"The Galaxy S20 is the smallest S20, but not small enough to be a compact flagship."
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Nice screen, 120Hz refresh rate
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The camera takes good photos
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Slim, light and easy to hold
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5G for the future
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The size does not do justice to the screen
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Not small enough to be different
The Galaxy S20 is an excellent phone. It is also the smallest member of the Galaxy S20 family. However, Samsung was wrong in not adopting the even smaller 5.8-inch screen size of the Galaxy S10e.
What is the Galaxy S20? It's a brilliantly powerful smartphone that can't differ from the slightly larger Galaxy S20 Plus to reach the underserved crowd that is screaming for a tiny flagship phone. Let's take a closer look at where the Galaxy S20 is successful and where it fails.
design
The Galaxy S20 looks exactly like the Galaxy S20 Plus, only on a slightly smaller scale. It is thin and light with 163 grams and 7.9 mm thickness and is based on an aluminum metal housing with Gorilla Glass 6 front and back. The screen measures 6.2 inches, so it's smaller than the 6.7-inch Galaxy S20 Plus and just a tad larger than the iPhone 11. I'm very happy that I injected the blue version instead of the matte gray Galaxy S20 Plus much needed character. It's fun to watch, rather than something Winston Smith from 1984 could have come up with on a particularly depressing day.
Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com
It's more natural to hold and use, also thanks to the 20: 9 aspect ratio compared to the Galaxy S20 Plus and OnePlus 8, but it's not that small. Although it's the baby of the S20 series, it's not a small phone. If you have the Galaxy S10 in hand, it's essentially the same size, only with a slightly larger screen. This is possible due to the amazingly slim bezels. They are almost invisible on the sides and only black splinters above and below. Using the Galaxy S20 is really like holding a big screen in your hand.
I also like the little details in the design, from the way the aluminum case bends around the volume and on / off buttons to the delicate camera joint on the back, which looks much less offensive here than the S20 Plus . It's a friendlier, tidier, and better all-round design. However, the larger screen of the S20 Plus convinces me every time it comes to watching videos and playing games.
Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com
The Galaxy S20 is smaller than the other phones in the range, but not so small that the trade-off between screen size and portability matters. The Galaxy S20 isn't a really compact flagship, but it's the most attractive of the three Galaxy S20 devices available this year. It is a puzzle that was ultimately solved by buying the blue or pink Galaxy S20 Plus.
Screen and games
The 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED has a resolution of 3200 x 1440 pixels for an even higher pixel density than the S20 Plus with 563 ppi. It has a refresh rate of 120 Hz, HDR10 + support and is one of the amazingly beautiful and sharpest smartphone screens that you will stare at. This is also a problem since you really have to stare at it as it feels quite restrictive when you take the opportunity to watch videos. You will enjoy the colors and sharpness of the S20 Plus or S20 Ultra more.
The screen size is great for reading emails and notifications, as well as surfing the Internet. The refresh rate of 120 Hz is not activated by default, but is strongly recommended. Scrolling is smoothed continuously, which results in less strain on the eyes and a more pleasant visual experience. There is a limitation as it can only be operated with the screen with Full HD resolution and not with active QHD resolution.
Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com
Start a video and YouTube shows content in 1080p quality with HDR, if available. Using the NowTV app to watch HBO's vapid but visually charged ballers looks incredible, with lots of details and a very natural color palette. However, the aspect ratio of the screen affects the viewing experience, since black bars run on both sides. Zoom in to fill the screen and you will lose part of the image above and below. Audio is very pleasant, with a lot of volume, although the bass is limited.
Playing is great, especially because of the immense power and performance of the phone and the wide variety of games available on the Google Play Store. Of course, it's not quite as impressive as the larger S20 Plus. Dariusburst is a good example of why you need to zoom out to compensate for the 20: 9 aspect ratio screen. Hill Climb Racer doesn't suffer the same way, and although I never really question the 240 Hz sample rate, the S20 always feels sharp and responsive, which makes playing comfortable.
The Galaxy S20 (from left), the Galaxy S20 Plus and the Galaxy S20 Ultra Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com
The Galaxy S20's screen is excellent, but while I'm willing to bypass the 20: 9 aspect ratio drawbacks on the larger models, I'm less willing to do so on the mid-size S20. If I want to pay for the kind of specs and media skills here, I really want to be able to enjoy them. That means a bigger screen.
camera
The camera of the Galaxy S20 is the same as that of the Galaxy S20 Plus. It only has a slightly more compact bulge on the back. It houses the 12-megapixel 1: 1.8 aperture sensor with optical image stabilization as well as a second 12-megapixel ultra-wide sensor and a third 64-megapixel telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. It records 4K videos, has a time-of-flight sensor and there is a 10 megapixel selfie camera on the front.
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I found it to offer the same performance as the S20 Plus. The camera is versatile, with wide-angle and zoom functions, takes decent shots in night mode and has a great photo editing suite built into the app. Portrait mode is effective, but must be used with care, as it sometimes fails to focus and edge detection suffers in more complex shapes. If this works, the edit mode to remove color from the background when taking portraits can produce some atmospheric, eye-catching shots.
You can find more information on the rating in the Galaxy S20 Plus test because the camera is identical. Check out some of the photo examples here to see how the Galaxy S20 behaves against it. The degree of saturation may be a little daunting, but is more reserved than with previous Samsung cameras. I have found that pictures taken on sunny days offer just the right amount of life and visual impact. Note that night mode can increase noise while lightening shaded areas. Therefore, shooting outside of night mode is often preferable.
Ultimately, the Galaxy S20 takes detailed and colorful photos that you want to share with minimal editing. There are more powerful cameras, from the iPhone 11 Pro to the Huawei P40 Pro, but the S20 (and the S20 Plus) are crowd pullers that take photos day and night and in most situations that you are happy with.
Galaxy S20 wide angle Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com
Galaxy S20 standard Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com
Galaxy S20 3x zoom Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com
Galaxy S20 30x zoom Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com
Like the phone itself, the camera is a brilliant all-rounder that does without the great functions of the Galaxy S20 Ultra.
Software and security
The same Android 10-based OneUI 2.0 software is installed on the Galaxy S20 as on the S20 Plus and S20 Ultra. I went into more detail in my Galaxy S20 Plus review, but my overall impression remains the same. The colorful, bold, and fairly large icons stand out on the screen, and you can see what they're doing at a glance. The appearance can also be customized. By default, for example, it is a 4 x 4 grid with symbols, which makes it look a bit childish. However, for those who don't like large print, it can be switched to a 5 x 4 layout or a 6 x 4 layout. Style version.
I had no problems with apps, notifications are delivered without any problems and the design on a Google Pixel 4 was not so far removed from Android that it is a mysterious journey – although it is so different that it has its own identity. The haptic feedback is tactile, but I don't like the standard Samsung keyboard because it doesn't offer swipe input. Therefore, it is preferable to switch to Google's Gboard.
The problems remain the same. The Samsung Daily screen that appears is useless, and the need to use a hidden software key to turn off the phone, since the hardware key is assigned to Bixby, is irritating. On a positive note, the use of Samsung DeX to connect to my MacBook works well and much better than before because photos and music can now be synchronized.
The Galaxy S20 (from left), the Galaxy S20 Plus and the Galaxy S20 Ultra Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com
I mainly relied on the face unlock system to secure the Galaxy S20. It's fast and reliable, even if the phone sometimes doesn't wake up properly when I answer it, so I have to press the power button, which slows down the process. The built-in fingerprint sensor is the opposite. It is a bit slow and unreliable.
Power and battery
The golden glasses keep going. The Galaxy S20, bought in the USA, has the Snapdragon 865 processor with 12 GB RAM and is therefore one of the most powerful smartphones that you can currently buy. For this test I use the European version with a Samsung Exynos 990 chipset. Here are the benchmark results to see how they stand out from the competition.
Geekbench 5: 2753 Muilt-Core / 905 Single-Core
3DMark Sling Shot Extreme: 5198 volcano
Not surprisingly, this is almost the same as the Galaxy S20 Plus, which puts it slightly behind the Oppo Find X2 Pro and its Qualcomm Snapdragon 865. This shows how the U.S. Galaxy S20 phones will work. The OnePlus 8 Pro did better in the gaming benchmark test, which is probably not only due to the graphics chip of the Snapdragon 865, but also to the additional gaming modes of the phone, which are more comprehensive than those of the Galaxy S20.
Andy Boxall / DigitalTrends.com
The smallest Galaxy S20 phone gets the smallest battery. It is a 4,000 mAh cell that performs adequately. For daily, moderate use, including some phone and video calls, the Galaxy S20 ended the day at around 15% until 11 p.m. However, this was the case when a Wi-Fi connection was made, so I would assume it would be fairly empty if it had used a cellular network. With the included 25W Type C wired USB charger, the value increases from 0 to 55% in 30 minutes, and the full charge takes approximately one hour and 15 minutes. The Galaxy S20 also has wireless charging.
Although the Galaxy S20 has 5G, I don't have 5G coverage in my area. I tried both the Vodafone and EE 4G networks. Calls are clear to both, and reception was good on both cellular and Wi-Fi calls. Even though the speaker is small, I never had to constantly reposition the phone to find the right position to hear the caller.
Price, availability and guarantee
The Galaxy S20 costs $ 1,000 and is available in the cloud blue color shown above, as well as in the colors Cloud Pink, Cloud White and Cosmic Gray. It is available now from Samsung, various retailers and with a contract with network operators. In the UK, the phone costs £ 800 and is sold through all major carriers and also through Samsung itself.
You get a standard one-year warranty to cover manufacturing defects. If you buy the phone directly through Samsung, you can add a premium care package that offers accidental damage coverage and 24-hour care for $ 12 a month.
Our opinion
The Galaxy S20 is an excellent smartphone, but it doesn't differ enough from the larger, more user-friendly Galaxy S20 Plus, it's not cheap enough to be tempting as a budget buy, and it's not small enough to buy a truly compact flagship. If you want to spend $ 1,000 or more on a phone with one of the best screens in the industry, you can also get it in a size you like, and that's more true for the Galaxy S20 Plus than the S20. Assuming you understand this, the Galaxy S20 is still an excellent smartphone.
Is there a better alternative?
Yes. The Galaxy S20 Plus is the better buy in the Galaxy S20 range. However, if you only want to spend $ 1,000 on a new phone, you should take a closer look at the iPhone 11 Pro for $ 1,000 and the OnePlus 8 Pro for $ 1,000. Both seriously challenge the Galaxy S20 with excellent battery, camera and screen performance at the same price. The 5.8-inch iPhone 11 Pro will also meet your desire for a reasonably sized flagship.
We also think the $ 700 iPhone 11 is a great buy. If you're looking for a brilliant camera phone and don't want to worry about battery life, the Google Pixel 4 XL is worth a look. If you're in the UK looking for a less common alternative, the Oppo Find X2 Pro fills the gap if you don't mind spending more.
How long it will take?
With the fastest Qualcomm processor you can currently get, a nice screen, a decent camera, and 5G for the future, the Galaxy S20 easily lasts for a two-year contract and even longer.
It has an IP68 waterproof rating so it survives when it gets wet, but the vitreous can be kept in a suitcase if you're a bit clumsy. Samsung regularly offers software updates for its phones, and its flagships are usually well served. However, don't expect them to arrive as quickly as if you had bought a Google Pixel 4 XL or an iPhone 11 Pro.
Should you buy it
No. Most people should opt for the larger Galaxy S20 Plus.
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