Samsung Galaxy S20 review

Speaking of fingerprints, the in-screen fingerprint scanner was a bit clunky for many reviewers. Hopefully, that can be sorted in software updates.

Trusted Reviews says, "The Galaxy S20 feels great to hold and it’s fairly compact by 2020 standards. What it isn’t though is particularly interesting to look at – even the colour choices are somewhat dull."

Display

Featuring nearly every bell and whistle you can cram in a display, the screen offers an exceptional experience.

If you love games, the high refresh rate will keep you in the competition and make movement silky smooth while HDR and full HD support will make movies and TV shows pop.

It's also plenty bright so you won't need to squint or find some shade to use it outside.

What Hi-Fi says, "...  If you’re looking to upgrade from a two or three-year-old handset, this one is undoubtedly going to be on your shopping list."

Performance

Unless you're willing to switch to an iPhone, you won't find faster performance than the Galaxy S20 in early 2020. 

Whether you're hopping between apps to keep in touch with friends, playing the latest games, or sorting through emails, reviews found the phone absolutely screams.

MobileSyrup says, "It seemed that no matter what I threw at it, the S20 kept going. The experience streaming music, videos, gaming, social media and more was smooth and fast. Plus, the 12GB of RAM let me open up all of the nearly 100 apps on my S20 without any noticeable slowdowns."

Software & Storage

The Galaxy S20 offers 128GB of room to store your digital stuff and runs the latest version of Android with Samsung's One UI 2.0. It should receive updates for a few years, so there is little to worry about in terms of the latest features or security patches.

Unfortunately, Samsung really piles on the pre-installed apps and settings choices. So expect to have a few options for everything from email and messaging to social media and news feeds.

Cameras

The phone comes close to beating the best phone cameras on the market but falls short in a few ways.

The zoom on 64MP telephoto lens wowed reviewers for its detail and noise-free shots. But color and night photography fell behind the leaders.

Still, reviews indicate the three lens (12MP/12MP/64MP) rear camera and 10MP front-facing lens should work great when snapping pics of your daily adventures.

It's also one of the first phones to shoot 8K video, but doing so means you'll need a steady hand as it disables image stabilization.

Mobile Syrup says, "... The Samsung S20 camera is excellent. It’s more than good enough for everything you’ll use it for. In small ways, I think that the Pixel 4 or the iPhone 11 Pro best the S20, but on the whole, you won’t be disappointed with the phone’s images."

Battery Life

Unless you're on your phone 24/7, you should have no issues with battery life on the Galaxy S20. Even if you find yourself low, fast charging and wireless charging support means you can top things off nice and quick.

Mobile Syrup says, "In most cases, I made it to the end of a day with about 30 or 40 percent charge remaining and around four or more hours of screen-on time on the ‘Optimized’ setting with 120Hz refresh, FHD+ resolution and auto-brightness turned on."

Audio

Be prepared to buy an adapter or use Bluetooth to enjoy your favorite music and videos because the phone doesn't have a 3.5mm headphone jack.

That said, reviewers found the AKG-tuned headphones included enjoyable.

There's also a Music Share feature that lets people connect to your phone to stream audio to your Bluetooth speaker or car without the need for all the disconnecting and reconnecting.

Pricing

There's no getting around it -- the Galaxy S20 isn't cheap. The MSRP at release starts at $999.

Fortunately, most reviewers agreed it's worth the price if you have room in the budget for it.

Being a major Samsung release, availability should be excellent at both major electronics retailers and carriers alike.

Specs at a Glance

• Glass and metal chassis
• 6.2-inch 120Hz, QHD OLED display
• 2.84Ghz octa-core processor
• 12GB of RAM
• Android 10
• 128GB of internal storage
• MicroSD card support
• 12MP/12MP/64MP rear camera
• 10MP front camera
• 4,000mAh battery with wired/wireless fast charging
• AKG-tuned audio

The Bottom Line

If cost isn't a concern, the Samsung Galaxy S20 offers an excellent camera, chart-topping performance, an amazing display, and a level of design polish few Android phones can touch in 2020.

That said, the top-tier experience comes with top-tier prices so it's not the most budget-friendly option around.

Mobile Syrup says, "... The S20 is the one you probably should buy of the three. It’s big without being too big, feature-rich without being overloaded and generally an excellent value compared to the other phones in the lineup."

What Hi-Fi says, "...  If you’re looking to upgrade from a two or three-year-old handset, this one is undoubtedly going to be on your shopping list."