The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 is close to launching, but a new handful of leaks has us both excited and worried about the phone when it appears.
Based on a total of three leaks, two from Twitter tipster Ice Universe and one from Korean news site DDaily (via SamMobile), we now know more about the phone's overall design, as well as its display and processor. And there's a bit of bad news around the 120Hz screen.
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After showing off an unofficial render for the smaller Note 20 yesterday, Ice Universe now has given the Note 20 Ultra the same treatment. These images aren't official, but Ice Universe has an excellent track record so these should be pretty close to the real thing.
Galaxy Note 20 Ultra design
The shape looks roughly the same as the Galaxy Note 20, except we know the Note 20 Ultra will be larger overall. The render also shows us the top edge of the phone. There looks to be a SIM tray on the phone's right side here..
The Note 20 Ultra renders also shows a slightly curved display. The standard Note 20 has a flatter panel, as well as one less camera in its rear array.
Galaxy Note 20 Ultra cameras
The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra render shows four rear lenses in a big camera bump. You can expect a 108MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide and a 12MP telephoto capable of 50X zoom. Plus, the Note 20 Ultra will get an extra laser autofocus sensor, something the regular Note 20 is not expected to feature. The latter should help avoid some of the issues the Galaxy S20 Ultra faced, as well as boost the quality portrait mode and other photography effects.
Galaxy Note 20 Ultra display
Ice Universe had more to say in another tweet about the Galaxy Note 20's refresh rate. Having got a hold of the latest version of the Note 20 Ultra's firmware, the leaker said that while there's an adaptive 120Hz mode, there's no option for the phone to use both its maximum refresh rate and its maximum QHD resolution.
There have been questions about exactly what the Note 20's display will be capable of since the Galaxy S20 range launched. While all S20 models have 120Hz refresh rate displays, they can only achieve this while in FHD resolution. Using the screen's full QHD resolution means restricting the display to a standard 60Hz.
It now looks like that the basic Note 20 will use a 60Hz FHD display, just like the Galaxy Note 10. Only the Note 20 Ultra will have 120Hz and QHD, but it still looks like Samsung won't let you use both at once.
Galaxy Note 20 Ultra processor
A final interesting piece of Galaxy Note 20 information comes from DDaily, and concerns the phone's chipset in South Korea. According to the report, South Korean Note 20 handsets will use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 865 Plus, instead of the Exynos 992. That's supposedly due to the better GPU performance of the Snapdragon chip.
The fact that the Korean version of the S20 also used a Snapdragon chip makes this claim seem more likely. Normally, every version of a Samsung flagship gets a Samsung-made Exynos chipset, except for those sold in the United States or China, which use Snapdragon chipsets.
Galaxy Note 20 Ultra outlook
We should be seeing the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra in all its glory on August 5, at Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event. And while it looks like a beast of an Android phone, we'd like to see the S Pen features and especially the price before we can say whether we're truly excited. The Galaxy Note 20 lineup will likely be joined by the Galaxy Z Flip 5G, Galaxy Tab S7 and the Galaxy Watch 3 at Samsung's event.
As for the Galaxy Fold 2, Samsung's other big fall smartphone launch, we may see a brief mention of it. But the Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra should be the stars of this show..
