Online complaints allege defects in Galaxy Note 20 Ultra

A series of complaints surfaced on online tech forums Wednesday about defects in the latest Galaxy Note 20 Ultra edition.

Over 100 complaints were posted on the Samsung Smartphone Community, one of the largest online communities for Galaxy device users, suggesting that customers who preordered the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra have detected flaws in their phones.

The first major issue was raised Tuesday, when it was revealed that some of the camera lenses may have a condensation problem.

Multiple users say the lenses of the largest-ever camera module on the rear of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra turned foggy after they used their phones in scorching weather.

Samsung has officially announced that this is a normal phenomenon that occurs in waterproof phones, but will collect some of the problematic devices and carry out an investigation.

However, complaints about other flaws and problems have continued.

Some YouTubers and users say there are two other problems. First, dust particles were spotted inside camera modules. Second, a lens and the ring surrounding it fit poorly, creating a gap.

While Samsung is not allowing users who have complained about foggy cameras to exchange their devices, referring them to the company’s repair centers instead, the company is offering exchanges for some of the devices with structural problems, according to comments on the online communities.

Regarding the alleged dust and structural faults with the camera, a Samsung official told The Korea Herald, “If engineers at repair centers judge that the problems would affect the original functions of the camera, exchanges are allowed.”

However, the exchange policy doesn’t necessarily mean that the devices have serious defects, the official said.

“The dust and structure issues are under control at production lines as it has been with other products,” the Samsung official said. “Considering the massive volume of the new phones released into the market, it is difficult to deal with every single complaint as we cannot immediately figure out how they were using the phones.”

Samsung said Sunday that the official tally for registration of the Galaxy Note 20 series stood at 258,000, up 10 percent over the comparable figure for the Galaxy Note 10 series.

By Song Su-hyun and Kim Byung-wook (song@heraldcorp.com) (kbw@heraldcorp.com)