Samsung's Galaxy S20 line is full of huge new features, most of which aren't available in competing US phones.
From 100x "space zoom" to a 120Hz screen, the S20 breaks new ground for a smartphone in this country.
Yes, it's tremendously expensive: the flagship model, the S20 Ultra 5G, will cost $1,399.99.
But at least you're getting something for that price.
Here are 11 features (you know, for the phone's previously rumored "Galaxy S11" moniker) that knocked our socks off.
100x Zoom
The Galaxy S20 Ultra combines multiple camera optical and digital zoom to hit an insane 100x zoom level.
Yes, there are artifacts at this level; it isn't perfect.
But it's practically a telescope and truly amazing.
Beyond the 100x headline, the Ultra's lossless 10x optical zoom is going to sell a lot of phones.
From 10-30x, the Ultra's zoom looks terrific.
Huawei and others have introduced this super-zoom feature in other countries, but this will be the first time Americans get to use anything like it.
This is an example of the phones' 30x zoom - the bigger phone goes to 100x. All the 5G
The Galaxy S20 is the first lineup of phones in the US that can handle all three kinds of American 5G.
They're relatively future-proof there, combining future low-band, mid-band, and millimeter-wave 5G networks for a mix of speed and coverage like no other device we've seen.
You have to be smart about what model you choose, though.
On AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile, only the top two models will have all three forms of 5G.
(The smallest S20 will lack millimeter-wave.) On Verizon, all three models will have all three forms of 5G.
Single Take Mode lets the phone choose your filters for you. Single Take Mode
It might seem gimmicky, but Single Take Mode lets you take a 10-second video of a scene and then chop it up into social-media-ready short videos, stills, and filtered images.
It sounds great for people like me who don't think about how to compose things.
Big Batteries
5G won't wear these phones out.
They're packed with the biggest batteries we've seen in mainstream Galaxy phones—4,000 to 5,000mAh.
Low-band 5G doesn't use considerably more battery than 4G (although millimeter-wave appears to do so), so the result for most people may be very long battery life.
That's great.
The phones have big batteries, but they don't have a chunky chassis. 8K Video With 33MP Stills
Whether or not you have an 8K TV to cast it to, the 8K video from these phones will allow cropping and panning after the fact, with 1080p results.
Snapshots taken using the Galaxy S20 Ultra in 8K mode will be a whopping 33 megapixels, so you don't have to choose between high-res images and video.
There's no time limit on the 8K video, although it takes up 3GB per five minutes of recording.
108- and 64-megapixel modes let you get really close into a scene, even after the fact. Take Now, Crop Later
The advantage of 64- and 108-megapixel cameras isn't that you're generating huge files; it's that you'll be able to zoom and crop after you take your photo.
In our first tests, it looked like the Galaxy S20 Ultra's 108-megapixel mode didn't have quite as saturated colors as its 12-megapixel mode, so you wouldn't want to do this all the time, but it offers new flexibility.
Volume buttons and a power button, but no Bixby button. The dedicated Bixby button was a constant annoyance for Galaxy S9 and S10 users who kept hitting it when they didn't mean to.
I'm a Galaxy S10e user.
I know of what I speak.
Samsung made the very smart idea this time to not shove Bixby in your face, but to make it a double-tap on the power button.
120Hz Screen
The OnePlus 7 and Pixel 4 lines gave us 90Hz screens.
Samsung ups that ante to 120Hz, which we've only seen before on gaming phones like the Razer Phone.
That makes for very smooth scrolling and speedy gaming.
Scrolling is super-smooth on a 120Hz screen Expandable Memory
Samsung may have gotten rid of the headphone jack (boo), but at least it's kept the memory card slot.
Rather than making us overpay for built-in storage, Samsung lets us load MicroSD cards up to a terabyte.
Moving a physical MicroSD card also helps transfer those gigantic 8K video files much faster than wired or wireless connections.
Great Charging Options
The phones come with 25-watt fast chargers, but they also support wireless charging, wireless reverse charging for accessories, and the Ultra has a 45-watt charger option.
While I'd have liked to see that 45-watt charger make its way down the line, this is still a solid list of options to keep your phone topped off.
There will be no shortage of cases for these phones. Lots of Accessories
We review a lot of phones here at Daxdi.com.
One of the big problems with a lot of them is a lack of cases and other accessories.
Even with mainstream devices like LG flagship phones, it can be hard to find good cases in US retail stores hugely dominated by Apple and Samsung accessories.
If you buy the S20, you aren't going to have to worry about cases or car chargers; just pop into the nearest store and you'll be covered.
We have a full hands-on with the Galaxy S20 and will have a full review soon.
Samsung's Galaxy S20 line is full of huge new features, most of which aren't available in competing US phones.
From 100x "space zoom" to a 120Hz screen, the S20 breaks new ground for a smartphone in this country.
Yes, it's tremendously expensive: the flagship model, the S20 Ultra 5G, will cost $1,399.99.
But at least you're getting something for that price.
Here are 11 features (you know, for the phone's previously rumored "Galaxy S11" moniker) that knocked our socks off.
100x Zoom
The Galaxy S20 Ultra combines multiple camera optical and digital zoom to hit an insane 100x zoom level.
Yes, there are artifacts at this level; it isn't perfect.
But it's practically a telescope and truly amazing.
Beyond the 100x headline, the Ultra's lossless 10x optical zoom is going to sell a lot of phones.
From 10-30x, the Ultra's zoom looks terrific.
Huawei and others have introduced this super-zoom feature in other countries, but this will be the first time Americans get to use anything like it.
This is an example of the phones' 30x zoom - the bigger phone goes to 100x. All the 5G
The Galaxy S20 is the first lineup of phones in the US that can handle all three kinds of American 5G.
They're relatively future-proof there, combining future low-band, mid-band, and millimeter-wave 5G networks for a mix of speed and coverage like no other device we've seen.
You have to be smart about what model you choose, though.
On AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile, only the top two models will have all three forms of 5G.
(The smallest S20 will lack millimeter-wave.) On Verizon, all three models will have all three forms of 5G.
Single Take Mode lets the phone choose your filters for you. Single Take Mode
It might seem gimmicky, but Single Take Mode lets you take a 10-second video of a scene and then chop it up into social-media-ready short videos, stills, and filtered images.
It sounds great for people like me who don't think about how to compose things.
Big Batteries
5G won't wear these phones out.
They're packed with the biggest batteries we've seen in mainstream Galaxy phones—4,000 to 5,000mAh.
Low-band 5G doesn't use considerably more battery than 4G (although millimeter-wave appears to do so), so the result for most people may be very long battery life.
That's great.
The phones have big batteries, but they don't have a chunky chassis. 8K Video With 33MP Stills
Whether or not you have an 8K TV to cast it to, the 8K video from these phones will allow cropping and panning after the fact, with 1080p results.
Snapshots taken using the Galaxy S20 Ultra in 8K mode will be a whopping 33 megapixels, so you don't have to choose between high-res images and video.
There's no time limit on the 8K video, although it takes up 3GB per five minutes of recording.
108- and 64-megapixel modes let you get really close into a scene, even after the fact. Take Now, Crop Later
The advantage of 64- and 108-megapixel cameras isn't that you're generating huge files; it's that you'll be able to zoom and crop after you take your photo.
In our first tests, it looked like the Galaxy S20 Ultra's 108-megapixel mode didn't have quite as saturated colors as its 12-megapixel mode, so you wouldn't want to do this all the time, but it offers new flexibility.
Volume buttons and a power button, but no Bixby button. The dedicated Bixby button was a constant annoyance for Galaxy S9 and S10 users who kept hitting it when they didn't mean to.
I'm a Galaxy S10e user.
I know of what I speak.
Samsung made the very smart idea this time to not shove Bixby in your face, but to make it a double-tap on the power button.
120Hz Screen
The OnePlus 7 and Pixel 4 lines gave us 90Hz screens.
Samsung ups that ante to 120Hz, which we've only seen before on gaming phones like the Razer Phone.
That makes for very smooth scrolling and speedy gaming.
Scrolling is super-smooth on a 120Hz screen Expandable Memory
Samsung may have gotten rid of the headphone jack (boo), but at least it's kept the memory card slot.
Rather than making us overpay for built-in storage, Samsung lets us load MicroSD cards up to a terabyte.
Moving a physical MicroSD card also helps transfer those gigantic 8K video files much faster than wired or wireless connections.
Great Charging Options
The phones come with 25-watt fast chargers, but they also support wireless charging, wireless reverse charging for accessories, and the Ultra has a 45-watt charger option.
While I'd have liked to see that 45-watt charger make its way down the line, this is still a solid list of options to keep your phone topped off.
There will be no shortage of cases for these phones. Lots of Accessories
We review a lot of phones here at Daxdi.com.
One of the big problems with a lot of them is a lack of cases and other accessories.
Even with mainstream devices like LG flagship phones, it can be hard to find good cases in US retail stores hugely dominated by Apple and Samsung accessories.
If you buy the S20, you aren't going to have to worry about cases or car chargers; just pop into the nearest store and you'll be covered.
We have a full hands-on with the Galaxy S20 and will have a full review soon.
