Samsung Galaxy S20

The Samsung Galaxy S20 is a series of Android-based smartphones designed, developed, marketed, and manufactured by Samsung Electronics as part of its Galaxy S series. They collectively serve as the successor to the Galaxy S10 and were unveiled at Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event on 11 February 2020.
The S20 series consists of flagship Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S20+ models differentiated primarily by screen size, as well as a larger camera-focused model, the Galaxy S20 Ultra. Key upgrades over the previous model, in addition to improved specifications, include a display with a 120 Hz refresh rate, an improved camera system supporting 8K video recording (7680×4320) and a super-resolution zoom of 30–100×, depending on the model.
The phone was released in the United States on 6 March 2020 and in Europe on 13 March 2020. The Galaxy S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra launch prices started at $999, $1,199 and $1,399, respectively.
It is the first smartphone lineup to receive USB fast-charger certification from the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF).
The Galaxy S20 was succeeded by the Galaxy S21, which was announced on 14 January 2021.
History.
The title of the phone was originally presumed to be the Galaxy S11, due to it being the logical extension from the predecessor. However, successive leaks in January 2020 revealed the title of the phone to be the Galaxy S20, because of the multiples of 10, rather than 1. In addition, details regarding the phone were leaked widely before the release, to the extent that almost all details regarding the specifications and design of the phone were known before the release. Leaker Max Weinbach obtained the actual phone a month before the release, confirming everything the community already guessed. Commentators remarked that by February, "most everything the company is planning to introduce has already leaked out." In addition to charts on the phone's specifications, marketing material and images of the phones themselves in real-life were leaked.
Design.
The Galaxy S20 series has a design similar to the Samsung Galaxy Note 10, with an Infinity-O display (first introduced on the Galaxy S10) containing a circular punch-hole in the top center this time for the frontal selfie camera. In a departure from past Galaxy S designs, the rear camera array is not centered, but located in the corner with a rectangular protrusion similar to that of the iPhone 11 and the Google Pixel 4. The S20 and S20+ house three or four cameras respectively in the bump, while the S20 Ultra houses four cameras in a larger bump. Global color options are Cloud Pink, Cloud White, Cloud Blue, Cosmic Grey and Cosmic Black. Cosmic Grey is available in all size variants, while Cosmic Black is limited to the S20+ and S20 Ultra, Cloud Blue is limited to the S20 and S20+, and Cloud Pink is exclusive to the S20. For the S20+, Prism Blue, is exclusively sold at Korea, Best Buy in the United States and through T-Mobile, Samsung Nederland and Tele2 in the Netherlands, while Aura Red is exclusive to Korea Telecom, Vodafone UK, Malaysia, and United Arab Emirates. Cloud White availability varies by country; in the United States it is exclusive to Verizon for the S20 with Ultrawide Band support. The S20 is sold in Italy, the S20+ is sold in Italy and Spain, and the S20 Ultra is sold in China and Germany.
In June 2020, Verizon released the Galaxy S20 5G UW (Ultra Wideband). Differences from the S20 include the addition of mmWave, only 8 GB of RAM (compared to the usual 12 GB), and no MicroSD slot. Moreover, Samsung released the Galaxy S20+ 5G BTS Edition in summer 2020, with the color "Haze Purple."
Specifications.
Hardware.
Chipsets.
The S20 line comprises three models with various hardware specifications; international models of the S20 utilize the Exynos 990 system-on-chip, while the U.S., Canadian, Korean, Chinese and Japanese models utilize the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865.
Display.
A 1440p "Dynamic AMOLED 2X" is featured with HDR10+ support and "dynamic tone mapping" technology. The S20 and S20+ have a 6.2-inch display and a 6.7-inch display, respectively, while the S20 Ultra has a 6.9-inch display. The displays have curved sides that slope over the horizontal edges of the device, and a wider 20:9 aspect ratio is used in addition to a 120 Hz refresh rate double that of the S10. All models utilize an ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint sensor.
Storage.
The base amount of RAM is 8 GB, with an additional 12 GB option for the S20 & S20+ and a 16 GB option for the S20 Ultra. 128 GB of internal storage is standard and the S20+ & S20 Ultra also offers 128 GB, 256 GB and 512 GB options, with up to 1 TB of expansion via the microSD card slot. Verizon's Galaxy S20 5G UW model is not equipped with a microSD slot.
Batteries.
The S20, S20+ & S20 Ultra contain non-removable 4000 mAh, 4500 mAh, and 5000 mAh Li-Po batteries respectively, and Qi inductive charging is supported at up to 15W as well as the ability to charge other Qi-compatible devices from the S20's own battery power, which is branded as "“Samsung PowerShare”". Wired charging is supported over USB-C at up to 25W for the S20 & S20+ and 45W for the S20 Ultra.
They support reverse charging at 4.5W.
Connectivity.
The S20 series comes with 5G standard connectivity, though some regions may have special LTE variants. However, only Verizon models are compatible with ultra-fast millimeter-wave networks, and the 3.5 mm audio jack has been omitted entirely.
Cameras.
The cameras on the Galaxy S20 series improved considerably over its predecessors, although unlike the S9 and S10, the aperture on the main lens is fixed. While the megapixels of the main and ultra wide sensors remained unchanged on the S20 and S20+, the telephoto sensor received some improvements. The 64-megapixel telephoto camera, branded as "“Space Zoom”", supports 3X hybrid optical zoom (branded as "Hybrid Optic Zoom") and 30X digital zoom at 64 megapixels on the new telephoto sensor instead of 12 megapixels at two times on the S10 and 30 times digitally (branded as "Super-Resolution Zoom").
The S20+ receives a time-of-flight sensor (branded as "DepthVision Camera") in addition to the regular S20's cameras. The Galaxy S20 Ultra has a quadruple lens setup that supports 4X optical zoom and 100X digital zoom, with a 108-megapixel wide image sensor, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide sensor and a 48-megapixel periscope telephoto sensor accompanied by a time-of-flight sensor. Both the wide-angle and telephoto sensors use pixel binning to output higher quality images at a standard resolution, with the wide-angle sensor using Nonacell technology which groups 3x3 pixels to capture more light.
The front camera is able to record video footage at 2160p.
A new camera mode was introduced called Single Take, which allows users to capture photos or videos at the same time with different sensors automatically. All three models can also record 8K videos at 24fps with a bit rate of 80 Mbps, which will consume about 600 MB of storage per minute. On the S20 and S20+, this is enabled by the 64 MP telephoto sensor, whereas the S20 Ultra's 108 MP wide sensor natively supports 8K video.
Supported video modes.
The Samsung Galaxy S20 series supports the following video modes:
All models can record at 720p30, 1080p30 or 4k30 with HDR10+, they can record with HEVC codec without HDR10+
Software.
All three phones initially ran on Android 10 and Samsung's custom skin One UI 2.1. In early December, 2020, Samsung began releasing the Android 11 update with One UI 3 to all models, including the S20 FE model.
Software support
On 18 August 2020, Samsung revealed that all variants of the S20 series would be supported for three generations of Android software updates.
Known issues.
Even before the general release, reviewers have seen autofocus and skin smoothing issues with the cameras, especially with the Galaxy S20 Ultra. Samsung is working on a fix, but the Exynos model continues to have autofocus issues after an update that was supposed to fix them.<ref name="https://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-galaxy-s20-ultra-auto-focus-overheating-1105822/"></ref>
Galaxy S20 Ultra can only record at 720p480fps and it upscales with AI to 720p960fps, Galaxy S20 and S20+ can record at 720p960fps.
Users have reported that the Snapdragon version has GPS lock issues. The Exynos model is also known to have heating issues. Some devices also suffer from green display tint issues after a software update. The camera glass has been reported of spontaneously cracking, particularly on the Ultra version.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Fan Edition.
Samsung announced the "Samsung Galaxy S20 Fan Edition" ("Galaxy S20 FE" for short) in September 2020 as a less expensive version with the same chipsets. The S20 FE's highlights include a flat 6.5-inch 1080p 120 Hz Super AMOLED with HDR10+ support, 6 or 8 GB of RAM and 128 or 256 GB of expandable internal storage, a 4500 mAh battery, 25W wired and 15W wireless charging, six color options, and a triple camera system similar to the S20. It lacks support for 8K video, and has a polycarbonate back panel.