Galaxy Note 20 Mini: The new phablets highlight a glaring hole in Samsung’s line

Samsung’s Note 20 series is here and the Ultra model is shaping up to be one of the best Android phones of the year. But should Samsung have gone for a third size – A Note 20 Mini, if you will.

Small phones are having something of a renaissance in 2020. First we had the iPhone SE 2, then came the Pixel 4a and there are strong rumours Apple will offer a 5.4-inch iPhone 12.

I would have loved it if Samsung has followed suit and at least given us the option of a smaller Note 20.

After spending a few hours with the new Note 20 devices I was once again sold on the S Pen. This happens every single year and the cycle is always the same. I think I’m never going to use the S Pen > Unbox and setup that year’s Note device and realise how useful it is > Use it every day.

But to get the S Pen you need to accept the Note is going to a big phone. This time around you’ve got the 6.7-inch Galaxy Note 20 and 6.9-inch Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and those sizes will simply put many people off. A smaller version, around the same size as the Samsung Galaxy S20, with the same S Pen features would help give buyers who want that stylus functionality more a choice.

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Of course, the benefit of the larger screen paired with the S Pen is a bigger canvas for drawing and jotting down notes. But a smaller version would offer its own niche and I could see that being much better for quick scribbles.

The Note series started off as being one of the largest phones around, coining the awful term ‘phablet’. But being big is no longer a selling point, as the majority of phones are now upwards of 6.5-inches. To once again differentiate, a smaller version of the Note 20 would bring the series to a whole new audience.

While I would love to see this happen, it seems very unlikely. Samsung clearly sees the future being full of larger phones and even though other brands are once again turning to smaller units it has so far decided to just go bigger. There was no smaller ‘E’ version of the S20 this year, and the S20 itself now starts with a 6.2-inch screen. There was also a chance to offer something smaller with the Lite versions of the S10 and Note 10, but that didn’t happen and instead, we got larger screens.