Samsung is known for having some of the best displays in the smartphone world, but it might not be quite the display that you expect come launch day. 

An established leaker of information about forthcoming phones has suggested that the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 will have a flat display - something we've heard before - as well as sticking to a 1080p resolution and 60Hz refresh rate.

The leaker calls the specification "desperate", but has a long history of being critical of manufacturers who don't offer fast refresh rates at high resolutions. 

With every new smartphone launch, there's always a sense of wishlist specification, where those anticipating a device expect the greatest and best specs, regardless of practical factors like battery life or price.

Samsung fell into that trap with the Galaxy S20 range, where 120Hz was only offered at 1080p, not the full 1440p, which some other manufacturers do offer, like OnePlus.

It's worth noting that these specifications only apply to the smaller Note 20. It's still expected that the Note 20+ will offer greater specs appeal in the display, likely to have a higher resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate.

What's important is that this information is put into context. The smaller Note version was introduced in 2019 with the Note 10 family to bring the price down a little. It provided a route to that S Pen experience without having to opt for the big model.

That's likely to be the approach that Samsung is taking with the Note 20 too: given the smaller display, the lack of a higher resolution display isn't likely to be an issue in the real world and while 60Hz refresh might seem rather vanilla, it should ensure that battery life is maintained and the cost doesn't ramp up. 

The fact is that some of these display changes have very little difference on some devices and though reviewing a number of phones across 2020, the real world impact of these higher resolutions and faster refresh rates isn't as dramatic as some commentators might suggest.