Samsung announced the Galaxy Note 20 series at its Unpacked event on 5 August, with a Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra unveiled. 

How does the standard Galaxy Note 20 compare to the Note 10, though? We've put the specifications of the Note 20 up against the Note 10 to help you work out which you should buy, or whether you should upgrade.

Design

  • Galaxy Note 10: 151 x 71.8 x 7.9mm, 168g
  • Galaxy Note 20: 161.6 x 75.2 x 8.3mm, 192g

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 features a metal frame with a glass rear and a curved display. It comes in a few different colour options and it offers an IP68 water and dust resistance rating.

There's a built-in S Pen at the bottom of the device, a subtle triple camera system on the rear in the top left corner and a punch hole front camera in the centre at the top of the display.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 offers a similar design, again with metal and glass as the key materials and an IP68 water and dust resistance. It's a little larger than the Note 10 though, and slightly thicker.

The built-in S Pen remains in the same bottom left position and a triple camera system is on the rear again but the housing is more pronounced on the new device than the Note 10. The S Pen also has improvements, with 40 per cent more latency and it's not just a writing tool but a navigation tool too.

A punch hole front camera is present again on the Note 20, meaning the two devices look very similar from the front.

Display

  • Galaxy Note 10: 6.3-inch, 2280 x 1080 (401ppi), 60Hz
  • Galaxy Note 20: 6.7-inch, 2400 x 1080 (393ppi), 60Hz

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 has a 6.3-inch display with a 2280 x 1080 pixel resolution that delivers a pixel density of 401ppi. It is HDR 10+ certified and as we mentioned in the design section above, its edges are curved. 

The Galaxy Note 20 comes with a 6.7-inch display - meaning quite a big increase in size compared to its predecessor. Resolution is 2400 x 1080 pixels, which delivers a pixel density of 393ppi and it's a standard 60Hz refresh rate again, like the Note 10.

Along with the size difference, the Note 20 also offers a flat display rather than curved. While the curved design is lovely, the Note 20's flat display might actually be more practical to use with the S Pen compared to the Note 10 - we will let you know when we review the device in full.

Hardware and specs

  • Galaxy Note 10: Qualcomm SD855 or Exynos 9825, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage, 3500mAh
  • Galaxy Note 20: Qualcomm SD865 Plus or Exynos 990, 8GB RAM, 128GB/256GB storage, 4300mAh

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, or the Exynos 9825, depending on the region.

There's 8GB of RAM support and 256GB of storage available but no microSD slot for storage expansion. A 3500mAh battery sits under the hood, with wireless charging and fast charging both on board. The Note 10 is LTE only though, with no 5G model available. 

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 arrives with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus processor in the US, or the Exynos 990 in the EU. It too offers 8GB of RAM and 256GB storage. There is an additional 128GB variant in the 5G model.

The Note 20's battery increases to 4300mAh however, and there are both LTE and 5G models available, as mentioned above, but this is region dependant. The Note 20 also comes with ultra wide-band technology which will allow it to act as a secure digital key and share files by pointing at another Note 20 device.

There's also a Microsoft partnership unique to the Note 20 and DeX will connect wirelessly for the first time with the Note 20 allowing for quick switching between small and big screen.

Cameras

  • Galaxy Note 10: 12MP f/.5-f/2.4 main, 16MP f/2.2 ultra-wide, 12MP f/2.1 zoom
  • Galaxy Note 20: 12MP f/1.8 main, 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide, 64MP f/2.0 zoom

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 comes with a triple rear camera comprised of a 12-megapixel main sensor, 16-megapixel ultra-wide angle sensor and a 12-megapixel telephoto sensor. There's also a 10-megapixel selfie camera.

The Galaxy Note 20 meanwhile, offers the same triple lens rear camera setup as the Galaxy S20 and S20+. This means a 12-megapixel main sensor, 12-megapixel ultra-wide sensor and a 64-megapixel telephoto sensor. It also offers 30X zoom with this make up. The Note 20's front camera is a 10-megapixel sensor.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 appears to bring some worthwhile improvements to the Note 10. The display is larger, the processor has been upgraded, the battery capacity has increased, while the RAM and storage remain the same so you don't lose anything in that department.

The cameras also get a solid upgrade, there's a 5G option and there are improvements to the S Pen too in the Note 20, as well as a range of software advancements.

You'll of course pay more for the Note 20 than the Note 10 now, and the display is flat rather than curved, but overall, the Note 20 offers some good upgrade reasons on paper. 

You can read our review here.