Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Could Be The First Xbox Phone, Leak Claims

While other tech giants are releasing gaming smartphones, Samsung is busy working on other devices that are meant to appeal to a wide range of consumers. A new report, however, claims that one of the South Korean tech giant's upcoming flagships, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, will be the first handset that's optimized to stream Xbox games over xCloud.

Will Samsung's new Galaxy Note 20 Ultra be the first Xbox phone? Here's a quick look at the details of the report.

A new flagship

Samsung is expected to announce a slew of new devices via the upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event on Aug. 5. The company is expected to unveil the new Galaxy Fold 2, the Galaxy Z Flip 5G and the new Galaxy Note 20 series.

A report from German tech site WinFuture stated that the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra features a “whole series of innovations” that include “an optimization for Microsoft's game streaming via Xbox Game Pass.”

The said optimization is but the fifth feature that Samsung is expected to highlight when it reveals the new Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. This feature, however, makes it the first among many smartphones to offer cloud gaming via Xbox Game Pass.

The Verge noted that while this new feature might come as a surprise to fans, it shouldn't be because Samsung and Microsoft have developed partnerships over the past year. Microsoft's Satya Nadella, for example, appeared at Samsung's Galaxy Note launch event last year to announce that some of the software giant's apps will be preinstalled in the smartphone giant's Galaxy Note 10.

Cloud-based game streaming

More recently, the two companies also announced that they are partnering to bring a cloud-based game streaming service to consumers. If WinFuture's report proves to be accurate, it appears that the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra's new feature is the fruit of such a partnership.

The German tech site claimed that the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra will allow players to enjoy online video game streaming via Project xCloud. Users, via the Xbox Game Pass, will have at least 90 games available for them once the device is launched, the report said.

This will effectively make the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra a “portable game console” even if it's not a gaming phone like Asus' and Razer's.