Samsung Galaxy Note 9 vs Note 20 Ultra
48
out of 100
VS
59
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.4-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (with Exynos 9 Octa 9810) that was released on August 9, 2018, against the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, which is powered by Exynos 990 and came out 2 years and 1 month 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 9
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- The rear camera has a 5x optical zoom
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- 51% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (918K versus 606K)
- Delivers 55% higher peak brightness (1025 against 663 nits)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.1)
- Has a 0.5 inch larger screen size
- More recent OS version: Android 13 versus 10
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- Thinner bezels – 7.8% more screen real estate
- Supports higher wattage charging (25W versus 15W)
- The phone is 2 years and 1 month newer
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 | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 6.4 inches | 6.9 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 2960 pixels | 1440 x 3088 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 18.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 514 ppi | 496 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | Yes (10-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 520 nits | 600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10 | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | Gorilla Glass Victus |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 84% | 91.8% |
| Display features | - Always-On Display | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 144.6% | 96.9% |
| PWM | 227 Hz | 245 Hz |
| Response time | 8 ms | 6 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Screen space comparison
Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
6.9″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 18.1 in2
Galaxy Note 9
6.4″ (18.5:9 ratio) = 16.1 in2
~12% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 161.9 mm (6.37 inches) | 164.8 mm (6.49 inches) |
| Width | 76.4 mm (3.01 inches) | 77.2 mm (3.04 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.8 mm (0.35 inches) | 8.1 mm (0.32 inches) |
| Weight | 201 g (7.09 oz) | 208 g (7.34 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | - | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Blue, Brown | White, Black, Brown |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, rear | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 9810 | Samsung Exynos 990 |
| Max clock | 2700 MHz | 2730 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (4 + 4) | 8 (2 + 2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.9 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 4 cores at 2.9 GHz: Exynos M3 |
- 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) | Yes | Yes |
| Graphics | Mali-G72MP18 | Mali-G77 MP11 |
| GPU shading units | 216 | 352 |
| GPU clock | 572 MHz | 832 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~247.1 GFLOPS | ~585.7 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 4340 | 5261 |
| Single-core score | 683 | 1222 |
| Multi-core score | 1853 | 3060 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 246972 | 368930 |
| GPU | 93460 | 162695 |
| Memory | 127081 | 168589 |
| UX | 139080 | 218294 |
| Total score | 606593 | 918508 |
| Samples | [4 tests] | [6 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | - | 74% |
| Graphics test | - | 2 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 307 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | - | 71% |
| Graphics test | - | 8 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 1407 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 5745 | 10705 |
| Video editing | 5461 | 6884 |
| Photo editing | 9629 | 30928 |
| Data manipulation | 5819 | 8823 |
| Writing score | 6229 | 11422 |
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy Note 9
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-06-16 (PatrickVN) | AnTuTu | 606593 |
| 📘 2026-05-31 (Fermallow) | GeekBench CPU | 676 / 2002 |
| 📘 2026-05-31 (Fermallow) | AnTuTu | 629687 |
| 📘 2025-10-16 (Tuâns 🇻🇳) | AnTuTu | 591549 |
| 📘 2025-10-11 (OnionTails) | AnTuTu | 594285 |
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-07-16 (Vinny) | AnTuTu | 746630 |
| 📘 2026-03-02 (Amir) | AnTuTu | 529407 |
| 📘 2026-01-09 (WP69) | AnTuTu | 944395 |
| 📘 2025-11-28 (K7) | AnTuTu | 918508 |
| 📘 2025-11-15 (K7) | AnTuTu | 699444 |
Memory
| RAM size | 6 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 1794 MHz | 2750 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | - |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 2.1 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | MicroSD | MicroSD |
| Memory card max size | Up to 512 GB | Up to 1000 GB |
Software
| Operating system | Android 8.1 (Can be upgraded to Android 10) | Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | One UI 2.5 | One UI 5.0 |
| OS size | 19 GB | 34.7 GB |
| OS updates | - | 2 years |
| Security updates | - | 4 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 4000 mAh | 4500 mAh |
| Max charge power | 15 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes, Qi/PMA (15 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | Yes, (wireless) |
| Fast charging | Yes, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge (50% in 35 min) | Yes (43% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:40 hr | 1:20 hr |
| Web browsing | 07:31 hr | 07:27 hr |
| Watching video | 11:36 hr | 12:33 hr |
| Gaming | 05:01 hr | 05:16 hr |
| Standby | 96 hr | 81 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 108 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 12000 x 9000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 2x | Optical, 5x |
| Flash | Dual LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | Up to 24FPS |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 240FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 960 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | - | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 12 MP 2) Telephoto: 12 MP |
1) Standard: 108 MP 2) Telephoto: 12 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP 4) Depth: 0.3 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 108 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.5 - 2.4 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung SAK2L3 | Samsung Bright S5KHM1 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | 1/1.33" (≈ 0.75 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.4 micron | 0.8 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Laser autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | f/3.0 |
| Focal length | 52 mm | 103 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung | 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 |
| Aperture | - | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | - | 13 mm |
| Sensor | - | Samsung S5K2L3 |
| 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 9 from DxOMark | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 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 | Samsung S5K3H1 | 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 (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1440p at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
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 Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5.1 |
| Bluetooth features | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, 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 - OTG |
| 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 | Yes |
| LTE Cat* | 18 | 20 |
| 5G support | No | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | No |
| FM radio | No | Yes |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | August 2018 | August 2020 |
| Release date | August 2018 | August 2020 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1000 | $1299 |
| Successor | - Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra | - |
| SAR (head) | 0.381 W/kg | 0.319 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.509 W/kg | 1.557 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 - 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 Ultra is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 230
