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Samsung's 'budget' Galaxy Note 20 emerges in detailed leak
- Samsung’s entry-level Galaxy Note 20 has leaked out in extensive detail.
- It could include compromises on design and cameras, but could still share features with higher-end models.
- It will likely arrive at the Unpacked event on August 5.
The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra isn’t the only Samsung phone leaking in grand fashion today. WinFuture has shared what it says are details of the entry-level Galaxy Note 20, and it’s clear Samsung is making some careful choices to trim costs without sacrificing important features from other versions of its pen-toting flagship.
The design will reportedly be quite similar, according to the leak. You’ll get a slightly smaller 6.7-inch, 1080p display with ‘just’ a 60Hz refresh rate and a flat screen (versus the Note 20 Ultra’s 6.9-inch, 1440p panel with 120Hz refresh), but you’ll still find an in-display fingerprint reader and IP68 water resistance. It may take a step down in build quality, though. Where higher-end Notes could use Gorilla Glass 7 and otherwise use premium materials, the base Note 20 may make do with less advanced display glass and a plastic back.
You may also see versions of the entry Note 20 without 5G, although they should include dual SIM and eSIM support. The 4,300mAh battery may be more than enough given the relatively low screen resolution.
As you might guess, the cameras wouldn’t be as advanced as on a top-end device like the Note 20 Ultra. It would include a 12MP f/1.8 primary camera and a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide sensor, but zoomed-in shots would be limited to crops from a 64MP f/2 camera like on most Galaxy S20 models. You wouldn’t have laser-based autofocus, either. You could still record 8K videos, though.
Thankfully, you might not have to give up much in the way of performance. WinFuture claims European models will use the Exynos 990 like in higher-end Note 20s, and we’d expect North American Note 20 units to share the same Snapdragon (possibly the 865 Plus). You just wouldn’t get abundances of memory or storage. All base Note 20 models are supposedly limited to 8GB of RAM, and the 256GB of storage wouldn’t be expandable.
Samsung is expected to introduce the Galaxy Note 20 family at its Unpacked event on August 5. It’s not certain how much the regular Note 20 will cost, but the base Note 10 cost about $949 when new. Last year’s model was meant to keep the Note’s starting price below $1,000, not to offer a truly inexpensive device, and we wouldn’t expect that to change in a significant way for 2020 despite rumours of slight price cuts.