Tested Samsung Galaxy S20

TESTED SAMSUNG GALAXY S2

A Galaxy (that far, far away looks)

Samsung’s flagship phones remain a class apart for sheer quality, but they’re big and expensive… which is where the slightly smaller S20 comes in

R17 600 / samsung.com/za Remember when a new Samsung 3 Galaxy flagship was guaranteed to be the centre of attention in the world of smartphones? Heck, it was only a couple of years ago…

Now, the Galaxy S20 finds itself the mere starting point of 1 Growing up Samsung’s three-stage assault on the Android world. Anyone wanting As the bezels surrounding them the best will be skipping straight have got skinnier, Samsung’s to the no-compromise S20 Ultra, excellent screens have continued right? Well, smaller can sometimes to expand. We’re now up to 6.2in, be better. giving the Galaxy S20 an 89.5 %

This, the most compact S20, screen-to-body ratio. Try the gets almost all the goodies you’ll S20+ if you need to go bigger, but find in the larger, pricier ones, most people will be happy here. including a high-refresh-rate screen and multiple capable cameras. And despite costing a lot less than the 2 Speeding up 4 Stacking up Ultra or even the S20+, it looks and feels like any other modern All three S20 models get the Multitasking is a dream thanks to Samsung –which is to say, built same 3200x1440 resolution, a huge 12GB of RAM, which lets to an incredibly high standard. The and all can crank up the refresh you pin three apps to memory design team really hit its stride a rate to 120Hz. This makes a huge so they’re never forced to reload year or two ago, with only tiny difference to how animations flow while you look at something else. tweaks needed now to stay fresh. over the screen, and you should This is very handy if you have

The curved screen isn’t quite so absolutely turn it on as soon as a mild Fortnite addiction. Gaming curved this time around, the colour you get the phone out of its box. is, of course, buttery-smooth. choices (grey, pink or blue) are more conservative and the metal frame is a little less blingy; but when folding stunners like the Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Z Flip are there to grab attention, you can afford a little restraint in your mainstream models. By focusing on the things we really want from our phones, Samsung has made this every bit the modern flagship. Sharpening up The rear camera’s main 12MP sensor has been redesigned for better image quality. It’s joined by a 64MP telephoto good for 3x optical zoom and a 12MP ultra-wide-angle. Whichever one you use, image quality is a real step forward from the S10. Going big There’s a 5G version of this phone available if you know where to look (that is, overseas) but it’s not quite ready for South Africa. First, we’ll get 5G. Then we can have the 5G phones. You can do it the other way around if you wanna but… what’s the point. 3 5 24 hours with the Samsung Galaxy S20 Good Low-light and night shooting have also been improved. The headphone port has gone, so it’s USB-C or wireless. There’s no dongle. This is a tidy-looking phone, and it’s small enough to use one-handed. The design is hardly original, with that familiar off-centre camera bump… …and the glass back is a fingerprint magnet, as they always are. Wow, even scrolling through Insta is a revelation at 120Hz. Colours are punchy, contrast is superb and viewing angles are excellent. The camera app makes it easy to swap between lenses, and they’re all great. Image processing isn’t as in-yer-face as before – colours are more natural.

Meh

Evil

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…and 128GB of built-in storage leaves plenty of room for games and media. The S20 does a fine job of pretty much everything. What more do you need? The 4000mAh battery has easily got me through the day, even at 120Hz. This Exynos 990 CPU is zippy. We’ve not experienced any lag or stutter… Samsung’s One UI Android skin looks neat but can be a little annoying.

TESTED SAMSUNG GALAXY S20

Tech specs

Screen 6.2in 3200x1440 AMOLED Processor Exynos 990 octa-core RAM 12GB OS Android 10 with One UI Cameras 12MP + 64MP + 12MP rear, 10MP front Battery 4000mAh Storage 128GB (plus microSD) Dimensions 152x69x7.9mm, 163g

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A few software foibles aside, the Galaxy S20 feels like the Goldilocks of flagship phones right now: not too big and clever, not too small and basic, just right. It delivers excellent battery life, a phenomenal display, blistering performance and superb image quality. Until someone else does it better, this is the Android handset to beat.