Samsung Galaxy Note20 5G SM-N981UZNAXAA Review

A specs sheet from 2020 at a 2025 price. Great for RAM and the S Pen, but you're buying into outdated software and a so-so camera.

Look, the Galaxy Note 20 5G is a weird one to review in 2025. It's a refurbished flagship from 2020, and that's the one thing you need to know. It's not a bad phone, but it's a time capsule. You're getting a solid 5G connection and a big screen for under $200, but you're also buying into an old version of Android and a camera system that was mid-tier even when it was new. It's a budget pick with a fancy name.

Honestly, the performance was a bit of a surprise, and not in a bad way. Our database shows it lands in the 76th percentile for performance, which is way better than most phones at this price. The 12GB of RAM is a huge part of that, and it means this thing can still handle multitasking and gaming without choking. The weak spot is the battery life, sitting in the 39th percentile, so you'll be charging it more often than a modern phone.

For $189, it's a decent value if your priorities are raw multitasking power and 5G on a tight budget. You're trading modern software, a great camera, and long battery life for that S Pen and those specs. It's worth it only if that specific trade-off makes sense for you.

The most relevant competitor is the Motorola Moto G. For similar money, a new Moto G will give you a much better camera, way better battery life, and current Android software, but you'll lose the premium build, the S Pen, and that killer 12GB of RAM. If you can stretch your budget, the Google Pixel 'a' series (like a Pixel 7a) blows this away in camera and software for not much more. The Note 20 wins on specs-on-paper, but loses on the daily experience.

If you're looking for a reliable daily driver with a great camera and modern software, this isn't it. Go get a new Google Pixel 7a or a Motorola Moto G Power instead. You'll have a much better overall experience.

We can only recommend the refurbished Galaxy Note 20 5G to a very specific buyer: someone who needs a ton of RAM for heavy multitasking or emulator gaming, really wants the S Pen for notes, and doesn't care about having an old OS or a mediocre camera. For everyone else, a new budget phone from Motorola or Google is a smarter, more reliable buy.