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Samsung Galaxy Note 20 vs Apple iPhone XS

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Samsung Galaxy Note 20 vs Apple iPhone XS

66 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy Note 20
VS
57 out of 100
Apple iPhone XS
Samsung Galaxy Note 20
Apple iPhone XS

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.7-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 20 (with Exynos 990) that was released on August 5, 2020, against the Apple iPhone XS, which is powered by Apple A12 Bionic and came out 23 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Note 20
  • Comes with 1642 mAh larger battery capacity: 4300 vs 2658 mAh
  • Has a 0.9 inch larger screen size
  • Has 2x more RAM: 8GB versus 4GB
  • Modern USB Type-C port
  • The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2400 MHz
  • 20% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (718K versus 600K)
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
  • Has an ultra-wide angle camera lens
  • Has 2 SIM card slots
  • Thinner bezels – 6.3% more screen real estate
  • Supports higher wattage charging (25W versus 15W)
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone XS
  • Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than Samsung
  • 17% higher pixel density (458 vs 393 PPI)
  • Weighs 15 grams less
  • 13% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1310 and 1155 points

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Apple iPhone XS crucial features
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
Scores with a red asterisk ( * ) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation

Value for money

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Galaxy Note 20
vs
iPhone XS

Display

Type Super AMOLED OLED
Size 6.7 inches 5.8 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels 1125 x 2436 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
PPI 393 ppi 458 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 600 nits 625 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 89.2% 82.9%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display 		- DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 99.9% 98.8%
PWM 250 Hz 240 Hz
Response time 6.4 ms 4.4 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Galaxy Note 20
622 nits
iPhone XS +3%
641 nits

Design and build

Height 161.6 mm (6.36 inches) 143.6 mm (5.65 inches)
Width 75.2 mm (2.96 inches) 70.9 mm (2.79 inches)
Thickness 8.3 mm (0.33 inches) 7.7 mm (0.3 inches)
Weight 192 g (6.77 oz) 177 g (6.24 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber -
Rear material Plastic Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Black, Green, Brown Silver, Gold, Gray
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display No
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Apple iPhone XS in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Samsung Exynos 990 Apple A12 Bionic
Max clock 2730 MHz 2490 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 2 + 4) 6 (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 1.6 GHz: Tempest
- 2 cores at 2.49 GHz: Vortex
L3 cache 2 MB -
Lithography process 7 nanometers 7 nanometers
Graphics Mali-G77 MP11 Apple A12 GPU
GPU shading units 704 256
GPU clock 550 MHz 1100 MHz
FLOPS ~1126 GFLOPS ~576 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
Galaxy Note 20 +20%
718109
iPhone XS
600311
CPU 214069 151927
GPU 202411 141208
Memory 134994 104587
UX 164236 200467
Total score 718109 600311
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 38.6 °C 44.8 °C
Stability 88% 63%
Graphics test 25 FPS 34 FPS
Graphics score 4317 5700
PCMark 3.0
Web score 7804 -
Video editing 5716 -
Photo editing 29885 -
Data manipulation 7954 -
Writing score 11968 -

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2400 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 256 GB 64, 256, 512 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) iOS 12 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17)
ROM One UI 5.0 -
OS size 35 GB 11.8 GB

Battery

Capacity 4300 mAh 2658 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 15 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) Yes, Qi (10 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Fast charging Yes (50% in 30 min) Yes (50% in 60 min)
Full charging time 1:05 hr 2:40 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing - 07:30 hr
Watching video - 09:19 hr
Gaming - 04:43 hr
Standby - 80 hr
General battery life

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 4032 x 3024
Zoom Optical, 3x Optical, 2x
Flash Dual LED Quad 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 240 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 120° -
Lenses 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP) 2 (12 MP + 12 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 1.8 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.76", Sony IMX555 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Apple iSight X (CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
Telephoto lens - 64 MP
- Aperture: f/2.0
- Focal length: 27 mm
- Pixel size: 0.8 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.72", Samsung Bright S5KGW2 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Focal length: 52 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.4" (CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
Ultra-wide lens - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Samsung S5K2LA (ISOCELL CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
-
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support 		- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy Note 20 from DxOMark -
Selfie camera
Megapixels 10 megapixels 7 megapixels
Image resolution 3872 x 2592 3088 x 2316
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm 32 mm
Pixel size 1.22 microns 1.12 microns
Sensor type CMOS CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.2" -
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 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- 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 5
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP SPP, PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, HDP, GAP, GAVDP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C No
USB version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode 		- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, NAVIC GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC * Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM * 2 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby -
eSIM support * Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat * 20 16
5G support Yes No

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
Galaxy Note 20 +1%
87.9 dB
iPhone XS
87.3 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced August 2020 September 2018
Release date August 2020 September 2018
SAR (head) 0.359 W/kg 0.99 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.366 W/kg 0.99 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
- Face recognition sensor
* 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.

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