Samsung Galaxy S20+ review

OneUI 2.1 and Android 10

Update, Dec 30: One UI 3 update is out for many Galaxy phones. Here's what's new there.

Samsung may not be great at naming things, but OneUI 2.1 itself is pretty okay. Samsung's latest iteration of its in-house Android overlay that we find on the Galaxy S20+ comes with barely noticeable tweaks over the One UI 2.0 we've already seen with the Android 10 updates on multiple phones as well as out of the box on recent new releases. It's also identical to the software on the S20 Ultra and S20 proper.

The latest trends in the user interface can now all be found on this Galaxy. For one, that means a system-wide dark mode that not only skins the UI but also triggers the apps' respective dark themes (if they have them) - thanks to Android 10. What's new in v2.1 is that the setting is at the very top of the display menu, made all the more visible with a visual cue too.

The latest OS brought in proper gesture navigation, and the S20+ has a couple of different takes on that - we opted for the newer method where a swipe-in from the sides acts as 'Back' and a swipe-up from the bottom takes you Home. It's probably worth mentioning we found the bundled case's bottom lip to get a little in the way of the upward swipes, and so did the silicone sides when attempting to go back. We still appreciate the protection, though. Oh, if you're old-school like that, the classic nav bar remains an option, and that's what the phone has out of the box.

System-wide dark mode • Gesture navigation

Biometric security on the S20+ comes in one of two shapes - fingerprint authentication and facial recognition. We've repeated shared our varied experience with the ultrasonic fingerprint reader on the Samsung flagships of late and the S20+ isn't up there with the best in the business in terms of speed of unlocking or reliability.

Let's just say that it if doesn't work for you, the face recognition will offer a more convenient (if not as secure) access to your homescreen.

Biometrics

The basics of the UI are the same as on any other Samsung rocking One UI 2 and very similar to One UI One ones. We've been annoyed with the recent relocation of the all-important option of having the brightness slider visible on the first pull of the notification shade to the 'Quick panel layout' menu inside the toggle settings.

Homescreen • Folder view • App drawer • Notification shade • Quick toggles • 'Show on top' setting moved

Gone are the days of good multi-window UI with Android Pie ruining it for everybody by requiring extra taps for something that used to take a long press on the task switcher button. Anyway, Samsung's trying to find a working solution and between v2.0 and v2.1 has relocated the menu next to the app icon you need to tap anyway - it's on the bottom of the screen in the previous version of the UI. Neither is great.

Task switcher • Multi window

'Edge panels' is a well-known, long-standing feature that's gotten a minor redesign for the S20s, getting more rounded corners, but it still offers the same functionality. It gives you quick access to apps, actions, tools, etc. with a single swipe from the side. You can choose which side the handle is located on, as well as adjust its position along the edge of the phone. In the Edge screen sub-menu, you will also find Edge lighting - a feature that can light up the outline of the UI in an ever-growing selection of glow types to gently alert you of any new notifications.

Edge screen

Some small changes in software include the addition of Google Duo to the Phone app, letting you initiate video calls straight from the dialler. Quick Share is Samsung's latest name for the company's sharing solution based around Bluetooth for device discovery and Wi-Fi direct for actual data transfer that works with Samsungs only (all the way to the Note 3 we had on hand, where it's called Quick Connect).

One of the more intriguing 'sharing' options brought by the S20 Ultra is Music share. Enabled by Bluetooth 5, it lets you connect the S20 to a BT speaker and use the phone as a hub for other phones to connect to the speaker.

Google Duo baked in • Quick Share • Music Share

Synthetic benchmarks

As is normally the case with Samsung's top-of-the-line models, and as we went over in our S20 review, the Galaxy S20+ exists in two main variants when it comes to the chipset, and each market gets only one of the two. Option one packs a Snapdragon 865 SoC, while option two uses Samsung's own Exynos 990 - ours is the latter. Typically, China and North America get the Snapdragon, rest of the world is Exynos, but do check with your carrier or retailer if you're particular like that.

Both chipsets are manufactured on a 7nm+ process, and both feature an external modem (not really a feature, is it?), with theoretically detrimental effects on efficiency. Then there's the matter of the 5G vs. non-5G flavors of the S20+, and our review unit has none of it. That is to say, it does use the same modem as the 5G versions, minus the bulky 5G antenna assemblies, we've been led to believe. In any case, none of this will make a world of a difference when it comes to performance. More tangible differences are possible between the two chipsets, but with only one of them around here at this time, we'll need to wait before we can compare.

In our testing, the Galaxy S20+ was ever so slightly behind the S20 and S20 Ultra in most benchmarks. We're talking single-digit percentage differences, but consistently so. All three S20s were Exynos ones, so it's not that. And speaking of Exynos vs. Snapdragon, the one Snapdragon 865 handset we've tested, the Oppo Find X2 Pro, significantly outperforms the Galaxy S20+ under multi-core CPU loads, inches ahead in single-core performance and is at least as powerful when it comes to GPU-intense applications, often even beating the Galaxies.

GeekBench 5.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
  3503
• Find X2 Pro (60Hz, 1440p)
  3349
• Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  3269
• Huawei Mate 30 Pro (Perf mode)
  3038
• Galaxy S20 (60Hz, 1440p)
  2750
• Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
  2728
• Galaxy S20+ (120Hz, 1080p)
  2703
• Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
  2697
• LG V50 ThinQ 5G
  2672
• Google Pixel 4 XL
  2267

GeekBench 5.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
  1332
• Galaxy S20 (60Hz, 1440p)
  931
• Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
  910
• Find X2 Pro (60Hz, 1440p)
  906
• Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
  904
• Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  900
• Galaxy S20+ (120Hz, 1080p)
  886
• Huawei Mate 30 Pro (Perf mode)
  779
• LG V50 ThinQ 5G
  739
• Google Pixel 4 XL
  591

AnTuTu 8

Higher is better

• Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  593717
• Find X2 Pro (60Hz, 1440p)
  585764
• Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
  536883
• Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
  528631
• Galaxy S20 (120Hz, 1080p)
  525029
• Galaxy S20 (60Hz, 1440p)
  515538
• Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
  514485
• Galaxy S20+ (120Hz, 1080p)
  500114
• Galaxy S20+ (60Hz, 1440p)
  489371
• Huawei Mate 30 Pro (Perf mode)
  484529
• LG V50 ThinQ 5G
  421934
• Google Pixel 4 XL
  403267

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
  120
• Galaxy S20 (60Hz, 1440p)
  87
• Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  87
• Galaxy S20 (120Hz, 1080p)
  86
• Find X2 Pro (60Hz, 1440p)
  86
• Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
  85
• Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
  85
• Galaxy S20+ (120Hz, 1080p)
  85
• Galaxy S20+ (60Hz, 1440p)
  85
• Huawei Mate 30 Pro (Perf mode)
  76
• LG V50 ThinQ 5G
  70
• Google Pixel 4 XL
  69

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Galaxy S20 (120Hz, 1080p)
  79
• Galaxy S20+ (120Hz, 1080p)
  75
• Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
  74
• Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
  60
• Huawei Mate 30 Pro (Perf mode)
  56
• Galaxy S20 (60Hz, 1440p)
  45
• Galaxy S20+ (60Hz, 1440p)
  43
• Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  43
• Find X2 Pro (60Hz, 1440p)
  43
• Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
  42
• LG V50 ThinQ 5G
  36
• Google Pixel 4 XL
  34

GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
  67
• Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
  51
• Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
  51
• Galaxy S20 (60Hz, 1440p)
  51
• Galaxy S20 (120Hz, 1080p)
  51
• Galaxy S20+ (60Hz, 1440p)
  51
• Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  51
• Find X2 Pro (60Hz, 1440p)
  51
• Galaxy S20+ (120Hz, 1080p)
  50
• Huawei Mate 30 Pro (Perf mode)
  42
• LG V50 ThinQ 5G
  42
• Google Pixel 4 XL
  41

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
  57
• Galaxy S20 (120Hz, 1080p)
  44
• Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
  43
• Galaxy S20+ (120Hz, 1080p)
  42
• Huawei Mate 30 Pro (Perf mode)
  34
• Galaxy S20 (60Hz, 1440p)
  26
• Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
  25
• Galaxy S20+ (60Hz, 1440p)
  25
• Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  25
• Find X2 Pro (60Hz, 1440p)
  24
• LG V50 ThinQ 5G
  22
• Google Pixel 4 XL
  21

3DMark SSE OpenGL ES 3.1 1440p

Higher is better

• Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  7159
• Find X2 Pro (60Hz, 1440p)
  7143
• Galaxy S20+ (120Hz, 1080p)
  6819
• Galaxy S20+ (60Hz, 1440p)
  6735
• Galaxy S20 (60Hz, 1440p)
  6723
• Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
  6713
• Galaxy S20 (120Hz, 1080p)
  6610
• Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
  6593
• Huawei Mate 30 Pro (Perf mode)
  5988
• LG V50 ThinQ 5G
  5707
• Google Pixel 4 XL
  5538
• Huawei Mate 30 Pro
  4432

3DMark SSE Vulkan 1440p

Higher is better

• Find X2 Pro (60Hz, 1440p)
  6586
• Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  6526
• Galaxy S20 (120Hz, 1080p)
  6398
• Galaxy S20+ (120Hz, 1080p)
  6354
• Galaxy S20+ (60Hz, 1440p)
  6311
• Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
  6308
• Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
  6249
• Galaxy S20 (60Hz, 1440p)
  6248
• Huawei Mate 30 Pro (Perf mode)
  5489
• Google Pixel 4 XL
  4955
• LG V50 ThinQ 5G
  4789
• Huawei Mate 30 Pro
  4233