Newsletter
The Galaxy S20 series is now official, and we’ve had a chance to go hands on with the new devices from Samsung.
The three devices are essentially what you expect from a Samsung these days. Glass and metal sandwiches with a tiny camera in the display. As Samsung moved away from the notch with the Galaxy Note 10 series last year. The camera is even smaller this year, so it’s not much of an eyesore, thankfully. In fact, after using the device for a short while, I stopped noticing it was even there. Similar to my experience with the Galaxy Note 10+.
The Galaxy S20 Ultra is a lot heavier than the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S20+. That was immediately clear from our short time with them. Though. That’s likely due to the much larger display and battery that is inside.
The other big difference is the camera setup on the back. All three are getting different camera modules, with the Galaxy S20 Ultra having the largest one. They are all still camera bumps, unfortunately, and they are only getting bigger. But luckily, the module is so large now, that it doesn’t wobble much when on a table and typing on it.
Samsung is still using curved displays on the new Galaxy S20 series, but the curve isn’t as dramatic as with its other flagships. In fact, I barely noticed that it was curved at all. Which should eleviate any issues with false touches on the screen. The back is also still curved, and it melts into the metal frame, which makes it feel really good in the hand. Even though it is still glass, it isn’t super slippery.
The smaller Galaxy S20 feels really good in the hand, it almost fits like a glove actually. For those that like smaller phones, this is going to be the one to get.
Galaxy S20+ sits in a weird spot this year
After using all three models for a short amount of time, one thing I’ve come to a conclusion on is, the Galaxy S20+ is not going to be a popular model. Most people will go for either the Galaxy S20 or Galaxy S20 Ultra.
The Galaxy S20+ sits in a really weird position. It’s slightly better than the Galaxy S20, though the only real changes are the bigger screen, bigger battery and the addition of a Time of Flight sensor. Otherwise, the two devices are the same. But with a $200 difference.
Don’t get me wrong, the size of the Galaxy S20+ is really good. It’s big, but not overly large like the Galaxy S20 Ultra. So for those that want a bigger screen, but not the biggest screen, it’s a good buy. But you have to wonder why it actually exists, when it is so similar to the standard Galaxy S20.
Space Zoom is unreal
Obviously in a controlled environment and only being able to use the phone for about an hour, we didn’t get the whole gist of how good (or bad) Space Zoom is. But from what we got to see, it was pretty incredible. Particularly on the Galaxy S20 Ultra, since it has 100x zoom.
That 100x zoom can zoom into buildings and get super close up. And while it is still a very zoomed in shot, the quality is actually not that bad at all. It’s quite surprising to be honest. This is partly due to the fact that Samsung worked hard to increase the optical zoom and lossless zoom on all three models. So it’s not going from 2x to 100x on pure digital zooming capabilities.
Samsung doesn’t have many use-cases for 100x zoom, so it’s essentially for bragging rights. But one could use this at a sporting event, especially if you’re sitting in the cheap seats. And it should work great, because the shutter is still fast, at the full 100x zoom. That’s actually really important since it will be more sensitive to your hands moving when it is fully zoomed in.
The camera, as a whole is really good actually. I haven’t been a big fan of Samsung’s cameras in recent years, particularly Live Focus. But what I saw today with the three Galaxy S20 smartphones, shows that Samsung is looking to take that smartphone camera king crown back. And it’s leaving its competitors in the dust.
We won’t talk too much about the camera yet, since we need to get it in our hands and actually using the phone in the real world to see how good the camera is. But first impressions are really good.
Wrap Up
If you’re wondering how good the Galaxy S20 series is, I’ll just leave you with this. I haven’t been this excited to get a review unit in quite some time, and I am ecstatic to get my hands on the Galaxy S20 series in the next few days to start using it in the real world and see how it holds up to the hype.