Samsung Galaxy S20 price and release date: Meet Samsung's next-gen smartphones

The focus was on cameras, 5G and flips at this year's Galaxy Unpacked event 
Amelia Heathman12 February 2020

Samsung kicked off the first big phone launch of the year with the debut of the new Galaxy S20 smartphone range at the company's KX experience space in London's King's Cross.

Along with three new phones in its S range, the South Korean giant also unveiled its new folding phone, named the Galaxy Z Flip. With a clamshell design and ultra-thin glass display, Samsung hopes to put the issues of last year’s Galaxy Fold behind it and compete with the 2019 Motorola Razr.

The other big news is the emphasis Samsung is putting on 5G in this range. Each S20 phone will have a 5G variant, with only one – the Galaxy S20 – available in 4G. At the moment, the number of UK customers using 5G in the UK is about 11 million, something Samsung expects will grow to 17 million – about 25 per cent of the population, during 2020.

"I think the difficulty with 5G is you've got two choices as the manufacturer: you either get on the wave later on or you make the wave," explained Kate Beaumont, director of innovation, technology and services strategy at Samsung. “From a Samsung perspective, we're all about making the wave getting into the innovation early.”

Here’s what you need to know about Samsung’s new 2020 phones.

Samsung Galaxy S20

Galaxy S20 in cloud pink
Samsung

In a nutshell: The ‘normal’ one. Samsung has ditched the ‘e’ phone from the range and its new entry-level phone is the S20. It’s also the only phone that comes in both 4G and 5G variants.

Specs: The S20 sports a 6.2-inch Quad HD+ AMOLED display with a tiny punch-hole camera in the middle. The 10MP selfie camera has been slimmed down by a whopping 55 per cent and if you choose your background right you can barely even see it. The display is also HDR10+ certified and it has 120HZ support – this means the display can show up to 120 frames per second, which is extremely fast and excellent for things like gaming.

There are three cameras on the back of this device: 12MP ultra-wide lens, 12MP wide-angle lens and a 64MP telephoto lens. It also features Samsung’s new Space Zoom which offers super-resolution zoom up to 30x.

It will come in two storage options: 8GB RAM or 12GB RAM with 128G storage, and the battery will be 4,000mAh – last year’s S10 only sported a 3,400mAh so this a big bonus. And you can get this phone in either 4G or 5G depending on your preference but it’s nice to see Samsung spreading around the 5G bonus at different price points.

Colour-wise, the S20 is available in three colours: cosmic grey, cloud blue and cloud pink which is an exclusive colour for this phone size.

Price and release date: Prices for the S20 start at £799, or £899 for the 5G variant. The phones will be on sale from March 13.

Remember, you get a free pair of the new Galaxy Buds+ wireless earbuds with each pre-order. We loved last year’s version so we’re looking forward to trying out that longer battery life (11-hour per earbud to be exact).

Verdict: This is a nice looking phone, though that back camera formation is going to need some getting used to. It has decent specs and features but if it’s a great (on paper because we haven't tested it yet) camera you want then you might want to increase your budget.

Samsung Galaxy S20+

The Galaxy S20+ in cloud blue
Samsung

In a nutshell: A bigger, more powerful version of the S20 but still not the jackpot as far as Samsung is concerned when it comes to specs.

Specs: There’s a big leap in size to 6.7-inches on the Galaxy S20+ ⁠— last year’s S10+ was 6.1-inches so that shows how big phones are nowadays. There’s also an added depth sensor to the back of the device, which is handy for things like 3D scanning and portrait photography, either for images or when using the Live focus video which allows you to blur the background out in real-time.

The other improvements on the normal S20 include 12GB of RAM as standard and either 128GB and 512GB of storage. In addition, it will feature a 4,500mAh battery, as well as improved wireless charging speeds for the fans.

One thing that will be fun to try out is the new gaming features. As well as that 120Hz refresh rate which means there should be no game lag – particularly when coupled with 5G – and there’s a game booster mode which offers AI-powered performance for smooth graphics. You’ll also be able to play PC games like Forza Street on your smartphone thanks to the power of 5G.

The S20+ comes in three colours: cosmic grey, cosmic black and cloud blue.

Price and release date: Like the S20, the S20+ will be on sale from March 13, with prices starting from £999.

Verdict: Even with the additional S20 Ultra (see below) the S20+ still looks to be a great phone and probably the one most people will buy. It’s got a big screen size, yet it’s not unwieldly to handle, decent camera specs and all the extra benefits like the 120Hz display support to make it stand out against the other Android phones on the market.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra

The S20 Ultra in cloud grey
Samsung

In a nutshell: This is where things really get fun. Samsung has thrown everything at the S20 Ultra to make it the ultimate smartphone, particularly when it comes to the camera. So if you care about smartphone photography, this is a serious contender.

Specs: The phone sits in a 6.9-inch body – yes, that is pretty big. It has a higher resolution camera lens to capture more detail with 108MP to be exact. Samsung says this smart camera system uses nona-binning tech to turn nine pixels into one in an image, to capture crisp detail. This is supposed to be good for shooting in bright sunlight in particular.

In addition, there’s a 100x Space zoom feature. You can also capture a photo and then zoom in and crop it – usually doing this on a smartphone picture means you would lose detail and clarity but because it’s a such a high-resolution then it still looks good.

The single-take feature looks fun too: this allows people to record a video and then the camera’s AI chooses the best photos and videos to save.

Elsewhere, the phone features a 5,000mAh battery, 12 or 16GB of RAM with either 128GB or 512GB with a microSD slot which can take this up to 1TB to store all those fancy photos.

Price and release date: The S20 Ultra will also be available from March 13, with prices starting from £1,199 for the 128GB variant and going up to £1,399 for the 512GB variant. That is expensive.

Verdict: If you want a really big phone that will take amazing pictures then Samsung has a decent pitch in the form of the S20 Ultra. However, with a £1,399 price tag, it’s one of the most expensive phones the company has created (aside from the folding ones) so there is a high cost to all that tech.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip

The Galaxy Z Flip in purple
Samsung

In a nutshell: Samsung’s new folding phone takes on the Motorola Razr with a new flip-form design.

Specs: Unlike last year’s Galaxy Fold, the new Samsung folding phone features an ultra-thin glass screen that can bend. This means that hopefully the phone won’t run into the same screen crease issues as the Fold, but don’t hold your breath.

The phone has a 1.06-inch OLED display on the front which notify you of calls and the like, and then its opens up to a 6.7-inch full ultra HD+ display – the same size as the S20+ but not as high-res.

Camera-wise, there’s two 12MP cameras on the back consisting of a wide-angle lens and ultra-wide-angle lens and then a 10MP punch-hole selfie camera. It also features a 3,300 mAh battery, Samsung’s latest high-end processor (which is better than the mid-range one in the Razr) and will come with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

Price and release date: The Galaxy Z Flip is available to pre-order now and will cost £1,300 -- the most affordable folding phone out there which is still expensive but impressive too.

Verdict: That new flip fold is a lot easier to carry around than the bulky Galaxy Fold, and with the bright purple colour it looks like Samsung is targeting a younger generation of users than last time.

The flip form factor is cool but again we’re seeing compromises made in the forms of the screen quality and the cameras compared to the rest of the S20 range, and it still has a rather substantial price tag.

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