Samsung reminds Galaxy Note users that the S Pen lives on

The demise of the Galaxy Note series is nothing new. And neither is the Galaxy S23 Ultra itself, as Samsung announced the flagship at the beginning of February. Nevertheless, Samsung believes that the time has come (again) to sway Galaxy Note users into upgrading to the Galaxy S23 Ultra, admitting that the latest Ultra model is essentially a spiritual successor to the now-discontinued Galaxy Note series.

In a blog post on the Malaysian portal, Samsung says that “the Galaxy Note series has served you well for many years” and invites customers that are looking “for a worthy successor” to consider upgrading to the 2023 premium Galaxy S flagship. “You will find one [successor] in the Galaxy S23 Ultra,” Samsung confidently says.

The Galaxy Note 20 series, which is the last S Pen device to carry the Note name, was released in August 2020 with Android 10 on board. It received the Android 13 update, but the Galaxy Note 20 series isn't eligible for Samsung's new four-year upgrade policy. It will never receive Android 14.

Samsung is gearing up for the Android 14 beta

The Korean tech giant is expected to launch a public Android 14 beta program later this year, possibly in September. And although the Galaxy Note 20 series won't be invited, the Galaxy S23 trio of flagships will be the first to join the beta program. Existing Note 20 users who will want to experience the new firmware will have to pick a new phone, and we must agree that the Galaxy S23 Ultra is the only true successor to the series.

Like Samsung, we dubbed the Galaxy S23 Ultra the spiritual successor to the Galaxy Note series. Because it is. The S23 Ultra is a Galaxy Note with a different label. It has a similar square-ish form factor as the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, a slightly curved display, and an embedded S Pen with all the iconic productivity apps included.

To make things easier for Malaysian Galaxy Note users wanting to transition to the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Samsung has prepared discounts worth RM 500 ($108) and RM 1,000 ($218) for the 512GB and 1TB models.