Samsung took the stage at its Galaxy Unpacked 2020 event to unveil its latest Galaxy smartphone lineup, which includes the Galaxy Z Flip, Galaxy S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra. The new S20 range offers some pretty incredible pixel-counts, topping out at an eye-popping 108MP, plus 8K video. Meanwhile, you can probably guess at the defining feature of the ‘Galaxy Z Flip’.
Let’s talk about the headline features up front:
- 1/1.33″ main camera sensor (S20 Ultra)
- 108MP capture (S20 Ultra)
- ‘Lossless’ digital zoom thanks to high resolution sensors
- 100x zoom thanks to 4x optical zoom, 48MP sensor and super-resolution (S20 Ultra)
- 120Hz refresh rate displays
- 240Hz touch input for responsive touch interface
- Capture all camera zooms and modes with one shutter press, choose later
Let’s start by talking about the new S20 lineup.
Galaxy S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra
Samsung’s S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra smartphones all vary in size and specifications, with increasing screen sizes and capabilities, respectively.
Before diving into the differences though, let’s take a look at what all of the devices share. The first thing you’ll notice is the familiar design, with the S20 lineup constructed of glass on the front and back with an aluminum alloy metal band around the edges. Aside from a slight bump up in weight and height compared to the S10 lineup, the only major visual difference from the device’s respective predecessors is a new camera bump that’s now rectangular in design.
Each of the new devices features a 120Hz OLED display, currently putting them at the front of the pack in terms of refresh rates (for OLEDs, at least). The S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra all have the same resolution (3200×1440 pixels), but the screen sizes across the devices do differ: 6.2-inches, 6.7-inches and 6.92-inches, respectively.
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Moving onto the cameras, the S20 devices drop the dual-front-facing camera the S10 series had and opts for a single 10-megapixel camera on the S20 and S20+, while the S20 Ultra gets a ridiculous 40-megapixel front-facing camera. On the back of the devices, you’ll notice each model features increasingly-larger camera units, with more modules available on the larger models. The S20 has a 12-megapixel main sensor, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide, and a 64-megapixel 3x telephoto camera.
Below is a video breakdown from Android Central showing how the new camera systems work on the S20 lineup:
The S20+ has all of those cameras as well as a time-of-flight (ToF) camera for depth data. As you might expect, the S20 Ultra takes the entire setup to a whole other level; it offers a 108-megapixel main camera with a whopping 1/1.33″ sensor, the second largest sensor size we’ve ever seen in a phone (right behind the 1/1.2″ sensor in the well-respected Nokia 808 41MP camera). The extra pixels allow for ‘lossless’ digital zoom, which is further aided using super-resolution techniques. Also on-board: a 12-megapixel ultra-wide, and a 48-megapixel 4x telephoto (with 10x ‘lossless’ digital zoom and 100x ‘Space Zoom’ thanks to a unique combination of optical and digital zoom and super-resolution), as well as a ToF camera. All of the phones feature 8K video recording.
The S20 models are all IP68 water-resistant, include wireless charging and feature an in-screen ultrasonic fingerprint reader. Oh, and the headphone jack is gone.
The S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra are set to ship in the United States for $ 1000, $ 1,200 and $ 1,400, respectively.
Galaxy Z Flip
The Galaxy Z Flip is a second-generation folding phone from Samsung. Unlike the Galaxy Fold, which opened up side-to-side like a book, the Galaxy Z Flip opens up vertically, similar to clamshell-style phones of yesteryear.
However, instead of a keyboard at the bottom and a screen at the top as was standard nearly a decade ago, the Galaxy Z Flip features a 6.7-inch AMOLED display, which folds along the hinge of the phone. What’s interesting is that instead of the plastic being used for the screen, Samsung is instead using an ultra-thin glass—this should help to make the screen much more durable than its predecessor, which quickly gained a bad reputation for scratching easily.
The outside of the device also features a 1.06-inch secondary display that can display the current time, show the battery status, show notifications and even be used as a screen for taking selfies using the exterior camera.
Beneath the screen is an array of components that, as noted by Android Authority, are almost identical to those found inside the Galaxy S10e. Specifically, the phoen is powered by a Snapdragon 855 Plus SoC, 8GB of RAM, 256GB UFS 3.0 storage and a 3,300mAh battery (2,000mAh more than the S10e).
The pair of cameras on the rear of the device include a standard 12-megapixel camera and an ultra-wide 12-megapixel camera, while the front-facing selfie camera is 10-megapixels. The device also features 15W wired charging, 9W wireless charging and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor.
The Galaxy Z Flip will be available in Mirror Purple, Mirror Black and Mirror Gold (in select countries) starting February 14, 2020 for $ 1,380.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
