Galaxy S20 Ultra review: the camera is amazing, but the battery life and design are not – CNET

There is no denying that the Galaxy S20 Ultra is something daring. Something special. It exists to show its camera functionality. There’s the 108-megapixel sensor, capturing scenes for detailed cropping that invariably make you say “wow!” Then there is the 100x zoom lens which reveals letters, faces and architectural details that you cannot see from a distance with the naked eye. And the beautiful 40-megapixel selfie camera that won’t spare your feelings when you turn off beauty mode.

The most advanced (and most expensive) new flagship undoubtedly pushes boundaries. Samsung wants you see these photos and want this phone. In front of the iPhone 11 Pro, Pixel 4 and Huawei Mate 30, the world’s largest phone maker plays to win. Does it succeed? Yes… and also no.

On paper, the S20 Ultra is unbeatable. It has this incredibly colorful 6.9-inch edge-to-edge screen. A huge 5000mAh battery. Plus all the waterproofing, fast charging, and reverse wireless charging you’d expect from a high-end Samsung phone.

But in my real-world tests, the Ultra doesn’t play like the versatile superstar I want, especially for $ 1,400 (£ 1,199, AU $ 1,999). Its photography is for the most part superb, but the hardware and software drawbacks that cannot be ignored dampen my enthusiasm for the device as a whole.

I have never overcome my disgust for its thick and heavy design. And I can’t ignore the uneven performance of its battery, especially when the super-fast screen refresh option – which makes scrolling, animations and some content smooth – seems to reduce battery reserves.

Despite the prowess of the S20 Ultra camera, I find myself reaching the most refined Galaxy Note 10 Plus and more interesting Galaxy Z Flip foldable phone. For me, the Ultra is just less fun to use.

Here’s another conundrum. Without being able to fully test the S20 Ultra side by side with the cheapest, the smallest Galaxy S20 and S20 Plus, it’s hard to say which is the “best” overall. Samsung sent reporters the S20 Ultra for review first, along with its most expensive model. All three phones share basic software and hardware, but have different camera specifications and battery reserves.

At the time of writing, the S20 and Plus are still a few days away from going on sale. I can’t talk about the performance comparison yet, but I can let’s say the S20 Ultra leaves the door open to the standard Galaxy S20 ($ 999) or the S20 Plus ($ 1,199) to be the smartest purchase for most.

Comparisons with other S20s and with major competitors such as the iPhone 11 Pro Max and Google Pixel 4 XL are still to come. For now, I leave you with my Galaxy S20 Ultra ups and downs. If you are about to buy the most expensive model from Samsung, my advice is: wait. The best S20 for you may not be as ultra.

Learn to love the 108 megapixel camera setting of the S20 Ultra

First of all. The Ultra’s 108-megapixel camera is its most attractive feature. It promises extremely detailed photographs with vivid colors that you can crop for maximum detail.

You will not take most of your photos at 108 (let’s call it 108 for simplicity). This is a photography setting you should choose, and these images take up to eight times the amount of storage space as the default photo, at least in my experience. In automatic mode, photos are resolved in 12 megapixel shots.

What? How? ‘Or’ What? Thanks to a long-standing concept called “binning pixel”, every nine “pixels” becomes a superpixel. The idea is to make the photos brighter and sharper by enlarging each of the 12 “pixels” and therefore able to draw more light. In theory, more light means better photos.

I was greatly impressed by the photos I took in 108, especially once I learned the ideal point of this mode. Some photos taken in 108 produced unusually saturated and flattened shadows and details – both on the phone and on the computer.

Mid-distance and far shots produced more detailed images when I cropped, but I got much less detail when I try to use the setting too close. If you want to simulate a macro, getting as close as possible to the center of a flower, a fascinating knot or brand logo is just as likely to introduce more picture noise, no less, when you crop or zoom on the phone or laptop screen.

But use it with the “shoot now, edit later” mentality and you might find yourself ecstatic with the results. You can (and should) check some of my favorite photo examples.

Again, I wouldn’t recommend using 108 for each photo, but when you do – like when I grabbed that photo by the car window, or when you don’t have time to get close to the thing you want to take – – you might find yourself pleasantly surprised.

The 100x zoom has increased on me, but it is not essential

I feel the same about the 100x “Space Zoom” from Samsung as I do about 108. A mixture of optical and digital zoom is a cool tool when you need it, but I’m not sure if I would aspire to it if it did not exist. Or rather, I would, but not often.

For the past few weeks, I’ve described the 100x zoom as the photography tool you need when you can’t get close to your subject. So you can use it to capture the details of a domed roof hundreds of meters above you, or an interpreter dozens of rows on the stage.

In a test example, I used the zoom to capture the drama of the waves crashing dramatically against the rocks. In another, the stoic face of an ocean kayaker battling the rough sea.

Samsung’s attempt is impressive. Image quality is generally not good at such an extreme distance, but that is not the purpose of the functionality. He’s there to get an image that you probably wouldn’t have otherwise. If the subject interests you, you will be more happy to have it. My favorite zooms were generally 4x, and sometimes 10x or 30x depending on what I was trying to show.

I sent a 100x zoom photo of birds to a passionate friend of bird watchers. She returned when she saw it, impressed that I was able to give her enough details to identify the species. It was a victory, although it took many attempts to keep the phone still enough to focus on the still herd.

This relentless nervousness is the most exasperating aspect of the 100x zoom. To really position the object in the frame, you will need a steady hand, patience, or something to prop up the phone, such as a railing or bench. I almost searched the phone in San Francisco Bay when it slipped from my outlet while trying to stabilize it against a pier.

Even with a tripod, I had to dig deep into a well of patience that I barely have to capture a photo of a flag flying high in the air and several blocks away.

The 100x zoom is cool to have if you have it, but it’s hard to name it a must-have feature.

The only place where the S20 Ultra camera flickers

The camera quality is excellent overall, with crisp details and rich colors. The photos were a joy to take photos, and I think knowing that I would get so many great photos made me take more than usual.

The night mode was also great. I’m delighted that Samsung has added a countdown clock so you know how long to keep the device still when you take a photo with this setting (3 seconds).

My only complaint is that when redesigning the cameras, the focal lengths seem to have changed in a way that makes true macro mode impossible. I suspect that’s what the focus on 108-megapixel photography and zoom is trying to overcome. I could get close to the objects, but when I bent down enough to see these details, macro mode never started.

Instead, I could see blurred images out of focus the closer I got. Backing up to take the photo and then cropping gave me better results. It’s not necessarily bad, but it meant I had to retrain to use the camera.

Single Take mode is not a slam dunk, but it can be useful

Samsung talked about a feature called Single Shot, which takes a set menu of up to 10 photos and four videos when you select the mode, and then press and hold the shutter button. The more you move, the more varied your photos and videos become.

I’m not going to cover it with sugar – this mode is a gimmick. Most of the time, I don’t like photos taken using artificial intelligence algorithms and my camera roll is littered with images and videos that I don’t want or need . Nine times out of 10, I prefer to compose the plans myself.

However, there is a point when this is useful: when you have only one opportunity to capture a moment and want to make the most of it. But you should always remember to select a single take and then remember how to use it to get the best results.

Examples where I have succeeded:

• A street artist that I saw in a square.
• Wild land squirrels crawling on people who certainly shouldn’t have given them food.
• A gifted bartender who prepares and pours an extravagant cocktail which spreads smoke in my glass.

I ended up deleting a bunch of single-shot images and videos, but there were enough I could use to get my message across. However, this is not a reason to buy the S20 Ultra, the Galaxy Z Flip or another S20 phone that has integrated it.

8K video recording is cool, but doesn’t matter

The S20 phones all capture video in 8K resolution. These files are huge. Samsung says that every minute taken will occupy 600 MB of storage. You should also stay alarmingly away from your subject to adapt it to the setting.

8K video is the future, but there are few platforms available at the moment, such as TVs (even Samsung) and social media sites, where you can see the content. YouTube has technically supported 8K video since 2010.

The main benefit is roughly the same as 108 photos. It will allow you to keep the details when cropping in a video. This will give you the same effect as zooming in. I have tried it on several videos that I have taken. Samsung has made it easier to edit 8K videos on the S20. It is also easy to reduce the resolution enough share on, say, Twitter, which allows videos up to 1080p.

It’s nice that changes and resolution changes create a new file that doesn’t overwrite the original footage. You can change the contents of your heart.

Here’s more on the pros and cons of the Galaxy S20 and why it matters for the future of phones.

Samsung 120Hz screen: super-fast battery killer

In addition to the camera, Galaxy S20 phones have an exceptional function in the 120Hz screen. This number refers to the pixels on the refreshing screen 120 times per second, which doubles the standard speed of 60 times per second, or 60 Hz.

The flagship phones from OnePlus and Google, and the gaming phones from Razer and Asus, all have optional 90Hz or 120Hz refresh rates, especially one that aims to make scrolling and gameplay much smoother.

I’m an excruciating gamer, but I could immediately tell the difference with the 120 Hz screen on. Even by fading out almost every lap on Riptide GP2: Renegade, I still managed to come in first place against a bunch of gaming robots, at a more difficult level than I had ever tried (cough, level 2, cough).

It was like time was slowing down. I was Neo in The Matrix, avoiding bullets by manipulating my environment. I was a time bandit, and it felt good.

Unfortunately, maintaining 120 Hz full time also drained the battery like a thirsty vampire. One day, I went from 100% to 15% in just nine hours, certainly after intensive use which included three hours of navigation on Google Maps. Another day, the battery life went from 100% to 12% in 10.5 hours after use, including attaching it to my laptop for one hour and Netflix streaming for three hours. But keeping the phone at 60 Hz has given me a better life than all day, whatever I do.

On 4G, the S20 Ultra is a beast of 5000 mAh battery

With the screen in its default mode, I got the longevity all day long that I expected from the massive 5000 mAh battery of the S20 Ultra. For reference, the Galaxy Note 10 Plus has a capacity of 4300 mAh and lasts me from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., with more to spare. I don’t even get nervous until I reach at least 12%.

In comparison, the S20 has a capacity of 4000 mAh and the S20 Plus is delivered at 4500 mAh.

In the CNET loop video dump test of 1080p video on 120Hz in airplane mode, the battery lasted 24 hours, which is radically different from my experience in the real world. This video test is not the best example because the video itself does not play at 120 frames per second, so I suspect that it does not trigger the doubled screen refresh rate, which will affect the duration of battery life. We have more lab tests to come that will better simulate real world performance.

Tom’s Guide also found that the 120 Hz on the S20 Ultra had removed three hours of battery life from its usual test protocol, compared to running the same test at 60 Hz. With 120 Hz engaged, the The Ultra 5000mAh battery lasted just over nine hours in a continuous 5G drain test.

I should note that all of my real-world testing took place on 4G, although the S20 phones are all ready for 5G. (Buyers in the UK and Australia will have to pay extra for the 5G versions of the phones.) AT&T, my regular operator, had not finished with 5G certification at the time of testing, but the network says it will be The Galaxy S20 phones hit the market on March 6.

A SIM card provided by T-Mobile has never been connected to the 5G network where I was in Silicon Valley and San Francisco. We will continue with the New York 5G tests, so that we can assess if and how 5G could affect battery life.

S20 Ultra design: thick and heavy

Its main appeal is the functionality of the Galaxy S20 Ultra, but you can’t discuss it without recognizing what it’s like to actually take and use the device. True to its name, the Ultra is tall. And heavy. And, for my hands, heavy.

With a 6.9-inch screen, a weight of 7.76 ounces (220 grams) and thicker sides than the more flexible Galaxy Note 10 Plus, the S20 Ultra is a pocket phone and tiring arms. After a week with the Galaxy Z Flip (which has a similar height, but a thinner build and lighter weight), the Ultra is a bulky brick that could do big damage if used in self-defense.

Some of my colleagues liked the softer rounding on the sides, and I can see why. A less curved screen makes the edges less pointed and prevents your finger from sliding off the edge of the edge-to-edge display. But it also makes the phone thicker, and my fingers were more aware of the edges of Samsung’s built-in plastic screen protector than on the Note 10 Plus.

I appreciate that the Ultra has never slipped from my bedside table and that the grease on the fingers is less apparent. What I didn’t like was the constant feeling that the Ultra was still on the brink of falling from a pocket and crashing when lost. I should note, however, that a co-worker said that he held all of his pockets except the one on his shirt.

Reading in progress:
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Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra’s 100x zoom makes spying easy

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This massive camera bulge is why you need a case

The thick and heavy construction makes the phone more at risk of falling, especially with this protruding camera bump in the back. This exists because Samsung has redesigned the S20 Ultra’s camera sensors, which enlarges the entire module.

I don’t blame society for that, but it does mean that if you drop the Ultra without a case, the glass on the back is more likely to break and broken glass can degrade the quality of your photo. Unfortunately, I have known this since the moment my Note 10 Plus review unit lost an argument with poured concrete. Wide angle and portrait photos have never been the same.

A case will solve practical problems. I tried two that Speck kindly sent me. They come up from the surface just a hair on the bump of the camera, which means that this module is essentially flush with the phone.

The two cases I tried also made the phone larger and heavier. If you buy a phone for $ 1,400, a case is worth the cost to protect your investment. But it also exacerbated the problem of the Ultra being thick and difficult to use.

A small complaint about the colors: I wish Samsung had made the S20 Ultra more flashy than the Cosmic Gray and Cosmic Black choices. I had the gray model to review, which for me looks like putty or plasticine. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but the color design team and I are clearly on different wavelengths.

Processor, storage, Android 10 and everything

Headlining features like the camera and battery define the Galaxy S20 Ultra, but there is a lot more going on under the hood. In the U.S. at least, all S20 phones run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 processor, which was fast in benchmarks. In some areas, you might get the Exynos chipset from the house of Samsung.

I enjoyed using Android 10 and Samsung One UI 2, which gave the S20 a feeling of freshness, including dark mode and little finds, such as setting a warm, cool, or color tone. neutral for selfies.

Samsung also added some fun info: I liked turning a Spotify song into a morning clock alarm (and thank goodness for the new alarm sounds) and composing the Google Duo video chat app directly from the dialer telephone. These are cool additions, but not why you’d buy a Galaxy S20 in the first place.

I also wanted to try Quick Share, which is Samsung’s response to Apple AirDrop. It allows you to easily compress photos and files from one phone to another. But there is a catch: the device with which you share must be another Samsung model, and it must also have the function of rapid sharing, which means that, for the moment, you can only use it with another Galaxy S20. I haven’t been able to test this yet, but I can try it when the S20s I ordered arrive.

Who is the Galaxy S20 Ultra for today – and should you buy it?

After I have had the opportunity to review the Galaxy S20 and S0 Plus, I will be able to give you some practical advice on which S20 to buy. It’s hard to assess right now, as the phones all have slightly different camera systems and battery capacities.

I would love to be so blown away by the Galaxy S20 Ultra that I could tell you without hesitation that this is the model you want. After a week of concentrated testing, I’m not sure if this is the case.

Photography enthusiasts will no doubt enjoy incorporating the Galaxy S20 Ultra’s 108 megapixel setting and 100x zoom into their repertoire, but for most people I talk to, these additional settings are academically interesting, but not at all research.

$ 1,400 is a truck to spend on a phone. If the lighter, smaller variant of $ 1,000 ends up taking nearly as good photos, the argument for Ultra will diminish quickly.