Samsung broke a lot of peoples hearts when it discontinued the Galaxy Note series. It was a necessary evil for the company. It wanted to create space for the Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip handsets which are released around the same time that new Galaxy Note handsets used to be launched. The company couldn't have two new foldables alongside two new Galaxy Note devices on the market at the same time, they would have cannibalized each other.
So the decision was ultimately made to discontinue the standalone Galaxy Note series. Samsung opted for a middle-of-the-road approach by essentially resurrecting the Galaxy Note lineup with the Galaxy S22 Ultra. It had the similar boxy silhouette and had the S Pen inside the device itself. Since then, all Ultra models have been the same. Anybody wanting the Galaxy Note experience now knows that they need to get the Galaxy S Ultra instead.
While that may have been true initially, I would argue that it's not the case anymore, and that the Galaxy Z Fold series has emerged as the true successor to the Galaxy Note. There's the simple fact that the Galaxy Z Fold models are moving from strength to strength every year. They're getting more capable, more durable, more productivity-focused, and evidently more targeted towards professional users, hitting all of the same marks as the Galaxy Note devices.
There's also the fact that the internal foldable display has support for the S Pen. Sure, it doesn't carry the stylus within the device, but the Z Fold models continue to get more and more S Pen functions, enabling users to extract the most out of the screen real estate. The fact that it's a massive 7.6-inch panel only adds to its appeal, since you have a very large canvas to make the most of the S Pen with.
This seems like the natural progression for the Galaxy Note series. Samsung would have needed to break beyond the display size barrier in the candybar form factor eventually, otherwise, the Galaxy Note lineup would have ended up feeling a bit stale a few years down the line. Having more S Pen features on a larger display feels just right.
It's also true that the day one experience of the Galaxy Z Fold models tends to be better compared to the Galaxy S models. The out of the box experience seems to be more refined and you rarely encounter any software gremlins that need to be worked out. That used to be the case with the Galaxy Note models as well, they always felt a bit more refined and polished in every aspect compared to the Galaxy S models from earlier in the year.
Galaxy Note loyalists understand that there's no chance of the series making the comeback. They have to make do with what Samsung's offering them right now, and I'd argue that instead of going for a Galaxy S Ultra model, they should buy the new Galaxy Z Fold 6 instead to capture the real Galaxy Note essence.
If you've got a Galaxy Note 20 Ultra hanging around, it's time to trade it in for the latest foldable. You can get $600 for it if you pre-order the Galaxy Z Fold 6 from Samsung.com. This would make the price of upgrading to the latest foldable more palatable, and enable you to experience the best of what Samsung has to offer right now.
