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Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra review: Too exceptional for most customers

There aren't many phones out there, from Samsung or other OEMs, that use "Ultra" in their names. Information technology seems Samsung realized that information technology would accept to do justice to this discussion if it decided to phone call the acme-of-the-line 2020 flagship the Galaxy S20 Ultra. It became clear on the twenty-four hour period Samsung unveiled the Milky way S20 serial that information technology meant business with the Ultra.

Samsung can pump out respectable flagship smartphones that hold their own against competitors every twelvemonth without breaking a sweat. Being good enough wasn't the objective of the Ultra. Samsung wanted to make something that would truly wow both its fans and its detractors. So it threw everything and the kitchen sink at the Galaxy S20 Ultra. It has the largest display, the biggest battery and the all-time specs of any Milky way Due south flagship, not to mention the completely bonkers camera setup with up to 100x zoom.

It's one affair to have an absolute spec monster on paper, to accept bragging rights for features that don't exist on other smartphones, but simply how useful all of that is for customers who spend $one,400 on the telephone is another matter altogether. Make no fault, $1,400 is a lot of money, and the Milky way S20 Ultra must exist a pretty darn special device to justify that price tag. So, is information technology? Does Samsung's most outrageous smartphone however live up to expectations? That's what we'll discover out in this Galaxy S20 Ultra review.

Annotation: This review is based on the Exynos-powered Galaxy S20 Ultra LTE with 12GB of RAM.

Milky way S20 Ultra design

I of the reasons why we are then excited about the Galaxy Z Flip is because information technology brings a refreshing change to the monotony of smartphone design. Despite all of its ultra-ness, the Milky way S20 Ultra is decidedly understated. There'southward an obvious limitation here. The evolution of the processed bar course factor has resulted in smartphones that are essentially tall slabs of drinking glass with a frame to provide back up and hold everything together. At that place really isn't much room to play around with the blueprint every bit customers evidently prefer larger displays with slim bezels above whatever wacky design elements.

Some companies have tried to swim against the tide past opting for solutions like sliding and pop-upwardly cameras, which at least forces people to call back of the design across existence a slab of metal and drinking glass. Samsung is not going to perform those experiments on the Galaxy S lineup, so while it did bring usa a sliding, rotating photographic camera on the Galaxy A80, we tin can't await those shenanigans on a Milky way Due south flagship.

Therefore, the Milky way S20 Ultra pattern is as traditionally Samsung as information technology could possibly exist. The metallic and glass build feels exceptionally solid and is a joy to agree. The subtle curves in the back glass permit for a more comfortable grip but in that location'southward no fugitive the fact that this is a glace telephone. If y'all're someone who'due south prone to dropping things, we will suggest strapping a case on this bad boy the moment you accept it out of the box. We have praised Samsung's decision to put the volume and ability keys on the right side of the frame in our Milky way S20+ review every bit well. It'south a welcome change.

Make no error, though, the Galaxy S20 Ultra is massive. It measures 166.9 ten 76.0 10 viii.8mm and weighs 222g. To put that in perspective, information technology'due south taller, thicker and heavier than the Galaxy Note 10+, a telephone nobody would ever describe as compact. Despite the incredibly slim bezels, it would have been impossible for Samsung to fit a vi.9-inch display on this phone without significantly increasing its dimensions. It will take some time getting used to the sheer size and heft of this phone while one-handed use is certainly challenging.

I noticed a slight discomfort in my pinkie finger when the phone was resting on it later on but thirty-xl minutes of casual, mindless scrolling on social media because it'due south heavier than any of the flagships in contempo memory, and I have been using the Galaxy Note 10+ as my daily driver since information technology came out. I've get used to it by now and then just remember that it may take y'all a while to get comfortable with the Galaxy S20 Ultra.

The defining design element of this telephone is its mesomorphic camera housing, which unapologetically juts out and dominates the back. This pregnant protrusion means that the device wobbles if information technology'due south lying flat on a surface and you're tapping the brandish. Your index finger volition constantly hit it as it breaks the seamless feeling of the drinking glass dorsum, particularly when you slide the phone downward in your palm so that you tin can reach the top of the display. A case volition help bridge this difference between the dorsum and the housing simply this is something that yous're going to have to get used to.

The key takeaway here is that while the Milky way S20 Ultra'due south pattern is as equally solid and premium equally y'all'd wait, living with it volition require some getting used to. Some people may find it to be too uncomfortable, and that's why for them Samsung offers the relatively tamer options in the grade of the Galaxy S20+ and Galaxy S20.

Milky way S20 Ultra display

To justify this telephone's "Ultra" branding, Samsung fitted it with the largest display yet on a Galaxy South flagship. The 6.9-inch Quad Hd+ HDR10+ certified Infinity-O brandish is truly massive, but if you're someone who isn't intimidated past its size, you're going to beloved consuming content on information technology. Who wouldn't? With so much of what we do on our phones revolving around multimedia, a larger brandish can only improve the experience.

Add together to that the underlying superb quality of Samsung's AMOLED panel that offers vibrant colors and deep blacks with excellent viewing angles, and y'all've got a recipe for success. It supports HDR, gets searingly bright and reverse to what you might have expected, the Galaxy S20 Ultra doesn't have a truly curved display. The panel isn't completely flat but it'southward not equally aggressively curved either. I feel that information technology strikes the right balance and hope that Samsung will stick with this implementation on future flagships every bit well.

The real improvement in this department has been Samsung's conclusion to employ a 120Hz refresh rate console. This means that the screen refreshes twice every bit fast as it did on earlier flagships and, every bit we accept mentioned multiple times, we admittedly love this upgrade. Information technology actually is difficult going dorsum to a 60Hz display after using the Galaxy S20 Ultra because scrolling and animations only don't seem as smooth. This is one improvement from which yous benefit all the time.

Retrieve about it. Nosotros spend hours every single day scrolling through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, etc. All of that feels much easier on the eyes thanks to the high refresh rate panel. Past-faced games like Telephone call of Duty: Mobile and Fortnite look particularly great and when coupled with the 240Hz impact screen sampling rate (which ways that the display is more responsive to your touch), information technology as well provides a slight competitive edge when playing these games.

As many of you are aware, there is a limitation with the 120Hz pick: it can't be used at WQHD+ (3200×1440) resolution. The resolution is locked to FHD+ (2400×1080) when 120Hz is enabled, likely a conscious decision on Samsung's part to conserve battery life. This may as well be the reason why the telephone isn't set to 120Hz by default; you have to manually enable information technology from settings. This is really non something to be concerned well-nigh, to be honest, unless you lot'd much rather prefer streaming YouTube and Netflix at the max resolution possible on the phone.

Equally we have also pointed out earlier, the telephone will automatically drop the refresh rate to 60Hz if its temperature goes above 40C. I didn't experience that happening quite a lot even when playing games like Call of Duty: Mobile at max graphics for hours on end in an indoor setting, though information technology would be a unlike story if the telephone is beingness used under straight sunlight in the summer.

So information technology's articulate that the display is a big reason why you should consider the Galaxy S20 Ultra, simply with the exception of its size, it doesn't offering anything that you can't go on the other Galaxy S20 variants. The entire Galaxy S20 lineup has a 120Hz refresh rate panel so you don't necessarily need to become the Milky way S20 Ultra. If the high refresh rate interests you but the size puts y'all off, y'all can but equally hands become the same user experience on either the Galaxy S20 or the Galaxy S20+.

Galaxy S20 Ultra fingerprint sensor

Samsung made the switch to in-display ultrasonic fingerprint sensors for its flagship lineup with the Galaxy S10 last year and it doesn't seem to exist in a mood to walk back that decision. The technology still hasn't become advanced enough to hold a candle to concrete sensors and Samsung specifically pointed out that the sensor on the Galaxy S20 Ultra, and indeed the other variants, isn't a second-generation sensor. The visitor has only promised speed and reliability improvements compared to the Galaxy S10's sensor as information technology says that the sensor has been enhanced and repositioned.

We have discussed at length how the in-brandish fingerprint sensors on the Milky way S10/Note 10 exit a lot to be desired in terms of functioning. They're just not fast enough and can exist particularly frustrating if yous have dry skin. During my recent travels across Europe in very cold and dry conditions, the sensor would but not recognize my fingerprint thereby forcing me to unlock by punching in the code. That has not been my experience with the Galaxy S20 Ultra so far. It's comparatively faster than last year'due south flagships but this withal isn't an platonic solution. One can but promise that the 2d-generation sensor will bring a meaning comeback in speed and reliability then that this shortcoming may not be present on time to come flagships.

Galaxy S20 Ultra rear cameras

The Milky way S20 Ultra's cameras have been a huge indicate of focus in Samsung'due south advertising campaign, and rightly so: On paper, the Galaxy S20 Ultra has camera specs that blow everything we've seen on previous Galaxy flagships out of the h2o. A 108MP master camera, a 48MP zoom camera with 100x Space Zoom, a 40MP selfie camera, and features like 8K video recording all audio quite impressive, but do those crazy numbers translate well into real life?

Well, as far every bit the main camera is concerned, the S20 Ultra doesn't really offer anything notably ameliorate than the Galaxy S20 or S20+, especially if you lot are going to be shooting in the automatic Photo way all the time. The 108MP camera uses ix-to-1 pixel binning to produce 12MP pictures, and these don't usually have ameliorate detail than the 12MP photos you get on the Galaxy S20+. You lot can, yet, take full-resolution 108MP pictures manually, and thanks to the laws of physics, the 108MP shots are a lot more detailed.

Here'south a 100% crop of a 12MP photograph taken with the automatic Photo style next to a 100% crop of a 108MP photo of the same scene (swipe left for the 108MP photo):

← SLIDE →

But, over again, in automatic shooting, the Galaxy S20 Ultra simply does non brand a case for itself over the Milky way S20+, whether you lot accept pictures at night or outdoors in the daytime. Photos from the principal cameraareexcellent, however. You go a skilful amount of detail, solid dynamic range, and normally true-to-life colors. Racket levels in night pictures are well controlled, and if you switch on Nighttime mode, y'all get considerably better pictures that are sharper, brighter, and have less noise, especially if you set the phone downwards on a steady surface.

Hither'south ane scene captured both in automatic Photo mode and in Night style (swipe left for the Night fashion shot):

← SLIDE →

And below are some general photos from the main photographic camera, along with a couple of ultra-wide pictures and Alive Focus bokeh photos. The 12MP ultra-wide camera does a practiced chore in the daytime and a passable job at night, though the latter can be fixed past using Night manner, which does a lot to fix the concrete limitations of the ultra-broad sensor (such equally the not-so-wide f/2.2 aperture).

Zooming capabilities are where the Galaxy S20 Ultra is a clear winner. Its 48MP periscope telephoto lens has 4x optical zoom and tin can go all the fashion upwardly to 100x through a mix of optical and digital zoom. And, at upward to 10x zoom, you get smashing pictures. The 10x zoom shots are a tad lacking in sharpness, simply otherwise, they look quite good and are a major step up over the 2x zoom adequacy Samsung's flagship phones were stuck with till concluding year.

Hither's a gallery of a daytime motion-picture show taken at 1x, 4x, 5x, 10x, 30x, and 100x zoom:

Here's some other example:

And here are a few more than scenes captured at dissimilar zoom levels:

You take probably noticed how the 30x shots are quite usable too, while the 100x shots are slap-up for boasting almost your telephone's technical zooming capabilities merely that'due south information technology. At 100x zoom, y'all can barely make out text unless it's fairly large, like text on huge billboards. Tapping the screen to manually focus tin can acuminate upwards the text, merely most of the time, there's too much camera milk shake at 100x that makes information technology very difficult to both frame the shot and tap the screen for manual focus.

The gallery beneath shows a couple of pictures taken at 30x and 100x zoom, clearly showing the loss of quality at the maximum zoom level.

Sadly, the zoom quality at night and in low-light conditions also leaves a lot to exist desired. The zoom lens has an aperture of f/3.5, about half that of the f/1.8 main camera, and that means there'due south plenty of noise in nighttime pictures because the ISO values are jacked up. When it gets really dark, but 2x zoom is truly useful, every bit 2x photos are cropped versions of 108MP photos from the main camera. Frankly, it would be meliorate if the telephone would just utilize those 108MP photos for even 4x or 10x zoom when there'south very little light, but it merely uses the zoom lens once you motility by 2x zoom, which makes quality go down existent fast.

Here'southward a gallery of depression-light zoom photos taken at 1x, 4x, 5x, 10x, 30x, and 100x:

Focusing also tends to be an consequence with the zoom lens. Aye, all the complaints nearly autofocus have been virtually the 108MP principal photographic camera, but the zoom lens isn't perfect, either. Information technology ofttimes failed to focus when at that place were pocket-sized objects in the center of the frame, like a bird, requiring me to tap the viewfinder for transmission focus. However, I estimate this is something Samsung tin can fix with a software update after downwardly the line. The company has done that for the main camera already – with the nigh recent update, the 108MP camera focuses quickly and accurately most of the fourth dimension.

The Galaxy S20 Ultra, like the Galaxy S20 and S20+, supports 8K video recording. I won't go into also much item hither, as we accept already talked most 8K video recording in our Galaxy S20+ review, and the results are like. In short, 8K videos are a gimmick. These are just captured at 24 frames per second, and there'due south a lot of stutter as you pan the camera around. Sharpness and particular compared to 4K videos isn't considerably college, and with the kind of storage 8K videos tin take, it'south best to stick to 4K/[email protected] fps videos unless you have an 8K TV at dwelling.

Here'due south a short 8K video recording:

https://www.youtube.com/sentry?five=ZAh2-zVgVjQ

You should as well bank check out our Milky way S20+ review for information on features similar Unmarried Take and Night Hyperlapse camera modes. The one-time takes a series of videos and photos for 10 seconds using all the rear cameras and is quite useful when you lot're non certain if you should take a photo or a video of a special moment. Yous also get Pro Video mode on the Galaxy S20 lineup, and then you can adapt the shutter speed, ISO, and more than before shooting videos (Pro Video fashion is also arriving on the Milky way S10 and Galaxy Note x at the time of this writing).

Galaxy S20 Ultra front camera

Similar the chief rear camera, the front photographic camera on the Galaxy S20 Ultra also has the highest megapixel count of whatever Galaxy flagship. Information technology's a 40MP sensor that uses pixel binning to take 10MP photos past default, so you more or less get the same results with the 10MP front cameras on the Galaxy S20+ or even last year'southward Milky way S10. That said, the front end camera takes pretty good pictures in bright light and adequately usable pictures in well lit indoor situations.

Low-light selfies are quite poor, all the same, and it's best to apply the screen flash in such situations. If it'south really dark, y'all can also turn to Night way. Night manner sometimes has problems focusing and doesn't make the photos any more than pleasing to await at, simply it does make them brighter. You can see the difference between the car and Night mode pictures in the last 2 selfies in the gallery beneath.

Galaxy S20 Ultra performance

At that place's always the expectation that the operation of Samsung's latest flagship smartphone volition be pinnacle-notch, even more and then from the peak-of-the-line variant. Our review unit is powered by the Exynos 990 processor with 12GB of RAM. There's a variant available with 16GB of RAM also merely it's not going to be the one that virtually people purchase, given the $1,599 price tag. The performance is patently excellent, with the Milky way S20 Ultra being more capable of handling whatever y'all throw at information technology.

The 12GB LPDDR5 memory module that Samsung has paired the processor with eliminates the need for aggressive retention management, so the phone isn't itching to kill groundwork apps. Even with dozens of apps open up in the background, the Galaxy S20 Ultra switches between them without breaking a sweat. You can also select up to three apps from the recent apps screen to be locked in retention so that they aren't killed in the background. This makes life a lot easier since you tin can avert lengthy startup times of your favorite games.

Gaming is exceptionally pleasurable on the Galaxy S20 Ultra. The latest silicon, massive brandish, 120Hz refresh rate, higher affect sampling rate and more than available memory than information technology knows what to practice with brand it the perfect parcel. At that place is no mobile game out at that place that the Galaxy S20 Ultra tin can't run and it's likewise very well equipped to handle game streaming from PCs.

This is perhaps Samsung's most futurity-proof smartphone yet. The Galaxy S20 Ultra, and indeed the other S20 variants, all natively back up 5G in well-nigh markets. Samsung has equipped them with the necessary hardware to ensure that they can exercise the heavy lifting for at to the lowest degree a couple of years. The Ultra gets the accented all-time of everything so you can blindly trust it to smoke everything in its path at to the lowest degree in 2020. It doesn't suffer from some of the optimization issues that we highlighted in our Milky way S20+ review, so that's some other feather in the Ultra'south cap.

Galaxy S20 Ultra software

The Milky way S20 Ultra comes with Android 10 and One UI 2.1, the latest iteration of the Bone and Samsung'southward custom skin. At that place are a lot of familiar features here in addition to the slew of new features that Samsung introduced with One UI 2.1. Music Share is one of my favorites. It's essentially Bluetooth passthrough, allowing you to share your device's Bluetooth connection with someone else. For example, if your telephone is connected via Bluetooth to your auto's stereo, you don't take to disconnect kickoff so that your friend tin can play music from their phone. They tin simply piggyback off of your phone'southward connection to the stereo. This will apparently work with any Bluetooth speaker, though go on in listen that your friend'south device needs to be on Android 10 for Music Share to piece of work.

Quick Share too deserves a mention. It's Samsung'southward answer to Apple AirDrop, assuasive you to instantly share files with multiple people in your vicinity. It as well lets yous choose if you'd like to only receive files from people in your contacts or if anyone effectually you lot should be able to practise and then. Music Share and Quick Share are slap-up examples of features that actually provide value for users, instead of just existing for the sake of filling up the "new features" list. They work as advertised and are certainly a welcome addition. A modest yet very useful improvement introduced with One UI 2.1 is the ability to switch between the front and rear cameras while recording video, which seems like it was tailor-fabricated for vloggers.

1 UI 2.ane also brings native Google Duo integration inside the Dialer, allowing you to brand Full HD video calls with up to eight people, as well as the ability to upload 8K videos directly to YouTube. All of the familiar Samsung features are too present, which is a skilful affair since you won't miss anything that you use on your current device. The listing includes features like organisation-wide Nighttime mode, Secure Folder, Bixby Vox and Routines, Game Booster and Launcher, Dual Messenger, Edge Screen, Always On Display and more than. There'south likewise total Samsung DeX and Samsung Pay back up. Samsung never shies away from providing customization options to users so you tin can also take reward of endless theme options to personalize the wait of the device however you want.

The Milky way S20 Ultra is good for two major Android OS updates every bit it comes with Android 10. In that location's really no debating if Samsung should start supporting flagships for three major Os updates, but there's a slim chance of that happening. Samsung volition ship out security updates every month for three years, though.

Milky way S20 Ultra audio

One time the three.5mm headphone jack was removed from the Galaxy Note x, it became evident that a similar fate awaited the Milky way S lineup. It actually didn't come up equally a surprise to see that the Galaxy S20 Ultra doesn't have a headphone jack. Samsung does transport USB Type-C earphones in the box and if you're lucky, you might exist able to have advantage of a promotion in which it provides a gratuitous (or heavily discounted) pair of the Galaxy Buds+.

The Galaxy S20 Ultra has stereo speakers simply purists may non expect at it as a true stereo setup. That's because information technology doesn't have two stereo speakers of the same size. There's one down-firing loudspeaker located at the lesser, aided by an amped-upward earpiece. Nosotros have seen the same implementation on earlier flagships as well and to be honest, it's quite upwardly to the task. The speakers become prissy and loud with decent separation, with Dolby Atmos on manus to provide a richer sound experience. Calls come in loud and articulate over both the earpiece and the speakerphone, this is really not something that Samsung messes up frequently on its phones, so it's good to see that it's business organization as usual on the Galaxy S20 Ultra.

Galaxy S20 Ultra battery life

Since this is Samsung'due south kitchen sink telephone, a 5,000mAh battery made perfect sense. Information technology is quite possible to get two days of battery life out of it as the company claims but that volition require not using some of its best features. The switch to 120Hz refresh rate will instantly knock a few hours off but that trade-off is more than than worth its weight in gold.

I have been using it at 120Hz FHD+ since the day I got it and have found it hard to impale the phone in a single day. The usage has included lengthy video calls (#quarantinelife), instant messaging, gaming, mindless browsing, some photography and full general piece of work stuff. A screen on time of around five hours or more is entirely achievable. I usually have to plug in the phone by mid-24-hour interval the post-obit 24-hour interval when the battery percentage is downwardly in the single digits. Tests have shown that the Galaxy S20 Ultra tin last for upwardly to a day and a one-half if you knock the display downwards to 60Hz.

It's difficult to predict what your mileage with the Milky way S20 Ultra's battery will be because there are just too many variables here than we ordinarily meet when reviewing phones. For starters, there's no choice to double the refresh charge per unit, and most phones also don't support the unabridged gamut of 5G spectrum like this does, don't have a bonkers camera setup and can't record 8K video. It goes without saying that if you're on a spotty 5G network, recording 8K videos frequently and having intense gaming sessions while keeping the display at 120Hz, you will see information technology drain much faster. That being said, the nifty matter about this chunky battery is that fifty-fifty in that scenario, it will most likely see you through the solar day.

While the Milky way S20 Ultra supports 45W charging, Samsung only ships the 25W adapter in the box and so you'll need to purchase the 45W brick separately. However, the Galaxy S20 Ultra is capable of ingesting current like a champ. We tested how quickly it tin can go from 1 to 100% and saw information technology hit 21% in 10 minutes, 42% in twenty, 51% in xxx and 99% in 60 minutes. So with just an hour's charge, you can be sure that the phone will make information technology through the entire day, which is pretty impressive for a battery of this size.

Galaxy S20 Ultra verdict

Samsung fans will certainly experience proud of what the company has accomplished with the Galaxy S20 Ultra. It is most definitely the phone to trounce this year. Samsung's engineering squad has flexed its muscles with this device. It created something that's unique and special, merely is that a expert enough reason for you to spend $ane,400?

The Milky way S20 Ultra is for the hardcore Samsung fans, those who were tired of justifying the lack of outrageous specs when compared to the Huaweis and Xiaomis of the globe. Information technology's for the fans that tin recite entire spec sheets in heated arguments virtually which telephone is ameliorate. There really hasn't been a smartphone like this ever before and if you are in that demographic, spend that $1,400, the Milky way S20 Ultra won't disappoint you.

It's plainly also for those for whom money is no object and they just desire the best of what's out there. The Galaxy S20 Ultra is a phone to see and exist seen with. It may non serve much purpose in real life simply yous tin can surely get everyone'southward attention at the party with a demonstration of 100x Space Zoom. Influencers and vloggers, in particular, will capeesh the device for its camera capabilities and and so volition other content creators like travel bloggers and smartphone photographers.

What about the average client, though, the i who just wants to know which of the three new Galaxy S20 models they should spend their money on? It'due south not the Galaxy S20 Ultra. If y'all do non consider yourself to be among the people described above, this phone volition be the epitome of overkill for you lot. You volition spend a lot of money on a phone that offers a lot of features that you may never even apply and consequently, you volition put up with its heft and weight for no expert reason. The Galaxy S20 Ultra is by no means a "bad" phone. It'southward exceptional, perhaps too infrequent for most customers.

Lucky for you, some of the all-time Galaxy S20 Ultra features are also bachelor on other models. The entire Galaxy S20 lineup has a 120Hz display panel, 8K video recording, and full 5G support in addition to all of the software features. Picture quality from the primary cameras is likewise pretty like on all three, so take your choice from the Galaxy S20 and the Galaxy S20+. They offering these great features in meaty dimensions and are more comfortable to live with. My recommendation? Get the Galaxy S20+ instead.

Pros Cons
Exceptional brandish, 120Hz refresh rate makes a huge deviation No 3.5mm headphone jack
Excellent performance The heft and weight arrive uncomfortable to use
Impressive bombardment life 100x 'Space Zoom' doesn't serve whatsoever existent purpose
Super quick charging with 25W charger Main photographic camera photos aren't notably improve than Galaxy S20/S20+ on auto mode
108MP main photographic camera ordinarily takes great photos Simply 128GB internal storage on the base model
Amazing zoom quality up till 10x, adequately usable 30x zoom
One UI 2.1 comes with meaningful new features

Source: https://www.sammobile.com/samsung/galaxy-s20-ultra/review

Posted by: pinkstonsomight80.blogspot.com

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