Galaxy Fold and Z Flip notwithstanding, the S20 Ultra is Samsung’s most expensive smartphone to date. It’s not like we weren’t warned beforehand – the leaks made sure of that – but now that Samsung’s premium-tier flagship has been let loose, it’s safe to say that the rumours failed to soften the blow. It’s Samsung’s biggest camera sensor upgrade since the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, yet we found the hyped-up 108MP camera mode captures photos that don't look much different than snaps taken in the main camera's default 12MP mode. Some people have launched complaints about dust getting in the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra camera housing, though we haven't experienced much that in our extensive testing. The complaints appear to be – mostly – limited to Korea.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra review | TechRadar Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra review | TechRadar

All of those impressive specs are before you even consider the camera - the real selling point. There's now a 10x optical zoom and a absolutely massive 100x zoom. The Ultra even manages to make use of advanced pixel stitching technology for clean resolution in your photos.

However, this is obviously the usual argument of Apple vs Samsung with two different operating systems and approaches to how people will use their phones. This essentially comes down to which platform you prefer. Is the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra worth its price tag? Phew. For once, there’s plenty to talk about with a new Samsung flagship, and I’m sure there are a few things I’ve missed out. There’s certainly room for me to discuss the Galaxy S20 Ultra’s network capabilities – it supports all 5G standards including mmWave – but this review is already bulging at the seams in its current state, so I’ll add to it at a later date. The decision is an easy one: the 120Hz 1080p setting looks good out of the box, and most people we know who are upgrading from the Note 8 have been impressed. The 6.9-inch screen isn’t big enough to see individual pixels, and we won’t truly need higher resolutions until foldable phones become mainstream. Plus, all models of the S20 have a microSD slot for expanding the storage by up to 1TB in case you do hit the built-in capacity.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra Refurbished | Specs | Samsung UK

The phone might be dual-SIM enabled, however only the main slot has 5G support. You couldn’t pop two 5G SIMs in and utilise the next-gen network on both. There’s Wi-Fi 6 support too and I have been thoroughly impressed with both call quality and data connections. Software Thanks to the 6.9-inch OLED screen, exceedingly high levels of brightness and the usual array of HDR options mean that the S20 Ultra is a fantastic device for watching media on. HDR-enabled shows on Netflix feel like they’re really taking advantage of what’s on offer and when compared to the iPhone 11 Pro Max there’s deeper contrast and far more brightness. The smaller notch (when compared to the S10 series) helps make it a more immersive display, too. Proximity Sensor, Hall Effect Sensor, Light Sensor, Gyroscope Sensor, Accelerometer (G-Sensor), Magnetometer, Barometer, Fingerprint Sensor Big doesn’t necessarily define the Note series anymore. Oh, the Note 20 Ultra is a massive phone in the hand, requiring two meaty paws to operate it – it's just no longer uniquely big. It shares the same 6.9-inch screen size with the S20 Ultra. There are things the Note 20 Ultra can’t do, but most of them don’t matter. Although the phone supports a QHD resolution, Samsung defaults it to 1080p – it still can’t do the 120Hz refresh rate and QHD at the same time, while the OnePlus 8 Pro and newer Galaxy S21 Ultra can.It features an outright huge 6.9-inch display that covers the majority of the front and curves slightly around the phone’s edges. The only obvious item breaking up the otherwise all-screen aesthetic is a small hole-punch notch in the middle of the top edge. Make no mistake this is a glorious OLED panel, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has used a flagship Samsung phone before. Oddly, what’s not on offer here is 45W wired charging, which is supported by last year’s Note 10 Plus, and this year’s S20, S20 Plus and S20 Ultra, via an adapter that Samsung sells separately. A few companies are even toying with 100W charging, but Samsung seems to be taking its time in rolling out truly fast charging. Of course, the 108MP sensor isn’t the only camera at your disposal. There’s also a 12MP (f/2.2) ultra-wide camera, as well as the aforementioned 48MP (f/3.5) telephoto zoom lens and what Samsung calls a “DepthVision” sensor, which is just a silly name for your run-of-the-mill depth sensor. Most Galaxy Note 20 Ultra cases will level things out so that the camera bump isn't an issue, and given the fact that this is such a large and heavy phone, it’s best to protect your investment with one. Distance. It used to be a problem for smartphone cameras, which were incapable of making distant subjects look anything other than, well, distant.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G- all carriers Cosmic Grey

Battery: Actual battery life varies by network environment, features and apps used, frequency of calls and messages, number of times charged, and many other factors. Like we've said above, the S20 Ultra is two things - a masterclass in phone creation right now and....extortionately expensive. In other words, if you've got a limitless budget, this phone will be ideal for you. Seeing a timer ring form around the 10MP selfie camera punch hole, rather than having to badly guess where the camera lens is inside the display – invaluable for group selfies. There is a significant chance that you may break the unreinforced and fragile display panel during this procedure. If you plan on reusing the screen assembly, be sure to apply plenty of heat and be extremely careful during the prying stage.You might have caught wind of a few pre-release camera problems, most notably when it comes to laggy focus-finding and poor viewfinder quality, but thankfully these issues seem to have been fixed in a recent OTA software update, which arrived on 1 March. We could write a whole review of the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra’s cameras, there’s so much to say about them – and that’s good news if you want something fresh out of your smartphone’s photos, but bad news if you want the best photos with every snap.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra review: Samsung’s best phone yet Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra review: Samsung’s best phone yet

If you're a phone manufacturer without these basic features on your camera phone, we’re judging you. Hard. However, adding 120Hz doesn’t come without some slight downsides. The biggest being its dramatic effect on battery life. Even though the S20 Ultra has a 5000mAh cell, enabling the smoother motion left me with a phone that only just about made it through the day, heavily cutting my screen-on time compared to 60Hz. This is likely the main reason why Samsung has decided against letting you keep the resolution at WQHD+ (3200 x 1440), with 120Hz instead restricted to FHD+ (2400 x 1080). Well, currently the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra looks like one of the best smartphones ever released. It has the best display of any phone ever (factually, not subjectively), a 5000mAh battery, a 6.9-inch display and a slightly ridiculous 12/16GB RAM.

10x Optical Zoom & 8K Video

The Ultra is designed for early adopters, and three things stand out: it has a massive 6.9-inch display with next-gen fluid-scrolling tech that will stretch your hand; five cameras to capture 108MP photos, 40MP selfies and 8K video, and 5G antennas with peak speeds 66 times as fast as 4G LTE. Gear Support Galaxy Buds, Galaxy Fit, Galaxy Fit e, Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Watch Active, Galaxy Watch Active2, Gear Fit, Gear Fit2, Gear Fit2 Pro, Gear Sport, Gear1, Gear2, Gear2 Neo, Gear S, Gear S2, Gear S3, Gear IconX, Gear IconX (2018), Gear 360, Gear 360 (2017) While Samsung phones, those with Exynos chips at least, are fast to begin with, it is months and years down the line where things start to fade. Apple’s phones are so good at staying fast for years that I always feel let down by Samsung in this regard. My Note 10 Plus, for example, takes an extra second longer to load apps now than it did at launch – will the same happen here? Follow this guide to replace the screen assembly for the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra. The display glass, OLED panel, and digitizer comprise the screen assembly and will need to be replaced together. User Available Memory: User memory is less than the total memory due to storage of the operating system and software used to operate the device features. Actual user memory will vary depending on the operator and may change after software upgrades are performed.