Why Did Samsung Stop Making The Galaxy Note?
The first Samsung Galaxy Note was unveiled in 2011, and it immediately became popular for its large size and the inclusion of the S Pen stylus. Over the years, the Note line continued to set the standard for "phablets" — devices with a form factor somewhere between phones and tablets. People clearly wanted something that was large yet still portable, and powerful enough to handle productive multitasking. But the Galaxy Note 20 series, released in 2020, was the last we ever saw of this product. So, why exactly did Samsung stop making the Galaxy Note?
The best official explanation comes from Samsung's president and head of mobile communication, TM Roh, who said in 2021 (via TechRadar), "Instead of unveiling a new Galaxy Note this time around, we will further broaden beloved Note features to more Samsung Galaxy devices." One of those features is the Note's signature S Pen, which has since made its way to the Galaxy Ultra series and Samsung's foldable phones. This makes sense, considering all of the useful Samsung S Pen features that are now available on a wider variety of devices.
A disastrous recall was the first domino to fall in the death of the Galaxy Note
Five years before Samsung announced the end of the Note series, a huge batch of faulty products signaled the beginning of the end. In September 2016, Samsung recalled 2.5 million phones following reports that Galaxy Note 7 devices were catching fire. The following month, the company announced that it would cease production of the Note 7 altogether.
The Note 7 has naturally gone down in history as one of the worst Samsung phones of all time. New Note phones continued to come out for the next few years afterward, but it's easy to imagine that the company might have been eager to come up with a new product that could take over the Note's niche in the market under a new name.
Samsung confirmed as much at Mobile World Congress 2022. Upon announcing the Galaxy S22 Ultra phone, TM Roh said (via Notebookcheck), "[the] Galaxy Note will come out as an 'ultra' every year in the future." The Ultra models are larger, more powerful versions of the standard Galaxy S flagship phones that also come with a built-in S Pen, making them a close successor to the Note's legacy in both form and function. And if you want something that feels even more like a tablet that fits in your pocket, that's where the Z Fold and Z Flip series come in.
Will Samsung ever bring back the Note?
The Galaxy Note is not likely to ever make a comeback. Samsung went into damage control mode after discontinuing the Note 7. After all, a tech company's reputation will naturally suffer when everyone knows that its products are catching on fire. The Note is synonymous with that disastrous moment in Samsung's mobile business, and no company would want its customers to remember such a catastrophic failure.
It's still possible to use an old Samsung Galaxy Note, but with some serious limitations. Samsung released the last official security update for the Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra in August 2025. If you're still holding on to your Note phone, it's probably suffering from security vulnerabilities and battery degradation by now.
Does that mean it's time to move on to a Galaxy Ultra or a foldable phone if you're a fan of the Galaxy Note? We reviewed the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and found it to be a refined product that's worth buying if you haven't upgraded in a while. Our review of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 highlighted many of the attributes that make it a very desirable product, albeit with an incredibly high price tag. But if you're looking for something that feels as premium now as the Note did back in 2011, then you'll appreciate all of the features exclusive to foldable phones.