The day we’ve been waiting for all year has finally arrived, and Samsung has at last ended the long stream of rumours and speculation with some cold, hard facts about the brand-new Samsung Galaxy S20 series, which replaces the Galaxy S10 family.
Out now in both the UK and US, the standard Samsung Galaxy S20 is joined by a Samsung Galaxy S20+ and, new to the line, Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra. In the US all three are 5G phones, but here in the UK you’ll also be able to buy a 4G S20, with that model costing £799. Forget the S20e and S20 Lite, neither are a thing.
Announced alongside the new foldable Galaxy Z Flip (a massive improvement over the Galaxy Fold), and the Galaxy Buds+ wireless earbuds ( less exciting), we’ve been blown away by Galaxy S20 (though the Galaxy S20 Ultra is just too damn big).
This article is the place to find all the facts you need about the now confirmed Samsung Galaxy S20.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Price & Availability
- Samsung Galaxy S20 (4G): £799 (not available in the US)
- Samsung Galaxy S20 (5G): £899/US$999 (128GB)
- Samsung Galaxy S20+ (5G): £999/$1,199 (128GB); $1,349 (512GB; US only)
- Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra (5G): £1,199/$1,399 (128GB); £1,399/$1,599 (512GB)
Samsung’s Galaxy S20 line is available in Cosmic Grey, Cloud Blue, Cloud Pink and Cosmic Black, though not every model is available in every colour.
There will no doubt be some great contract deals around for all these phones, but also note that with every new Samsung release deals on the outgoing series get significantly better.
Samsung Galaxy S20 New Features
Across the range is a new 120Hz Quad-HD+ display, an Infinity-O panel with integrated ultrasonic fingerprint sensor that by default operates at 60Hz in Full-HD to preserve battery life. The new Snapdragon 865 processor (or Exynos 990, depending on your region) and higher-capacity batteries also help here.
Performance from that chip, which combines the Kryo 585 CPU and Adreno 650 GPU, and as much as 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB of storage, is expected to be extraordinary. It promises a 25% speed boost and 35% efficiency improvement over the Snapdragon 855, along with enhanced AI features.
Only the Galaxy S20 Ultra has the highly anticipated 108Mp, 100x zoom camera, which we have already seen in the Mi Note 10, and it pairs this with 48Mp-, 12Mp- and a ToF sensor. The Plus also has a quad-lens camera, combining two 12Mp sensors with a 64Mp camera and ToF, while the standard S20 loses the ToF sensor. All three adopt a new Domino-style rear camera assembly, as pictured below:
It’s easy to see the long list of improvements, but some will be sad to find Samsung has finally killed off the headphone jack – and the less exciting dedicated Bixby button alongside it. AKG stereo speakers and USB-C earphones are provided.
Other features Samsung is keen to highlight in the new range include:
- Space Zoom: 3x zoom with no quality loss, plus 30x super resolution zoom (10x and 100x respectively on Ultra)
- 8K Video snap: 24fps video recording at 8K resolution, which can easily be converted to 33Mp stills
- Night Mode: Allows more light into the sensor for brighter, more detailed night shots; able to combine 30 individual pictures to get the best possible quality with minimum noise
- Single Take: AI is used to capture 14 photos and videos at once, and you pick the best
- Edge-to-edge clarity: Super-smooth transitions at 120Hz and optimised viewing area on a large screen
- All-day battery with super-fast charging: Higher-capacity batteries with 25W Super Fast Charging
- Laptop-sized storage: A minimum 128GB is available by default, but a colossal 1TB can be added via microSD
Samsung Galaxy S20 Specifications: At a glance
Samsung Galaxy S20 specifications
- 6.2in Quad-HD+ (563ppi) Infinity-O display, Dynamic AMOLED 2X, HDR10+ certified, 120Hz display support
- 7nm 64-bit octa-core processor running at 2.73GHz
- 8GB/12GB LPDDR5 RAM
- 128GB storage (MicroSD expansion up to 1TB)
- Triple-lens rear camera: 12Mp ultra-wide, 1.4um, f/2.2 + 12Mp wide-angle, 1.8um, f/1.8, OIS + 64Mp telephoto, 0.8um, f/2.0, OIS; 3x optical zoom, 30x digital zoom
- 10Mp selfie camera, 1.22um, f/2.2; face recognition
- IP68 dust- and waterproof protection
- 4G/5G connectivity (5G only in the US); 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax Wi-Fi, enhanced 4×4 MIMO; up to 7CA, LAA, LTE Cat 20, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, GPS, USB-C
- Accelerometer; Barometer; Ultrasonic fingerprint sensor; Gyro sensor; Geomagnetic sensor; Hall sensor; Proximity sensor; RGB light sensor
- AKG stereo speakers and earphones
- 4,000mAh battery with fast wireless charging and reverse wireless charging
- 151.7×69.1×7.9mm
- 163g
Samsung Galaxy S20+ specifications
- 6.7in Quad-HD+ (525ppi) Infinity-O display, Dynamic AMOLED 2X, HDR10+ certified, 120Hz display support
- 7nm 64-bit octa-core processor running at 2.73GHz
- 12GB LPDDR5 RAM
- 128GB/512GB storage (MicroSD expansion up to 1TB)
- Quad-lens rear camera: 12Mp ultra-wide, 1.4um, f/2.2 + 12Mp wide-angle, 1.8um, f/1.8, OIS + 64Mp telephoto, 0.8um, f/2.0, OIS + ToF sensor; 3x optical zoom, 30x digital zoom
- 10Mp selfie camera, 1.22um, f/2.2; face recognition
- IP68 dust- and waterproof protection
- 5G connectivity; 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax Wi-Fi, enhanced 4×4 MIMO; up to 7CA, LAA, LTE Cat 20, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, NFC, USB-C
- Accelerometer; Barometer; Ultrasonic fingerprint sensor; Gyro sensor; Geomagnetic sensor; Hall sensor; Proximity sensor; RGB light sensor
- AKG stereo speakers and earphones
- 4,500mAh battery with fast wireless charging and reverse wireless charging
- 161.9×73.7×7.8mm
- 186g
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra specifications
- 6.9in Quad-HD+ (511ppi) Infinity-O display, Dynamic AMOLED 2X, HDR10+ certified, 120Hz display support
- 7nm 64-bit octa-core processor running at 2.73GHz
- 12GB/16GB LPDDR5 RAM
- 128GB/512GB storage (MicroSD expansion up to 1TB)
- Quad-lens rear camera: 12Mp ultra-wide, 1.4um, f/2.2 + 108Mp wide-angle, 0.8um, f/1.8, OIS + 48Mp telephoto, 0.8um, f/3.5, OIS +ToF sensor; 10x optical zoom, 100x digital zoom
- 40Mp selfie camera, 0.7um, f/2.2; face recognition
- IP68 dust- and waterproof protection
- 5G connectivity; 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax Wi-Fi, enhanced 4×4 MIMO; up to 7CA, LAA, LTE Cat 20, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, GPS, USB-C
- Accelerometer; Barometer; Ultrasonic fingerprint sensor; Gyro sensor; Geomagnetic sensor; Hall sensor; Proximity sensor; RGB light sensor
- AKG stereo speakers and earphones
- 5,000mAh battery with fast wireless charging and reverse wireless charging
- 166.9×76.0x8.8mm
- 220g
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Author: Marie Black, Editorial Director
Marie is Editorial Director at Foundry. A Journalism graduate from the London College of Printing, she's worked in tech media for more than 17 years, managing our EMEA and LatAm editorial teams and leading on content strategy through Foundry's transition from print, to digital, to online - and beyond.