Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra review
Our Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra delivers amazing zoom, 5G and serious functioning — only information technology's still far from perfect.
For
- Impressive photos
- Gorgeous 120Hz display
- 5G support
- Huge five,000 mAh battery
Confronting
- No headphone jack
- 120Hz is a battery killer
Tom'southward Guide Verdict
The Samsung Milky way S20 Ultra delivers amazing zoom, 5G and serious performance — but it's yet far from perfect.
Pros
- +
Impressive photos
- +
Gorgeous 120Hz display
- +
5G back up
- +
Huge five,000 mAh battery
Cons
- -
No headphone jack
- -
120Hz is a battery killer
Is it still worth buying the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra? It'south been over xviii months since the phone launched, at which bespeak it's been passed by the Galaxy Note xx, also equally the S-Pen toting Galaxy S21 Ultra and Milky way Z Fold 3.
The reply is even so a resounding yes. Non only is the S20 Ultra a perfectly capable and powerful phone, time has simply lowered its once-hefty price tag. It may non have S Pen support, a folding screen, or even a dual 3x and 10x telephoto camera lenses, but what this phone does have means it's nevertheless a very appealing pick.
- Check out our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 review
- Samsung Milky way S21 Ultra vs Galaxy S20 Ultra: What's different?
Samsung packed what was the most avant-garde camera at the time into the Milky way S20 Ultra: a quad-lens module that includes a 108-megapixel main sensor, and 10x lossless zoom that offers up to 100x in digital power.
Editors' Note: Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy S22 Ultra , and our Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. Milky way S20 Ultra outlines the differences betwixt these two high-finish phones.
One quick look at those elevation-flight eyes and sensors, and you'd presume the Milky way S20 Ultra was destined to exist the best camera phone on the market. Simply thanks to a number of frustrating bugs at launch, the photos we initially took weren't anywhere almost every bit impressive as you'd promise. Specially given the original toll.
Fortunately, the S20 Ultra is so much more than than just a camera, with its gargantuan half-dozen.9-inch, 120Hz brandish and hereafter-proof back up for every major carrier's 5G network. And if about 7 inches of screen real manor is more than you need, Samsung offers alternative options: in that location'southward the slightly more compact six.7-inch Samsung Milky way S20 Plus or the even smaller and cheaper half-dozen.2-inch Samsung Milky way S20 — though those models lose the Ultra's powerful zoom.
Merely about everything is supersized most the Galaxy S20 Ultra. That makes it one of the all-time high-end phones out in that location, though the newer Samsung Galaxy Note xx Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra incorporate many of the S20 Ultra'south features — similar that 108-MP camera — to improve effect.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra: Cheat Sheet
- The Galaxy S20 Ultra has a groundbreaking 108-megapixel primary rear camera and 10x lossless zoom, merely it was troubled by autofocus issues at launch. Samsung issued software updates after the phone's release that addressed some of these camera problems.
- The Galaxy S20 Ultra sports Samsung's first-ever 120Hz AMOLED display, and this one's a whopper, measuring 6.9 inches from corner to corner.
- With a huge five,000 mAh bombardment, the Galaxy S20 Ultra can deliver most 12 hours of endurance when gear up to the default 60Hz refresh rate. At 120Hz, however, that runtime dives to simply a trivial over 9 hours.
- The Snapdragon 865 CPU and 12GB of RAM inside the S20 Ultra make it very snappy, yet benchmarks and our existent-earth video editing test illustrate that it's all the same a shade behind Apple tree's iPhone eleven Pro Max.
- The Milky way S20 Ultra packs a 5G modem that allows it to connect to both long-range sub-6GHz and millimeter-wave networks on any major U.S. carrier. We recorded upwards of 100Mbps on the one-time, though speed will be heavily dependent on your service provider.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra: Price and availability
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra launched with an eye-watering $1,399 price tag, though thankfully that price has not stuck around The starting configuration includes 12GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, merely y'all tin upgrade to a 16GB/512GB model for a bit more money if you need more memory and capacity.
Thankfully the launch of the Galaxy S21 Ultra, which starts at $ane,199, means the price has been dropping quite a fleck. Shop around and you tin easily observe a brand new S20 Ultra for less than $i,000. Expect that to decrease fifty-fifty more than every bit time goes on.
The Galaxy S20 Ultra is available through all major U.S. carriers, including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. If you lot're looking to snap up an S20 Ultra and save, be sure to check out our guide to the best Galaxy S20 deals. Some retailers and carriers are offering goodies, such as souvenir cards and boosted credit toward a new S20 when you trade in your current smartphone.
- Best Samsung Galaxy S20 deals
Samsung Milky way S20 Ultra review: Specs
| Price | $1,399, $1,599 |
| Display | vi.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED (3200x1440; 120Hz) |
| Rear cameras | Quad-lens: 108MP wide (ƒ/ane.8); 48MP telephoto (ƒ/3.v); 12MP ultrawide (ƒ/2.2); time-of-flying VGA |
| Camera zoom | 4x optical zoom, 10x hybrid "lossless," 100x digital zoom |
| Forepart camera | 40MP (ƒ/2.2) |
| Video | Upward to 8K at 24 fps |
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 |
| RAM | 12GB, 16GB |
| Storage | 128GB, 512GB |
| microSD | Yeah, up to 1TB |
| Bombardment | five,000 mAh |
| Size | six.vi x 2.7 ten 0.34 inches |
| Weight | 7.vii ounces |
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra review: Pattern
In some means, the Galaxy S20 Ultra looks a lot like Samsung phones that take preceded information technology — namely, the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Notation 10. The edges are curved, the display goes right upwards to the edge of the device and well-nigh kisses the metal frame, and in that location'southward an Infinity-O hole dial camera cutout up peak, smack dab in the center.
Simply the S20 Ultra in particular is like a Galaxy flagship on steroids. To the point where the phones that followed many of its blueprint features. Features like the massive display, stretching 6.9 inches from corner to corner, and the giant rectangular camera array on the rear dominates the back of the device, aggressively protruding from an otherwise unremarkable slab of gray glass.
Sadly the S20 Ultra only comes in ii extremely boring shades — Catholic Black and Cosmic Gray — that are underwhelming considering how much this phone has going on under the hood. Samsung does offer Cloud Bluish and Cloud Pink versions of the less expensive Galaxy S20 variants, though those hues are absent for Ultra customers. And no matter which shade you buy, this telephone is likewise a serious magnet for fingerprints; perhaps Samsung should have offered a matte drinking glass option, too.
The one aspect of the S20 Ultra's pattern we oasis't even so touched upon is size, and make no fault — this is one beast of a smartphone. Information technology measures 6.6 10 2.ix x 0.34 inches and weighs 7.7 ounces, making it much taller and a smidge thicker than the iPhone 11 Pro Max, but a hair narrower.
To Samsung's credit, though, it was able to continue the S20 Ultra lighter than seven.97-ounce iPhone 11 Pro Max, even though the iPhone has a significantly smaller battery and a more than compact photographic camera module. Regardless, if you prefer your smartphones smaller, the S20 Ultra is certainly not for you.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra review: Camera
The Milky way S20 Ultra's camera arrangement has a lot going for it, including a 108MP sensor that captures highly detailed images, a 10x lossless zoom and up to a 100x digital Infinite Zoom. Plus, every sensor is larger, which helps pull in more light.
That all sounds good, only there'south one big trouble: The S20 Ultra has some issues focusing. For case, when trying to hone in on a miniature arcade machine upwards close, the S20 Ultra definitely takes longer to get its bearings than the iPhone xi Pro Max. The Samsung handset'southward focus was jumpy, while the iPhone's was almost instantaneous and shine.
How bad is the Galaxy S20 Ultra'due south focus? Well, it is jumpy vs the iPhone 11 Pro Max. Check this out. #GalaxyS20Ultra pic.twitter.com/3JKVlsRXcZFebruary 27, 2020
The S20 Ultra also exhibited jumpy autofocus when shooting video in Bryant Park. As my colleague Mike Prospero moved around the frame, the S20 Ultra demonstrates obvious trouble keeping upward; both he and the background shift in and out of focus. Meanwhile, the iPhone xi Pro Max kept him and the rest of the scene in perfect clarity.
In the days following the S20 Ultra'due south launch, Samsung provided the following statement surrounding the camera glitches many reviewers have reported:
"The Galaxy S20 features a groundbreaking, advanced camera system. We are constantly working to update software to provide with the best camera experience for consumers. The rollout is get-go in Korea and will make it in additional regions over the side by side few weeks."
That update is out now, and looks to have squashed some of the jumpiness that was unavoidable upon the phone's initial release. Overall, the S20 Ultra truly shines when capturing zoom shots from a distance, but in other scenarios — like at night, or when capturing a shallow depth-of-field Live Focus portrait — the results tin be mixed.
The adept news is that the 108MP camera tin capture a stunning corporeality of detail under the correct conditions. In this shot of the curved Grace building, nosotros could crop around the letters on the facade and still make them out conspicuously.
Low light photography, still, is more of a claiming for the S20 Ultra. The iPhone 11 Pro'southward shot in this particular face up-off is noticeably more than detailed than the one captured using Samsung's flagship. The texture in the yellowish petals is much clearer in the effect from Apple tree'due south handset.
Merely and so, in other circumstances, the Night Mode shots produced by the Galaxy S20 Ultra compare more favorably to those nosotros took with the iPhone 11 Pro Max. This photo of a tree at night taken with the S20 Ultra is highly detailed and well lit, though at that place is a slight yellow cast to the shot. The iPhone 11 Pro Max'south version is much darker and some details, similar the bark, don't stand out equally conspicuously.
Another complaint about the S20 Ultra's camera is that it aggressively smooths out faces. We took a couple of portrait photos of Mike again, and the S20 Ultra'south image was in focus this time, but still lacking precision. Yous tin specially tell around Mike'south eyes and the right side of his confront, which gets blown out by the sunlight. The S20 Ultra'south shot features better contrast, just overall it loses to the iPhone 11 Pro Max here.
The issues we've noticed with the S20 Ultra's photographic camera are especially frustrating, given how the camera performed in almost of our other head-to-head tests, peculiarly when nosotros utilized the other lenses on the device. Samsung's high-terminate telephone benefits from a 4x optical, 48MP telephoto lens capable of 10x lossless zoom and up to 100x digital zoom. That's some serious power, and Samsung has an accordingly flatulent name for information technology: Space Zoom.
We tested the S20 Ultra's 10x hybrid zoom — which employs software on top of the lens' natural 4x optical power — by snapping a photo of Manhattan's iconic Chrysler Edifice from the corner of West 42 St. and fifth Ave., which is about 3 blocks away. We then captured the aforementioned flick from the same vantage point with the iPhone 11 Pro Max, which has only a 2x optical zoom telephoto lens, and none of the post-processing that Samsung uses to clean up digital zoom on the S20 Ultra.
The difference, as y'all tin can manifestly meet, is dark and solar day — like the difference betwixt an impressionistic painting and an actual photograph. The S20 Ultra's rendition is exponentially more than detailed, and it's astonishing when you consider information technology was produced by a smartphone.
Zooming in on the carvings adorning the facade of the New York Public Library, the S20 Ultra'south mix of sophisticated hardware and software delivered a precise image of two figures and adjacent text. The iPhone 11 Pro Max's attempt is also extremely grainy and too warm, with a greenish, sepia-similar cast that wasn't truthful to the day's actual conditions.
Inside Grand Central Station, the S20 Ultra captured this dim nevertheless in one case again much clearer shot of the transit hub'south iconic golden clock on summit of the information booth. Apple's device more aggressively exposed the rest of the scene, rather than the clock alone, though the iPhone'southward shot is blown out as a event in many places. The S20 Ultra's try is conversely a trivial too dark, but at least it's well-baked enough that it notwithstanding gives yous something to work with in editing.
That said, you won't really want to test the limits of the S20 Ultra'southward full 100x digital zoom. For one, information technology'south really hard to shoot at that kind of power. Whatsoever natural hand movements are amplified to the indicate where it'south near impossible to take a perfectly articulate and straight picture without noticeable milkshake. Make no mistake — this is truly tripod territory.
Secondly, even the all-time results with 100x zoom on the S20 Ultra are remarkably blurry, and all the computational photography hacks in the world won't help 100x digital zoom from a 4x optical lens expect remotely presentable. Annihilation up to about 30x proves to be the S20 Ultra's sweet spot, but y'all won't want to push your luck much further beyond that.
Previous Milky way S flagships were e'er weakest when capturing Alive Focus shallow depth-of-field portraits. However, fifty-fifty with some of the weaknesses noted above, the S20 Ultra has improved in that regard. Apple can all the same claim the portrait crown, but some of our portrait comparisons put Samsung in a ameliorate light.
The S20 Ultra manages to avert the hazy warmth of the iPhone 11 Pro Max's version of this scene, though it besides doesn't exercise quite as nice a task of exposing the darker regions of the frame and the details inside, like the texture of my jacket and scarf. Still, I'd contend the S20 Ultra captured the more realistic photograph here, even if it'south not necessarily the best — and that's a massive step up from portrait mode in Samsung'due south prior phones.
Personally, the S20 Ultra impressed me the virtually when I snapped a pic of 1 of M Central'southward ornate chandeliers at 5x zoom. Not merely is it by and large sharper than the iPhone'south version of the same scene, only the lightbulbs are meliorate isolated, and the way the gold portions catch and manipulate calorie-free is rendered with remarkable clarity and contrast by Samsung'south camera.
Even the S20 Ultra's ultrawide lens — often the weak link of mobile cameras — churns out skilful results, delivering an eye-catching shot of Brooklyn's undercover DeKalb market place in challenging lighting conditions. The iPhone 11 Pro Max delivered a comparatively softer and warmer have, that slightly blew out the neon signs and didn't paint the edges of objects and text quite as crisply.
Every bit noted, yous have to strength the S20 Ultra's main camera to shoot at 108MP. What you're then often left with is an ultra-high resolution photo that looks pretty flat, and likely not every bit good as if you merely left the camera lone to begin with. I'm more impressed with the saturated yellows and pinks that the S20 Ultra pulled out of the flowers you see above, but the Pixel 4 clearly wins where contrast is concerned, as it amend separated the petals.
Finally, we turn to the S20 Ultra'southward 40MP front end-facing shooter, which — like the main 108MP photographic camera — also uses pixel binning. The selfie y'all meet hither actually only weighs in at six.5MP, though it you lot wouldn't know information technology. The iPhone xi Pro Max'due south portrait is conspicuously a piffling sharper, attributable to Apple's Deep Fusion processing technique, which is designed to extract infrequent particular in medium-light conditions.
I like how much brighter Apple tree's take is, and you tin can especially notice the improved detail in the material of my sweater and my skin tone. But I don't appreciate how pulled back the iPhone'due south perspective is compared to the S20 Ultra'south, and once again, Samsung's white balance is more neutral and non equally artificially warm.
The most standout camera feature on the S20 Ultra (aside from all those megapixels and the crazy zoom) is Single Take way. When engaged, Unmarried Have records a x-second video and snaps multiple images, giving you an unabridged gallery of options to choose from and share. The S20 Ultra will pick the best-looking nevertheless shot, take a 12MP ultrawide photo, a portrait with Alive Focus mode and capture both a sped-up video and a normal-speed prune.
I was impressed with the Unmarried Take mode's results when I recorded a juggler in action with the S20 Ultra. However, Single Take's appeal is sort of limited, as information technology'south really only reserved for when you have a unique subject area in motility. It's also very difficult to determine which shots are which from a glance — this mode could really benefit from an update that labels each piece of content and so you can improve tell them autonomously by their thumbnails, like "ultrawide," "best shot," "Alive Focus" and so on.
Last but certainly non to the lowest degree, the S20 Ultra is capable of recording 8K video at 24 fps, and you tin turn moments from your clips into 33MP photos. When you're done shooting, y'all tin can cast 8K videos to Samsung QLED TVs or share them with other Samsung devices — though with 4K displays only now becoming commonplace, it's hard to imagine anyone has the tech necessary to view such content today, and then Samsung'due south accomplishment here rings pretty hollow. And with the autofocus problems that have emerged, this is a feature that requires more fine-tuning.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra review: Brandish
Samsung supplies the displays in a great number of the world's smartphones, which is why information technology was and then surprising to encounter the Milky way S10 autumn behind the contest concluding yr when it came to the screen. While other handsets —from the OnePlus 7 Pro to the ROG Telephone ii and Google'due south Pixel four — boasted 90Hz and 120Hz refresh rates, the S10 offered a pedestrian 60Hz.
Fortunately, Samsung is catching up with the Galaxy S20 line. All three S20 models tout 120Hz panels, though the S20 Ultra's is the largest of the bunch by far, sized at 6.9 inches with a 20:nine attribute ratio and 3400x1440 resolution.
Unfortunately, the Galaxy S20 Ultra'southward brandish comes with a rather hefty caveat to running at 120Hz. When it's in this high-refresh style, you only get a Total Hd resolution, rather than the native QHD resolution.
The reason for this appears to be a means to conserve battery life, as the college the resolution and refresh charge per unit the more power hungry a display is. Every bit such, you'll need to pick and choose when yous want to accept: a super smooth display versus a super sharp ane. There's an statement that QHD resolutions aren't so important on phone displays, but they can make a departure when using a phone with the Galaxy S20'southward large screen.
It's also a scrap of a bummer as both the OnePlus eight Pro and the Oppo Find X2 Pro support their QHD resolutions while running at 120Hz. This is facilitated by extra hardware between the phones' screen and their innards, pregnant both handsets are thicker than the Galaxy S20 Ultra'south. And then Samsung's compromise is arguably an adequate one when information technology comes to keeping a slim frame in a large phone.
At first, this limitation bothered me. However, in practice, I didn't notice the resolution hit in typical usage, and I came away so impressed by the heightened refresh rate that I didn't actually intendance almost those missing pixels. I thought the 90Hz panel in the Pixel four offered a major stride up in terms of responsiveness and ease of use compared to the conventional 60Hz screens of former when I reviewed that device. Also, the S20 Ultra'due south 120Hz display is fifty-fifty faster and therefore even more refreshing to utilize. I about don't want to become to familiar with it, because I expect information technology'll be hard to go back.
The only problem with the switch to 120Hz is that almost all games and media aren't optimized for it. This is something that third-party app developers could address on a case by example basis; Microsoft'south Forza Street racing game volition exist among the starting time titles to accept advantage of the doubled refresh rate, for example. Additionally, the screen'south speedy 240Hz touch sampling charge per unit should make information technology ideal for highly-competitive games — particularly shooters like Fortnite. But most of the fourth dimension, chances are you lot'll only feel the divergence 120Hz makes when thumbing around the interface.
Aside from the refresh rate, the S20 Ultra'south screen looks phenomenal as you'd wait from Samsung, with robust colour reproduction, especially at the default Vivid setting. The S20 Ultra covered 231.ane% of the sRGB colour space co-ordinate to our calorie-free meter, which far exceeds the iPhone 11 Pro Max'southward 118.6%. That's not surprising, given that Apple commonly tunes its panels for more than subdued, realistic hues — and if yous desire the same in the S20 Ultra, you lot can opt for a Natural color profile in the device's settings.
Watching the trailer for the 2d flavour of Netflix'due south Formula 1: Drive to Survive, the S20 Ultra rendered the fume pouring off the rear wheels of a Red Bull grand prix automobile in slow motion with striking dynamic range and definition.
Information technology's a very impressive screen broadly speaking — though if I had one gripe, information technology could exist a smidge brighter. The S20 Ultra peaks at 662 nits when set to maximum brightness (though it only reaches that pinnacle in extremely bright ambient conditions). That'south a flake dimmer than the iPhone 11 Pro Max at 761 nits, and even Samsung'south cheaper Milky way Note 10 Plus narrowly bests it, at 686 nits.
The roughly 100 nits of additional brightness offered past the iPhone isn't a hugely pregnant departure, though it may brand contents on the S20 Ultra'southward display ever then slightly harder to read outdoors on a sunny day. Plus, it must be said that Apple tree'due south devices can attain their highest possible brightness manually, whereas Samsung'due south only reach it in certain circumstances, with the adaptive setting on.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra review: 5G
While most early on 5G phones supported just millimeter wave (mmWave) engineering, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is compatible with both mmWave technology and sub-half dozen GHz bands. The latter gives you a lot more range (though data speeds don't always exceed those of LTE), while mmWave is much faster merely requires that you be inside line-of-sight of a nearby node.
Verizon's 5G network is congenital on mmWave and available in more thirty cities, while T-Mobile and AT&T both offer low-ring networks. (T-Mobile'southward reaches 5,000 cities, while AT&T is in xx cities.) Sprint'southward midband network delivers slightly faster speeds than T-Mobile and Verizon, but it's non nearly as fast at Verizon'south 5G network. No thing the network, though, the Galaxy S20 Ultra volition work with whatsoever carrier's 5G setup.
While our review unit of measurement was oft connected to T-Mobile's 5G network, we didn't notice it to be all that fast in initial testing, every bit the phone never pulled down more than 4 Mbps in midtown Manhattan. That's obviously very slow, just successive tests in Brooklyn produced download speeds hovering effectually 100 Mbps over the Uncarrier's sub-6GHz 5G infrastructure. Certainly much more like it — though some advanced LTE networks can deliver those kinds of speeds, too.
5G networks are yet rolling out beyond the country, only this feature is a necessity if yous plan on property onto your S20 Ultra for years to come.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra review: Operation
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, similar all S20 handsets, will exist the first phone on the market with Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 865 processor, which promises faster performance and reduced power consumption.
That CPU gets paired with 12GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, only you can order the S20 Ultra with upward to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for $ane,599. (Of course, you can as well expand the S20 Ultra'south storage with a microSD card, and the phone will support cards upwards to 1TB in size.)
Thus it comes as little surprise that the S20 Ultra was never wanting for more horsepower during our testing. The combination of that 865 silicon and all that RAM means this handset is equipped to handle everything from ordinary multitasking to the most demanding mobile titles, like Fortnite and Asphalt 9 Legends. Fortnite in detail yielded a console-similar experience, thanks to the S20 Ultra'south massive, super-vivid display, the quality of its graphics and the device's all-around responsiveness.
Samsung'south new flagship proved potent in benchmarks, besides. In Geekbench 5'southward multicore system-wide test and GFXBench's Aztec Ruins high-tier offscreen graphics exam, the S20 Ultra delivered scores of 3,076 and 1,319 (xx.7 frames per second) respectively. Those compare well with — nonetheless autumn only shy of — the iPhone 11 Pro Max'due south performance in those tests, where Apple's flagship delivered scores of 3,517 and 1,657 (25 fps).
In our video editing examination, where a brief 4K video clip is transcoded to 1080p using Adobe'south Premiere Blitz app, the S20 Ultra completed the task in i minute and 16 seconds, compared to the iPhone eleven Pro Max, which needed only 45 seconds. It's off-white to say this could have something to practice with Adobe possibly better optimizing its app for iOS than Android, though information technology's impossible to exist certain.
One of the S20 Ultra'southward handy fourth dimension-saving features allows users to allocate up to three apps to be stored in RAM so that they launch instantly. And that number goes up to five apps if you opt for the 16GB model.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra review: Bombardment life and charging
One of our near pressing questions entering this Milky way S20 Ultra review was how long this phone would final on a charge. Samsung has stuffed the S20 Ultra with a ginormous five,000 mAh battery, which is the biggest yet in a Galaxy S series device — certainly bigger than the 4,500 mAh battery in final year's Galaxy S10 5G.
But the S20 Ultra is going to demand all the ability information technology tin handle in order to go on that 120Hz, 6.nine-inch display lit upwardly and maintain a speedy 5G data connection around the clock.
Tom's Guide sends every smartphone nosotros review through our custom bombardment test, where devices are forced to reload a listing of webpages indefinitely on T-Mobile's LTE network until they run out of juice, while set to 150 nits of brightness. For the S20 Ultra, we ran this test four times: twice with the screen set to the standard 60Hz, out-of-the-box setting, and twice at 120Hz. In all instances, the resolution was left at the default full-Hard disk.
The deviation in runtime due to the refresh charge per unit change was staggering. At 60Hz, the S20 Ultra lasted 12 hours and 13 minutes in its start test, and and so xi hours and 53 minutes in the second. That's more or less consistent with most other big flagships. To put it in perspective, the iPhone 11 Pro Max lasted eleven hours and 54 minutes in the same exam, while the Galaxy Note 10 Plus lasted 11 hours and 9 minutes. Neither of those phones have 5G modems or 120Hz refresh rate options.
When we went back and ran the same battery test on the S20 Ultra ii more than times — now at 120Hz — it lasted exactly nine hours and 13 minutes in both attempts. That'south about three hours less than its 60Hz operation; and so in other words, you'll be sacrificing nearly a quarter of the S20 Ultra's longevity on a charge if you insist on taking advantage of that smoother refresh rate.
When it's time to juice back up, the Milky way S20 Ultra supports wired 25-watt charging with the stock adapter of the box, also as Samsung'south 15-watt Fast Wireless Charging 2.0. Owners also have the option of purchasing an even faster 45-watt brick, though the standard 25-watt choice seems plenty fast already, judging from our testing. In just a half hour, it took the S20 Ultra from completely expressionless to 63 percent capacity.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra review: Software
All Galaxy S20 phones come with Samsung's new One UI 2 software, which simplifies the interface to make it easier to jump into your favorite apps, change settings and more. This rides on top of Android 10, which includes new features like Smart Reply and enhanced privacy and notification controls.
Samsung is as well trying to build better experiences into the S20 line, starting with Google Duo integration. Google'south answer to FaceTime, this video conversation app is congenital right into the phone dialer and contacts apps, and you lot tin can video chat with up to 8 people. Plus, y'all can video conversation in full Hd for the commencement fourth dimension.
Other software features include Music Share for sharing out your Bluetooth connection to your automobile (then you tin pass off DJ duties to someone else) and Spotify integration with Bixby routines, and then your S20 Ultra will recommend playlists based on contextual cues, like your location and the time of day.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra or Galaxy S21 Ultra?
Correct now the question you may be asking yourself is which Samsung flagship yous should be buying. On newspaper the Milky way S21 Ultra seems similar a clear winner. It has a hybrid zoom with 3x and ten x optical lenses, support for Samsung'due south S Pen stylus, the more powerful Snapdragon 888 chipset, plus an extra twelvemonth of Android and security updates.
Just that'southward not to say that the Galaxy S20 Ultra is that bad a phone. It'due south older, sure, and hasn't picked up all the same upgrades that accept been afforded to the galaxy S21 Ultra. That said it however has the same 120Hz QHD+ display, the same 5,000 mAh bombardment, and a camera that is like, if not completely identical, and still manages to offer a killer 100x zoom. Plus terminal yr's Snapdragon 865 is no slouch either.
It also has a 45W fast charging, compared to the S21 Ultra's 25W, and a microSD bill of fare slot — something Samsung decided to pull from the S21 range. That means y'all don't necessarily need to coughing up the greenbacks for bigger storage options.
Crucially, the S20 Ultra isn't going to cost yous almost as much as the S21 Ultra does correct now, and the the price is likely to continue in the run-upward to the Milky way S22 launch in the new year's day. The S21 Ultra may have started off at a much lower price point, but the newer phone is still more expensive than its predecessor.
The choice is upwardly to you, but the S20 Ultra is still a potent selection, despite its age, and then don't feel you have to get the S21 Ultra wait for the S22 Ultra if you don't want them.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra review: Verdict
The Samsung Milky way S20 Ultra is an almost a parody of the excesses of smartphone design, from its ginormous half-dozen.9-inch display to its 108MP camera and 100x zoom. It'due south the hypercar of flagship handsets, among sports cars.
The bombardment life on the Milky way S20 Ultra is slap-up, so long as yous don't utilize the 120Hz screen mode that often. And I'm glad that this phone has 5G to time to come-proof your investment, provided you can become coverage where y'all are.
However, when you're originally asked to pay $one,399, you deserve a flawless experience. Unfortunately, the camera's inconsistent performance gives us pause. Fortunately, the newer Milky way S21 Ultra refines many of the S20 Ultra'south crude edges for a better accommodating experience — and for $200 less than the S20 Ultra cost when new. If you must have the accented best in mobile tech, we advise looking at the S21 Ultra first.
Besides, the overwhelming majority of people will do but fine with the $999 Galaxy S20 or $1,199 Galaxy S20 Plus. Buyers of those phones volition become the same fast Snapdragon 865 processor, rich displays and improved — albeit different — imaging stacks, which lacked the S20 Ultra's particular glitches at launch.
There's besides yet another high-end Samsung handset that arrived non also long ago, in the form of the Samsung Milky way S20 Fan Edition. The Galaxy S20 Fe brought many of the S20 line's near defining features downwardly to an even more reasonable price point, below $999.
On height of that the Milky way Z Fold 3 is at present available, and while expensive it offers a more hybrid phone/tablet feel and S Pen support to kick. The Galaxy S21 Fe is likewise set to go far in the coming weeks, likely offering the best of the Galaxy S21 range for an fifty-fifty lower toll than the $ane,199 of the original model. In other words the S20 Ultra has a serious amount of competition right now
All this is to say that while the Galaxy S20 Ultra was indeed very impressive at launch, Samsung's other premium handsets tend to be cheaper with fewer of the S20 Ultra's more frivolous bells and whistles, or of a like price with more than impressive specs and features. In one case upon a time, the S20 Ultra was indeed the king, but those times have long since changed.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/galaxy-s20-ultra
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