Samsung’s Note series devices have always come after the S-series devices, each with a different target audience. The note series devices with their S-Pen abilities work best for professionals, and the S-series work best for daily use, but who says you can’t use either?  That aside, there is no denying that they are usually the best android devices from Samsung, so if you have been waiting for the comparison to help you choose between the two, let’s look at them and decide which will work for you as a refurbished device. You can buy refurbished Samsung phones from Industry experts to get the best price and quality. Let’s dive in - the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 vs. Samsung galaxy S20 head-to-head.

Design

Samsung’s Note series devices are known for their huge screen and stylus, and the Galaxy Note 20 is no exception. They are still the massive tech fest that has given them the massive following the devices have. Thin bezels on a massive 6.7-inch screen dominate the front of the phone, with only the hole-punch front camera disrupting the otherwise smooth Gorilla Glass 5 front.  On the back is a plastic back, but the phone retains its IP68 water and dust resistance.  There is a slot for the stylus, but otherwise, the phone has a sleek premium look.

The Samsung Galaxy S20, on the other hand, needs no introduction. The S-series Samsung’s have been on top of the Android food chain, and this phone exemplifies it.  It is a metal on glass construction with a respectable 6.2-inch display with a gorilla glass six, and an almost similar feature to the Samsung Galaxy note 20. Water and dust resistance is rated IP68, and it too has a hole-punch front camera in the front. The obvious difference is the screen size and the fact that the S20 has a glass back compared to the plastic on the Note series phones.

Display

It’s hard to talk about a Samsung flagship without mentioning the display.  For the Note 20, you get a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED plus display with a 60Hz refresh rate at WQHD+. It does not have the 120Hz refresh rate of the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, but the massive 89.2 screen-to-body ratio makes it the perfect professional phone. It has HDR10 support and is also protected by scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass.  

With the Samsung Galaxy S20, you get a smaller 6.2-inch dynamic AMOLED display with a 563ppi pixel density and brightness reaching an impressive 1200 nits. The dynamic AMOLED display has a 120Hz screen refresh rate, but it only works at 1080P.  The screen to body ratio is 89.5% and features the always-on capability and HDR10+ support.

Cameras

The camera set up on the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and the Galaxy S20 is almost similar. The rear triple camera setup is closely matched, with the major difference being the digital zoom having been reduced from 50X on the Galaxy S20 to 30X on the Galaxy Note 20.  That said, the camera performance on both these phones is really impressive.  The main camera is a 12MP unit on the S20 and is flanked by a 64MP telephoto sensor and a 12MP ultra-wide shooter. The hybrid zoom from the triple camera set up is 3X, but the phone is capable of more digitally. The Note 20, likewise, delivers incredible camera performance spotting a 12MP ultra-wide camera, 108 wide-angle camera, and 12MP telephoto camera.

Both the main 12MP and 64MP telephoto have optical image stabilization, and the ultra-wide camera can shoot 120˚ photos.   Both phones have auto HDR and can shoot 8K video at 24fps, 4K video at 30fps/60fps, 1080P video up to 240fps, and 720P video up to 960fps.  The front camera on both phones is a 10MP f/2.2 sensor capable of dual video call and 4K video up to 60fps.

Performance

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and the Samsung Galaxy S20 come with two options for chipsets. The global version comes with Samsung’s Exynos 990 chip, but some markets get the Snapdragon 865 plus on the Note 20 and Snapdragon 865 on the Galaxy S20.  Both have immense power, which enables both phones to have 5G connectivity and impressive graphic performance.  The Note 20 features 128GB internal storage and 8GB RAM, while the S20 also has 8GB RAM, and the internal storage starts at 128GB, with an option of 256GB. Bluetooth 5.0 is standard for both, and Wi-Fi is also updated.

Battery

The Galaxy Note 20 has a 4,300mAh Li-Ion battery, which holds for the S20. Both are capable of 25W fast charging and reverse wireless charging up to 4.5W.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Note 10 are largely similar, but there are minor tweaks that differentiate them for different uses.  If you want the stylus, screen real estate, and a marginal bump in power from the Snapdragon 865 Plus, then the Note 20 is the automatic choice.  Besides that, the Samsung Galaxy S20 is a nice all-rounder. It will perform just as well in many usage cases. They are both great phones to get as refurbs, and the choice of either will depend on personal preference and use cases.