Samsung Galaxy S20+ initial review: Sitting in the shadows?

Of all the Samsung S20 devices, the middle model, the S20+, is likely to be the big seller. Sure, everyone will want the specs of the S20 Ultra, but it's going to be out of reach for some, or just too big. 

The Samsung Galaxy S20+ is essentially the same device as the Galaxy S20, but with a few minor tweaks. Importantly, it has that added screen space that is proving popular. 

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A new look for Samsung?

• 161.9 x 73.7 x 7.8mm, 186g
• IP68 protection
• Grey, blue and black colours

Samsung introduced the Galaxy S20 devices, saying that this was the start of the next 10 years of innovation. From a design point of view, the new stand-out highlight is the camera module on the back, made obvious rather than hidden.

A raised black square, it houses the quad-camera system and all the sensors that the S20+ is equipped with. Strangely, we don't find it as offensive as we first thought we might. In fact, compared to the S20 Ultra, the S20+ looks a little pedestrian. At least the S20+ fills the space in that camera unit, something that the smaller S20 doesn't - that model has a blank space, which might look a little entry-level to some.

As for the rest of the phone, not much really changes from previous Samsung Galaxy S devices. There's curved corners, curves to the edge of the display and a nice overall build with IP68 protection.

There's no 3.5mm headphone socket this time around, just a single USB Type-C connection on the bottom of the phone, while the fingerprint scanner sits under the display. The bezels are again reduced and with a single, central, front camera, there's very little interruption to the visuals.

The range of colours spans grey, blue and black and we're sure there will be more in the future. The grey and black are a fingerprint magnet due to the darker finishes, but it's also a flatter effect than the blue model, which has a deeper shimmer to it, catching the light for a nice pearlescent effect. 

Size-wise, we also think the Samsung Galaxy S20+ will be popular. It's slightly taller than the Galaxy S10+ but has a larger display, with a less obtrusive front camera cut-out.

Display sweet spot

• 6.7-inch, Quad HD+, AMOLED
• HDR10+ support
• 120Hz at 1080p, 60Hz at 1440p 

Expanding a little over the Galaxy S10+ of 2019, the S20+ gives you a little more space to play, although it's a shift in aspect, pushing the bezels back a little. Samsung uses a punch hole camera again, but this time it's just a single camera in the centre of the display and it's smaller. While some might think they are missing out on the second lens, you're really not - the small intrusion on the display is better overall. 

First impressions of this display are really good, with typical punchy colours and deep blacks. We've not seen this display in direct sunlight, but we suspect it's going to be a hot performer.

Samsung's addition to this device - and indeed the whole family of S20 phones - is a faster refresh rate. There's now the option for 120Hz, but this is only available at Full HD+ resolution. If you choose to use the Quad HD+ resolution, you'll revert to 60Hz. 

This might be as big an issue as it first seems: the default resolution on these devices is 1080p anyway, so you'll be getting that 120Hz out of the box - to move to 1440p you'd have to choose that in the menu. Of course, it's a trade-off between detail and refresh rate, although, arguably, you have to look quite hard to notice the difference in either case.

Yes, there will be some apps where scrolling looks smoother, but in many applications, there's either no support or little to see. Still, we like what we see on the display and we don't doubt that it's going to be one of the highlights of this phone. 

A new set of cameras 

• 12MP, 1.8µm, f/1.8 OIS main camera
• 12MP, 1.4µm, f/2.2 ultra-wide
• 64MP, 0.8µm, f/2.0, OIS telephoto, 3x optical, 30x digital
• DepthVision sensor

There's a quad camera system on the Galaxy S20+, adding a DepthVision sensor over the smaller Galaxy S20 although the contribution of such sensors is open to some questioning - in many cases they don't add much to the experience.

The main camera has a 12-megapixel sensor, an entirely different system to the 108-megapixel sensor of the Galaxy S20 Ultra, using a different philosophy. While the Ultra will use pixel combining to give you a 12-megapixel photo, the S20+ will just use the full sensor. It has larger pixels at 1.8µm which is comparatively large compared to many rivals and this might mean it absorbs light better than some.

For the S20 Ultra, Samsung is arguing that when pixels are combined you'll get the equivalent of 2.4µm so it should be the better performer, although we've not had the chance to test either camera to any great length. It's worth noting that Samsung has dropped the Dual Aperture approach of the last few years completely and we can't say that we're sad to see it go.

But the big play in these camera systems is really zoom. It seems that Samsung wants to take down the Huawei P30 Pro, here offering 30x zoom, although it's a digital system based on a 64-megapixel sensor.

From the camera viewfinder on the phone you can tap through the zoom you want, spanning 0.5 (the wide angle), through 1x, 2x, 4x, 10x, 20x, 30x. While it's stabilised, you'll need support to use those further reaches of the zoom. We had the chance for a quick test, but being unable to take away those images it's hard to reach an informed decision on the overall performance. 

The selfie camera is a 10-megapixel unit so rather more conventional, while video will now reach all the way up to 8K - and although you probably don't have a TV that will play 8K (yet) it is supported by YouTube, so you could upload it there.  

Outside of the hardware functions, there's a new mode called Single Take. This is a clever system that will take a shot from all the cameras and give you a gallery from the scene in front of you. That means you can press the button in front of something happening and the phone basically does all the thinking for you, and offering up a collection of photos as a result.

There's a lot more testing to be done for us to really evaluate the performance of the camera and this is what the phone is going to be mostly judged on. Samsung is looking to address areas where it's been less competitive recently, boosting AI, night shooting and more extreme zoom to be more competitive.

There's always a risk, however, that the Galaxy S20+ will always sit in the shadow of the S20 Ultra - close, but not quite as impressive on the spec sheet.

Core hardware 

• Exynos 990, 12GB RAM
• 128/512GB storage + microSD
• 4500mAh battery
• 5G

In the UK and Europe you'll be getting the Exynos 990 version of this phone, with 12GB of RAM. There may be some regional differences, as that's usually the case with Samsung phones. The 128GB of storage is generous, but the option for a microSD card means it will be easy to expand. 

From the brief time that we've spent with the phone we can't gauge the long term performance - it was slick and refined moving around the UI, but that's no different from previous devices. 

Neither can we assess how well the 4500mAh battery will last - but this is one trend across all the Galaxy S20 devices - they have bigger batteries than the last iteration of S10 devices, so hopefully they'll be more competitive. 

Samsung's battery life is sometimes a little average, but the larger devices - like the S+ models - tend to perform better because of that larger cell. We're hoping for great performance from this model. 

Samsung says it has improved the wireless charging and reverse wireless charging is also supported, meaning you'll be able to charge your Galaxy Buds+ from the phone.

This will also be a 5G handset. If you don't have access to 5G yet that might not be a problem - with people hanging onto phones for longer, there's a chance that you'll want 5G during the lifetime of this device. 

Software experience

• Android 10
• Samsung One UI 2.0

There's not a lot to add on the software experience at the time of writing, except to say that the Galaxy S20+ will come with the latest version of Android and Samsung's latest One UI with it. There's no Bixby button or any silliness like that. 

For a number of iterations we've maintained that Samsung is generally the best at the full Android makeover. That comes from experience and refinement, and no one really packs in as much functionality as Samsung. While companies like Huawei or Xiaomi offer similar deep customisations, Samsung's take is always more refined, less bloaty and more pleasurable to live with. 

We'll be looking at this software in a lot more detail when we fully review the phones. 

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