Samsung Galaxy Note20 camera is blurry, shakes or will not focus

The checks in more detail

The telephoto's 64 MP sensor takes 12 MP pictures by default, and the zoom steps from the main to the telephoto camera at 3x, so a picture at 2x is a digital crop from the main camera and soft. The Note20's Single take, Pro video and 8K modes put heavy loads on the chip, and the camera lags or the phone heats at those settings, so try 4K. Check for software updates and test in Safe mode. A lens that stays blurred after cleaning needs a repair, and the Samsung Members camera diagnostic tests each lens. Moving to 3x and back sometimes clears a stuck lens.

Pro mode and the S Pen's remote shutter are also worth testing: if the shutter button on the S Pen works and the screen shutter does not, the camera app is fine and a screen fault is more likely. Use the Samsung Members camera diagnostic to test each lens and the autofocus. The S Pen's Air actions allow remote camera control, which is useful for group photos, and if your camera behaves oddly only in remote mode, check the S Pen's battery.

For night shots, use Night mode and a steady hold, since the Note20's sensors produce soft pictures in low light without a long exposure, and a small tripod helps. Check the camera's flash and the laser autofocus sensor on the back near the flash, since both can be smudged by a case or a finger, and a thin film from a phone case's inner lining can cloud the sensor over time. Wipe the area gently with a microfibre cloth and look at the glass under bright light to see any haze that cleaning will not remove, which would mean a lens repair.