5.4.2020

What a machine this is! I've had it for 2 weeks and played about with everything. And my experience has been amazing. CamerasFirst thing I wanna talk about is the cameras. In 2003 we were saying 'my phone comes with a camera". In 2020 we are now saying my camera comes with a phone! I've come from a galaxy S8 to an S20 ultra and it's worth every frickin penny. The camera software has come a long way, I LOVE the super steady video mode. On a normal video of me walking not being that careful videos come out almost cinematic. It's just as good as using a gyroscopic gimble. I also love the fact you can hold down the shutter to begin recording a video.One thing I would suggest inna software update is adding the ability to lock the video because it stops recording when you let go. I hate to say this but...the iphone has this nailed, you can swipe across to lock it and keep recording...god I can't believe I just said that! Either do that or bring back the record button on the photo mode next to the shutter and we will all be happy either way. One thing I will say though is that I never knew how cool it was being able to switch to the front camera and back at will while recording a video but it's there! The night mode is a treat to use as it gives you a neat little moon animation on the shutter button with a countdown to when the exposure is finished. Photos come out razor sharp from the main and ultra wide lens so big thumbs up there. I'll even recommend night mode if it thinks you need it. Super slow mo has changed. I do miss the ability to toggle how long it records for because recording for shorter times gives you higher quality videos. Now I get that no sound is a bit bad but Samsung please, do away with the crummy music that's added by default when you play it back. I know you can turn it off and have silence but...don't do it by default. Pro video and pro photo are amazing however the dual aperture feature that the S9 and 10's had seems to have gone. 108mp main lensThis 108 megapixel monster let's me capture my life in detail I've never seen before! By default, the camera combines 9 pixels into 1 so you get a 12 megapixel image because 108 divided by 9 is 12. It does this to greatly increase the low light performance hence the night mode. It's the clearest 12 megapixel photo I've ever seen but if you want to you can opt to use the full sensor quality. It takes a little longer to capture a 108mp image and it's stuck at a 4:3 aspect ratio but the results are jaw dropping. You can crop in as much as you like with almost no deterioration in the image quality. This camera records 4k 30 and 60fps. But keep in mind if you do go to 60fps at any resolution and you lose the option to switch lenses entirely which is odd. The cameras certainly seem capable but apparently not. I'll be honest I was expecting the ultra to have 4k 120fps pretty much since the rumors started about this 108mp camera. 12mp Ultra wide The ultra wide could be better but that's my only complaint. It's a 12 megapixel sensor over the S10's 16 but apart from that it's great. The phone actually corrects the distortion in real time and you can see it happen. The edges are tact sharp and almost no warpage is visible. For some reason the ultra wide is used for the 1000fps super slow motion but that's not really relevant. It gets the job done. My only reason is for the wider view? Because cropping in on the ultra wide camera isn't as harsh as the main 108 megapixel super shooter. 48mp 100x space zoom folded lensThe bottom lens is my favourite, the space zoom as they call it :) Up to 4x the phone crops in on the 108mp super shooter but go to 5x magnification and you'll see a big bump in image quality. 10x is where I think it stops zooming optically and switches to digital zoom to go any further. Photos at 10-30x zoom look very good and high quality which is amazing but I was a little disappointed at the photos from 100x. It feels a little gimmicky which is bad considering it's printed on the camera itself. I'll attach some photos so you can judge for yourself. Samsung this is just my opinion but your marketing isn't what it used to be. Favourite thing about it is that you can't actually see it switching lenses on the screen, it's very fluid and looks like you're using one lens. 40mp front cameraThe selfie snapper has been improved too. It records 250 frames per second at 1080p and has the addition of 4k 60fps. 40mp selfies are tact sharp and detailed with some really good dynamic range. It holds all the highlights even though you're at such a high ISO. 0.4mp Tof depth cameraThis is the coolest thing I've ever seen. Life focus mode utilises this camera to collect 3d data on your subject. It uses this data to apply bokeh in post that looks like it was taken with a dslr. The camera can also be used to scan something in 3d. You can send this to a 3d printer to print it out if you want! From what I can gather it struggles with sharp movements and advises you to slow down and it doesn't really like shiny objects. Plus download an app called night vision to use this as a low quality night vision camera ;). ScreenThis is the best screen on a phone...period. At least until the note 20 comes out. At 3200x1440 (3k) at 120fps and HDR10+ certified it's a treat to look at. 60fps looks laggy compared to this! It doesn't allow you to use 3k at 120fps tho. Samsung I know this thing is capable of that so let me do it. I bought the phone, don't be apple and force me to do things please. If I wanna cook my battery for the jaw dropping experience as a consumer I should be allowed to. Battery With this massive 5000mAh cell I got through a whole day with 40 percent to spare and that's with 120hz on. Turning it down to 60hz would save even more! It's a massive 5000mAh cell that easily lasts me a day. This huge battery can be fully charged from 0 in under an hour with the 45 watt supercharger. It can also reverse charge another phone WIRELESSLY at 9 watts. That's a cool little trick. This has saved me when my galaxy watch died. It charges at 45 watts from 0 to 100 in under an hour which is mad. I save this feature for emergencies because I'm a bit of a wireless charging freak. It's so cool I love it. PerformanceThe s20 ultra is incredibly powerful. Out the box the cpu is at 70% capacity but you can scale up to 100% by switching the performance mode to high performance. I had no delay anywhere but I don't game on my phone so your experience may vary. Ultrasonic fingerprint scannerThis is my favourite feature on the s20 ultra. It's incredibly fast and super accurate. I do wish we had 5 fingerprints not 4. I have both my thumbs and index finger registered but I would like to register my partners fingerprint too. It's a bit higher than on the s10 too which I like. But every 72 hours you need to put your pin in for security. An extra layer of security Samsung didn't tell us about. And for face recognition it's every 24 hours or if your phone has been sitting idle for 4 hours. Just go to 'about unlocking with biometrics' in your settings to find out more. Overall I love this phone and I'm excited as a photographer to spend the next 2 to 3 years with it. Coming from a galaxy S8 this is the first time I've gone for a plus or ultra model and man am I glad I did.

30.5.2020

This review is for those who find comparing specs daunting and want to know what it will mean for them in the real world, what to expect from this phone, in jargon-free English.It is a rollercoaster; how do you choose one phone over the other when both are so similar?Do you go for the weight and size? Then you would prefer the S20+ which is slightly thinner and smaller and of course a bit lighter.Do you go for the fast charging? Then you would go for the S20+ because it finishes charging 2 minutes before the OP8 Pro. However, if you were to go for battery life, you would go for the OP8 Pro because it lasts much longer. You easily get 30 hours of uptime out of which at least 9 hours are screen usage whereas the S20+ only manages a fraction of that; however,if you set it at MEDIUM POWER SAVING and keep closing apps you can go 24 hours before needing to recharge. Both phones were tested with bluetooth, location services, mobile data off and at 60Hz screen refresh rate with lower screen definition. The OP8 Plus has a straight forward battery app that is easy to understand. The S20+ needs you to do some math before you figure out how much screen time you have had because it does not calculate from last charged but keeps calculating and you need to figure out which was the period you charged and which periods it was resting. You will understand if you study the attached pic. One thing is sure: the OP8 Pro has a thicker, longer and sturdier charging cable than the S20+ It is also orange, so easy to spot amongst a plethora of charging cables, but I guess you could use some coloured tape on the black lead of the Samsung and have instant recognition.Do you go for a pre-applied screen protector? Go for the S20+ as the OP8 Pro still ships without a pre-applied screen protector in some markets and some other markets even report not even getting the 2 free screen protectors in the package.Do you go for the protective case? Then OP8 Pro is your phone. You will need to pay extra to buy one for Samsung and of course the cost rises significantly if you go for a branded one whereas with the OP8 Pro the one you get was specifically made for it and it won't hide the beautiful colour. Please do not buy an S20+ without buying a silicone case! Two friends had their screens cracked shortly after buying their phones. Samsungs are notoriously slippery and have very fragile screens.Do you love watching films and taking videos? Go for the OP8 Pro as it has much more satisfying sound and a larger screen.But if you love taking photos, you may find the OP8 Pro a bit disappointing in the sense that it has a very narrow depth of field which means anything beyond the pinhole will be blurry. I tried to get nice pictures but it was impossible. Food pics were drab. Nature pics were on the yellow side. The focus was an issue. Macro pics were better as long as you could focus on one point. You cannot click to focus as in the phones of the old days. Selfies - ugh! You either ended up with ironed skin (very artificial post processing) or with missing hair.Fortunately, the S20+ is a bit better in photography. It still has the dreaded bokeh effect coming in and it does have a huge problem focusing on closeup items. Also when you blow up the pics, you can see blurry details in the background. (I thought the iPhone 11 Pro was much better in photography but it was also with its own faults and one has to carefully weigh all the pros and cons to decide which phone to stick with.) Something worth remembering: all modern phones with super-duper multiple cameras... they mess up. You won't get as nice photography as with older models. If you want better photography, go for a mid-range phone, not a flagship. Trust me.If you are buying a phone to play your favourite games, check with a friend that it works well. Neither of the two phones tested played Panda Pop well (they had hidden columns of balls making it impossible to win the game as how do you shoot something you cannot see?) Turns out the game is not optimised for Android 10 even though it has been out for so many months. (Plays well on iPhone though.)So to summarise, the S20+ is a good phone, maybe a bit more complicated than the OP8 Pro, maybe more intimidating to the inexperienced user. The OP8 Pro has a better, more intuitive format. None of the phones is amazing though. They are just adequate with the OP8 Pro losing out on photography (though other people have said their phones perform well). 5G is present, but there aren't many places you can get it assuming your mobile provider allows access to 5G. To get good battery life, you need to tone everything down, display, brightness, speed, this and that - all the things that make these phones unique. So you end up with a mid-range phone anyway! LOL Maybe something to mull over?PS: I forgot to mention the face recognition which is slow in both phones with Samsung's being the slowest (iPhone's amazingly fast, even with sideways views of your face.) Fingerprint reader is good on both phones and a double tap will wake your screen up. Samsung requires you to enter your pin or pattern more frequently than the OP phone.July 2020 - Greece. Update. The reception in the suburbs of Athens is abysmal! Indoors there is hardly any reception. Outdoors it comes and goes. Voice calls have a delay. Internet is patchy and dragging. Yet at the same exact spot, daughter's Oppo has perfect reception! I guess this has to do with the variety of bands each phone supports. Just thought you would like to know this, especially if your mobile is your only link with the world. I even bought a Greek SIM to facilitate things but the problems persist. So it has to be a band-related issue. Maybe some technically-minded person could explain this to us...

23.7.2020

I'll try to keep this short and to the point, for the simple reason that my phone came with the following defects:• Permanent Overheating (even with all applications closed and a minimum number of active processes - it heats up to the point where you cannot even hold it)• Bootloop• Stuck on boot screen• Autofocus problemsSo, this device will be returned in the next few days.However, I had the opportunity to test an S20 Ultra 5G (kindly offered by a local store) and I can say that I was impressed by the:? DisplayApart from the fact that the quality of the display is excellent: Do I really need to say the 120Hz is fantastic?!YES! The animations and transition from one page to the other is buttery smooth - and I suspect that after this experience,

17.5.2020

Like many I purchased mine through my network on contract and not directly from Amazon. But that doesn't stop me from reviewing a great product.I did a lot of research when deciding between the Samsung Galaxy S20+ and the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra. Samsung will always self promote the flagship of flagships as the best Galaxy out there and even the specs will make you lean towards the ultra. Better camera, better battery etc etc etc. But don't let Samsung put them beer goggles on you.The only major difference between for Plus and Ultra is the camera. Believe me the massive jump in price doesn't justify the difference. Infact the Ultra camera is having major issues with its camera in the auto focus area.

26.5.2020

The Galaxy S20 Ultra is phenominal to say the least, that is even with the few issues that it has but lets be honest nothing can be perfect although the S20 Ultra tries. Through the past few months I have found that the S20 Ultra performs as expected but sometimes it cam be quite frustrating. The camera can take stunning pictures but it could load quicker and I find sometimes that it tries to hard to create a wow factor with processing, this can mean you miss the scene you wanted to capture. Another annoying feature with the camera is the burst shot mode, in all other Samsung phones you held the take picture button and you would take burst shots, now everytime you take a video instead.

26.5.2020

As usual with Samsung, you can't fault the display.The fast charging on this is really good, and is fast considering how large the battery is! The 10x hybrid zoom is a.game changer, and as expected, the 30x & 100x zoom is just gimmicky. You're better off just taking your usual snaps and cropping/zooming in on those. I'm pretty much getting a full day on the battery with medium/high use (30hz refresh) at max resolution. The haptics feel really nice on this phone, and the response to your touch is really good, and I don't even have the 60hz enabled. I've not used 5G yet, as it's not in my area. Now for the bad. For the shots I do (close up of phone repairs)

23.6.2020

So I've had the S20 plus for a few weeks now. Although I've not pushed it to anywhere near its max I've found that it does need a charge boost towards the end of the day. Thankfully with super fast charging a few minutes is enough to see me through to the end of the day, I do run the phone at 120hz so that will impact the battery.I upgraded from an S9 plus, a phone I loved & was dubious about upgrading. I'm really happy with this phone with the exception of the fingerprint scanner. For me it's very hit & miss. Face recognition is pretty good but I found the S9+ was ahead in this area. Screen is fantastic, although it isn't as bright as the S9+,

26.5.2020

So coming from OnePlus I was a bit sceptical but not disappointed. I used to be an avid Samsung user some years ago so I had an idea of the quality to expect. Now down to the phone, this thing is big and if your using it without a case I can see you dropping it very soon because it is so smooth and slippy. I was glad to see a screen protector pre fitted and a set of headphones in the box. The camera is pretty amazing the zoom is fantastic and the quality of shots are awesome. The phones speakers are good and loud but I find them a bit tinny at the high volume end I could maybe sort this with the eq though. Battery life, hmm this is whats making me not give 5 stars.

26.5.2020

As a long time Samsung user ( Since my D900) the S20 ultra was an obvious upgrade from my S10 plus, The display is Amazing and the camera produces great pics,Although to be brutally honest the 100x space zoom is definitely a useless gimmick,the quality of usable pics are questionable and disappointing above around 30x .I have experienced the phone getting warm and the battery life is not as long as expected,I gather from reviews and forums that this is due to Europe getting the inferior and more power-hungry Samsung Exynos processor. Also sometimes whilst using the phone it freezes whilst scrolling through content ( despite my having the 512gb storage and 16gbram model,

28.6.2020

So I had this other popular brand and it took very bad videos and photos in low light plus I needed an upgrade as I had it for 3 years, the specs for their Max, Pro etc were not so good so I came across the Samsung s20 Ultra and after reading about it the specs seemed very good so I bought it and honestly it’s the best phone ever and the best choice I made. I spent around 7 hours in the park I played music on it for 5 hours or so and took photos and videos and still I had around 50%- 57% battery left, good speakers and volume, performance and the smoothness of the phone itself it excellent. Good thing is I can put in a 1TB memory card although 128GB is enough for me.

28.6.2020

I think Samsung have achieved near perfection with the Samsung Ultra. The near 7" screen is what I need for work and play. Movies look amazing, I thought I'd notice the hole punch camera more but actually it weirdly blends in to the screen experience so you hardly notice it. You'd think a phablet this size would be awkward in the hands, and even though mine aren't that big for a guy it's quite a comfortable experience. I'd gone over to iPhone for about a year but I'm so glad I came back to Samsung; the functionality and flexibility of android and the Samsung UI is so much more satisfying. The camera is incredible and I love photography on the Ultra.

10.4.2020

I absolutley love this new phone. The features are fantastic and everything runs a lot faster. I love the wireless powershare and being able to use it on the buds aswell. My favourite part is that the fingerprint lock in on the front screen now instead of the back. I feel like i can control it better :) The only feature I miss from the S9 to the S20+ is that it doesnt have the flashing light on the front to let you know that you have a notification. I used to rely on that when my phone was on charge or if I was in the middle of doing something. I could just look at my phone and know if I had a notification or not. I miss it but it doesn't effect on how I use the phone.

26.5.2020

ok soo its only rught i guve an honest review . For the past 10 years i have been with samsung and over the years there has been some amazing tech that has only got better . However on the s20 ultra . As good as the 120hz refresh rate is . The main selling point was the camera . However im not overly impressed with it . Yes it has 100x space zoom however when is this zoom needed in everyday life and also you cant even tell what the picture is at full zoom so pointless really . Also i have had this device less than 2 weeks and already im noticing lag !. This is a fairly common issue over the past couple devices released. (S9 plus and s10 plus ) shame really for such an expensive phone .

26.4.2020

I pre-ordered my Galaxy S20 Ultra on day one. For some reason I just knew the 512GB would sell out.I have been amazed at how good this phone is.THIS IS A HYPER PERFORMANCE PREMIUM QUALITY, GORGEOUS FEATURE PACKED PHONE.Some reviewers have gone into immense depth describing the features of this sensational handset.I'm not going to go on and on and on. If you want:1. The BEST Display2. The BEST Cameras on a phone3. The BEST SPECS: 5G, 16GB RAM, 512GB ROM, DUAL SIMS, 1TB MICROSDXC EXPANSION, STEREO SPEAKERS, SUPERFAST CHARGING.I could go on and on but you get the picture. Nothing on the market now or in the next several months comes close. 1. New Huawei P40, forget it.2. New OnePlus 8 Pro,

27.5.2020

I like the phone a lot. Screen is fluid and beautiful. Claiming 100x zoom is a bit too much as the quality at 100x is not good. Anyway its packed with features as you might expect for a device as expensive as this and feels solid. I will cut to my gripes. Quite often, the web browser will just freeze (I use Chrome) and I need to click on the task switcher icon and back to the app without closing it and it will work fine.Not using the Snapdragon processors puts it behind in terms of performance and power consumption, a shame for a flagship product - Samsung, either make a true rival processor or concede and use the best. Perhaps with the rumoured use of AMD chipsets in the future will mean the S21 will have the power it deserves.And the fingerprint sensor is poor.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G - Reviews

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