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Samsung is one of the largest consumer electronics companies on the planet, with different arms making just about every device you could want in your home or in your pocket.
2020 has seen the company introduce a variety of new products, including new televisions, high-end smartphones, and a variety of other devices that you may have already purchased this year, or that you may be considering.
As 2020 wraps up, we’re taking a look at what we’ve seen from the company over the last year and showing you the biggest announcements Samsung has made.
Also expect great things from Samsung in the coming months as we expect the Samsung Galaxy S21 to land in early 2021 and we will likely see a new series of company announcements at CES 2021 as well.
Mobile phones: Samsung Galaxy S20 and more foldable
The best way to sum up Samsung’s year in smartphones is by telling you that the Samsung Galaxy S20 is still our best smartphone in the world right now. Despite announcements like the OnePlus 8 Pro and iPhone 12, Samsung has held onto its crown since unveiling its latest flagship Galaxy S series in early 2020.
That series of phones brought 5G to the mainstream Galaxy S series in a bigger way than we’ve seen before, the design was refined, there were some major camera improvements, and the company fully embraced 120Hz display technology as well.
It was also the debut of the new Galaxy S Ultra series, with the Galaxy S20 Ultra drawing a lot of attention with its defining 100x zoom camera. We don’t love that smartphone in general, but that rear camera is a phenomenal piece of tech nonetheless.
Then Samsung debuted its second foldable phone form factor: the Galaxy Z Flip. This clamshell device may look like a Nintendo Gameboy Advance SP, but it brought a whole new way of looking at folding phones into view.
Later in the year, Samsung introduced its Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra and the latter of those two devices received the most attention. It features a premium design, a powerful 108MP camera, and several S Pen enhancements over the Galaxy Note 10 series.
The Galaxy Note 20 didn’t impress us that much with its ‘Glasstic’ rear (which is glass and plastic together) and some substandard specs despite a very high price tag. If you want a 2020 Galaxy Note phone, we recommend spending more and going for the Note 20 Ultra.
Samsung’s foldable journey continued with the Galaxy Z Fold 2 which debuted in September with a variety of improvements over its predecessor. It’s more robust overall, plus the front screen is much more usable, as it has increased in size since the first-gen product.
Samsung also launched a new line of devices on the market this year for those who don’t want to spend that much but want impressive technology. The Galaxy S20 Fan Edition debuted in October with some bold, colorful designs and many of the S20’s high-end features without the super high price tag.
Overall, Samsung has had an impressive year in the Galaxy world with some high-end phones staying in the rankings of the best smartphones, as well as taking some bold steps into new worlds like the foldable space and the introduction of technology. 5G too.
TV: 8K innovations, but losing ground on the budget
In 2020, we needed home entertainment more than ever, and for most of us, our big screen TV was the place to find it. According to The NPD Group, sales of 65-inch TVs increased more than 50% year-on-year in the first half of 2020, meaning companies like Samsung managed what was otherwise a very difficult year.
To its credit, Samsung isn’t resting on its laurels here; While it might have pushed back on its R&D budget, the Korean company struggled forwards by announcing a host of new TV technologies, including most recently a consumer-oriented version of The Wall.
As screen sizes increase, Samsung is also one of the driving forces behind making them look better too – it has more 8K TV models than almost any other TV manufacturer, and it has openly embraced the necessary new HDMI 2.1 specification. for 4K at 120Hz or 8K / 60.
And yet, as Samsung pushes innovations in the high-end space more and more, it is losing ground in the budget space as TV makers like Vizio, TCL and Hisense enter the market with their own exceptional displays. . Those companies are doing incredible things to their advantage, but part of the reason for their success is that Samsung hasn’t put as much engineering effort into its Crystal UHD TVs as it has into its QLED line – the former are often cutting edge. -LED-LCD TV with a native refresh rate of 60 Hz and a basic scaler.
Without a crystal ball it’s impossible to say for sure what Samsung will prepare for 2021, but if it turns out to be something like this year, expect even larger displays, a greater emphasis on 8K resolution, and a wider range of HDMI 2.1 support. . TVs that you can pair with the new Xbox Series X and PS5.
Audio: New true wireless, but no Galaxy Home
It’s been a busy year for Samsung’s audio wing, with multiple launches throughout 2020 and more on the horizon.
In February, the company announced the follow-up to the Samsung Galaxy Buds true wireless earbuds; The Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus offered better battery life and superior audio quality compared to their predecessors, but failed to really take off due to a lack of active noise cancellation and limited audio codec support.
Then in August, we had the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live, a pair of unusual bean-shaped true wireless earbuds that had been the subject of rumors for months prior to launch.
These strange earbuds represented a dramatic design change for Samsung and were unlike any of the earphones we had seen before. They also came with the promise of noise cancellation, although their ‘semi-open’ design meant they couldn’t compete with the Apple AirPods Pro in this regard.
More recently, we’ve heard rumors that Samsung is about to release another pair of true wireless earbuds. While we don’t think they will materialize before the end of the year, the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro are said to launch in January 2021 alongside the new Galaxy S21 series. Is that ‘Pro’ in the name a nod to the AirPods Pro and a hint that they might come with active noise cancellation? We’ll have to wait and see.
An audio device we didn’t see this year? The long-awaited Samsung Galaxy Home smart speaker. We’ve been waiting for the launch of the Google rival Nest and Amazon Echo for over two years now, and while we’ve almost given up hope at this point, Samsung released a mini version of the smart speaker in February from South Korea. So far, the Samsung Galaxy Home Mini has yet to leave the company’s territory, suggesting that it may have been just a promotional launch. In any case, we are not going to hold our breath for a Samsung smart speaker in the near future.
Wearables: Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 is another triumph
Wearables haven’t been Samsung’s focus of attention in 2020, but it has made impressive breakthroughs in the market by taking our best smartwatch mantle for a couple of months with its latest high-end wrist.
That’s the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 that debuted in August this year, and the new smartwatch brought a lot of what we love about the Galaxy Watch with some impressive tweaks and design changes.
Rather than change everything we expect from a smartwatch, it refined the experience with an EKG, better battery life than its predecessor, and more powerful internals as well.
The Galaxy Watch 3 was knocked out of the top spot on our list of best smartwatches a couple of months later with the introduction of the Apple Watch SE, but for many the Galaxy Watch 3 will be the best smartwatch experience.
Also, Samsung reintroduced itself to the fitness tracker market in early September. The Samsung Galaxy Fit 2 has a two-week battery life and is the company’s latest attempt at taking on Fitbit.
