little juice left over which is what i achieve from my N10+ 5G I'll be happy.

I use Spotify Music for commuting so I'll be also hooking up my Samsung Buds Live and also my Samsung Gear s3 Frontier Watch.

I don't game on my phone's so I won't be able to comment on that particular usage.

Early Initial Thoughts on the phone itself.

As per usual the quality of workmanship and materials use by Samsung is exemplary.

I think it's time Samsung went with flat panels however.

Coming from the N10+ 5G the 120hz adaptive refresh rate on the N20 Ultra is amazing to see.

I like that this is adaptive so will save battery too.

I was a bit wary of the camera module at first but I needn't have been concerned. It actually makes it easier to hold as my finger slides up to it.

But as I use a case the module is hidden now anyway.

I know the specifications say the N20 Ultra is heavier than my N10+ 5G but for some reason it feels lighter ! Go figure.

Some people have remarked that the colours on the N20 Ultra display are not as vivid i.e popping as other Samsung Phone's and I agree it isn't.

I personally do not use the vivid setting on my phone's. I quite like what the N20 Ultra provides in this department but it's a personal opinion and submit we all like different things visually.

My N20 Ultra came with a factory fitted Tpu plastic screen protector.

This i will eventually remove and fit the Whitestone Dome Glass Screen Protector as I prefer these to the plastic feel, and they are the better option when it comes to glass screen protectors than most currently available imo.

They are nit cheap however. 

The fps works well with them too.

On the subject of the Finger Print Scanner this works way better than the one on my N10+ 5G.

Face Recognition works as well too.

I use the Samsung Official Black Leather back case. I like a minimalist look.

I also have a dbrand Black Dragon Back Skin and this time also a camera module skin on order.

Sorry this was a long post.

If anyone has any questions or want's any clarity then feel free to ask. 

I'll update / edit my thread as and when I come across anything new.

Until then 🌈 Stay Safe & Stay Alert.  🌈 

[kradcliffe]

Thanks for the update. I set up my phones in a similar manner and also use pretty much the same settings so it will be interesting to see how it pans out.

My only issues are the potential battery life and the display, although they may have limited the overall brightness to avoid screen burn issues. I've not used the camera really so far so can't comment on the overheating some people seem to be getting.

I think my main issue is that compared to my Note 8 (3300 mah battery) the Note 20 Ultra gives almost the same battery time even though it has a significantly larger battery. I guess Samsung need to do some optimization pretty quickly before most of these phones get returned. You shouldn't have to tweak and restrict functions on a flagship device to get decent battery life, especially with the high price point.

The build quality of the phone as you say is exemplary, so it would be a shame to have to return it.

Will give it until Monday then make a decision.

[BandOfBrothers]

You're very welcome @kradcliffe 

Oh I agree features and functions on a phone are there to be used if a person wants or needs them.

I won't throttle a phone to get better battery life and then as a direct result not use a function or feature I want to use.

From posts I've read some people's screen on time figures are improving over time which is the phone and battery optimisation.

🌈 Stay Safe & Stay Alert.  🌈 

[ritrovut]

I'm like band of brothers! I never remove the plastic from the phone, it saves it from getting scratches!
Got my note ultra same day!

[jowett69]

whats buds live earphone like on calls and music, am 50/50 buying them

[Jasonseery]

@bandofbrothers great write up, interesting to see if this works for others!

[BandOfBrothers]

Music is good and I like that they don't go deep into your ear canal like my Samsung Galaxy Buds 

Calls are a bit better than my galaxy buds 

[BandOfBrothers]

Update.

Last night I continued to tweak my phone in regards to setting up folders, organising the apps in the folders and changing the background colour, logging into various forums and read some emails and looked at social media.

 I turned the phone off at 9pm and left off overnight.

Again the phone was then booted up and left on from 05:30 to 18:00 today.

The battery is now at 75%

This is showing to me that the phone is holding onto charge.

After some slight warning up of the phone while moving my data across the phone has now remained cool.

In a few days I'll start to use the Note 20 Ultra more heavily in regards to using apps etc.

[kradcliffe]

I booted up at 7.30am and by 3pm I had 20% left with moderate use between 9am and 3pm.

That's simply not good enough unfortunately. Add to that the underwhelming display and signal issues and it's looking like a return. Shame as I actually quite like the handset.

It may be optimization partly but in many reviews there is quite a gap in battery runtime between the Snapdragon and Exynos and that won't be helping either. If it was a £700 handset I could probably put up with it but at £1179 there should be no issues like this.

Does nobody at Samsung actually real life test these things before release?

[BandOfBrothers]

@kradcliffe 

Under Device Care and Battery can you screen shot that page and post it here after a full cycles usage please.

I'm not experiencing signal loss. Does this happen in one place like home or work or everywhere ?

A Snapdragon variant seems to give up to 1 hours more battery and can run games better when gaming for long periods.

That said some people in the States are saying their Samsung Note 20 Ultra with Snapdragon chipset in also seems to losebattery % faster.

As I've mentioned the phone needs 7 to 10 days in my opinion to set up , index and settle.

Users after this approximate time frame are reporting that their phone's screen on time has improved and so has the time between charges.

It's my opinion that because Android is open sourced and so customisable we all set up our phone's differently so battery stats  / screen on time us a subjective topic.

i.e 

Different Apps.

Different App preference settings.

Different phone features turned On or Off.

Different phone preference settings turned Off or On.

Different usage habits.

Different network signal strengths.

Different ways of moving our information from one phone to another.

Many are also saying that once their Note 20 Ultra is out of the learning usage stage the phone settles down as it's been working harder in the background getting everything sorted.

To add balance we don't hear from the people who are happy with their phone as many don't take the time to sign up to a forum to say so !

🌈 Stay Safe & Stay Alert.  🌈