#Samsung handy note 20 android#

Gizmodo called the device 'perfect smartphone simplicity.'Īnd the gang from Android Police perhaps summed it up most succinctly, right in their review headline: 'All the phone you need, none of what you don't.' Wired's reviewer proclaimed that the Pixel 4a was 'nearly perfect,' noting that it had him 'reaching for it far more than most smartphones tested this year.' The Verge praised the device's 'flagship-tier camera,' which it concluded was on par with the industry-leading (and appropriately software-driven) Pixel 4 standard. And by omitting the various extras, it manages to provide that at a ridiculously affordable price. It doesn't have all the available bells and whistles or the highest-spec version of anything, but almost everyone seems to agree it has all the stuff that actually matters when it comes to real-world experience - at least, for the vast majority of Android-totin' animals. It's a pretty dramatic contrast, really: The Pixel 4a is all about practicality - a minimalist mindset and function over form, to the extreme. And you couldn't ask for a more representative view of how Google and Samsung approach Android. Let's zoom out for a minute - because while the phones themselves are fine enough, what's most interesting here is what the devices tell us about the strategies surrounding 'em. And if that's all you're seeing, you're missing the bigger picture. But that's also the most superficial, surface-level assessment imaginable. That's certainly the most obvious, immediate way to interpret this week's news - and, well, it's probably the way most folks (including the majority of pipe-smoking tech pundits) are gonna see it. Google's Pixel 4a, meanwhile, is the ho-hum alternative anyone on a budget should settle for owning. On the surface, the story here seems simple enough: Samsung's phone is the superior product - the one anyone should get, if they can justify the cost. It's also priced accordingly, starting at $1,300 for the Ultra version and a thousand bucks for the relatively more modest standard Note model in the U.S. The Note 20 is pretty much a checklist of every high-end spec imaginable, especially in its top-of-the-line Ultra model - the latest and greatest processor, a whopping 12GB of RAM, a super-high-res, high-refresh-rate screen, and a 108-megapixel 'Space Zoom' camera - and it's made to turn heads, too, with a shiny metal exterior (in a 'gender-fluid Mystic Bronze' finish, even!).

Then, on Wednesday, Samsung took the wraps off its own latest Android efforts, including the new Galaxy Note 20.

The device costs $349 and is a decidedly utilitarian, midrange model that's about as far from flashy as a phone can be. On Monday, Google announced its first new self-made phone of the year - the long awaited (and long delayed) Pixel 4a. And while the stories appear to be wholly about hardware, the tales actually tell us a lot about the state of the Android ecosystem and the philosophies of two of its most influential players.

#Samsung handy note 20 for android#

It's been quite a week for Android - a week of two very different, equally important new narratives.