ZTE Axon 30 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.67-inch ZTE Axon 30 Ultra (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G) that was released on April 15, 2021, against the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, which is powered by Exynos 990 and came out 9 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the ZTE Axon 30 Ultra
- 47% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (811K versus 553K)
- Higher display refresh rate – 144 Hz
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
- More energy-efficient CPU – Snapdragon 888 5G
- 18% faster in single-core GeekBench 5 test: 1129 and 959 points
- Weighs 20 grams less
- The phone is 9-months newer
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Delivers 46% higher peak brightness (1030 against 704 nits)
- 26% higher pixel density (496 vs 395 PPI)
- Supports wireless charging up to 15W
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1000GB
- More recent OS version: Android 13 versus 11
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Ready for eSIM technology
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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 | AMOLED | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 6.67 inches | 6.9 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1440 x 3088 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 395 ppi | 496 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 144 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | Yes |
| Max rated brightness | 700 nits | 600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | Gorilla Glass Victus |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 91.1% | 91.7% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 99.2% | 96.9% |
| PWM | 757 Hz | 245 Hz |
| Response time | 2.4 ms | 6 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 161.5 mm (6.36 inches) | 164.8 mm (6.49 inches) |
| Width | 73 mm (2.87 inches) | 77.2 mm (3.04 inches) |
| Thickness | 8 mm (0.31 inches) | 8.1 mm (0.32 inches) |
| Weight | 188 g (6.63 oz) | 208 g (7.34 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | - | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Blue | White, Black, Brown |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G | Samsung Exynos 990 |
| Max clock | 2840 MHz | 2730 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (2 + 2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 680 Silver (Cortex-A55) - 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Kryo 680 Gold (Cortex-A78) - 1 core at 2.84 GHz: Kryo 680 Prime (Cortex-X1) |
- 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 | 4 MB | 2 MB |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 7 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 660 | Mali-G77 MP11 |
| GPU clock | 840 MHz | 800 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1720 GFLOPS | ~1196 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 204018 | 92406 |
| GPU | 319580 | 216567 |
| Memory | 122658 | 125152 |
| UX | 158258 | 116586 |
| Total score | 811044 | 553421 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 47.4 °C | 37.3 °C |
| Stability | - | 46% |
| Graphics test | 33 FPS | 25 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5663 | 4247 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 9976 | 8939 |
| Video editing | 7104 | 6882 |
| Photo editing | 41003 | 28631 |
| Data manipulation | 11659 | 8806 |
| Writing score | 9970 | 10714 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8, 12, 16 GB | 8, 12 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | - | 2750 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | - |
| Storage size | 128, 256, 1024 GB | 256, 512 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | MicroSD |
| Memory card max size | - | Up to 1000 GB |
Software
| Operating system | Android 11 | Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | MyOS 11 | One UI 5.0 |
| OS size | 19 GB | 34.7 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4600 mAh | 4500 mAh |
| Charge power | 65 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | Yes, (wireless) |
| Fast charging | Yes, Quick Charge 4+ (74% in 30 min) | Yes (43% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 0:44 hr | 1:20 hr |
| Web browsing | 08:18 hr | 08:59 hr |
| Watching video | 12:39 hr | 13:52 hr |
| Gaming | 05:08 hr | 04:58 hr |
| Standby | 93 hr | 74 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 64 megapixels | 108 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 10120 x 6328 | 12000 x 9000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 5x | Optical, 5x |
| Flash | Dual LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 24FPS |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 240FPS |
| Slow motion | 480 FPS (720p) | 960 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 120° |
| Lenses | 4 (64 MP + 64 MP + 64 MP + 8 MP) | 4 (108 MP + 12 MP + 12 MP + 0.3 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens | - 64 MP - Aperture: f/1.6 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.72", Sony IMX686 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Laser autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- 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 |
| Telephoto lens | - 8 MP - Aperture: f/3.4 - Focal length: 123 mm - Sensor: 1/4.0", Omnivision OV08A10 - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- 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 | - 64 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 0.7 micron - Sensor: 1/1.97", Omnivision OV08A10 |
- 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 |
| Depth lens | - 64 MP - Aperture: f/1.9 - Focal length: 35 mm - Pixel size: 0.7 micron - Sensor: 1/1.97", Samsung GW3 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
- 0.3 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | Photo samples of ZTE Axon 30 Ultra from DxOMark | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 16 megapixels | 10 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4920 x 3264 | 3872 x 2592 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | - | 26 mm |
| Pixel size | - | 1.22 microns |
| Sensor type | CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.2" |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
DxOMark camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6E (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 MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.2 | 5.1 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | 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 | No | Yes |
| LTE Cat* | 20 | 20 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | Yes |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | April 2021 | August 2020 |
| Release date | April 2021 | August 2020 |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.319 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 1.557 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Hall-effect sensor - Proximity sensor - 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
If the display, software, 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 ZTE Axon 30 Ultra.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 7