Upgrading opinions on 20 series phones

[BeeehndBlueEyes]

It is time for me to get a new phone. I want to trade in my Note 9 but I can't decide what phone to get. 
I like that none of the S20 phones seem to be able to take a micro SD card.  I don't understand how they can make phones that do so much and cost so much and not give that option.  I didn't like the Note 9 that much so I don't want to keep it. The voice recognition is terrible which makes using this phone hands-free almost impossible. I use that almost exclusively because I have trouble with my hands. 
I could deal with not having an SD if I can get a phone with 256gb but most of them only have 128. At this point, I don't care if I get a Note phone or not. I am even willing to get a 10 series phone if necessary but they seem to be out of all of them too.   And then there is the Z-Flip.  Does anyone have one of those? Does it seem like the folding hinges are going to last? 
So I am wondering what phone some of you have and why did you picked that one. I am especially looking for one that has good voice recognition, an SD card, and a good camera which I guess is what everyone is looking for.  
Your opinions are very much appreciated. 

Thanks
J


Thanks. 
Jody                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

[BusyHoya]

dont get samsung. they come packed with ads. wait for oneplus 9.

[DGM]

A few thoughts for you.   Your phone is a great one and you might decide to keep it for another year or two.  5G is not that big of a deal right now.

Btw, most Samsung S20 series phones have SD card expansion slots.  I think they all will take 515 gb sd card which is way more than you'll ever need.  The only one that doesn't, I believe, is the Verizon S20.  For the Note series phones, I believe the  base model doesn't have an SD card, but the Note Ultra does (that's my recollection anyway).

I traded up from an S8+ phone and my S8 phone was great and about the same exact size as my new S20+.  Is the s20+ a great phone; yes. - - But I could have/should have waited another year or two for an upgrade. In another 1 - 2 years 5g may be worth getting.  It isn't now.

Finally, let me give you a tip as to what to do with your S9 or any other phone you decide to get.  Make your default keyboard is the "Googgle GBoard" (not the Samsung keyboard)... you will not believe the difference that makes on your voice recognition... it's like night & day!!!

Samsung always makes good phones.  Be sure to consider some insurance policy on whichever phone you get as things sometimes happen to our phones! - -  Whatever you decide on, good luck with your phones!

ps: Disregard the "ads comment".  That's no big deal;  there can be ads on a weather ap and/or your Samsung Pay.  Who cares... how long do you spend looking at the temperature or your bank card pic if you are using Samsung Pay???  - - There are many other pluses of the Samsung phone over the others.

Be sure to click  " ✓ Accept as Solution"  when you find an answer that works for you. - Thanks!

[BusyHoya]

you write disregard ads comments, but it is because of users like you who ignore those that samsung keeps pushing those ads in their phones. one day you will wake up and have ads on your lock screen. or given the premium prices, a user should not have to turn promo notifications from samsung. utterly disgusting.

[SelfProclaimedBest]

well I went from a note 8 to a note 20 ultra and its worlds apart different so to speak. I have a dual sim or sim and esim when my carry offers it, and 512gb with a slot for a 1 TB card if I want it. think the 21's are not SD card ones, at least, that's what was "leaked" for whatever that's worth. now the normal galaxy 20 ultra's camera has a better digital zoom (100x) vs the note (50x), but really though, both have a 5x optical zoom too I'm pretty sure and is a 108mp x 12mp x 12mp wide view rear capable or recording in 16:9 8k at 24 fps... lol only my phone can view it anywhere close to that but it's available! spen got some cool new features like being a wizard and waving it in the air and having it do things on your phone with out ever touching it including paging forward or backward in an app or controlling media in an app. portable shutter for your camera and controller for meetings in DEX. 5g works fine for me mostly, since its new if too many users on my net work are crowded up then I get a bump back to 4g is all, can download stuff almost as fast as my wifi depending on what it is. streams fine, no buffer issues yet. voice recognition has more to do with the service you are using or assist. there are good ones and bad ones I can give you recommendations if you let me know what you mainly use it for like calls, Bluetooth, fetching... ect. I was going for the zfold 2 5g but got the note 20 ultra instead. just seemed like just another thing I could potentially have a problem with just out of the blue and I'm more familiar with the note line so... to your last question... the note 20 ultra with the 512 gb and huge discounts being offered for qualified trade ins is pretty hard to beat I'd bet. and ads?? ehhhhhhhhh... I haven't had any ads on any Samsung phone if ever had, on downloaded apps sure but not from the factory. incase your into this kind of thing... the US version on the 20's using Snapdragon is supposed to be pretty much un-rootable. there are, however, a whole plethora of new ways to block bloat apps from the factory without having to so, (half my phone apps, system or otherwise don't do anything anymore unless I go to them directly.) I'd say, if you don't get the 20 line phone, just make sure whatever phone you get is 5g global able, esim, at least 256 gb, 12mp or higher camera, battery prolly 4500 super fast charging, memory card slot optional since most gonna use the cloud in the future, 8 processors, 12gb of ram... close to those and you'll be just fine for the foreseeable future.