In less than a month, Samsung is officially going to announce the Galaxy S20 series at its Unpacked event. If leaks are indicative of anything, Samsung is going to set the bar very high for other flagship smartphones to beat with the Galaxy S20 series.
Samsung is planning on significantly improving the camera capabilities of the Galaxy S20 series while also adding key features like 5G, high refresh rate OLED panels, and bigger batteries. Ahead of Samsung"s official announcement of the Galaxy S20, below is a roundup of everything that the rumors tell us about the phones.
Three display sizes, Five variants
Leaks point to Samsung offering its flagship Galaxy S20 series in three different sizes: 6.4-inch, 6.7-inch, and 6.9-inch. All displays will be curved on their edges as seen on previous Samsung flagships. In total, there will be five different Galaxy S20 models which are as follows:
- Galaxy S20
- Galaxy S20 5G
- Galaxy S20+
- Galaxy S20+ 5G
- Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G
As the naming scheme suggests, Samsung will be launching 5G and non-5G variants of the Galaxy S20, though the Galaxy S20 Ultra will only be available in 5G flavor.
As per leaks, the Galaxy S20 and its 5G variant will feature a 6.4-inch display, while the S20+ and S20+ 5G will pack a 6.7-inch display. Lastly, the Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G will feature a 6.9-inch display. All the phones will feature a 20:9 aspect ratio making them taller and slimmer than the Galaxy S10 which features a 19:9 aspect ratio display.
Samsung will be using 120Hz high refresh rate OLED panels on its Galaxy S20 lineup this year. This should make the phones feel smoother to use while scrolling lists and also help improve touch response leading to faster and smoother user experience. However, for battery life reasons, Samsung will cap the 120Hz refresh rate to FHD+ resolution only. Users will also have the option to manually switch the display to 60Hz to extend battery life.
Same design language
The leaked renders of the Galaxy S20 series show they will feature an Infinity-O display with thinner top and bottom bezels than the Galaxy S10 series. The punch-hole cutout is also smaller than the one found on the Galaxy Note10.
It is the rear where the Galaxy S20 design deviates from its predecessor. The three different variants of the device will have different camera setups which will be housed inside a rectangular camera hump.
Disappointingly, Samsung will be doing away with the headphone jack on the Galaxy S20 lineup. Live photos and renders of the devices also show no physical Bixby button and the power and volume rockers located on the right edge of the device.
Update (23/1/2020): The official renders of the Galaxy S20 series have leaked showing the devices in all its glory.
Specifications
The Galaxy S20 series is shaping up to be among the best flagship Android smartphones of this year. Leaks point to the Galaxy S20 coming with either Samsung"s in-house Exynos 990 chip or the Snapdragon 865. Due to performance issues, there are rumors that Samsung will use the Snapdragon 865 chip in more markets this time around. The phones will also come with a minimum of 12GB RAM, up to 512GB of UFS 3.0 storage, microSD card slot, Wi-Fi 6, 5G, and in-display fingerprint scanner. In fact, the Galaxy S20 Ultra is rumored to feature 16GB RAM.
The smallest Galaxy S20 is expected to feature a 4,000mAh battery. The Galaxy S20+ and S20 Ultra will feature a bigger 4,500mAh and 5,000mAh battery. The former will support 25W wired fast charging while the latter will come with 45W wired fast charging that will charge it from 0-100% in just 74 minutes. Wireless charging and reverse wireless charging features are also going to be on board, though there"s no word on their improvements if any.
Update (23/1/2020): The Galaxy S20 will mark the debut of Quick Share, Samsung"s AirDrop rival which will also have a cloud aspect to it for quick and easy file sharing.
Massive camera improvements
Apart from the display, Samsung is also focusing heavily on the camera performance of its Galaxy S20 lineup this year. Across the lineup, Samsung is expected to massively improve the low-light imaging performance of its 2020 flagship smartphone.
The Galaxy S20 and S20+ will feature a 12MP IMX555 Sony sensor with 1.8um large pixels. The telephoto camera will be a 64MP Samsung sensor that will offer 5x zoom and it will be accompanied with a 12MP ultra-wide angle shooter. The bigger Galaxy S20+ will also feature a Sony IMX516 ToF sensor.
The Galaxy S20 Ultra will have a completely different camera setup compared to its siblings. It will pack a custom 108MP primary Samsung sensor and make use of 9:1 pixel binning to capture superior low-light photos. A 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor will be used for offering 10x optical zoom and a 44MP Samsung sensor will be used for the ultra-wide angle camera. The S20 Ultra will also feature a ToF sensor at its rear. This phone will also feature a 100x Space Zoom mode which could be used for capturing the moon and stars - a feature commonly found in Huawei smartphones.
The selfie camera on all Galaxy S20 variants will be the same one as found on the Galaxy S10 and Note10 series: a 10MP Sony IMX375 sensor.
Impressively, all Galaxy S20 models will be able to capture 8K videos at 30fps. They will also be capable of recording 4K HDR videos at 60fps and will come with some new camera modes that will take advantage of the new camera system.
Price and availability
Samsung is scheduled to announce the Galaxy S20 series on February 11. Going by the company"s previous track record, the Galaxy S20 should launch in key markets by the first week of March.
In terms of pricing, the addition of 5G should make the lineup more expensive than before. The Galaxy S20 could very well start from around $899 unlocked, while the Galaxy S20 Ultra could start from as much as $1,199.
Update (23/1/2020): The European pricing of the Galaxy S20 series has leaked online. The top-end Galaxy S20 Ultra is expected to cost €1,349, while its 512GB version will set one back by €1,549.
The Galaxy S20+ 5G with 128GB storage will cost €1,099. The regular Galaxy S20 will be the cheapest of the lot with a price tag of €999. The 4G variant of the device will be slightly cheaper at €899.
Update (25/1/2020): Samsung will bundle free Galaxy Buds+ with pre-orders of the Galaxy S20+ and Galaxy S20+ Ultra.
Are you looking forward to the launch of the Galaxy S20 series? What"s the feature or improvement you are most excited about? Drop a comment and let us know!