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Both phones also benefit from the new 120Hz screen – which is a first for Samsung – and have an identical camera arrangement. This means you have a 12MP (f/1.8) main camera at your disposal, along with a 12MP (f/2.2) ultra-wide and 64MP (f/3.5) telephoto sensor. All of the phones are capable of 8K video recording, although the keen-eyed might have noticed that the S20 and S20 Plus don’t use the S20 Ultra’s 108MP camera, and neither are capable of 100x zoom – instead ‘only’ zooming up to 30x. Samsung Galaxy S20 review: Price and competition The resulting images at maximum zoom are a bit mixed, but there’s no denying that this tech is quite impressive. I can’t see there being many use cases for zooming that far into the frame – you certainly won’t be putting the pictures on a cushion at Snappy Snaps – but when you consider that the iPhone 11 doesn’t zoom at all, the advantage goes to Samsung here. Likewise, rather than placing the three rear cameras in a neat vertical strip like last year, the Galaxy S20’s trio of cameras are instead squished into an upright oblong in the top left corner of the phone. It’s certainly not as brutish as the S20 Ultra and its gigantic telephoto zoom sensor, but I still wouldn’t say it’s particularly nice to look at. Where Samsung really comes into its own, however, is in the S20’s zooming capabilities, with what it calls ‘Space Zoom’. This is a silly marketing phrase, of course, but the S20 is capable of using a combination of optical and AI-digital techniques to magnify up to 30x. For the record, the much more expensive Galaxy S20 Ultra is capable of delivering 100x zoom.
Instead, If you directly compare with the next phone along the price spectrum – the Galaxy S20 Plus – then you might spot that the experience remains largely the same. Aside from the size and battery differences – as well as an option for 4G – the Galaxy S20 uses a near-identical combination of internal components. That’s the new Exynos 990 processor, 8GB or 12GB of RAM and 128GB of expandable storage, if you weren’t aware. The Galaxy S20 also comes in either 8GB or 12GB of RAM variants, with the option to pay a little more for 5G connectivity. There’s no choice when it comes to storage, but the 128GB of onboard space can at least be upgraded up to a further 1TB via microSD if required. Of course, the Samsung is currently unmatched when it comes to sheer detail capture at 8K, but when the resulting footage is a shaky mess, it’s simply not pleasant to watch – a tripod or gimbal is absolutely essential in this instance. Samsung Galaxy S20 review: Verdict The arrival of the Galaxy S20 in shops ushers in the beginning of smartphone launch season, and with the Novel Coronavirus outbreak looming large across the industry, by sheer coincidence Samsung may have won big by being one of the first out of the gate. The differences are more slight when you compare the wide-angle images, however. Both pictures are filled with detail, although they both struggle a bit when it comes to distortion in the far corners of the frame.In testing, I found this to be the most colour accurate of the three screen profiles at my disposal, although it suffered from noticeably oversaturated red tones and undersaturated pink and purple tones, so it isn’t perfect. However, you can rest assured that the screen has a pin-sharp contrast ratio of Infinity:1 and it’s also capable of reaching a blinding maximum brightness of 748cd/m2. Samsung Galaxy S20 review: Performance and battery life
The Galaxy S20 also gets things right when it comes to battery life, provided you make sure to choose the right settings. Fully draining the 4,000mAh battery from full in our video rundown test, I found that the Galaxy S20 lasted 18hrs 28mins before needing to recharge, which is rather good considering this was performed at the phone’s default WQHD+ screen resolution – although only at 60Hz. As before, the Galaxy S20 uses one of Samsung’s own Dynamic AMOLED panels, which has a native resolution of 3,200 x 1,400 (Quad HD+) but can be dipped down to FHD+ or HD+ in the phone’s display settings if you want to squeeze out a bit more battery life. Still, this silky-smooth screen will be for nothing if the quality of the display isn’t up to scratch. According to my tests using a display colourimeter, the Galaxy S20’s Dynamic AMOLED screen covered 94% of the sRGB colour gamut, with an overall volume of 96% and an average Delta E of 2.64 in the phone’s ‘Natural’ display profile. Alas, Samsung seems to have taken a pared-down approach when it comes to the Galaxy S20’s design. In an era of foldable phones, the S20 lineup looks rather utilitarian in comparison, with the usual chrome-tinted edges – which still look nice by the way – and pearlescent finishes on the rear glass panel failing to offer anything particularly new or groundbreaking.
Haven’t you heard? 20 is the new 11 – the basic Galaxy S20 is Samsung’s best-value flagship yet
However, pictures looked a touch candy-coloured for my liking, and the iPhone 11 did a better job at capturing more neutral-looking images. The S20 was also insistent on overexposing most images. The differences between the two are night and day as soon as the light begins to fade, too: the S20 looks drab when placed side-by-side with the positively vibrant images from the iPhone 11.
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