Design and Features
The Samsung Galaxy S20 is a slightly larger deviation from the design that we’ve seen Samsung gradually iterate from Galaxy S8 to Galaxy S10. The new phone is still a glass sandwich with an aluminum frame in the middle, but now it’s all Gorilla Glass 6. Samsung has dramatically toned down the curved glass edges of the screen. The rear glass also shines delightfully.
All of that glass presents a risk of falling, but Samsung includes a basic screen protector pre-installed on the front of the device. It’s not as sturdy as some other protectors (like the one pre-installed on the OnePlus 5), as the edge of my driver’s license was able to etch a small slot in the protector after a couple of weeks pressed into a folio case.
However, Samsung has kept intact the protection of the internal parts of the device against water and dust, backing it up with an IP68 rating that should be good for dives of up to 30 minutes in water of up to 1.5 meters (just under five feets).Sadly, for all the stuff Samsung has saved from generation to generation, the 3.5mm headphone jack had its last cheer on the Galaxy S10. Samsung ships a pair of USB-C headphones with the phone, but not a 3.5mm USB adapter. For those who like flexibility, at least Samsung has not removed the microSD slot for expandable storage.
Samsung’s screen has received an update this year. While the S20 maintains tight proportions and a light weight of 163 grams, it fits on a 6.2-inch screen. The hole-punch camera also takes up less screen space compared to the Galaxy S10, and is more wisely located in the center, where you can split notifications and system information displayed in the Android status bar.
The screen is not only bigger but also sharper at 3,200 x 1,440. It supports HDR10 + and is very bright. In the case of videos, this provides a surprising experience that only improves with the contrast ratio that an AMOLED screen offers. Some HDR videos and a Cosmos Laundromat replay show just how much the screen is capable of, and it’s assisted by a set of decent stereo speakers that can deliver a hint of surround sound.
The brightness of the screen also translates into usability, as I had no trouble using the phone even in direct sunlight. Samsung has also introduced a 120Hz refresh rate, available by lowering the screen resolution to 2,400 x 1,080. This smooths out animations, scrolling, and gaming, but I was surprised that it didn’t feel as noticeable as switching to a monitor with a high refresh rate.
Samsung’s fingerprint reader is also embedded in the screen, though facial recognition is often so quick to unlock the phone that I don’t have a chance to use my fingerprint.
The most noticeable difference in design is the new camera settings on the back of the phone. The Galaxy S20 has a three-sensor array, all tucked away in the corner of the phone. This makes it a large rectangular chamber bump. Samsung has also moved the power and volume buttons to the right side of the phone and has abandoned the Bixby button, although the default power button starts Bixby if you press and hold it.
One of the most important features for the Galaxy S20 is the inclusion of 5G, which is made quite clear by the official name: Samsung Galaxy S20 5G (although other countries have a non-5G version available). The new connectivity standard is a 4G upgrade, and mobile operators are slowly rolling it out across the country. The Galaxy S20 supports low and mid band (Sub-6) 5G connections, without the mmWave support offered by its two older siblings.
software
The Galaxy S20 comes out of the box with Android 10 and Samsung’s One UI 2 running on top of that. Samsung’s iteration of Android 10 is pretty straightforward, and I’m impressed by the considerable customization that’s available.
By default, there is an excess of software, and a page called Samsung Daily tries to hook into a prominent place right next to the home screen. But, almost all pre-installed software can be uninstalled or disabled. I was just stuck with an additional Calendar and Contacts app as I couldn’t remove them after installing the Google versions.
Samsung also goes a long way in allowing the phone to behave the way you want. I prefer the classic navigation buttons, and could use them instead of Android 10 gesture navigation. I could also swap the positions of the Back and Recent apps buttons. By default, swiping up or down anywhere on the home screen would open the app drawer, but you could change the swipe down to reduce the notification tone, making it easy to use with one hand.
Control can be even more granular than that, with many energy-saving options and even recharge rates; There is no need to use the 25W fast charge if you only charge overnight.
Also on special offer here is Samsung’s Dex utility, which effectively turns the phone into a computer. I tested this by simply connecting the phone to an Aukey UBS-C random hub I had out there, and as soon as I connected it to a monitor, the Galaxy S20 activated Dex mode. That allowed me to turn the phone into a touchpad and power a desktop PC environment. It worked right away with a USB keyboard and mouse, and I could still use the phone’s camera, making it a plausible big-screen option for video chats.
Games and performance
The Galaxy S20 is powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset with 12GB LPDDR5 and 128GB of storage. That makes him a powerful animal when it comes to performance. Throughout my tests, I let the phone run in its power optimized mode so I could have the best idea of how it would balance speed and battery life, and I rarely saw as much as a hiccup.
It ran through Asphalt 9, running smooth and sharp. All of that memory meant that I could quit the game right when a race started, check my text messages, send a picture of something I’d seen earlier in the day, and get back to the game without having to reload anything. . Mobile gamers will find some shortcomings here.
The phone may run a little hot, as I discovered after a 90-minute video call with the bright screen. But, that’s quite reasonable considering the stress that a call like that can affect the processor and battery at the same time. In general use, I haven’t noticed that the phone spews too much heat.
The Galaxy S20 includes an admirable 4,000 mAh battery. The only times I was concerned about not making it to the end of the day were when I hadn’t loaded it the night before. I frequently found my charge above 50% at the end of the day. That 90-minute video call I had was on the afternoon of the second day on one charge. That’s a testament to how the phone can withstand general use in power optimized mode. It also means that Samsung’s inclusion of WirelessShare makes more sense, as there is definitely enough juice to share with other devices.
Granted, most of the performance of this battery was with the screen in Full HD + and running at 60Hz, although switching to 120Hz suddenly didn’t see the battery not survive a full day’s use.
Let’s not forget 5G. As things stand, there is only so much of that for everyone. I tested the Galaxy S20 in Chicago on the T-Mobile network, which has extensive 5G coverage. But most of the time, I couldn’t have told you the difference between it and 4G LTE. I saw a speed test higher than 56 Mbps, but that’s a far cry from Gigabit speeds. While midband connections like those available on the Sprint network can be much faster, it is primarily about regional availability (even at the neighborhood level).
Camera
The Galaxy S20 includes a 10MP front-facing camera, a 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera, a 12MP wide-angle camera, and a 64MP telephoto camera. Among the four of me, I struggled to find a shot I couldn’t make.
The wide-angle sensor offers a 120-degree field of view that generally allows me to get even more out of the shot than I intended. It is a good problem, since trimming is a quick solution. The default sensor (1x) offers a good balance of sharpness and field of view.
The telephoto lens can take great photos with a 3x zoom and even offers viable images at 10x. But, when it is marked all the way down to the maximum 30x zoom, it’s clear that Samsung just sprayed some magic powder on a digital zoom that would otherwise be straightforward. While the other camera modes work for art, the 30x zoom is strictly utilitarian. It is so processed into the photo that it is difficult to make sure you get the shot you want until after you have taken it.
That little disappointment continues in night mode. Just like Space Zoom is a smart branding for digital zoom, Night Mode here feels like a smart branding for a long shutter speed. It has interesting results if you have a stationary subject and a steady hand, but a three-second shutter is far from point-and-shoot.
There is a bit of video on the Galaxy S20. Supports 4K at 60fps on the front and rear cameras, or up to 8K on the back. The phone seems to be optimized with 4K / 60 in mind as that is where I saw that its features work best. Compared to Full HD + with HDR10 + enabled or 8K, the 4K60 setup worked much better by taking advantage of zoom capabilities. Switching sensors in a single recording was awkward when using a video format that was not 60fps, but otherwise it was perfectly smooth and even avoided sudden color changes.
HDR10 + video recording is supported, but Samsung disables the option in settings, allowing me to unsuccessfully touch the switch without explaining or telling me why I couldn’t turn it on. This is almost as frustrating as the camera setup on LG phones, although not as widespread. The phone requires reducing the resolution to Full HD (or Full HD +) at 30 fps before HDR10 + can turn on, so there is no 4K / 60 on HDR10 +.
Shopping guide
The Samsung Galaxy S20 sells for a starting price of $ 999, while the updated Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus and S20 Ultra cost $ 1,199 and $ 1,399, respectively. All three phones come with a base specification of 128GB of storage and 12GB of memory.
