Samsung Galaxy Note 20 leak hints at a big S-Pen upgrade

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 and S-Pen. (Image credit: Future)

We recently learned that the Samsung Galaxy Note 20’s codename would begin with the letter “C,” and we tried to figure out what it could mean. We now have the full name, and while we’re sad we didn’t get it right, it makes sense given the Note series’ signature features.

Ice Universe, who posted the original “Project C” tweet, added another post to the thread, revealing, as you can see below, that the full codename is… Canvas.

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Given the name, and bearing in mind the rest of Ice Universe’s tweet, it becomes sort of obvious why this is a sensible and relevant name for the Galaxy Note 20. Samsung is one of the only manufacturers still sticking to making phones with a built-in stylus, and certainly the only one among its premium manufacturer rivals. 

It needs to keep giving users new reasons to stick with the Note series rather than migrate to a different phablet. And what better way to show its commitment to that goal by naming the phone after the fabric famed for its use in painting?

The Galaxy Note 10 added new features to the S-Pen, such as Air Actions for navigating the phone with gestures and the ability to trigger the cameras remotely. Given that these didn’t work completely reliably in our review, we’d like to see this refined for the next phone in the series.

As for new abilities, we still hope that some of the camera technology that Samsung first showed us on the Galaxy S20 series, and particularly the Galaxy S20 Ultra, comes across to the Note 20. As for the “canvas” itself (what you and I might call the display), a refresh rate increase to 120Hz looks to be in the works, which when combined with a size increase would make for the perfect place to try out whatever new S-Pen tricks Samsung decides to introduce.

Richard Priday
Assistant Phones Editor

Richard is based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, tablets, gaming, and whatever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he's also written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he's likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee.