The wait for fans of the Samsung Galaxy series is finally over. The South Koreans have now officially presented the new units of their flagship series. In addition to the “normal” Galaxy S20, two more devices have been added, of which we could only expect one, at least in terms of name. The Galaxy S20 Plus is the successor of last year’s reference model S10 Plus. But Samsung has introduced a new top model. The Galaxy series gets a new addition with the Galaxy S20 Ultra.
The name
In terms of naming, Samsung didn’t spill the beans, they scooped the beans. After all, you simply doubled last year’s number in the name. But in view of the year 2020, not too much should be read into the naming process. From now on, the devices of the industry leader should always bear the year in their name. But Samsung also unveiled a smartphone without a year in its name at its event in San Francisco – the Galaxy Z Flip. Due to its compact size, it is a completely different notch than the Galaxy S20 series.
“Ultra” is the new “Plus”
While Samsung has always relied on the “Plus” designation for its top model in recent years, this year the Koreans have gone one better. The new reference product is not only called Ultra – the corresponding technical data reads accordingly. Samsung is thus taking a surprising step. After all, last year they focused on the Galaxy S10e, a comparatively inexpensive model that should find its buyers alongside the normal S10 and the S10 Plus.
The Galaxy S20 Ultra has a screen diagonal of no less than 6.9 inches. Thus, it not only passes for a phablet, but almost as a tablet. After all, it offers only one inch less screen diagonal than the iPad Mini. The weight is correspondingly large. According to Samsung, the Galaxy S20 Ultra should weigh a proud 220 grams. Apart from weight and size, the quality of the workmanship is also striking. Samsung relies on respectable transitions from the display to the back of the glass in its top product. There isn’t much space in between either. After all, the new Galaxy S20 devices have almost no screen edges.
Four cameras on the top model
Of course the new Ultra stole the show from its siblings. Not least the camera was responsible for this. Here Samsung relies on a quadruple camera, which comes along with incredible 108 megapixels. Not everyone will like the large camera module on the back. After all, not only does it look a little “clumsy”, but unfortunately it also sticks out of the housing. Photo enthusiasts will be able to overlook it, though. After all, the main sensor offers up to 108 megapixels, which in theory allows photos with a resolution of 12,032 x 9,024 pixels. .
However, the default setting of 12 megapixels saves a lot of storage space. In addition to the high pixel density, the Ultra’s camera also features a sensor that enables wide-angle shooting, a depth-of-field sensor that captures the depth of field and a telephoto sensor that enables a fourx optical zoom. But if that’s not enough for you, you can magnify subjects up to 100x. For the front camera, Samsung relies on a camera with 40 megapixels.
Fast movements thanks to 120 Hertz
But of course the innovations are not only reserved for the Ultra. The classic Galaxy S20 and the S20 Plus have also seen some changes. Above all, the design changes are immediately obvious. After all, Samsung says “goodbye” to the typical edge design. The user now looks into an OLED display, which is slightly rounded at the sides. Unlike its predecessor, the now much smaller front camera has moved from the right-hand side to the middle. Especially the option to increase the refresh rate from classic 60 to 120 Hertz will please many. This ensures a strikingly soft display, but also goes at the expense of the battery. Moreover, the resolution in 120 hertz mode drops from WQHD to full HD. For this reason, Samsung also relies on classic 60 hertz in the standard setting.
Light magnification to last year
Samsung has also increased the screen diagonals on the classic models. For example, the normal S20 now has 6.2 inches instead of last year’s 6.1 inch on the Galaxy S10. The Galaxy S20 Plus has again increased from 6.5 inches to 6.7 inches. The two smaller models do not show off as much as the Ultra. They only share the wide-angle sensor in the same good quality. Otherwise, both have only slightly weakened versions of the S20 Ultra’s sensors. For example, the main sensor has only 12 megapixels and the telephoto sensor only offers a triple zoom. While the Galaxy S20 “only” has three sensors, the S20 Plus has a fourth sensor with depth of field information. Nevertheless, the two smaller devices offer similar high-end features as the Ultra. For example, it is also possible to record 8K videos. Whether this is really relevant at the moment is more than questionable in the absence of suitable playback devices. On paper, however, it looks good.
A lot of power under the hood
All three new Galaxy S models feature the Exynos 990 processor, specially developed by Samsung. This has a clock rate of up to 2.73 GHz and is said to be much faster than that of its predecessors. Whilst the 5G module will be optional in the S20 and S20 Plus in this country, it is standard in the S20 Ultra. In the top model of the Galaxy S20 Ultra, Samsung has built in an incredible 12 and 16 GB RAM, respectively. The smaller siblings still have a blazingly fast RAM of 8 or 12 GB. Samsung has not let itself be lumpen this year with the internal memory. All three smartphones offer at least 128 GB of memory. The two larger ones can also be optionally purchased with 512 GB of memory. Fortunately, Samsung allows for memory expansion of up to 1TB – a microSD makes it possible.
Large battery
Samsung has given the Galaxy S20 a 4000 mAh battery. The somewhat larger S20 Plus in turn receives a bit more battery power with 4500 mAh. Both the classic S20 and the S20 Plus and S20 Ultra support wireless charging. Here, a performance of up to 15 watts is now also possible. Furthermore, all three new models support the function as a Qi charging station.
Samsung has built a gigantic battery with 5000 mAh into the Galaxy S20 Ultra. However, you probably won’t notice much difference to the normal S20 or the S20 Plus. After all, the S20 Ultra’s large display will swallow a corresponding amount of battery power. If the battery charge should ever come to an end, the S20 Ultra offers a quick charge function that is quite impressive. Theoretically, the quick charge should be possible with a 45 watt adapter. But here one does not speak of “theory” without reason. After all, Samsung doesn’t provide the S20 Ultra with a correspondingly large adapter, but one with 25 watts of power. But even the 25 watts should be enough to fully charge the giant smartphone within a maximum of 90 minutes.
Much of the same old stuff – only better
When it comes to security, Samsung relies on the technology of its predecessor models. For example, the South Koreans have once again installed a fingerprint sensor that uses ultrasound and sits under the display. However, the corresponding “scanning surface” should now be easier to reach. In addition to the fingerprint sensor, face recognition can also be used again. The new Galaxy models do have one big change. The jack plug had to say goodbye now. The smartphones have their only connection with their USB-C port. This probably follows from the IP68 certification, which now officially declares the smartphones as protected against dust and water.
Prices and availability
On 13 March 2020, the time should be right. Then Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20 Plus and Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G will be launched. The Galaxy S20 should be available from a RRP of 899 Euro. Those who are interested in a Galaxy S20 including 5G module will have to pay at least 100 Euro more. For the Galaxy S20 Plus, a minimum of 999 euros will be charged. In the largest version, the Galaxy S20 Ultra costs an impressive 1549 euro. However, for this you get a smartphone with a lot of high-end technology under the hood.
