The smartphone that all of us have been waiting for is finally here, unveiled at the Galaxy Unpacked event in San Francisco. The leaks pretty much gave everything away but now that it is officially here, let’s dive in.
Design and Display
The smallest phone in the lineup, the Galaxy S20 has a 6.2-inch display while the Galaxy S20+ comes in at 6.7-inch and the Galaxy S20 Ultra at a massive 6.9-inch respectively.
All three models support Quad HD+ resolution and use Samsung’s new Dynamic AMOLED 2X displays. The displays are HDR10+ certified and come with a 120Hz refresh rate, which is only available at Full HD+ resolution and if you decided to stick with the Quad HD+ resolution, you’ll have to make do with 60Hz.
As for the design, there’s an aluminum frame sandwiched between two Gorilla Glass 6 slabs. On the front, the S20 series uses the Infinity-O display with a single hole punch camera at the top of the display in addition to an under-display ultrasonic fingerprint scanner.
The back features the Samsung branding at the bottom and rectangular camera bumps on all three phones. The camera bump on the S20 Ultra is larger than the other two, we’ll get to that in a moment.
The buttons have been moved to the right of the phone and the left side is clean now, as Samsung has decided to finally remove the dedicated Bixby button. On the bottom, there’s the loudspeaker and the USB Type C port but unfortunately no headphone jack.
Internals and Storage
The S20 series is an absolute powerhouse, featuring the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 in the US and Exynos 990 globally. Graphics will be handled by the Adreno 650 (US) or the Mali-G77 MP11 GPU (global).
As for the storage and RAM configuration, it differs for the LTE and 5G variants. The Galaxy S20 and S20+ LTE comes with 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. The 5G variant of the S20 and S20+ get 12GB RAM, however, the S20 5G is limited to 128GB storage while the S20+ has a 128 GB, 256GB and 512GB option.
The Galaxy S20 Ultra only comes in a 5G variant, starting at 12GB RAM with an option of 128GB or 256GB internal storage. In addition to a 16GB RAM variant with 512GB internal storage.
All three come with microSD card slots with up to 1 TB of expandable storage.
Cameras
Perhaps one of the biggest improvement over last year’s S-series comes in the camera department.
The Galaxy S20 and S20+ come with a triple and quad-camera setup on the back respectively.
The primary camera features a 12MP unit with f/1.8 aperture, supporting Dual Pixel PDAF and OIS. There’s no variable aperture this time around.
The telephoto lens uses an f/2.0 64MP sensor with OIS, supporting up to 3x of optical zoom. There’s Super-Resolution Zoom, which allows you to zoom up to 30x.
The third camera is a 12MP ultra-wide lens with an f/2.2 aperture and 120-degree FOV as compared to 79Ëš on the main camera.
Apart from these three cameras, the S20+ also has a 0.3MP DepthVision Camera for bokeh shots.
The Galaxy S20 Ultra is a different kind of beast. The primary camera is a 108MP sensor with an f/1.8 aperture. The telephoto lens uses a periscope style setup and has a 48MP sensor with an f/3.5 aperture. As a result, it can optically zoom up to 10x and the Super Resolution Zoom enables up to 100x hybrid zoom.
In the video recording department, there’s an option to shoot 8K/24fps videos on all three devices. The S20 Ultra is also capable of taking 33MP stills while recording an 8K video.
The front cameras on the S20 and S20+ are 10MP whereas there’s a 40MP front camera on the S20 Ultra.
Battery and Charging Support
The battery capacity across all 3 devices has increased given the 120Hz refresh rate and 5G support.
The Galaxy S20 uses a 4,000 mAh battery, with a 4,500 mAh unit on the Galaxy S20+ and a 5,000 mAh battery on the Galaxy S20 Ultra. Both the S20 and S20+ support fast charging up to 25W while the S20 Ultra supports up to 45W.
Reverse wired and wireless charging is available on all 3 so you can charge your accessories on the go.
Prices
As far as the pricing is concerned, the Galaxy S20 starts at $999 (~Rs. 154,163) for the 5G variant. Since the 4G variant isn’t available in the US, its price wasn’t shared on stage but it’s set at €899 (~Rs. 151,340).
The Galaxy S20+ 4G starts at €999 (~Rs. 168,167) while the 5G variant starts from $1,199 (~Rs. 185,027).
The Galaxy S20 Ultra starts at an eye-watering $1,399 (~Rs. 215,890), which is higher than the Galaxy Z Flip foldable phone.
Availability hasn’t been revealed yet. Expect the S20 series to launch in Pakistan in late March.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Specifications
| Specifications | Samsung Galaxy S20 | Samsung Galaxy S20+ | Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra |
| CPU | Octa-core (2×2.3 GHz Kryo 360 Gold & 6×1.7 GHz Kryo 360 Silver) | Octa-core (2×2.3 GHz Kryo 360 Gold & 6×1.7 GHz Kryo 360 Silver) | Octa-core (2×2.3 GHz Kryo 360 Gold & 6×1.7 GHz Kryo 360 Silver) |
| GPU | Adreno 616 | Adreno 616 | Adreno 616 |
| Chipset | Qualcomm SD 865 | Qualcomm SD 865 | Qualcomm SD 865 |
| OS | Android 10, One UI 2.0 | Android 10, One UI 2.0 | Android 10, One UI 2.0 |
| Networks | 2G, 3G, 4G LTE, 5G | 2G, 3G, 4G LTE, 5G | 2G, 3G, 4G LTE, 5G |
| Display | 6.2-inch WQHD+ (1440 x 3200 pixels) Dynamic AMOLED | 6.7-inch WQHD+ (1440 x 3200 pixels) Dynamic AMOLED | 6.9-inch WQHD+ (1440 x 3200 pixels) Dynamic AMOLED |
| Memory | (8GB, 12GB)/(128GB) | (8GB, 12GB)/(128GB, 256GB) | (12GB, 16GB)/ (128GB, 512GB) |
| Camera | Primary: 12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP | Primary: 12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP + ToF | Primary: 108 MP + 48 MP + 12 MP + ToF |
| Selfie: 10 MP | Selfie: 10 MP | Selfie: 40 MP | |
| Connectivity | LTE, USB type-C, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, | LTE, USB type-C, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, | LTE, USB type-C, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, |
| Fingerprint scanner | In-display | In-display | In-display |
| Battery | 4000 mAh | 4500 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Price | $999 | $1,199 | $1,399 |
