Samsung's Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20+ 5G could share a bonkers 'standard' feature

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If Samsung sticks to its traditional release schedule (and despite the coronavirus pandemic, we have no real reason to doubt that will be the case), we're probably only a few months away from the official announcement and commercial rollout of the company's next ultra-high-end handsets.

Interestingly, the customary factory CAD-based renders of the Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20+ haven't been leaked yet, and the same obviously goes for real-world pictures of pre-release prototypes. Naturally, that hasn't stopped the rumor mill from churning a lot of juicy inside information and credible speculation on Samsung's upcoming S Pen-wielding powerhouse duo, with the latest tidbit originating from a video that may have also revealed and clarified a number of other display and biometric-related secrets.

According to long-time supply chain analyst and aspiring smartphone leaker Ross Young, both the Note 20 and Note 20 Plus could come with a standard feature matched only by the costliest variant of the 5G-enabled Galaxy S20 Ultra.

Memory overload


Quick, how much RAM does your personal computer or business laptop currently hold? 8 gigs? 12 gigs? 16 gigs? If you're part of the latter category, you're probably pretty satisfied with the multitasking skills of your Windows PC or Mac, which can easily handle all your everyday needs and competently juggle dozens of Chrome tabs with no sign of a slowdown in operation.

But do you really need a 16GB memory count in your pocket? Maybe not... today, although some people said the exact same thing about mobile devices with 8 gigs of RAM not long ago, and now even mid-rangers start at that number.

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To be perfectly clear, Ross Young explicitly said in a Q&A session uploaded to YouTube that he expects to see 16GB RAM offered as standard by both the Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20+, which sounds absolutely insane. Last year's "regular" Note 10, mind you, came in a single 8GB RAM configuration, while the Note 10+ paired 12 gigs of the good stuff with 256 and 512GB storage options.

Earlier this year, Samsung released the 5G-capable S20 and S20+ with an 8GB memory count and 128GB internal storage space, while the extravagant S20 Ultra 5G started at 12 gigs of RAM, capping off at 16... in a $1,600 variant. This obviously makes us very nervous about the pricing structure of the Galaxy Note 20 lineup, but for what it's worth, a report from a couple of months ago claimed that Samsung's next big thing would offer 128 gigs of local digital hoarding room to start with.

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Of course, it would be pretty bizarre to see a Note 20 released with a whopping 16GB RAM and a comparatively modest 128 gigs of storage on deck. At the same time, we don't even want to think how much an entry-level Galaxy Note 20 variant could cost with the mind-blowing aforementioned memory count and more storage space. Unless "standard" is not the same thing as a base model of the Note 20 and Note 20+. Maybe Young was talking about a standard option. Or perhaps he's just wrong.

No Ultra model and other rumors


While nothing can be considered etched in stone when it comes to memory and storage versions, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20+ are essentially guaranteed to follow in the footsteps of the S20 family with "standard" 5G connectivity, at least stateside.

Another sure thing appears to be the lack of a Note 20 Ultra model, which is probably for the best as the Note 20 and Note 20+ might prove fairly difficult to distinguish from the S20+ and S20 Ultra anyway.

 

We're most likely looking at a 6.42-inch Galaxy Note 20 with FHD+ resolution and a 6.9-inch or so Note 20+ sporting a pixel count of roughly 3100 x 1400, with both devices ultimately expected to support 120Hz refresh rate and groundbreaking LTPO technology.

Unfortunately for people looking forward to another design revolution, that seems unlikely to happen this year after all. Instead of trying to achieve its long-time "full-screen" dream, Samsung will probably play things safe one more time and stick to a centered hole punch housing a conventional front-facing camera. Speaking of cameras, while rumors are a little light on that front, the Galaxy Note 20+ seems likely to just copy the quad rear-facing setup of the S20 Ultra, massive bump included.

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