Samsung Galaxy Note 8 vs Note 20
41
out of 100
VS
53
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.3-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 8 (with Exynos 9 Octa 8895) that was released on August 22, 2017, against the Samsung Galaxy Note 20, which is powered by Exynos 990 and came out 3 years 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 8
- 33% higher pixel density (522 vs 393 PPI)
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 256GB
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Note 20
- 2.1x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (913K versus 437K)
- Comes with 1000 mAh larger battery capacity: 4300 vs 3300 mAh
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Shows 28% longer battery life (19:26 vs 15:11 hours)
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- Has a 0.4 inch larger screen size
- More recent OS version: Android 13 versus 9
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2400 MHz
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- Stereo speakers
- Delivers 15% higher peak brightness (623 against 541 nits)
- Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
- Thinner bezels – 6.2% more screen real estate
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 | Super AMOLED | Super AMOLED |
| Size | 6.3 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 2960 pixels | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 18.5:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 522 ppi | 393 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | - | 600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10 | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 82.9% | 89.1% |
| Display features | - Always-On Display | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | - | 99.9% |
| PWM | 257 Hz | 250 Hz |
| Response time | 4.4 ms | 6.4 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Screen space comparison
Galaxy Note 20
6.7″ (20:9 ratio) = 16.8 in2
Galaxy Note 8
6.3″ (18.5:9 ratio) = 15.6 in2
~7% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 162.5 mm (6.4 inches) | 161.6 mm (6.36 inches) |
| Width | 74.8 mm (2.94 inches) | 75.2 mm (2.96 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.6 mm (0.34 inches) | 8.3 mm (0.33 inches) |
| Weight | 195 g (6.88 oz) | 192 g (6.77 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | - | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Gold, Gray, Blue | Black, Green, Brown |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, rear | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 8895 | Samsung Exynos 990 |
| Max clock | 2300 MHz | 2730 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (4 + 4) | 8 (2 + 2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.69 GHz: Cortex-A53 - 4 cores at 2.314 GHz: Exynos M2 |
- 4 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 2 cores at 2.5 GHz: Cortex-A76 - 2 cores at 2.73 GHz: Exynos M5 |
| L3 cache | - | 2 MB |
| Manufacturing | Samsung | Samsung |
| Lithography process | 10 nanometers | 7 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | No | Yes |
| Graphics | Mali-G71 MP20 | Mali-G77 MP11 |
| GPU shading units | 240 | 352 |
| GPU clock | 546 MHz | 832 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~262.1 GFLOPS | ~585.7 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
| Single-core score | 422 | 1190 |
| Multi-core score | 1530 | 2964 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 177646 | 367742 |
| GPU | 79075 | 161823 |
| Memory | 97656 | 165680 |
| UX | 83086 | 218675 |
| Total score | 437463 | 913920 |
| Samples | [5 tests] | [3 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | - | 88% |
| Graphics test | - | 3 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 443 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | - | 88% |
| Graphics test | - | 8 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 1419 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | - | 8678 |
| Video editing | - | 5768 |
| Photo editing | - | 29836 |
| Data manipulation | - | 7918 |
| Writing score | - | 12118 |
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy Note 8
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-05-01 -> Giahuy | AnTuTu 11 | 327221 |
| 📘 2026-02-22 (Javohir Uzbekistan) | AnTuTu 11 | 460222 |
| 📘 2026-01-02 (Minecrafter123) | AnTuTu 11 | 435852 |
| 📘 2025-12-12 -> Otchem1488 | AnTuTu 11 | 478141 |
| 📘 2025-11-28 (SigmaHorosh123) | AnTuTu 11 | 437463 |
Samsung Galaxy Note 20
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-08-14 (TimFire) | AnTuTu 11 | 868691 |
| 📘 2026-07-24 (Ctvy970) | AnTuTu 11 | 922959 |
| 📘 2026-05-09 -> Jazari28 | AnTuTu 11 | 913920 |
| 📘 2023-10-26 (Saleh) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 1190 / 2964 |
Memory
| RAM size | 6 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 1794 MHz | 2400 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 64 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 2.1 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | MicroSD | No |
| Memory card max size | Up to 256 GB | - |
Software
| Operating system | Android 7.1.1 (Can be upgraded to Android 9.0) | Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | One UI | One UI 5.0 |
| OS size | 13 GB | 35 GB |
| OS updates | - | 2 years |
| Security updates | - | 4 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 3300 mAh | 4300 mAh |
| Max charge power | 15 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes, Qi/PMA (10 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | Yes, (wireless) |
| Fast charging | Yes, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge (42% in 30 min) | Yes (50% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:50 hr | 1:05 hr |
| Web browsing | 05:32 hr | 07:01 hr |
| Watching video | 09:50 hr | 12:33 hr |
| Gaming | 04:03 hr | 04:55 hr |
| Standby | 74 hr | 96 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4000 x 3000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 2x | Optical, 3x |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | Up to 24FPS |
| 4K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 240FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | - | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 12 MP 2) Telephoto: 12 MP |
1) Standard: 12 MP 2) Telephoto: 64 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.7 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung | Sony IMX555 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | 1/1.76" (≈ 0.57 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.4 micron | 1.8 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 64 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | 52 mm | 27 mm |
| Sensor | - | Samsung Bright S5KGW2 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) | 1/1.72" (≈ 0.58 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 0.8 micron |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | - | 12 MP |
| Aperture | - | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | - | 13 mm |
| Sensor | - | Samsung S5K2LA |
| Sensor size | - | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| Pixel size | - | 1.4 micron |
| Stabilization | - | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy Note 8 from DxOMark | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy Note 20 from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 8 megapixels | 10 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3264 x 2448 | 3872 x 2592 |
| Aperture | f/1.7 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 25 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | CMOS | Sony IMX374 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) | 1/3.2" (≈ 0.31 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.22 micron | 1.22 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1440p at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
DxOMark front camera
| Photo | - | 103 |
| Video | - | 95 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5 |
| 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 | 3.1 | 3.2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, NAVIC |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | Yes | No |
| LTE Cat* | 16 | 20 |
| 5G support | No | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Mono | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | August 2017 | August 2020 |
| Release date | September 2017 | August 2020 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $930 | $1000 |
| Successor | - Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra | - |
| SAR (head) | 0.173 W/kg | 0.359 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.29 W/kg | 1.366 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Hall-effect sensor - 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
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 63