The Galaxy S21 Ultra vs Galaxy Note 20 Ultra showdown will help you decide between two premium flagship smartphones that are quite stellar and somewhat similar. In fact, as you will see in our Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra review, it is the most Note-like Galaxy S series to date, as it is the first Galaxy S series model to support the S Pen. [There are many important differences between the S21 Ultra and the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, from the camera and design to the processor and price. According to our Galaxy Note 20 Ultra review, it is still a formidable phone, but in some ways it is outpaced by the new Samsung. Let's compare these two phones side-by-side to help you decide which one is right for you.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is priced at $1,199, $200 less than the previous model. On paper, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is the more expensive of the two models, with a retail price of $1,299.

However, with discounts, you can find the Note 20 Ultra for $1,049, a $250 discount. For the latest sale information, see our Galaxy S21 Deals page and our Galaxy Note 20 Deals page.

Note that the Galaxy S21 Ultra comes in three storage options: 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB; the 256GB model costs $1,249 and the 512GB version is $1,379.

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has only two storage options; the 512GB version jumps to $1,449, but appears to be out of stock at most retailers and carriers.

Newer is not always better. I prefer the design of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra over the Galaxy S21 Ultra because the Note 20 Ultra is thinner, lighter, and smaller; the S21 Ultra's camera bump is well integrated into the back of the phone by Samsung's contour design, but I would rather hold and use the Note 20 Ultra.

The S21 Ultra is available in Phantom Silver, Phantom Black, and more color variations including Phantom Navy, Phantom Titanium, and Phantom Brown through Samsung.com The Note 20 Ultra, only available in Mystic Bronze, Mystic Black, and Mystic White.

If you want to use the S Pen, the Note 20 Ultra is the obvious choice. And it would add even more bulk to a heavy device.

The displays of the Galaxy S21 Ultra and Note 20 Ultra are fairly similar, with both having Dynamic AMOLED displays; the Note 20 Ultra's screen is slightly larger at 6.9 inches versus the S21 Ultra's 6.8 inches.

Both of these screens are sharp and surprisingly colorful with ultra-wide viewing angles, but the S21 Ultra leads with a high average brightness of 821 nits; the Note 20 Ultra recorded 662 nits in our labs.

However, the Note 20 Ultra's screen was slightly more colorful, recording 86.1% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, compared to 81.4% for the S21 Ultra. The Note 21 Ultra panel also achieved a Delta-E score of 0.24 (0 being perfect), while the S21 Ultra's score was 0.35, so the Note 21 Ultra panel proved to be slightly more accurate.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra is the camera of choice for those looking for the most powerful zoom, with two telephoto zoom lenses that can deliver 3x hybrid zoom, 10x optical zoom, and up to 100x digital space zoom.

Currently, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is also unbeatable in this department, as it also has a 5x optical zoom and 30x space zoom, but it simply doesn't go that far. Additionally, the S21 Ultra has a zoom lock feature that allows for more consistent photos.

Both the Galaxy S21 Ultra and Note 20 Ultra have a 108 MP ultra-sharp main camera and a 12 MP ultra-wide camera. However, the S21 Ultra is designed to offer better performance in low light and has an improved portrait mode.

Also, the Galaxy S21 Ultra's front camera is 40 MP, which is sharper than the 10 MP on the Note 20 Ultra. In terms of image quality, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is better in almost all aspects.

When the fruit is arranged, the S21 Ultra takes a brighter picture and the oranges in particular appear more vibrant; the apples taken with the S21 Ultra are much too bright compared to the Note 20 Ultra due to the loss of clarity in the skin, but overall the S21 Ultra is preferable photo.

I used night mode on both phones for this photo. While there is no dramatic difference, I do appreciate that the sky appears brighter, the tree on the right appears a bit sharper, and the foreground contrast is stronger. Both models do a pretty good job overall, especially with the footsteps in the snow.

In this photo of a small auspicious bamboo branch, I prefer the Note 20 Ultra's photo because of the way it handles the light coming through the window. The bright points at the tips of the leaves make this photo more attractive; the S21 Ultra's photo is too uniform throughout.

This is where the Note 20 Ultra really starts to lag behind. This portrait appears to be completely blown out compared to the S21 Ultra. There appears to be a white haze or film over the entire scene, and my face has a warmer tone than the Note shot, whereas the S21 Ultra more accurately captures the dark blue of my jacket.

At 10x zoom, the Galaxy S21 Ultra delivers more detail and accurate tones in the shot of the tree with the bird and squirrel feeding; the Note 20 Ultra struggles with the bark, and the food in the upper left of the frame is almost completely lost along the edges.

At 50x zoom, there is no contest: the Note 20 Ultra's photos are blurry and hazy, like an impressionist painting; in the S21 Ultra's photos, both the bark and the feed appear more vivid.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is powered by the newer Snapdragon 888 processor, while the Note 20 Ultra has the Snapdragon 865 chip. However, there is no significant difference. [For example, in our video editing test, which involved transcoding a 4K video clip to 1080p using the Adobe Premiere Rush app, the Galaxy S21 Ultra took 1 minute, 2 seconds to complete; the Note 20 Ultra took a bit longer, 1 minute, 16 seconds.

In Geekbench 5, which measures overall performance, the S21 Ultra scored 3,400 in the multi-core portion, compared to 3,294 for the Note 20 Ultra.

However, the Galaxy S21 Ultra may be a better choice for gamers, as it scored significantly higher in the 3DMark Wild Life graphics test. It averaged 33 frames per second, while the Note 20 Ultra only averaged 24.9 frames per second.

Both the Galaxy S21 Ultra and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra can be used well on a day's charge, especially if the 60 Hz display mode is used on each model. However, the S21 Ultra lasts longer overall.

In Tom's Guide battery tests, with 5G of continuous web surfing at a screen brightness of 150 nits, the Galaxy S21 Ultra lasted an impressive 11 hours 25 minutes in 60Hz screen mode. This is enough to rank this device on our list of best smartphone battery durations; when we turned on the display's adaptive mode, which goes up to 120 Hz, the run time dropped to 10:07.

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra did not fare much better in our tests, with 10:26 in 60Hz screen mode and 7:59 with adaptive mode on. This is a pretty big drop-off.

Both the S21 Ultra and Note 20 Ultra are capable of fast 25W charging, but only the Note includes a charger.

The most special thing about the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is the S Pen, but now that the Galaxy S21 Ultra supports S Pen input, what is different?

For one, the S Pen must be purchased separately with the S21 Ultra. The case and S Pen combo costs $69.99. In addition, the case adds bulk to an already heavy phone, the S Pen does not support Bluetooth, the S Pen does not support Bluetooth, and the S Pen is not compatible with the S21 Ultra.

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is the phone to get if you want to expand your storage, as it has a microSD card slot. Samsung discontinued this benefit on the S21 Ultra, along with the bundled charger.

The S21 Ultra has some welcome special features, such as a more powerful space zoom and zoom lock function. In addition, the camera software has a useful object eraser feature, and the S21 Ultra has a director's view feature when recording video, allowing the front and back cameras to record simultaneously.

If I were paying with my own money, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is the clear winner. It offers a brighter display, longer battery life, and an especially good camera. The difference in image quality is obvious, especially when taking portraits or zooming outdoors.

If you want to use the S Pen on your next phone, we recommend the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra instead. Sure, the Galaxy S21 Ultra supports the S Pen, but I would rather have it built into the phone without the need for a bulky case.

Overall, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is a better value.