Samsung Galaxy S20 Raises the Bar, Again!

Staff Writer / 21-07-2020 / Reviews

The Samsung Galaxy S series has always been the contender for the iPhone’s crown. Even Apple fans have to admit that, in recent years, the S series has been ahead of the iPhone in many ways, and that is now truer than ever with the arrival of the Samsung Galaxy S20, named for the year of release instead of following on numerically from the S10 series. Samsung is intent on making big strides with their annual releases, and the S20 is no different, offering users some great improvements and a lot of extras that the average person would never use, but they’re there just in case.

OPERATING SYSTEM

The Galaxy S20 features a powerful Octa-Core processor with Android 10 out of the box.

DISPLAY

6.2-inch WQHD+ 20:9 Infinity-O display with a 3200×1440 resolution.

HARDWARE

Yes, the Samsung Galaxy S20 is waterproof with an IP68 rating that claims it can be submerged in up to one meter of water for up to 30 minutes.

BATTERY AND CHARGING

It comes with a 15W wireless charger for fast charging. The S20 offers 10 days of standby, 59 hours of speaker use, 79 hours with headset use, and 28 hours of talk time. A single charge should last a day for the average user.

CAMERAS

The Samsung Galaxy S20 features a triple rear camera setup with one selfie camera on the front.

The selfie camera is a 10-megapixel shooter with support for 4K video recording at 60fps.

The rear camera setup includes a 12-megapixel primary camera coupled with a 64-megapixel 3x optical zoom telephoto lens and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera. The setup will be capable of up to 30x digital zoom and 8K video recording at 30fps.

STORAGE AND SPACE

The S20 offers a minimum of 128GB of internal storage with microSD support for external expansion up to 1TB.

COMPARISON

Samsung is clearly looking to the future, which is 5G connectivity. It’s not something that’s essential for most users right now, but it’s something you’re likely to appreciate as 5G networks become more ubiquitous.

VERDICT

If you’re looking for a flagship smartphone with a great camera, screen and all the bells and whistles you could need, then this is for you. But, if you already have the S10 or one of its variants, you could probably skip this one and wait for next year’s release.

RELEASE DATE

The Samsung Galaxy S20 was released on the 11th of February 2020 and is now available in South Africa. Check out our deals here.

TECH NEWS

Samsung’s 100 Megapixel Camera is Coming!

It’s no secret that the camera has always been the smartphone’s strongest selling point. With the growing popularity of social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, users have become photo-centric, constantly chasing after the best cameras to produce the best pictures to share with their followers. In fact, digital camera sales have taken a dip since the rise of the camera phone, which allows users to carry one device that performs many functions rather than purchasing a specific device for each of their needs. The first phone with a built-in camera was manufactured by Samsung in the year 2000. This digital camera could take up 20 photos at 350 000-pixels, or 0.35-megapixels, but you could only access your photos by connecting to a computer. By the year 2003, camera phones were becoming more popular with better specs and lower prices. In 2004, Sprint released a phone with a 1.3-megapixel camera that could capture images, share them wirelessly and even allowed you to print them. Finnish manufacturer Nokia jumped on the bandwagon in 2005 and released a 2 megapixel camera on their N90 model. Shortly after, the world was introduced to Sony Ericsson, whose aim was to steal the crown from Nokia. They adopted Sony’s Cybershot digital camera branding, which earned them first place in the camera phone market. The Sony Ericsson K800i was released in 2006 with a 3.2-megapixel camera that had auto focus, image stability and a Xenon flash. The baton was passed back to Samsung when they released the first ever 5-megapixel camera and then the 8 megapixel camera in 2008. The smartphone camera race continued, with Samsung appearing to be the winner with their release of the M8910 Pixon 12, which had a 12MP camera, in 2009. However, they were soon bested by Nokia’s N8 in 2010 and then the 16MP Sony Ericsson S006 that came at the end of 2010. Fast forward a few years and Samsung are at it again! To maintain their position in the market, the technology giant has decided to partner up with Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi to create the world’s first 108-megapixel camera. Current high-end smartphones typically host cameras with between 12 and 16-megapixel resolutions, so a 108 megapixel camera would be a massive improvement to the conventional smartphone camera. The Isocell Bright HMX is designed to shoot incredibly detailed photos and is said to be comparable to a top DSLR camera. You can expect to capture better low-lit images as this camera will merge pixels to absorb more light. In terms of video recording, no smartphone camera will have better capabilities than this one. It will be capable of shooting up to 6K resolution at 30 frames per second which is very impressive compared to the 4K resolution at 60 frames per second limit of other smartphones. It’s been predicted that Xiaomi will release a smartphone with a similar camera before Samsung does, and even though Samsung has announced that production on these camera lenses begun at the end of August, they’ve remained tight-lipped about when we’ll be seeing a device with the 108-megapixel camera on the shelves.

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Samsung Galaxy A Series: Flagship Experiences on a Budget

South Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung has blazed a trail in the local smartphone market with the launch of their mid-tier A series cell phones that give their more expensive flagship counterparts a run for their money. Most likely, this range was created in response to stiff competition in the mid-tier smartphone category from the likes of Chinese rivals Huawei and Xiaomi. The company launched the Galaxy A2 Core, A10, A20, A30, A50, A70 and the A80 in South Africa this year, with the A90 expected soon. The A Series is a welcome change in pace for the company’s mid-tier devices, as the range now offers you a premium look and feel at a lower cost, as well as upgrades to the internals to give these devices more power and features, such as triple-lens camera systems on selected models. Let’s take a quick look at each model in the Galaxy A range: Galaxy A2 Core A simple but powerful entry-level device, the Galaxy A2 Core features the Android Go operating system, which is designed to optimise performance through the device’s hardware. Android Go is a lite version of the OS but allows devices like the A2 Core to offer a smooth user experience at an affordable cost. The A2 Core also features 5 MP cameras on the rear and face of the device and can support an SD card of up to 512GB, complementing its 8GB or 16GB of onboard storage. This will allow the user to cram more music and pictures into the device. The A2 Core also comes fitted with a 5-inch display. Galaxy A10 & A20 The Galaxy A10 and Galaxy A20 smartphones have many similarities. While both come with the Android 9.0 operating system, one of the most distinct differences is the screen size, as the A10 features a 6.2-inch display, while the A20 features a slightly larger 6.4-inch AMOLED display. Both devices feature the same processor, with the A10 featuring 2GB of RAM and the A20 fitted with 3GB of RAM. Another major difference between the devices is that the A20 features a dual 13MP and 5MP rear camera, while the A10 offers a 13MP rear camera. The A20 offers an 8MP front camera versus the A10’s 5MP shooter. Both smartphones pack 32GB of internal storage. Galaxy A30 & A50 The A30 and A50 smartphones set a new benchmark for affordable smartphones in the mid-tier category. The A30 comes with 64GB of onboard storage, while the A50 offers a massive 128GB of storage. Both devices feature a gorgeous 6.4-inch AMOLED display, the Android 9.0 operating system, 4GB of RAM and all-day battery-life thanks to a colossal 4000 mAh battery, usually found in premium smartphones. The A50 smartphone features a triple rear camera setup with a 25MP, 8MP and 5MP cameras offering great wide screen shots, while the A30 features a dual 16MP and 5MP rear camera configuration. The A50 sports a powerful 25MP selfie camera and the A30 a 16MP front camera. Galaxy A70 & A80 Essentially competing in the premium smartphone segment, the A80 is set to become one of the most unique smartphones available on the South African market. The A80 will feature one of the first pop-up rotating camera modules, consisting of a powerful 48MP wide lens, 8MP ultra-wide lens and a Time of Flight (TOF) 3D camera to capture not only images from the rear but also for selfies. The device sports a 3700mAh battery and 128GB of onboard storage, with a 6.7-inch display. The Galaxy A70 features a slightly larger 4500mAh battery compared to the A80 but will run off the same processor and operating system – Android 9.0. The A70 smartphone features a triple camera module consisting of a 32MP lens, 8MP wide-angle lens and 5MP depth sensing lens with a 32MP selfie camera. Read the reviews: Galaxy A2 Core Galaxy A10 Galaxy A20

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