The Note 20 Ultra is ultra-expensive because it promises you more camera than you thought possible. It's also a gaming console/computer ready to tackle 5G while fitting in for your pocket. Well, your pockets have to be rather large because this is a massive phone.

First impressions: Camera modules being flush and hidden is a thing of the past. This one conspicuously sticks out a few millimeters. When you take a mirror selfie, your followers on social media will not mistake it for anything else. The 6.9 inch 120hz display is easy to hold but difficult to perform one handed camera functions. I did drop it.

Power? Well, it has the latest set of magic incantations, spells and mythical fairy creatures crammed inside the shell making it super-fast. There's no hiccup. There is no lag. And no game can slow it down. None of you are ever throwing anything at it that will require more juice.

There's really two areas to determine whether all that money is worth spending.

The camera. It has a 108MP rear camera with laser autofocus. Then it has a 12MP telephoto lens that can give you 5x zoom or super gimmicky 50x zoom. The former really work well. Then there's a third 12MP wide angle lens for taking group pictures of friends maintaining social distancing. The telephoto has no autofocus though which is odd.

 The front camera is a 10MP, f/2.2 lens with autofocus for that really clear selfie. Samsung has been offering autofocus on their front lenses since the S8 ensuring you get properly focused pictures when you stumble across a celebrity.

The photos always come out social media perfect. These are appealing with enough warmth and colour to briefly confuse your social media viewers if this really is #nofilter. In any lit condition, there is hardly any noise. Samsung does an intense noise correction that manages to keep detail without being too obvious.

They have really ramped up the night shots by managing to light up the images even when all you see with your naked eye is mostly darkness. A little bit of light and you can get almost good pictures worth your Instagram.

What you don't get is macro. Sure they have a gimmick to pull back the lens so it focuses better but generally, if you go too up close, you get blurry details. How'd they leave that out?

As for video, you get the brag worthy 8K recording at 24fps albeit you can't really show it on most display units (TVs for the older folks lie me born in the 80's). You get 4k at 60fps on the main camera and 30fps on all the other cameras. 

Then there's the S-pen.

They have really outdone themselves. The 9ms response time and the improved paper-like feel of the stylus tip on screen is a joy when taking notes or drawing. Here's a neat trick. The stylus can sync audio recordings to scribbles meaning you can later hear the recordings as you scroll through the notes you took. If you spend time drawing smiley face poop characters while listening to your boss, then it won't really help clarify ideas.

And there you have it. Is the Note 20 Ultra the ultimate? Not quite. It has an amazing display, fantastic camera and that stylus feature is second to none. Cons involve slow charging and the photo quality is sometimes inconsistent. More detail and a comparison in a few weeks down the line. 

Check online for more camera samples.

Specs:

Display: 6.90" Dynamic AMOLED 496ppi, 120Hz@FHD/60Hz@QHD refresh rate.

Chipset: Exynos 990

Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM

Rear camera: Wide (main): 108 MP, f/1.8, Laser AF, OIS; Telephoto: 12 MP, f/3.0, 5x optical zoom, 50x hybrid zoom; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 1/2.55"

Front camera: 10 MP, f/2.2

Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@960fps

Battery: 4500mAh; Fast charging 25W

IP68 dust/water resistant

Price: BDT 1,34,999

Photos: Ehsanur Raza Ronny