Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra Review - If there is a saying "above the sky there is still sky", this year, above the Plus series there will still be the Ultra series. It's a bit disconnected, right? I don't know, that's all that crossed my mind to describe the naming of the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, the best smartphone from Samsung to start 2020. Samsung decided to eliminate the “e” series and add “Ultra” as the top-of-the-line Galaxy S line. series this year.
Samsung is targeting the Galaxy S20 Ultra for those who want to do more from the smartphone they use. This smartphone can record videos up to 8K resolution, with a maximum photo resolution of 108MP, and the appendage of the name "5G" on the back. If the Galaxy S20 + is good, what about the Galaxy S20 Ultra? As the name implies, this smartphone is all the more.
More bigger, bigger, with more cameras, bigger both the sensor dimensions and the resolution, the maximum. Then is this smartphone absolutely better than the best? Here's a review of the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra.
Design
When switching daily drivers from the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 to the Galaxy S20 Ultra, it felt like something was wrong. Using a smartphone that is almost three times more expensive, of course it's only natural that I expect that the Galaxy S20 Ultra has a better design. In fact, not really.
The body of the Galaxy S20 Ultra looks firm, some people might say the design is stiff, with a camera bulge that doesn't bear on the back. When held, this smartphone feels solid and steady. The rear camera that looks large with the words "Space Zoom 100x" is easily visible when we use it for calls, for example. I also have big hands, but there are some things that make it uncomfortable to hold this smartphone.
The risk of falling over the face is quite high (don't copy it, yes). Samsung also doesn't seem to provide an anti-fingerprint layer on its body. The Cosmic Black color that I tested looked dirty easily. My advice, choose another color variant if you don't want to look dirty all the time.
Samsung also still uses an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor on the Galaxy S20 Ultra screen. It seems there is no difference from the previous generation, it is relatively longer than the optical sensor that emits bright light, even though it is reliable, aka minimal mis-detection. The face unlock is also not the fastest, far when compared to brothers from BBK Electronics such as Oppo and Realme.
Display
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra has the best screen of any smartphone I've tried. The dimensions are very large, 6.9 inches Dynamic AMOLED 2X with an aspect ratio of 20: 9 and a pixel density of 511ppi. Don't you imagine because it is almost 7 inches, the dimensions are as big as a tablet. The screen is slim, plus the bezels all around are very thin, including the bottom bezel though.
Samsung also features a high refresh rate, 120Hz with a touch sampling rate of 240Hz. This feature makes the movement of content on the Galaxy S20 Ultra's screen look very smooth. Unfortunately, this feature doesn't work in Quad HD resolution, aka you have to lower the resolution to full HD.
Camera
Moving on to discussing the “Space Zoom 100x” camera part of the Galaxy S20 Ultra. This smartphone "only" has four camera sensors on the back. The main sensor has a resolution of 108MP f / 1.8 with dimensions of 1 / 1.33 inches, 0.8um pixel size, 26mm focal length, PDAF, OIS and OIS. This sensor can be used to take full-resolution photos, or 12MP with no-binning technology.
Unlike the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 which produces 27MP photos, Samsung decided to produce 12MP photos with a larger individual pixel size, reaching 2.4um. The benefits that can be obtained from this nona-binning are brighter photos in low-light conditions, noise reduction plus better HDR capabilities.
On top of it is a 12MP f / 2.2 ultra wide-angle camera sensor with a large 1.4um pixel size, which unfortunately isn't equipped with autofocus. Meanwhile, in the lowest row is a 48MP f / 3.5 telephoto sensor using a periscope-shaped lens. The dimensions are quite large at 1/2 inch, equipped with PDAF and OIS. While under the flash there is a ToF sensor for the bokeh effect.
Also read: OnePlus 8T User Manual / Guide PDF
The far left is for ultra-wide, the middle uses a 108MP sensor, and the right is for a periscope camera. When one of them is pressed, the option to zoom from 30-100x can be selected, or you can move it to reach the zoom level according to your taste.
What I think is lacking is in the focus of the camera. Different from the Galaxy S20 & S20 + with Dual Pixel AF, the S20 Ultra uses PDAF technology which can be said to be simpler. Focusing feels a bit long for flagship smartphone standards, even when compared to the Mi Note 10 which on paper has the same camera sensor, even with a simpler chipset.
Features
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra already uses the One UI 2.1 interface based on Android 10. The security patch is also the latest at this time, Samsung is no less diligent in updating the security of its flagship smartphone. In my opinion, One UI is the most mature and easy to use interface. Despite the large screen, almost all buttons can be reached with one hand thanks to its practical placement.
Its features are also useful, except for Bixby which is not as optimal as Google Assistant. When I first started using this smartphone, I was confused because holding down the power button brought up Bixby instead of displaying the option to turn off the power.
Performance
For United States, the Samsung Galaxy S20 series is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 865 chipset. Many regretted Samsung's decision to release a smartphone with two different chipset variants, because it could affect various aspects of use such as battery life and even camera results.
The Samsung Exynos 990 has an octa-core CPU architecture (2 × 2.73 GHz Mongoose M5 & 2 × 2.50 GHz Cortex-A76 & 4 × 2.0 GHz Cortex-A55) plus a Mali-G77 MP11 GPU. Both are made with 7nm fabrication, in performance, there are no problems with the Exynos variant of the Galaxy S20 Ultra.
The RAM is very relieved, with a capacity of 12GB. What is very unfortunate is Samsung Indonesia's decision to release this smartphone with a 128GB internal memory variant.
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra has a 5,000 mAh battery capacity, the largest in the history of Samsung's flagship cellphone. Naturally, this smartphone is designed with 5G network capabilities, a very large screen, plus an abundance of camera features which, if used all, can consume a lot of power.
Conclusion
I personally prefer the Galaxy S20 + with a bunk damage tag. Justified though its zoom capacity is not as far as the Ultra variation, the camera is release from centering issues, as surface as its dimensions that fit advisable in the give, as advisable as a energetic pattern that comfort looks statesman inviting. Again, this is prejudiced. If you really want a super big block smartphone with the advisable attribute, a flexible.
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