Preview
Note 20 vs. Note 20 Ultra side-by-side teardown
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Note20 teardown press release header image
August 24: Note20 + Note20 Ultra Teardown
Note20 + Note20 Ultra Teardowns
If there’s one thing we’ve come to expect from Galaxy Note teardowns, it’s vapor-chamber cooling. And that’s exactly what we didn’t find in the Note 20—either one of them. Just to be sure, we dismantled both the US-spec Note 20 5G and the Note20 5G Ultra at the same time.

Instead of big copper vapor chambers (or, “Water-Carbon Cooling Systems,” as Samsung trumpeted in past marketing), we found … graphite. A whole lot of it. Stranger still, we’ve already seen a couple other teardowns of these phones pop up on YouTube*, one of which had … a copper vapor chamber. So what gives? Is Samsung A/B testing a revised cooling system? Short of a teardown, how can you ever know which version you got? Both are tried-and-tested solutions, but we’ve never seen both deployed in the same model seemingly at random.

X-ray photos of the Note20 vs. Note20 Ultra
Notable differences between the Note 20's 📝

  • So far as we know, Samsung hasn't hinted at different charging capabilities in the Note 20 line—but an X-ray of both Note 20s shows two different wireless charging coil configurations. The Note 20 Ultra inherits the same double-coil configuration we first saw in its cousin, the S20 Ultra.

  • Battery-wise, the Note 20 and Ultra weigh in at 16.69 and 17.46 watt-hours, respectively. Both are (unsurprisingly) larger than the 15.04 Wh pack in the iPhone 11 Pro Max, while trailing the 19.30 Wh monster in the S20 Ultra.

  • Both Note 20 devices earn a 3/10 on our repairability scale—but the regular Note 20 gets a slight edge, thanks to its polycarbonate (plastic) back cover.

Close up comparison of the Note20 vs. Note20 Ultra display
Removing the battery in both Note 20's
Final layout of the Note 20 and Note20 Ultra
*The FootNotes
Got questions? Need photos?

Feel free to use up to three images in your story—as long as you credit iFixit as the source with a link back to our Note 20 teardowns. If you have any questions, concerns, or if you just want to send us a virtual high-five, please feel free to reach out to olivia@ifixit.com.
 
 
 
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