Samsung Galaxy Note fans are still searching for the Note lineup, hoping for good news. The Last Note was an immense success among both enthusiasts and the public. The Note 20 Ultra offered a very balanced set of features.
The phone was the closest to the perfect slab smartphone everyone envisioned arriving in the future. Unfortunately, the Note 20 Ultra launched in 2020 was the last official phone in the “Note” series. Samsung did not launch a Note 21 Ultra or a Note 22 Ultra.
This article will cover everything that happened to the Note lineup and whether we’ll see a Note 23 Ultra in 2023. From a business perspective, it does not make much sense to kill off an iconic series that sold millions of units and was extremely well-reputed.
Samsung used to launch a flagship lineup of S series phones early in the year, geared towards multimedia and content consumption. They had curved screens and gorgeous designs.
The S series phones always had curved designs that were easy to hold. The Notephones have flat, boxy designs with edges that slightly poke hands. The Notes are a little less comfortable to hold.
The Note lineup was launched later in the year, focusing on productivity and multitasking. The built-in S Pen makes the Note phones a multitasking powerhouse. The Note phones constantly slightly refined the features that Samsung introduced with the S series.
Is the Samsung Galaxy Note Series Dead?
It’s a bit of a tricky question to tackle. The name “Note” is now entirely retired by Samsung. You won’t see it anymore in any marketing material or promotional pages.
However, in 2022, we saw a phone with an S Pen built into it, with a dedicated slot. The phone was called the S22 Ultra. Looking back, it has all the key standouts that a Notephone usually once had.
For starters, it brought the sharp and poky edges back. It has an S Pen built right in, and you could make the phone stand independently. It also has a flat design. In the aesthetics department, it was different from the S22 and S22+, and also the S21 Ultra.
It had all the features exclusive to Note phones, like Air Gestures and low latency.
Why did Samsung discontinue the Galaxy Note Series?
As mentioned earlier, the S series phones were supposed to focus on the multimedia experience, and the Note series was for productivity and multitasking.
Over the years, especially from the Note 8, the S and Note flagships were becoming increasingly similar to the point where the only primary difference between the two was the S Pen. The S series phone was no longer just for content consumption. It became every bit as capable as the Note for multitasking.
Adding to that, Samsung also has new tricks up its sleeve for the multitasking and productivity crowd. When the Note phones are usually announced, Samsung now announces the Fold and Flip series of phones, which are their foldable phones that have taken the place of the Note series in the release timeline.
Are you missing the Galaxy Note lineup?
Doubtless, the Galaxy Note lineup was iconic, which many people miss. A plausible reason why Samsung abandoned the Note naming scheme is to detach themselves from the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco. Note 7 is known for problems with explosions, and Samsung probably didn’t want anything to do with that name anymore.
Another reasonable explanation could be the switch in leadership from D.J. Koh to T.M. Roh. Both of them must have had different visions and ideas for the future of the S and Note lineup, and what we’re seeing now is the result.
Most voters want the Galaxy Note to come back in Android Authority’s poll, and several have also asked about it in our Comment Sections.
Will there be a Galaxy Note 23 Ultra in 2023?
It’s safe to say that there will not be a phone in 2023 that’s named the Note 23 Ultra. However, we’ll still see the S23 Ultra, which already has many leaks.
The phone has flat sides and a slot for the S Pen, confirming that it’s a “Note” phone. We expect to see a 1440P 120Hz HDR10+ LTPO AMOLED display. The display looks like a flat one. A significant upgrade will be the primary sensor.
It’s said to come with a 200MP HM3 sensor. There will be slight improvements to Zoom, and another prominent feature will be the 8 Gen 2 SOC, which is incredibly efficient and tackles the right balance between performance and thermals.
Samsung is probably doing away with Exynos chips for the S23 series, and all globally launched S23 phones will ship with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SOC.
The 200MP HM3 sensor isn’t as large as the Sony IMX989 but matches the IMX 700 used for the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. The HM3 is a 1/1.3” sensor, and though it’s smaller than the 989 on paper, it remains to be seen how well the company optimized it.
Given that this sensor was announced in 2021, they’ve had a reasonably long time to tune it properly.
Galaxy S23 Ultra as a Note 23 Ultra Replacement?
Instead of launching a Note 23 Ultra later in the year, Samsung upgraded its flagship S series phone. In reality, the top-end S series phone died, not the Note.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra is what the Note 23 Ultra would have been. To simplify its portfolio and eliminate phones that are too similar, Samsung has removed the Note lineup from its name and has replaced the best S series phone with the Note.
Note series fans don’t have to worry since the S23 Ultra looks like a beast of a flagship, and the 8 Gen 2 will make it even more of a productivity monster. Samsung has the Fold series for those willing to spend more for better multitasking on a larger display.
I still am waiting for the note ultra to come out. I still have my note 20 ultra and will wait for how ever long it may take.