Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 12 Pro
59
out of 100
VS
62
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.9-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra (with Exynos 990) that was released on August 5, 2020, against the Apple iPhone 12 Pro, which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 2 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Comes with 1685 mAh larger battery capacity: 4500 vs 2815 mAh
- The rear camera has a 5x optical zoom
- Has a 0.8 inch larger screen size
- Modern USB Type-C port
- Delivers 28% higher peak brightness (1017 against 796 nits)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.1)
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1000GB
- Fingerprint scanner
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
- Has 2 SIM card slots
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 12 Pro
- 45% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1328K versus 918K)
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Shows 7% longer battery life (19:45 vs 18:32 hours)
- More energy-efficient CPU – Apple A14 Bionic
- 77% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 2160 and 1222 points
- Better grip in hands – the body is 5.7 mm narrower
- Weighs 19 grams less
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.9 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3088 pixels | 1170 x 2532 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 496 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (10-120 Hz) | No |
| Max rated brightness | 600 nits | 800 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | - |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 91.8% | 87.1% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 96.9% | 99.6% |
| PWM | 245 Hz | 277 Hz |
| Response time | 6 ms | 3.6 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Screen space comparison
Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
6.9″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 18.1 in2
iPhone 12 Pro
6.1″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 14.2 in2
~27% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 164.8 mm (6.49 inches) | 146.7 mm (5.78 inches) |
| Width | 77.2 mm (3.04 inches) | 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.1 mm (0.32 inches) | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) |
| Weight | 208 g (7.34 oz) | 189 g (6.67 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Brown | Silver, Gold, Gray, Blue |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 990 | Apple A14 Bionic |
| Max clock | 2730 MHz | 3100 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 2 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 2 cores at 2.5 GHz: Cortex-A76 - 2 cores at 2.73 GHz: Exynos M5 |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm - 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm |
| L3 cache | 2 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | Samsung | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 7 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Yes | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Mali-G77 MP11 | Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 352 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 832 MHz | 1278 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~585.7 GFLOPS | ~654.3 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 5261 | 16822 |
| Single-core score | 1222 | 2160 |
| Multi-core score | 3060 | 5104 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 368930 | 372871 |
| GPU | 162695 | 322471 |
| Memory | 168589 | 168174 |
| UX | 218294 | 464616 |
| Total score | 918508 | 1328132 |
| Samples | [6 tests] | [15 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 74% | - |
| Graphics test | 2 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 307 | - |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Stability | - | 76% |
| Graphics test | - | 10 FPS |
| Section 1 | - | 13 FPS |
| Section 2 | - | 10 FPS |
| Section 3 | - | 7 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 2668 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | 71% | 71% |
| Graphics test | 8 FPS | 12 FPS |
| Graphics score | 1407 | 2149 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 10705 | - |
| Video editing | 6884 | - |
| Photo editing | 30928 | - |
| Data manipulation | 8823 | - |
| Writing score | 11422 | - |
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-07-16 (Vinny) | AnTuTu 11 | 746630 |
| 📘 2026-03-02 (Amir) | AnTuTu 11 | 529407 |
| 📘 2026-01-09 (WP69) | AnTuTu 11 | 944395 |
| 📘 2025-11-28 (K7) | AnTuTu 11 | 918508 |
| 📘 2025-11-15 (K7) | AnTuTu 11 | 699444 |
Apple iPhone 12 Pro
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-06-29 (Kirillkryt) | AnTuTu 11 | 1284629 |
| 📘 2026-06-02 -> FoolishJevinTECH | AnTuTu 11 | 1378105 |
| 📘 2026-05-31 (Cour27) | AnTuTu 11 | 1340740 |
| 📘 2026-04-21 (PANDUSHA LOVER) | AnTuTu 11 | 1236057 |
| 📘 2026-04-15 (Flaffer) | AnTuTu 11 | 1341072 |
Memory
| RAM size | 6 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | - |
| Channels | - | 2 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | NVMe |
| Memory card | MicroSD | No |
| Memory card max size | Up to 1000 GB | - |
Software
| Operating system | Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 27) |
| ROM | One UI 5.0 | - |
| OS size | 34.7 GB | 14 GB |
| OS updates | 2 years | - |
| Security updates | 4 years | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 4500 mAh | 2815 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 20 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Bypass charging | - | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (43% in 30 min) | Yes (59% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:20 hr | 1:30 hr |
| Web browsing | 07:27 hr | 07:12 hr |
| Watching video | 12:33 hr | 12:00 hr |
| Gaming | 05:16 hr | 04:33 hr |
| Standby | 81 hr | 101 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 108 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 12000 x 9000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Optical, 5x | Optical, 2x |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 24FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 240FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 108 MP 2) Telephoto: 12 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP 4) Depth: 0.3 MP |
1) Standard: 12 MP 2) Telephoto: 12 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP 4) Depth |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 108 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.6 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung Bright S5KHM1 | Sony IMX372 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.33" (≈ 0.75 inch) | 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.8 micron | 1.4 micron |
| Autofocus | Laser autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/3.0 | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | 103 mm | 52 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3M5 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch) | 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1 micron |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K2L3 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.4 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | - | 70 |
| Preview | - | 77 |
| Zoom | - | 111 |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 Pro from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 10 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3872 x 2592 | 4290 x 2800 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX374 | Sony IMX514 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.2" (≈ 0.31 inch) | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.22 micron | - |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | Yes |
DxOMark front camera
| Photo | - | 127 |
| Video | - | 140 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - 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 | 5.1 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | No |
| USB version | 3.2 | - |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | Yes | No |
| LTE Cat* | 20 | 18 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | Yes | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | August 2020 | October 2020 |
| Release date | August 2020 | October 2020 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1299 | $1000 |
| Successor | - | - Apple iPhone 17 Pro |
| SAR (head) | 0.319 W/kg | 0.99 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.557 W/kg | 0.99 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the camera, performance, gaming, and software are more important to you, then choose the Apple iPhone 12 Pro. But if the display, battery life, and connectivity are more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 295