Samsung Galaxy S20 review

The Galaxy S20 is the most one-hand-friendly version of Samsung’s new 5G phone

Samsung Galaxy S20 two-minute takeaway

The Samsung Galaxy S20 skips a bunch of numbers from last year’s Galaxy S10, but there is a good reason for that:
it’s a massive upgrade if you’re keen on a 5G phone.

It’s cheaper and smaller than the Galaxy S20 Plus and Galaxy S20 Ultra, but far from what we’d call a cheap or small phone.
In fact, it’s more than the S10 launch price, which may explain why pre-orders seem surprisingly down compared to the older phone.

We tested the Galaxy S20’s triple-lens camera for an hour and came away impressed with three things.
Firstly, Samsung has boosted the individual pixel size from 1.4 microns on the S10 to 1.8, and, second,
the camera sensors themselves are larger – all of them.

Samsung says night-time photos will be clearer in what it calls the biggest overall upgrade to its phone
cameras since the Galaxy S7 in 2016. That’s a bold claim. We can say that we saw better photos in our Galaxy S20 Ultra camera test.

Third, the telephoto lens jumps from 12MP on the Galaxy S10 to 64MP (though individual pixels
are smaller here, so it may not change that much compared to what the numbers suggest) and
it brings 3x optical and 30x digital zoom to the table.

The ultra-wide lens decreases in megapixels – 16MP to 12MP – but increases in microns and sensor size,
which should prove to be more important. Every camera is better on paper, though not as dramatically upgraded as on the S20 Ultra.

The Galaxy S20 is the first phone we’ve tested that records 8K video, which seems like overkill –
until, that is, you realize that this gives you much more scope to crop in and edit without sacrificing detail,
even if you’re only outputting to 4K and 1080p.

That’s great news for content creators – although 8K is stuck at 24fps, and Samsung’s advanced
Steady Stabilization doesn’t apply to 8K or 4K video, so you won’t get buttery-smooth videos.

Powering all of this is a new speedy 7nm chipset, 12GB of RAM, and 128GB of internal storage –
and unlike the basic variant of the Note 10, the S20 has a microSD card slot for expandable storage should you run out of space.

Its 4,000mAh battery seems beefy enough, but we’re interested in seeing how many 5G hogs our battery life over a day.

The expanded capacity has had one negative consequence already: it’s squeezed out the headphone jack.
It’s the same story with the S20 Plus and S20 Ultra, and it’s the first time Samsung has dropped the feature from its S range.

The Galaxy S20 has a lot of things going for it: a sizable screen with a fast refresh rate,
a new triple-lens camera with a lot of promise, and solid specs headlined by faster 5G speeds.

But it may fall into the trap of being neither affordable nor the best of the new Galaxies.
Its price hike will be a turn-off for some, while others with a substantial budget will look
to the S20 Plus and Ultra for their fast 5G peak speeds and, in the case of the Ultra, a much better camera.

Want to read more about what we think of the Galaxy S20? Read on below:

 Samsung Galaxy S20 release date and price

• Samsung Galaxy S20 US / AU / UAE release date: March 6
• Samsung Galaxy S20 UK release date: March 13

Brace yourself: you’re going to pay more for the Galaxy S20 than last year’s flagship Samsung phone due to its 5G upgrade,
bigger camera sensors, and larger 6.2-inch 120Hz display.

In the US, UK and Australia the Galaxy S20 5G price is $999 / £899 / AU$1,499 with 128GB of storage.
If you want 512GB of storage, you’ll have to buy the S20 Ultra.

The phone is also available in a 4G version in some markets such as the UK, Australia, and UAE where the price
£799 / AU$1,349 / AED 3,199. Those in the US are only able to get the phone in its 5G variant.

This new price means that, in at least one region, the flagship inherits the Galaxy S10 Plus launch price –
$100 more than the base-model S10. It also matches the $999 iPhone 11 Pro launch cost, although
Apple’s phone has a smaller 5.8-inch display and that price gets you just 64GB of storage.

When will you be able to buy one? The Samsung Galaxy S20 release date is Friday, March 6 in the US, Australia,
and the UAE, and Friday, March 13 in the UK – although many networks are offering it for pre-order now.
Why is it out a week later in the UK? We’ve got no clue.