Review of Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra - ultra-expensive smartphone for maximalists

Smartphone prices are skyrocketing. If earlier the flagship models of the A-brands were sold for 600-700 dollars, now they have approached the mark of 1,000. Samsung decided not to stop there and released the Galaxy S20 Ultra for 1,400 dollars, or 100 thousand rubles. What can a smartphone offer for the price of a new MacBook? Let's figure it out.

Specifications
Design and ergonomics
Screen
Software and performance
Sound
Camera
Autonomy
Outcomes

Specifications

Platform	Android 10, firmware One UI 2.1
Display	6, 9 inches, 3 200 × 1 440 pixels, Infinity ‑ O, 20: 9, Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120 Hz, 511 ppi, Always On, HDR10 +, Gorilla Glass 6
Chipset	Exynos 990, video accelerator Mali-G77MP11
Memory	RAM - 12 GB LPDDR5, ROM - 128 GB UFS 3.0; microSD support up to 1 TB
Connection	Hybrid slot Nano-SIM, eSIM, Wi-Fi 6, GPS, GLONASS, Bluetooth 5.0 LE, NFC, GSM / GPRS / EDGE / LTE
Sound	AKG stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos, AKG headphones included (USB ‑ C)
Battery	5000mAh, 25W Fast Charging, 10W Wireless Charging, Reversible Wireless Charging
Peculiarities	USB ‑ C 3.2, IP68 water and dust resistant
Dimensions (edit)	166.9 × 76 × 8.8mm
The weight	220 g

Design and ergonomics

The Galaxy S20 Ultra is clearly in the unification trend. Except for a huge block with cameras, there is nothing in it that would make a smartphone stand out from the background of devices for a third of its price. The same glass panels, smoothly flowing into the metal frame, the traditional arrangement of buttons and connectors. Even the colors are unremarkable: the model is available in black and gray.

However, when you think about it, Samsung is doing it right. The company has already gotten some big bumps back in the days of the Galaxy S5, when its flagship smartphone was compared in appearance to an adhesive plaster and the interior of old Zhiguli. Now we got a product without controversial design decisions. And if you want to stand out, there is a rich assortment of covers.

Moreover, a protective case is a must for the Galaxy S20 Ultra. The smartphone is heavy and slippery, and replacing the screen or rear glass is not cheap. In addition, the cover hides the protruding camera block.

The dimensions do not allow using the smartphone with one hand. However, thanks to its rounded corners and edges, the S20 Ultra fits well in the palm of your hand. Also, contrary to fears, the camera unit does not upset the balance, it is not difficult to hold the device for a long time.

The controls are located on the right side, on the bottom there is a multimedia speaker and a USB-C connector. Above - a hybrid slot for nano-SIM and memory cards. The assembly is flawless, but you can't expect anything else from the flagship smartphone. Also, the novelty is protected from water and dust according to the IP68 standard.

Screen

The "face" of the smartphone is a 6, 9 ‑ inch screen with QHD + resolution (3,200 × 1,440). The matrix is made using Dynamic AMOLED 2X technology, which means the use of organic diodes and twice the refresh rate (up to 120 Hz).

The pixels have a proprietary Pentile structure - there are twice as many green diodes as red and blue ones. In theory, this reduces the clarity of the picture, but with a pixel density of 511 ppi, no looseness is noticeable.

DisplayMate tested the Galaxy S20 Ultra screen and awarded the Galaxy S20 Ultra OLED Display Technology Shoot-Out its highest A + rating. The display is 14% brighter than the Galaxy S10, which, together with the anti-reflective coating, makes it easy to read outdoors. Also, the image matches the DCI ‑ P3 and sRGB color spaces as closely as possible, so the screen is suitable for photo processing.

Nevertheless, by default, the settings are set to the "Saturated colors" mode, which brings the picture to the "acidity" of the first AMOLED-screens. Therefore, it is better to immediately switch to natural color reproduction.

The "chip" of the display is the refresh rate equal to 120 Hz. Unfortunately, when activated, the system resolution is reduced to Full HD + (2,400 × 1,080). However, the difference with QHD + in clarity is insignificant, but the smoothness increases significantly.

Otherwise, this is a familiar AMOLED screen with maximum viewing angles and contrast levels, as well as support for HDR10 +. The only drawback is the lack of DC Diming function, which eliminates high-frequency flicker of the backlight. If you are sensitive to PWM, prolonged use of the Galaxy S20 Ultra can tire your eyes.

Software and performance

The Galaxy S20 Ultra runs Android 10 with One UI 2.1. Samsung's interface differs from the pure version of Android with changed icons, a settings panel, redesigned gesture controls and an abundance of other little things. Nevertheless, the basic logic of the system remained intact, so that Android users can easily navigate the proprietary firmware.

The hardware platform is a proprietary Exynos 990 chipset, made using a 7-nanometer process technology. It includes two high-performance Mongoose M5 cores up to 2.33 GHz, two Cortex ‑ A76 cores with a frequency of 2.5 GHz and four more energy efficient Cortex ‑ A55 cores operating at 2 GHz.

The system and application interface works perfectly, which is to be expected from a flagship device. There were no problems with connecting to the network either. Another cool feature is USB 3.2 with data transfer rates up to 20 Gbps.

The amount of RAM is 12 GB, built-in - 128 GB. The latter is expandable using microSD memory cards.

Responsible for the graphics video accelerator Mali-G77 MP11. Its performance is enough to easily pull World Of Tanks: Blitz at maximum settings with a stable 60 FPS. At the same time, the indicators do not fall for half an hour of the game, and the heating is quite moderate.

Nevertheless, the problem of optimizing games for Mali graphics remains relevant. Despite the display with a frequency of 120 Hz, this value cannot be included in World Of Tanks: Blitz. So the potential of a smartphone can only be unleashed by game developers over time.

What's slow about the S20 Ultra is unlocking. An ultrasonic fingerprint scanner is installed in the screen, which does not work as quickly as optical and capacitive counterparts. Face recognition is also not lightning fast, but at least the smartphone cannot be unlocked with a photo or video, as it was in the Galaxy S10.

Sound

When we first looked at the S20 Ultra, we already praised the stereo speakers, but they deserve another mention. In terms of sound quality, only the iPhone 11 Pro Max can compete with the smartphone. Moreover, when compared with the Asus ZenBook 13 laptop, the novelty practically did not yield to it in terms of volume, although it produced less voluminous sound.

We also put a plus for the bundled headphones with USB-C connection. Samsung has given up on 3.5 mm adapters - and it did the right thing. A lot of users have switched to wireless sound, while the rest will have a headset out of the box. Moreover, it sounds better than most of the bundled headphones from other manufacturers.

The earpiece produces a fairly loud and clear sound, there are no complaints about the microphones either - there were no complaints about voice transmission from the interlocutors. A high-quality vibration motor has become a pleasant trifle. The tactile feedback is similar to that found on iPhones with the Taptic Engine.

Camera

So we got to the main feature of the Galaxy S20 Ultra. The four-camera system includes a 108 MP main camera, a periscope module with 5x optical zoom and a 48 MP sensor, a 12 MP wide-angle camera and a ToF (Time-of-Flight) depth measurement sensor. The front camera has a resolution of 40 megapixels.

In standard mode, the smartphone takes 12-megapixel images by combining 9 adjacent pixels into one. This expands the dynamic range and reduces noise.

Crop in 12 megapixel mode

Crop in 108MP mode

0, 5x

10x

Night mode

Selfie

Another groundbreaking feature is 8K video recording. The frame rate is 24 FPS, electronic stabilization is not available, and there is also a noticeable rolling shutter.

This is how a smartphone records traditional 4K video.

Autonomy

The inside of the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra has a 5000 mAh battery. It would seem that such a capacity should be enough for a couple of days of work, but in reality the situation is sad. The smartphone gives out less than 4 hours with active use of the screen, and this is even without games. You have to put it on charge by the end of the working day.

Lowering the resolution and refresh rate helps, but does not completely solve the problem. The same goes for dark mode. Probably, the reason lies in the unfamiliar Exynos 990 platform. Hopefully Samsung will fix this with software updates.

It's good at least a 25-watt adapter was included in the kit, so it won't take long to recharge. The smartphone gains 100% charge in less than an hour. We also tested wireless charging: it took 4 hours to charge the device from the Xiaomi 10-watt docking station.

Outcomes

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is an ultra-large, ultra-expensive smartphone packed with dizzying specs. You can add the prefix "ultra" before each word, and a completely accurate description of the novelty will come out. But along with this, there are drawbacks that you do not expect to see in a device for 100 thousand rubles. The main one, of course, is autonomy. Samsung urgently needs to optimize power consumption. So you shouldn't rush to buy this smartphone.