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amazon Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra reviews
Among the newest flagship phones, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra boasts innovative technology that has excited tech fans all over the world. With the S20 and S20 Plus behind it, the Galaxy S20 Ultra with its superior camera, larger size, and higher resolution looks set to be one of the most beloved phones of the year 2020.
Design and Build Quality
Premium Looks: The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is a far larger device than most ones today, featuring a thin-and-light design and premium materials; the Galaxy S20 Ultra stands very much for luxury. The front and rear panels are designed in Gorilla Glass 6, enclosed with an aluminum frame; this combination provides a soft feel in the hand and also enhances durability. The back panel looks extremely glossy but is prone to smudging and fingerprints. The two color options for the phone are Cosmic Gray and Cosmic Black, both of which are rather elegant and subdued.
Size and Weight: The Galaxy S20 Ultra shows all signs of being a big phone considering its 6.9-inch display; hence it is possibly among the largest smart-phones today. While the big screen is undoubtedly a plus for media consumption and gaming, it can become an uncomfortable one for those with smaller hands. Weighing a decent 220 grams, the device is heavy to that extent, which adds that extra premium feeling to it but may become a little problematic if used continuously.
Button and Port Layout: The arrangement of buttons and ports on this Galaxy S20 Ultra doesn’t come as a surprise; it is bound to be a typical Samsung flagship. The right side of the body has its familiar power button and volume rocker, functioning well within reach of one hand. The bottom edge has a USB Type-C port for charging and data transfer, plus a SIM-card tray and speaker grille. Some users may be disappointed to learn that there is no 3.5mm headphone jack on the S20 Ultra, just like on other recent entries in this segment from Samsung.
Water and Dust Resistance: This phone, like any good flagship phone, is rated IP68 on the resistance scale. This basically means it shall not succumb to dust and shall survive submersion at 1.5 meters for 30 minutes. With such a safety level, users can feel secure if they happen to unintentionally drop their phone in water or expose it to dust and dirt. It is worth mentioning here again that its warranty will not cover water damage.
Display
Dynamic AMOLED 2X: Undoubtedly one of the finest panels on any smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra features a 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display. With a resolution of 3,200×1,440 pixels (WQHD+), this display gives a pixel density of 511 pixels per inch and goes a long way to delivering sharp and detailed images. Deep blacks, vibrancy, and contrast are characteristic traits of AMOLED technology, thus ensuring ever-so-entertaining video-watching sessions, game play, or even just plain surfing the Internet.
120Hz Refresh Rate: Featuring one of the more distinguished properties of the S20 Ultra’s display, the 120Hz refresh rate equals the normal refresh rate of 60Hz found in various smartphone models. This thus results in breathtaking animation, translating into better touch response and a rather smooth experience. The catch, however, is that 120Hz mode is enabled only at Full HD+ resolution (2400 x 1080 pixels), with anything above that resolution using 120Hz working against the battery. The S20 Ultra allows the user the option to select 60Hz or 120Hz from the settings depending on whether the user prefers battery life or smoothness.
HDR10+ Support: The display of the S20 Ultra also supports HDR10+, amplifying the dynamic range of the contents to show bright highlights and dark shadows in HDR videos. This comes in especially handy while streaming HDR content from the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and YouTube, where sights interact with the minds almost soulfully when the colors and contrasts seem real.
Customization and Edge Display: Samsung has reduced the curvature of the S20 Ultra Edge display, as compared to previous Galaxy models, resulting in lesser instances of accidental touches and more usable screen area. Luckily, the Edge panel remains intact, letting users send quick-access apps, contacts, and tools simply by swiping from the side of the screen. Users may customize the Edge panel according to their needs, adding shortcuts and widgets.
Brightness and Outdoor Visibility: The peak brightness level of the Galaxy S20 Ultra is up to 1,200 nits, thus its display can be easily viewed under sunlight. The adaptive brightness works exceptionally well to adjust the screen brightness levels based upon the changing ambient light.
Up to 100x zoom capabilities
If we begin by weighing in on the advantages of the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra phone, naturally the 100x recording capability is the glorious plus point for the S20 Ultra smartphone. It is termed “Space Zoom” by Samsung.
This is achievable through the 48MP periscope lens with phase-detection autofocus, optical image stabilization, and optical zooming across 10 times.
Very high camera resolution
Galaxy S20 Ultra is the Samsung-best camera resolution phone till date, able to take beautiful pictures at a whopping resolution of up to 108 Mb and recording 8K videos. That’s amazing for a smartphone!
RAM of 16GB
In this era where new smartphones are on the block with huge RAM capacity, 16 Gb Ram capacity stands in good state for a Smartphone today, and this is also what S20 Ultra has. With this level of Ram, one could smoothly run all the heaviest applications and games in the world on the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra.
The most advanced chipset
As always with a new year, flagship devices get that fresh flavor from updated chipsets. As for the Galaxy S20 series, it’s the same. Here, you get different versions-the global variant, Galaxy S20 Ultra, will be equipped with Exynos 990 (7nm +) fabricated, while the US version carries Snapdragon 865 (7nm+) from Qualcomm.
Faster clock speeds up to 2.84 (GHz) is among the two biggest advantages of this latest generation chipset, which purports to offer the ultimate processing power to users.
Great Big Battery and Extremely Fast Charging of 45 watts
It has a very big battery as well, up to 5000 mAh, really not the greatest that a smartphone carries, but it will still take you through more than 6 hours of battery life before it gives way. Especially with the addition of super-speed charging technology of 45W (W), full charging of S20 Ultra’s battery does not take much time for the users.
High-resolution Quality Sharp Screen
The huge display goes up to 6.9 Inches which is an advantage and a disadvantage for the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra phone. While this huge size is likely to let the users experience the most fantastic sort of movies and games almost as if you’re playing it on tablet-size devices, add that with Dynamic AMOLED, HDR10+, and 120 (Hz) refresh rate, then I can’t say anything about the quality of an image on Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra with experience when watching movies and gaming on S20 Ultra.
Memory of Half a Terabyte
Aside from having super large RAM, the Galaxy S20 Ultra even has internal storage comparable to that of most laptops out there nowadays. With memory of 512 GB, or also known as half terabyte, you can save anything you want quite comfortably without worrying about running out of memory.
5G support
Taking high-speed internet to high levels is one thing an organization has done, and so, considering whether because of it already perfectly fits, 5G technology has been integrated into the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra.
Battery Life
5000mAh battery
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is powered by a humongous 5000mAh battery, which is necessary due to its large display and high-powered internals. Therefore, battery life for such a device is pretty good, easily seeing through the day with moderate to heavy use of browsing, video watching, gaming, and photography. Lighter users can expect it to last until the second day before it is charged again.
Yet in some conditions such as if 120 Hz is used for the display and at brightness levels over 60 percent then the battery life reduces significantly. In comparison to other usage scenarios, users who are very sensitive when it comes to battery consumption might prefer using 60Hz refresh rates or employing battery adaptive features in the software.
Charging Options
The S20 Ultra supports 45W wired fast charging, but you only get the 25W adapter in the box. With the 25W adapter, you could easily charge the phone from 0-100% in slightly over an hour, which is pretty amazing considering the sheer size of the battery. Getting the 45W adapter would shorten the charging time by mere seconds that you’d find hard to justify.
15W wireless charging is supported for fast charging, whereas 9W reverse wireless charging can be used to power other devices like your wireless earbuds or even another phone by simply placing it on the back of the S20 Ultra. While wireless charging is always preferred, it may be deemed slow in comparison to wired charging and reverse wireless charging lends itself as a mere convenience in times of need rather than a dependable method for charging.
Software and User Experience
One UI 2.1 and Android 10
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra runs on Samsung’s One UI 2.1 based on Android 10. One UI 2.1 keeps the essence of the Samsung UI but is refined to offer a much easier and straightforward experience that favors one-handed use. The interface looks clean and intuitive with lots of customization options to make the experience just the way you like it.
Samsung software has a lot of things like edge panels that give quick access to your favorite apps and tools, customizable always-on display, and loads of gestures and shortcuts to streamline workflow. Dark mode works well, covering both the system UI and supported apps, which is easier on the eyes and can help save battery.
Perfomance boosting
Samsung has added performance-enhancing features into the software such as Game Booster that optimizes the phone for gaming sessions, Device Care that lets you manage storage, memory, and battery use. Furthermore, it comes with Samsung DeX, which lets you connect your S20 Ultra to a monitor or TV and use it as a desktop computer with a mouse and keyboard.
Software Updates
Samsung has promised at least three years of major Android updates and security patch updates for the S20 Ultra and other flagship devices. The implication here is that users will be able to receive new Android versions and thus features for pretty much the next three years, which is quite a significant improvement from Samsung’s earlier policies on updates.
Connectivity and 5G Support
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra was one of the very first smartphones which had complete 5G support from Sub-6GHz to mmWave. This ensures that the device will be able to connect to a plethora of different 5G networks around the world and consequently will bring faster download and upload speeds, reduced latency, and greater reliability compared to 4G LTE.
Although actually providing such benefits for a user when it comes to real-world usage, the difference gets made by the availability and quality of 5G networks in one’s surroundings. Users can enjoy much-speedy data transferring and faster downloading of larger files, high-definition streaming, and smoother video conferencing whilei use a well-covered 5G area. However, when S20 Ultra is released, 5G networks still comprise an infant stage of deployment. Therefore, it might take some time to explore the full potential of 5G in different parts of the world.
Another modern networking type included in this device is the Wi-Fi-6 protocol, which offers faster speeds, better service in crowded areas, and energy conservation compared to its predecessor, Wi-Fi 5. Bluetooth 5.0, NFC for mobile payments, and a USB-C port are also included in the device for charging and transferring data.
This model avails several biometric security features, such as ultrasonic in-display fingerprint detection and facial recognition. The fingerprint sensor is reliable but not really up to the standard of some optical sensors found on other devices. Sometimes, the sensor does not effectively read the fingerprint, especially when the screen is dirty or the fingers are wet. This plus point is that as it uses 3D mapping for detection, security is much better.
The S20 Ultra facial recognition is quite fast and easy to use; however, since it depends on the front-facing camera, it is not as secure as fingerprint sensors that rely on more sophisticated 3D facial scanning techniques. It works well in good lighting but can malfunction under low light or certain angles.
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra comes with stereo speakers, one speaker at the bottom and one embedded into the earpiece at the top. It has an excellent sound for a smartphone, with clear sounds at high volumes and a decent treble and bass quality. By itself, it wouldn’t replace high-quality external speakers, but it’s definitely sufficient for watching videos, playing games, or listening to music while out about town.
Unfortunately, like most modern smartphones out there, the S20 Ultra does not host a 3.5mm headphone jack. This would certainly prove a disappointment for users who prefer to use wired headphones, but Samsung provides a pair of USB-C AKG tuned earplugs to get users started on decent sound quality.
Pricing and Value
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra started with a very high price to correspond to the high-end features and the latest technology included in it. Therefore, at the time of its launch, the S20 Ultra was one of the most expensive smartphones found in the market, with direct competition against flagship devices from Apple, Huawei, and others. The price also became a contention with certain users, especially at the introduction given the camera and autofocus software issues early in the lifetime of the device, which Samsung solved through updates.
In terms of worthiness, S20 Ultra could be considered an expensive item for many advanced features it holds. A 108MP camera, 100x zoom, 8K video recording, and 120Hz display are attributes of the device no other devices around. So if someone is thinking tech value or assimilating the digits of a real techie, power user, or he/she wants modern gadgetry, this is a real option for him to consider.
But for many, the S20 Ultra seems to burden them to justify the price with a few other models in the S20 series, such as the S20 and S20+, but then had most of the same features but without breaking the bank. The S20 Ultra is basically a phone made only for the power users who want the very best in specifications and who are, of course, willing to pay a premium for it.
Defect
I mean, it’s hooked up to a whopping 6.9 inches for the display; just the word viewing creates an image of how huge this phone is. Certainly, it’s not going to be very comfortable and easy to handle with one hand this Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra. In fact, the body is designed quite sturdy, giving me a sense of peace of mind while holding and putting it within the pocket.
The front and back of the device are made using Gorilla Glass 6, S20 Ultra feels like this is a phone in high-end segment quality. However, if you are using the phone lying down, the phone has a tendency to slip out of your hand and may fall into your face over a period, due to its large size as well as its smooth glass surface. Samsung also does not appear to provide any anti-fingerprint coating on the body, which is why at certain times, the phone tends to look fairly dirty.
The price of S20 Ultra has gone quite high as there are so many unique features added compared to S20 and S20 Plus.
where can you get a Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra online
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G, 128 GB, Black – Fully Unlocked (Renewed Premium): Buy it now
Samsung S20 Ultra 5G Factory Unlocked SM-G988U1 Grey 12GB Ram 128GB Storage (ATT, Verizon, Sprint and Tmobile) – US Warranty: Buy it now