Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra vs Google Pixel 7a
72
out of 100
VS
74
out of 100
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.9-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra (with Exynos 990) that was released on August 5, 2020, against the Google Pixel 7a, which is powered by Google Tensor G2 and came out 34 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
- Has a 0.8 inch larger screen size
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1000GB
- Thinner bezels – 9.9% more screen real estate
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- 16% higher pixel density (496 vs 429 PPI)
- Reverse charging feature
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 7a
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Shows 12% longer battery life (29:33 vs 26:27 hours)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- The phone is 2-years and 10-months newer
- More energy-efficient CPU – Google Tensor G2
- 21% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1437 and 1183 points
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
Value for money
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 | 90 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | No |
| Max rated brightness | 600 nits | 700 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | - | 1300 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 91.7% | 81.8% |
| Display features |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 96.9% | 98.4% |
| PWM | 245 Hz | 218 Hz |
| Response time | 6 ms | 2 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 164.8 mm (6.49 inches) | 152 mm (5.98 inches) |
| Width | 77.2 mm (3.04 inches) | 72.9 mm (2.87 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.1 mm (0.32 inches) | 9 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 208 g (7.34 oz) | 193.5 g (6.83 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP67 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Brown | White, Gray, Blue, Orange |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 990 | Google Tensor G2 |
| Max clock | 2730 MHz | 2850 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 2.35 GHz: Cortex-A78 - 2 cores at 2.85 GHz: Cortex-X1 |
| L3 cache | 2 MB | 4 MB |
| Lithography process | 7 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali-G77 MP11 | Mali-G710 MP7 |
| GPU shading units | 704 | 672 |
| GPU clock | 800 MHz | 850 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1126 GFLOPS | ~1142.4 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 211637 | 232766 |
| GPU | 216705 | 187707 |
| Memory | 152008 | 160960 |
| UX | 169293 | 162802 |
| Total score | 753550 | 746407 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 37.3 °C | 50.8 °C |
| Stability | 49% | 65% |
| Graphics test | 25 FPS | 37 FPS |
| Graphics score | 4249 | 6343 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 8916 | 7662 |
| Video editing | 6869 | 6390 |
| Photo editing | 28845 | 19572 |
| Data manipulation | 8839 | 10210 |
| Writing score | 10870 | 15268 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8, 12 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| Channels | - | 4 |
| 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 13 |
| ROM | One UI 5.0 | Stock Android |
| OS size | 34.7 GB | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 4500 mAh | 4385 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (43% in 30 min) | Yes (20% in 36 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:20 hr | 1:57 hr |
| Web browsing | 08:59 hr | 11:05 hr |
| Watching video | 13:52 hr | 15:28 hr |
| Gaming | 04:58 hr | 05:16 hr |
| Standby | 74 hr | 73 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 108 megapixels | 64 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 12000 x 9000 | 9000 x 7000 |
| 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° | 120° |
| Lenses | 4 (108 MP + 12 MP + 12 MP + 0.3 MP) | 2 (64 MP + 13 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 |
- 64 MP
- Aperture: f/1.9 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.73", Sony IMX787 (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 |
- 13 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/3.06", Sony IMX712 (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 7a from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 10 megapixels | 13 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3872 x 2592 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | - |
| Focal length | 26 mm | - |
| Pixel size | 1.22 microns | - |
| Sensor type | CMOS | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.2" | - |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) 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 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| USB features |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC |
| 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 | Mid-range |
| Announced | August 2020 | May 2023 |
| Release date | August 2020 | May 2023 |
| 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 |
| Bundled charger | - | Not included |
*
Disclaimer!
NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the performance, gaming, and battery life are more important to you, then choose the Google Pixel 7a . But if the camera, software, and design are more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra .
