The Galaxy S20 Ultra may be the most select cell phone, but the Galaxy S20 and S20 + are the cell phones for the vast majority, as they provide speed and a crisp display at relatively affordable prices ($ 999.99 and $ 1,199.99, respectively). After all, not everyone needs a 100x digital zoom camera on the back of their smart phone.
The two phones differ slightly, and the S20 + offers an additional band for 5G connectivity, a larger screen and an additional depth sensor. But apart from that, these are basically identical, so we will address them both in a joint review.
We have spent almost a week getting to know the S20 and the S20 + inside and out, and we think that with their impressive and versatile lenses they will attract a wide range of users.
Slow shutter, but good lenses
The S20 Ultra has a new camera system with a 100x zoom. But, in our tests, there were widespread problems of autofocus and the 100x digital zoom produced pictures too blurry to guarantee its price. Fortunately, these problems do not hamper the S20 or the S20 +.
In terms of camera capacity, let's start focusing on each of the S20 and S20 + lenses. The 12 megapixel central wide-angle lens is the cell phone's default and is perfect for capturing portraits or wide landscapes. However, if you want to capture a more complete landscape, you can switch to the ultra-wide 12 megapixel lens. And when you want to see more closely, without moving, you can use the 64-megapixel telephoto lens that captures sharp photos from afar. There is a certain type of magic in the system that allows you to switch between an ultra-wide view to the foreground with the press of a button.
When shooting in low light, Samsung night mode enters the game, which uses artificial intelligence enhancements and software to illuminate and focus photos when lighting is poor. In addition, the S20 + incorporates a depth sensor. This comes into play primarily for augmented reality activities such as AR Doodle, which allows you to draw anything on a subject's face and keep it on it in a video.
More importantly, that sensor helps with Live Focus, which is Samsung's response to Apple's portrait mode and produces a blur around what it is focused on. We discovered that the S20 + did a slightly better job than the S20 with these photos, since it has that additional sensor. The sensor can help calculate distances between what is focused and the background behind it. The S20 is stuck using software and artificial intelligence to mimic the same effect. It is evident that the S20 has problems to properly blur the hair, so it sometimes blurs part of the person's head. Apple and Google definitely continue to lead in portrait shots.
With the sum of a strong telephoto lens with a larger sensor, the S20 also has the ability to get quite close. In fact, you can switch from a view of 0.5x (an ultra wide angle shot) to 30x (a deep telephoto shot). For example, if you are capturing the skyline of a city in ultra wide angle, you can approach a specific building and still get great details. It is an impressively broad field, and the results will certainly vary. The 30x zoom on the S20 and the S20 + is not as sharp as 30x on the Ultra and looks more like the 100x zoom (too blurry); 3x and 10x images will allow you to distinguish street signs and people's details, but 30x gives you a very grainy result. In addition, it can be difficult to keep the cell phone still at 30x.
Check out the set of shots below, taken at The Vessel, an incredible spiral staircase landmark at the Hudson Yards complex in New York. We shot in the whole spectrum, from ultra wide up to 30x, and it is quite easy to see when the digital began to merge with the optical.
Optical is how far the real camera can approach. The digital takes the optical zoom to the maximum and enlarges it further, which can result in a large pixel and a blurred photo. Both the S20 and the S20 + have a maximum of 3x optical zoom and can reach up to 30x with a combination of optical and digital: Samsung calls this Space Zoom. It is a unique process that uses artificial intelligence and software improvements to make the image look better.
As you can see, it becomes blurred, but you can still distinguish details. For example, at 30x you can see the subject's face and what a Galaxy S20 is holding. Ultimately, it feels more practical than approaching 100x to something, but quality does not offer the best end result. If you want to take the sharpest photos, you will not want to zoom beyond 3x.
And yes, you can take advantage of the 64 megapixel sensor to get great photos. When shooting from the bottom of The Vessel, looking towards the top of a nearby building, we captured many details, such as the building's outer deck, what was happening on the ground (such as people and cars circulating) and a wide range of nuances from the sky.
While 64-megapixel shots usually take up a good amount of memory, Samsung uses a technology known as “nano-binning technology,” which basically condenses a larger 64-megapixel photo to a 12-megapixel photo. In some cases, it works very well and even offers a prettier photo than the equivalent of 64 megapixels.
Here is a set of photos taken as a complete 64 megapixel photo:
Here is a set of photos with nano-binning technology:
Our main complaint with the S20 and S20 + cameras is a slow shutter speed at 10x, 20x and 30x. There is a noticeable delay of one or two seconds when you take these photos, which can be irritating as little. It can cause you to lose a photo if the object moves between the moment you touch to take a photo and the shutter really breaks. In addition, holding the S20 or S20 + stably with these zooms, especially 20X and 30X, can be difficult with just your hand, so you will need a tripod or rest on a flat surface to capture clear photos.
Like the Galaxy Z Flip and the S20 Ultra, the S20 and the S20 + have the new Samsung Single-Take mode. With Single Take, all you have to do is click on the shutter and move with the cell phone to capture what you want. The S20 or S20 + will do preliminary work to capture photos and videos of what you see. Then, you are presented with a set of photos, some of which are designed in sepia or live focus, along with a quick video that has a jingle song behind.
The video on the S20 and S20 + is also quite solid, and here you will not find any problem with the blind. Like the S20 Ultra, it can record up to 8K at 24 frames per second, allowing you to capture a whole new level of detail. In addition, you can save a still image at 33 megapixels of an 8K video. You no longer need to capture the screen and suffer the effects of poor quality capture. You can watch a sample 8K test video that we recorded in The Vessel below.
New style dimension
Samsung adopted a relatively moderate design approach across the entire S20 family. The S20 is the smallest, the S20 + is a little bigger and the S20 Ultra is huge. All these have a screen almost without bezel on the front, power button and volume control on the right side, USB Type-C port on the bottom and a combined Micro SD card and SIM card slot on the top.
The S20 is definitely the most manageable in the hand. You can easily use it with just one hand, regardless of the size of your hand. It just feels great and reminds us of the S10e, the personal favorite of our technical editors of the S10 family.
The back is where it starts to get lively (in a good way!), With a rectangular camera bulge in the upper left corner through the S20, S20 + and S20 Ultra. On the S20, it has three lenses stacked in a row on the left side of the bump, with a microphone and an LED flash on the right side. The S20 + has a wider camera with three lenses on the left side, and a microphone, depth vision sensor and LED flash on the right side.
The colors for the S20 and S20 + are much more fun than the S20 Ultra. You can get the S20 in Cosmic Gray, Cloud Blue or Cloud Pink. The gray is almost identical to the S20 Ultra, and the blue and pink options are a pastel version of the colors. We have been using the Cloud Blue S20 and it is a fairly calm and subdued tone. S20 + options are similar: Cosmic Gray, Cosmic Black or Cloud Pink. Best Buy also exclusively has his personal favorite: Aura Blue, a "holographic" blue. We just wish it were sold from more retailers and that the S20 Ultra and the S20 base came in this design.
These screens are among the best
When opting for an S20 or S20 + you will not have to sacrifice a wonderful movement speed of 120Hz. This is, of course, the number of times in a second that the screen can be updated, so the higher the speed, the more fluid and realistic the screen will look. You will notice it mainly when you scroll through Twitter or Instagram, since 60Hz can sometimes result in a failed displacement.
The S20 is the most manageable smart phone, with a 6.2-inch AMOLED Quad HD display. The S20 + has a larger 6.7-inch AMOLED Quad HD display. Both are impressive, with the ability to display a wide range of colors with precision and clarity. It is noticeably sharper and brighter than the S10 family, the Note 10 family, the Galaxy Z Flip and even the iPhone 11 family.
With the 120Hz movement speed activated, the resolution of your screen will be reduced to 1080pHD, which is the current standard in cable television. However, when a lower refresh rate is used, the resolution goes to 1440p which results in greater clarity on the screen, but it works only at 60Hz. You may not notice a difference between 1080pHD and 1440p on a smart phone, since they use a relatively small screen.
Personally, we discovered that the combination of 120Hz with 1080pHD is a pleasant experience, with vibrant colors. Most importantly, it did not have a negative impact on battery life. But for those times when you want a higher resolution, you can change back to 60Hz.
While the speed of movement influences, it's really the quality of the screen and the Infinity-O design that really makes you feel like you're holding a screen instead of a smart phone. There are minimal bezels everywhere (Samsung is no longer making curved edge screens, which gave many problems with accidental touches). We are delighted that Samsung has a flatter screen that remains equally vibrant.
The "O" in Infinity-O comes from the notch in the hole located in the dead center at the top of the S20 or S20 +. In both, it contains a 10 megapixel camera for selfies that works for facial unlocking (although it is not as safe as Face ID on an iPhone) and for capturing selfies. It is not as sharp as the 40 megapixel lens of the S20 Ultra.
In addition to the face unlock functionality, there is a fingerprint sensor on the screen near the bottom. This is the same sensor found in S10, S10 +, Note 10 and Note 10+, so you won't see many improvements. We would say that it works approximately 90% of the time and improves with daily scans, but it is likely that some cases of "mismatch" occur that force you to unlock again.
Two very fast cell phones
We were completely impressed with the performance of the S20 Ultra, and fortunately Samsung equipped the complete line with the same processor and the same amount of RAM, even the base models! That means the S20 and S20 + work with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ with 12 GB of RAM. In our tests we make phone calls, send text messages, make video calls, send and receive emails, stream videos and music, and play games like Fortnite, Real Racing, Idle Theme Park Tycoon and Call of Duty Mobile. We do not experience any application crashes or notable slowdowns. Cell phones simply kept working without fear of what we threw.
We use GeekBench 5 to test the S20 and the S20 +. These evaluation applications test the devices by executing intense processes that mimic real-life use cases. The Galaxy S20 got a 911 in a single core and a 3233 in several cores, while the S20 + got a 918 in a single core and a 3274 in several cores. Actually, this surpasses the S20 Ultra in the single-core score, since it obtained a score of 901. The variant by a few digits is normal, but in any way consolidates the entire Galaxy S20 family well above the competition , winning the family S10, Note 10, Note 10+, Pixel 4 and 4 XL by more than 100 points.
Other highlights: there is no longer a dedicated Bixby button, so you are not required to use the cell phone assistant. You can easily multitask by removing an application of your choice from the sidebar. And you can even block certain applications so that they always run in the background, so there is no delay in using them.
We have been testing unlocked versions of both the S20 and the S20 +. They come with 128 GB or 256 GB of internal storage, and can be expanded with a microSD card of up to 1 TB.
When it comes to battery life, there is more good news. As any smart phone should, the S20 and S20 + easily lasted a full day of use. You can wait between 10 and 12 hours of use with some heavy applications, games, transmissions and phone calls. While battery life was not a problem for us during the tests, if you run out of battery, you can use the 25-watt quick charger included in the box. You can also wirelessly charge the S20 or S20 + through the Qi charging standard. In addition, both phones are compatible with Wireless PowerShare, which will allow you to charge other devices (such as GalaxyBuds +, AirPods Pro or even an iPhone) directly on the back of the device. It may be useful, but a caveat: it is a slow, slow load.
A note on 5G
As things stand now, 5G is not really working at full capacity in the United States. The four major operators (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon) have some versions at this time, but the results definitely vary. That said, we do not recommend buying a cell phone at this time just for 5G connectivity. You will probably end up disappointed in the short term, but you will prepare for the future (assuming these network standards are maintained).
The Galaxy S20 and S20 + are compatible with some types of 5G. Samsung's S20 base supports 5G in the form of sub6 networks. The S20 + supports sub6 and mmWave 5G networks. Check with your operator to see which networks are currently running.
In addition, the S20 and S20 + are compatible with the latest 4G LTE standards with support for downloads up to 2.0 GBps and loads of 200 MBps.
In summary
It's easy to say that the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S20 + are excellent smart phones with Android. The cameras, unlike the flagship, offer a reliable and easy way to capture everything. In addition, Samsung really continues to consolidate its domain on screens, and everything is wrapped in a smooth Android 10 experience with a fast processor.
For the price points of $ 999.99 and $ 1,199.99, the S20 and S20 + make sense if we think they are the best Android phones currently on the market. Sure, they don't have a 108 megapixel lens or a 6.9-inch screen, but you probably don't need those features. And you can exchange your old cell phone and save up to $ 600 on the cost of any of these directly from Samsung.
Thanks to a solid construction with powerful technology, they will work well for many years.
Note: The prices above reflect the price at the time of publication of the article.