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The time is to compare two most compelling offerings from Motorola and Samsung, the Motorola Edge+ vs Galaxy S20 Ultra. Both of these smartphones were launched in the last couple of months. The Motorola Edge+ announced in April, while the Galaxy S20 Ultra arrived in February.
That being said, these two phones have some things in common, but for the most part, they’re quite different. They’re different in terms of size, software, displays, camera setups, and so much more. They both have really large displays, though, and they’re not the easiest phones in the market.
As per usual, when it comes to our comparisons, we’ll kick things off with the specs. We’ll list specs of both of these smartphones, before moving forward. After that, we’ll get down to comparing their designs, displays, performance, and more. That being said, let’s kick off the Motorola Edge+ vs Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra comparison.
Specs
| Motorola Edge+ | Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra | |
| Screen size | 6.7-inch fullHD+ OLED waterfall display (90Hz) | 6.9-inch WQHD+ Dynamic AMOLED display (120Hz) |
| Screen resolution | 2340 x 1080 | 3200 x 1440 |
| SoC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 |
| RAM | 12GB | 12GB/16GB (LPDDR5) |
| Storage | 256GB (UFS 3.0); Expandable | 128GB/512GB (UFS 3.0); Expandable up to 1TB |
| Rear cameras | 108MP (f/1.8 aperture, 0.8um pixel size, PDAF, OIS) 8MP (f/2.4 aperture, 81mm lens, 3x optical zoom, PDAF, OIS) 16MP (f/2.2 aperture, 13mm ultrawide lens, 1.0um pixel size) TOF 3D (depth perception) |
108MP (f/1.8 aperture, 79-degree angle lens, wide-angle) 48MP (f/3.5 aperture, 24-degree angle lens) 12MP(f/2.2 aperture, 120-degree angle lens, ultrawide) Depth Vision (ToF camera) |
| Front cameras | 25MP (f/2.0 aperture, 0.9um pixel size) | 40MP (f/2.2 aperture, 80-degree angle lens) |
| Battery | 5,000mAh, non-removable, 18W fast battery charging, 15W wireless charging, 5W reverse charging | 5,000mAh, non-removable, 45W fast battery charging, 15W fast wireless charging, 9W reverse charging |
| Dimensions | 161.1 x 71.4 x 9.6mm | 167 x 76 x 8.8mm |
| Weight | 203 grams | 221 grams |
| Connectivity | LTE, 5G, NFC, Bluetooth 5.1, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C | LTE, 5G, NFC, Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C |
| Security | In-display fingerprint scanner (optical) | In-display fingerprint scanner (ultrasonic) |
| OS | Android 10 | Android 10 Samsung One UI 2 |
| Price | $999 | $1,399 |
| Buy | Motorola | Samsung |
Motorola Edge+ vs Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra: Design
In terms of the design, they’re using similar materials. Both smartphones are made out of metal and glass, with metal parts referring to aluminum. Both devices have curved backs towards the sides, and both offer curved displays as well. That being said, they’re both quite slippery as a result of all that.
Both phones include display camera holes, though in different places. More on that in the display section. Bezels on both phones are almost non-existent. The Galaxy S20 Ultra’s camera module is much larger, though both modules are placed in the top-left corner of their back sides. Company brandings are included on the back on both phones.
The Motorola Edge+ is considerably narrower than the Galaxy S20 Ultra. It’s a bit shorter as well, while being thicker as well. It’s around 20 grams lighter than the Galaxy S20 Ultra. You’d think that the display size gap is bigger considering the size difference, but it’s not. The difference is only 0.2 inches, we’ll talk more about that in a second. So, the Motorola Edge+ is definitely a more compact smartphone, but both are great offerings in terms of the design. They offer great build quality, and sleek looks.
Motorola Edge+ vs Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra: Display
The Motorola Edge+ has a smaller display than the Galaxy S20 Ultra, but not by much. Its display measures 6.7 inches, while the Galaxy S20 Ultra’s is 6.9 inches. Samsung’s flagship has a taller display aspect ratio as well, 19.5:9 compared to 20:9. That being said, the Motorola Edge+ display offers lower resolution than the Galaxy S20 Ultra’s.
The Motorola Edge+ features a fullHD+ (2340 x 1080) curved OLED display. The Galaxy S20 Ultra, on the other hand, sports a QHD+ (3200 x 1440) Dynamic AMOLED display, which is also curved. Both of those displays are high refresh rate panels, by the way. The Motorola Edge+ has a 90Hz refresh rate, while the Galaxy S20 Ultra stands at 120Hz.
Samsung has the latest Gorilla Glass 6 protection, while the Motorola Edge+ comes with Gorilla Glass 5, but that’s not something that should bother you. Both displays support HDR10+ output. Both of these panels are extremely vibrant, and offer great viewing angles. They’re both quite sharp as well, though the Galaxy S20 Ultra’s does look a bit better to our eyes, probably due to its resolution, even though it’s extremely difficult to notice it. Both of these displays are great.
Motorola Edge+ vs Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra: Performance
What about the performance? Well, it’s as good as you’d expect, in both cases. Both of these phones are brand new flagship-grade devices. Performance should not be anything else than stellar, and luckily, neither of these phones have issues with it. Both phones fly through anything you throw at them. That goes for anything from web browsing and navigating the UI, to consuming multimedia and gaming.
You won’t notice any significant stutters or anything of the sort. Both devices are fueled by the same SoC, the best Qualcomm has to offer at the moment, the Snapdragon 865. That chip is backed by 12GB of RAM in both cases, while the Galaxy S20 Ultra also has a 16GB RAM variant in some markets.
If anything, both of these phones are kind of overkill in the performance-related hardware department. Considering their price tags, they should be. Both devices will probably perform great for the foreseeable future, though the Motorola Edge+ comes with lighter software. It has less bloat on it, as Samsung duplicates most services Google’s Android offers. Still, that’s not something you’ll notice in performance, at least not yet.
Motorola Edge+ vs Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra: Battery
These two phones have the exact same battery capacity, and it’s considerable. Both phones offer 5,000mAh battery packs. Does that result in good battery life, though, considering their displays and everything? Well, yes, it does. The Motorola Edge+ does have an edge in that regard, though.
The Motorola Edge+ can easily get you over 6-7 hours of screen on time. The Galaxy S20 Ultra can also cross that 6-hour mark, even 6 and a half. It will all depend on your usage, to be quite honest. We did notice that the Motorola Edge+ can last a bit longer, though. Do note that the Galaxy S20 Ultra currently does not support QHD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate at the same time, so it was tested with fullHD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate setting.
Both devices offer fast charging, both wired and wireless. The Motorola Edge+ supports 18W fast wired charging, which is slower than the Galaxy S20 Ultra’s, which can push up to 45W. Both devices support 15W wireless charging, though. The Galaxy S20 Ultra also offers faster reverse wireless charging, 9W compared to 5W on the Motorola Edge+.
Motorola Edge+ vs Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra: Cameras
Both of these phones have huge main cameras on the back. Both devices include a 108-megapixel main camera sensor. Both have four cameras on the back, but only the Galaxy S20 Ultra offers a periscope camera in the mix. You’ll also find both telephoto and ultrawide offerings on both phones.
Now, in terms of camera quality, they’re both really good. In daylight, they’re both excellent, even. They both preserve great detail, have really good white balance processing, and dynamic range as well. You can get a ton of detail using pixel binning from that 108-megapixel camera. Ultrawide shots are a level under shots from the main camera, but that is to be expected. They’re still really good in good lighting, though. Do note that the Galaxy S20 Ultra tends to be a bit heavier on post-processing (with saturation and sharpening, most of all), and images from it do look processed as a result. Many people prefer those, though.
In low light, well, they’re both good. The Motorola Edge+ tends to underexpose scenes, though, even though it preserves a great level of detail. The Galaxy S20 Ultra is a bit better in that regard, but it’s not the best out there for night shots, that’s for sure. All in all, both camera setups are quite compelling.
Motorola Edge+ vs Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra: Audio
Both of these phones come with a set of stereo speakers. That being said, both sets of stereo speakers are really, really good. You’ll get rich, loud audio coming out of them. Distortion is barely noticeable and only on the highest of volumes, and these phones can provide a really, really loud audio output.
As far as headphones are concerned, well, the Motorola Edge+ does have an advantage in one way, it comes with a headphone jack. That is something that Samsung did not include in the Galaxy S20 Ultra, so you’ll have to rely on a Type-C port for wired audio. Both phones support Bluetooth, of course, so you can hook up Bluetooth headphones instead. Both phones provide really good audio via headphones as well. On both of them mids and highs are a bit better than lows, but not by much. The audio is really well balanced here.