Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra vs Google Pixel 6a
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 Google Pixel 6a, which is powered by Google Tensor and came out 21 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
- The rear camera has a 5x optical zoom
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Has a 0.8 inch larger screen size
- Supports wireless charging up to 15W
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1000GB
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Delivers 17% higher peak brightness (1030 against 881 nits)
- Thinner bezels – 8.7% more screen real estate
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- 16% higher pixel density (496 vs 429 PPI)
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 6a
- Shows 22% longer battery life (32:23 vs 26:27 hours)
- 40% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (774K versus 553K)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
- The phone is 1-year and 9-months newer
- More energy-efficient CPU – Google Tensor
- 42% faster in single-core GeekBench 5 test: 1366 and 959 points
- Weighs 30 grams less
- Better grip in hands – the body is 5.4 mm narrower
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Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Performance
CPU/GPU performance in apps and games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview score
Final comparison evaluation
Value for money
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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 | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 496 ppi | 429 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | No |
| Max rated brightness | 600 nits | 500 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | - | 1100 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 91.7% | 83% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 96.9% | 96.9% |
| PWM | 245 Hz | 240 Hz |
| Response time | 6 ms | 3 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 164.8 mm (6.49 inches) | 152.2 mm (5.99 inches) |
| Width | 77.2 mm (3.04 inches) | 71.8 mm (2.83 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.1 mm (0.32 inches) | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 208 g (7.34 oz) | 178 g (6.28 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP67 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Brown | White, Black, Green |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 990 | Google Tensor |
| Max clock | 2730 MHz | 2800 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 2 + 4) | 8 (2 + 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: Cortex A55 - 2 cores at 2.25 GHz: Cortex A76 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-X1 |
| L3 cache | 2 MB | 4 MB |
| Lithography process | 7 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali-G77 MP11 | Mali-G78 MP20 |
| GPU clock | 800 MHz | 848 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1196 GFLOPS | ~2171 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 92406 | 208269 |
| GPU | 216567 | 305908 |
| Memory | 125152 | 110039 |
| UX | 116586 | 144068 |
| Total score | 553421 | 774388 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 37.3 °C | 41.4 °C |
| Stability | 46% | 55% |
| Graphics test | 25 FPS | 37 FPS |
| Graphics score | 4247 | 6275 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 8939 | 6092 |
| Video editing | 6882 | 5676 |
| Photo editing | 28631 | 17494 |
| Data manipulation | 8806 | 9105 |
| Writing score | 10714 | 15469 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8, 12 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | - |
| Channels | - | 2 |
| Storage size | 256, 512 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | MicroSD | No |
| Memory card max size | Up to 1000 GB | - |
Software
| Operating system | Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | One UI 5.0 | Stock Android |
| OS size | 34.7 GB | 14.3 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4500 mAh | 4410 mAh |
| Charge power | 25 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | No |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (43% in 30 min) | Yes (42% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:20 hr | 1:51 hr |
| Web browsing | 08:59 hr | 11:03 hr |
| Watching video | 13:52 hr | 16:44 hr |
| Gaming | 04:58 hr | 06:15 hr |
| Standby | 74 hr | 91 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 108 megapixels | 12.2 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 12000 x 9000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Optical, 5x | Digital |
| 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° | 114° |
| Lenses | 4 (108 MP + 12 MP + 12 MP + 0.3 MP) | 2 (12.2 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens | - 108 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.33", Samsung Bright S5KHM1 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) - Laser autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- 12.2 MP - Aperture: f/1.7 - Focal length: 27 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX363 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Telephoto lens | - 12 MP - Aperture: f/3.0 - Focal length: 103 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.4", Samsung S5K3M5 (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- |
| Ultra-wide lens | - 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Samsung S5K2L3 (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
- 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 17 mm - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/2.9", Sony IMX386 (Exmor-RS CMOS) |
| Depth lens | - 0.3 MP |
- |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra from DxOMark | Photo samples of Google Pixel 6a from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 10 megapixels | 8 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3872 x 2592 | 3840 x 2160 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 24 mm |
| Pixel size | 1.22 microns | 1.12 microns |
| Sensor type | CMOS | Exmor-RS CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.2" | 1/2.8" |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS |
DxOMark camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6E (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 | 5.2 |
| Bluetooth features | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 3.1 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, 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 | 20 |
| 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 | May 2022 |
| Release date | August 2020 | June 2022 |
| SAR (head) | 0.319 W/kg | - |
| SAR (body) | 1.557 W/kg | - |
| Sensors | - Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the display, software, camera, and design are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. But if the performance is more of a priority – go for the Google Pixel 6a.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 8