Samsung Galaxy Note 20 vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Compared 2 smartphones : Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Manufactured in August, 2020, with display 6.7 with chipsetSamsung Exynos 990, vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, Manufactured in March, 2026 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy Note 20
  • Lighter design: 192g vs 214g
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
  • Larger display: 6.9in
  • Higher pixel density: 500ppi
  • Higher refresh rate: 120Hz
  • Higher battery capacity: 5000mAh vs 4300mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 6.0 vs 5
  • Supports DisplayPort

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB
- 12/256 GB
- 12/512 GB
- 16/1024 GB

Review

Key Specs Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
Display
Color accuracy, sharpness & brightness
Camera
Main & front camera tests
Performance
App & system performance
Games
3D gaming performance
Battery
Battery life, charging speed & type
Connectivity
Connectivity features
NanoReview Score
Overall score by NanoReview
Adjust each parameter’s importance to find the best match for you.
Customize your score
Function
Importance (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery:
Connectivity:
Higher weight means greater impact on NanoReview score.

Tests & specs

Specs & test comparison

Display

Display quality comparison
Type Super AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.7 in 6.9 in
Resolution 1080x2400 pixels 1440x3120 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 393 ppi 500 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No Yes (1-120 Hz)
Max brightness 600 nits 1500 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Touch Sampling Rate n/a 240 Hz
Screen-to-body ratio 89.1 % 91.4 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Samsung Galaxy Note 20
619 nits
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
2811 nits
sRGB gamut99.9 %n/a
PWM (Flicker)250 Hzn/a
Response time6.4 msn/a
Contrast∞ Infiniten/a

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 161.6 mm (6.36 in) 163.6 mm (6.44 in)
Width 75.2 mm (2.96 in) 78.1 mm (3.07 in)
Thickness 8.3 mm (0.33 in) 7.9 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 192 g (6.77 oz) 214 g (7.55 oz)
Water resistance IP68 IP68
Cooling system Vapor chamber Vapor chamber
Back panel Plastic Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - Black
- Green
- Brown
- White
- Black
- Silver
- Blue
- Pink
- Purple
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes, In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Samsung Galaxy Note 20
89.1 %
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
91.4 %

Performance

Testing Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Samsung Exynos 990 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
Max Frequency 2730 MHz 4740 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (2 + 2 + 4) 8 (2 + 6)
Architecture - 4/2 (Cortex-A55)
- 2/2.5 (Cortex-A76)
- 2/2.73 (Exynos M5)
- 6/3.63 (Oryon Gen 3 Performance)
- 2/4.61 (Oryon Gen 3 Prime)
Process Samsung TSMC
Transistor Size 7 nm 3 nm
Neural Processor Yes Hexagon
Graphics Mali-G77 MP11 Adreno 840
GPU Cores 704 1536
GPU Frequency 550 MHz 1200 MHz
FLOPS 1126 GFLOPS 3686.4 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Samsung Galaxy Note 20
1148
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
3753
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Samsung Galaxy Note 20
3107
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
11259
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)11483753
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)310711259
Geekbench Compute (GPU)n/a28787
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Samsung Galaxy Note 20
776145
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
3720219
CPU2253161094797
GPU2399491447696
Memory146041425113
UX164839752613
NanoReview Score7761453720219
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Samsung Galaxy Note 20
4317
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
n/a
Max Surface Temp.38.6 °Cn/a
Stability88 %n/a
Graphics Test25 fpsn/a
Graphics Score4317n/a
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Samsung Galaxy Note 20
10773
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
n/a
Writing score12721n/a
Web score8280n/a
Video editing5783n/a
Data manipulation7654n/a
NanoReview Score10773n/a

Memory

RAM
RAM Size 8 GB 12 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5 LPDDR5X
Memory Frequency 2400 MHz n/a
Channels 2 4
Storage
Storage Capacity256 GB256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 3.1UFS 4.1
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 10 (Upgradeable to Android 13) Android 16
OS Size 35 GB n/a
UI Skin One UI 5.0 One UI 8.5

Battery

Volume 4300 mAh 5000 mAh
Max Charging Power 25 W 60 W
Battery Type Li-ion Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (15 W) Yes (25 W)
Reverse Charging Yes (Wireless) Yes, (Wireless)
Fast Charging Yes (50% in 30 min) Yes (84% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:05 h 0:43 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy Note 20
19:26
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
28:50
Web Browsing07:01 h10:12 h
Video Playback12:33 h21:39 h
Games04:55 h06:42 h
Standby Mode96 h130 h

Main camera

Matrix 12 MP 200 MP
Photo resolution 4000x3000 pixels 16320x12240 pixels
Zoom Optical, 3x 141
Flash Dual LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording Up to 24FPS Yes (Up to 30 fps)
4K Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 120 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 240 fps) Yes (Up to 240 fps)
Slow Motion 240 fps (1080p) 240 fps (1080p)
Wide-angle lens 120 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 12 MP
Telephoto: 64 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Standard: 200 MP
Telephoto: 50 MP
Telephoto: 10 MP
Ultra-wide: 50 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix12 MP200 MP
Aperturef/1.8f/1.4
Focal length26 mm23 mm
SensorSony IMX555Samsung ISOCELL S5KHP2
Sensor size1/1.761/1.3 (0.77)
Pixel size1.8 μm0.6 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)Laser autofocus
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix64 MP50 MP
Aperturef/2.0f/2.9
Focal length27 mm111 mm
SensorSamsung Bright S5KGW2Sony IMX854
Sensor size1/1.721/2.52 (0.4)
Pixel size0.8 μm0.7 μm
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix12 MP50 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/1.9
Focal length13 mm13 mm
SensorSamsung S5K2LASamsung ISOCELL S5KJN3
Sensor size1/2.551/2.5 (0.4)
Pixel size1.4 μm0.7 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy Note 20
123
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
160
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy Note 20
105
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
153
Overall camera score
Samsung Galaxy Note 20
120
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
157
Bokehn/a165

Front camera

Matrix 10 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 3872x2592 pixels 4000x3000 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm 23 mm
Sensor Sony IMX374 Samsung ISOCELL S5K3LU
Sensor size 1/3.2 1/3.2 (0.31)
Pixel size 1.22 μm 1.12 μm
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 fps 2160p (4K) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor No No
Selfie camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy Note 20
103
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
n/a
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy Note 20
95
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
n/a

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5 6.0
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
DisplayPort n/a Yes
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- NAVIC
- GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port No No
Connectivity
SIM Count*21
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *YesYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900GSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900
3G BandsHSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100UMTS B1(2100), B2(1900), B4(AWS), B5(850), B8(900)
LTE Bands*LTE (B700/B800/B850/B900/B1700/B1800/B1900/B2000/B2100/B2300/B2500/B2600)LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B14/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B29/B30/B38/B39/B40/B41/B48/B66/B71)
LTE category20n/a
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo n/a
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Samsung Galaxy Note 20
87.9 dB
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
n/a

Other

Class Flagship Flagship
Announced August, 2020 yr February, 2026 yr
Release Date August, 2020 yr March, 2026 yr
Launch Price ($) 1000 n/a
MSRP ($) n/a 1299
Sensors - Hall Sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
- Hall Sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
Charger Included n/a No
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

After analyzing the data, we consider Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra the clear winner in this comparison.

Survey

Which smartphone would you pick?
0 (0%)
0 (0%)
Total Votes: 0

User comments

Share your opinion or ask questions below