Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra Appearance and Design
The design alone looks absolutely elegant, just as you would expect from a top-class smartphone. No corners have been cut, but it looks as if this was the only design solution that looks right.
The workmanship does not fall short in terms of quality either. Samsung only uses high-quality materials to give their high-performance smartphone a noble look.
Especially the Gorilla Glass 6, which is held together by aluminum and from which the Galaxy S 20 Ultra is made, looks luxurious. In addition, there are also classy classic colors, even though the selection is somewhat limited. You can only buy it in black or gray.
The only drawback that this high-premium look has: It only looks this nice for a short time. This is because the Gorilla Glass 6 seems to magically look at imprints.
However, as much performance as the Samsung Galaxy S 20 Ultra offers has to be processed somewhere. And unfortunately, this smartphone has a huge drawback. For one, it is extremely large and could almost pass for a tablet. Accordingly, it could probably get tight in the pocket. Furthermore, the 220 grams feel extremely heavy on the bare hand in the long run.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra Display
Of course, such a gigantic size also has a certain advantage. Because it means that you can look forward to a gigantic screen. In fact, the screen diagonal of 6.9 inches even belongs to the absolute spearhead on the market.
The Galaxy S 20 Ultra is in 60 hertz mode ex-works. However, you can still switch it to a refresh rate of 120 hertz, which is especially pleasing to the eye when watching videos and scrolling. In return, the resolution is turned down in this mode, but you will hardly notice that. Furthermore, this drains the battery, which lasts a whole hour and a half less.
The smartphone’s display has another advantage especially in bright environments. Thanks to a brightness of 1010 candelas, you can see everything on the screen even in direct sunlight.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra Storage
You can purchase the Samsung Galaxy S 20 Ultra in two different variants, one with 128 GB, the other with 512 GB of internal storage. However, the variant with the larger storage costs 200 Euros more. However, it will last for a while.
You can also expand the storage with a micro-SD card. There is an extra hybrid slot for this, but you can also use it for a second SIM card if the Galaxy S 20 Ultra’s internal storage is sufficient.
Even the working memory is not too small. It is a bit higher in the 512 GB version with 16 GB, but the cheaper version with 128 GB internal storage can still convince with 12 GB.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra Battery
Of course, so much performance also requires a lot of power. For exactly this reason, the smartphone also has a built-in battery, which is actually quite impressive with 5,000 mAh. However, we noticed that the battery life is not exactly exhilarating despite this.
The battery of the Galaxy S 20 Ultra lasts for about 10 hours at 60 hertz. In 120 Hertz mode, on the other hand, you have to make do with about 8.5 hours. Of course, you can easily get through the day with that as long as you do not use it without a break. Nevertheless, the competition can still offer a lot more in this point.
The scope of delivery also includes a quick-charging cable with 25 watts. Thanks to this, the battery is completely recharged within 90 minutes. However, the competition is ahead here as well and even allow their customers power supplies with 40 watts. You have to buy this separately from Samsung if you want to charge your smartphone even faster.
Furthermore, the Galaxy S 20 Ultra also supports wireless charging. However, this takes a bit longer than the variant with the power adapter, since it only charges with 15 watts.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra Camera
You can see a clear difference in the camera compared to the direct predecessor of the Galaxy S 10 series. Instead of a horizontal string of different camera lenses, there is now a single module. However, it also protrudes by about 2.5 mm and thus does not allow the smartphone to lie flat.
However, the South Koreans have also copied a bit from their Chinese competitor Huawei. Like the P 30, Samsung uses a telephoto zoom lens in Periscope design for the Galaxy S 20 Ultra. This increases the focal length and thus the zoom at the same time.
Overall, you can look forward to a 4x optical zoom. The smartphone even has a magnification of up to 100x with the digital zoom. However, the quality of the pictures decreases extremely from 10x zoom at the latest.
The individual cameras in particular come up with top performances. The main camera has 108 megapixels, and the telephoto lens with 48 megapixels is also impressive. In addition, there is an ultra-wide-angle camera with 12 megapixels.
Furthermore, the quality of the pictures is increased even more thanks to Nona pixel binning. This is supposed to prevent image noise in low-light conditions in particular.
The only drawback could be the automatic post-processing. Samsung likes to oversaturate the pictures. Whether you like that or not is a matter of taste, though.
Videos can be shot with the Galaxy S 20 Ultra in a resolution of up to 8K, but only with 24 fps. If you prefer more fps for your recordings, you can still choose between 4K, Full HD and HD. Up to 60 fps is possible in these modes.
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy S 20 Ultra costs quite a bit more than the models of the same series, but it is definitely worth the money. We especially liked the large display, which even runs absolutely smoothly in 120 hertz mode. In addition, the high-quality camera is completely convincing.
The drawback, however, is the battery life. Especially in 120 hertz mode, the battery is drained faster than you would like. The size is also a disadvantage because it hardly fits into a normal pants pocket.