Review on Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra SM-N986B/DS, Dual SIM 5G International Version - Unlocked, 12GB+256GB Mystic Black - No US Warranty by Indal Singh ᠌

Name: Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra SM-N986B/DS, Dual SIM 5G International Version - Unlocked, 12GB+256GB Mystic Black - No US Warranty
Item: Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra SM-N986B/DS, Dual SIM 5G International Version - Unlocked, 12GB+256GB Mystic Black - No US Warranty
Rating: 5

October 08, 2022

I am amazed at how well the product is made, just magically!

I wanted a certain breakthrough in photography from Note 20 ultra (compared to Note 10+). In some ways, this breakthrough took place (108 megapixel shots, 5x optical zoom, enhanced 4K video stabilization, the ability to shoot 8K video). But there was no progress in something: there is no optical 2x or 3x zoom (and Note10+ has a 2x zoom), 4K 60fps can only be shot on the main camera (switching between cameras does not work, just like in Note 10+) , retouching the skin of a person's face and in most cases it looks unpleasantly artificial. Since I mainly shoot for portraits of my family members, dissatisfaction with the quality of portraits has returned me to the camp of holders of real cameras. Having the function of importing pictures from the camera to a smartphone, I decided for myself the issue of high-quality portraits, although mobility suffered somewhat from this. But as for photographing non-people on this smartphone, this is an excellent result. Automatic HDR operation produces images with excellent dynamic range. Fast autofocus, almost flawless night mode. In some aspects, the Note 20 ultra will give a light to real adult cameras, but alas, this did not happen in my scenarios with a portrait orientation.
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Pros

Visual and tactile sensations from the smartphone are as pleasant as possible, although for security reasons you have to hide the back of the beauty in a case. Excellent oleophobic coating. Sufficient amount of internal memory (512GB) for easy work with photos and videos. Although even with such a volume, I added it with a 256GB flash memory, where I store not fresh photos. 12GB of RAM was only in this configuration (if we mean official retail). Having before that Note 10+ with 12 GB of RAM on board, I did not want to go down to 8 GB in the standard version of the smartphone. High-quality stereo sound from the built-in speakers (while taking a shower, you can hear the smartphone perfectly even far from the maximum volume). The presence of 5G (when can we even test it?). Ability to use eSim.

Cons

Strongly protruding camera on the rear panel. Even covers do not fully save this fact. It was possible to buy a thicker branded case (shockproof Protective Standing Cover), but when I took it in my hands, I realized that it was not for me - the feeling that it could easily slip out of my fingers. The fingerprint scanner, as it was not fast and not smart (on the previous model), remained the same on the Note 20 ultra. More often I unlock the smartphone by face (however, with the anti-covid mask mode, this is far from always possible). Insufficient autonomy for me (does not withstand 6 hours of screen, capable of an average of 4.5 - 5 hours). I don’t play games, but all the goodies are active (120Hz, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, Always On Display). Slippery without a case (but this is the trouble with most smartphones). In this regard, I understand Samsung, which in the last few top models promotes a plastic back (if it is shockproof and not slippery).