Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G Android Smartphone - SIM Free Mobile Phone - Cosmic Black, 128 GB

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Fully draining the 4,000mAh battery from full in our video rundown test, I found that the Galaxy S20 lasted 18hrs 28mins before needing to recharge, which is rather good considering this was performed at the phone’s default WQHD+ screen resolution – although only at 60Hz.

Samsung Galaxy S20 review: Cheapest and the best - Expert Reviews Samsung Galaxy S20 review: Cheapest and the best - Expert Reviews

All-day use of the 120Hz screen refresh rate instead of the default 60Hz setting will decrease battery life, so you may find you need to top up before going out for the night. This is a silly marketing phrase, of course, but the S20 is capable of using a combination of optical and AI-digital techniques to magnify up to 30x.We found this to be faster and more reliable than the option on the Galaxy S10, but it isn’t perfect with us regularly having to retry our digits on the reader to be able to access the phone.

Galaxy S20 5G review: Top-shelf specs, but plenty of room for Galaxy S20 5G review: Top-shelf specs, but plenty of room for

All three main cameras have been improved (including increased pixel sizes to improve night time photography by allowing more light in), and there are also a few software tweaks to improve the overall experience.

As before, the Galaxy S20 uses one of Samsung’s own Dynamic AMOLED panels, which has a native resolution of 3,200 x 1,400 (Quad HD+) but can be dipped down to FHD+ or HD+ in the phone’s display settings if you want to squeeze out a bit more battery life. You’ll often find that more power in a smartphone means a larger device, but that isn’t the case with the Galaxy S20, which we found comfortable to handle. The regular Galaxy S20 is the only phone in the lineup to launch with colour choices that aren’t just boring black. Of course, the Samsung is currently unmatched when it comes to sheer detail capture at 8K, but when the resulting footage is a shaky mess, it’s simply not pleasant to watch – a tripod or gimbal is absolutely essential in this instance. There’s still a curve to the right and left edges of the screen, but it’s not as pronounced as on the S10, which will hopefully mean fewer accidental presses along the edges of the display.

Samsung Galaxy S20 review | TechRadar Samsung Galaxy S20 review | TechRadar

Oddly, if you stick with the same refresh rate but drop the resolution down to FHD+, you won’t notice much of a change. While I was self-isolating due to the ongoing coronavirus threat, I snapped a few gloomy scenes of London from my balcony and I found that the Galaxy S20 did a better job at suppressing visual noise, with slightly more contrast than its Apple rival. If you own the older phone, it’s unlikely you’ll be blown away by the improvements; this is a handset that’s more likely to tempt those new to Samsung devices, or those upgrading from the Galaxy S8 or S9. If you want to stabilise your footage, you have to dip the resolution down to 4K at 30fps, which is a shame because the iPhone 11 can record at 60fps at 4K fully-stabilised, which I much prefer.

The differences between the two are night and day as soon as the light begins to fade, too: the S20 looks drab when placed side-by-side with the positively vibrant images from the iPhone 11. The Galaxy S20 Ultra has higher camera specs overall, but most people will be more than satisfied with the shooter on this phone.