Samsung Galaxy S20+ review

Competition

In this year's Samsung high-end trio, the Ultra is the no-compromise option with a camera system unlike any other on the market. At the same time, the other two S20s downgrade to a different setup but keep virtually everything the same. In these new circumstances where it isn't the absolute best, the S20+ has little more than sheer size going for it over the S20 so your choice boils down to screen size preference.

At some €100 more than the vanilla model, the Plus's better battery life, and the larger display may well be worth it for the right audience. The Ultra, on the other hand, would require a significant stretch of your budget compared to the S20+ - some €300+ extra will buy you the ultimate camera setup, and... that's about it. And €300 can get you an extra phone - a pretty good midranger at that.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G • Samsung Galaxy S20

Looking outside of the S20 family, it's probably the iPhone 11 Pro Max that is the S20+'s immediate competitor. Of the things you can objectively compare between the two, the Galaxy has the better display, leads in the camera department, is more compact and lighter, and is less expensive by about 20% (in Europe and most of the world, but not in the US, where prices are mostly comparable). Going into the intangibles, the iPhone's software experience and the ability to command a certain brand loyalty can overcome all of the above.

Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max

Two important new releases are due any day, which will likely increase the S20+'s competitor count. One of these is the Huawei P40 Pro (maybe even Pro Premium) - it will be missing Google support, and that's its major drawback from a western perspective, but you're not reliant on the Google suite for one reason or another it could be a viable alternative. The other would-be rival is the OnePlus 8 Pro, which we're expecting to feature similar hardware to the Galaxy S20+ but at a lower price.

Verdict

Samsung's 2020 flagship roster seems easy to figure out. If you want the ultimate phone and money is no object, you go for the Galaxy S20 Ultra. If you're looking to spend a more sensible amount of money and you can live with an excellent camera, yet knowing there's a better one, the Galaxy S20 is your phone. The S20+ doesn't appear to fit into any of these straightforward recommendations.

After a little extra consideration, the Plus can still make a compelling case for itself against the S20. The significantly larger display may be enough for the right customer, while carrier subsidies could shrink the price difference from the nominal $200/€100 to something more appealing. And as is usually the case, if you're not in a hurry, you could wait for a month or two, and the prices are very likely to come down a little, perhaps the Plus more so than the non-Plus.

Pros

• Excellent build quality and bill of materials. IP68 rating.
• Familiar, yet modernized design and control layout.
• Superb 120Hz AMOLED display.
• Best battery life of the trio, speedy charging solutions, incl. a 25W charger in the box.
• Very good stereo speaker setup.
• Excellent flagship performance.
• Versatile triple camera setup, with impressive image quality and consistency.

Cons

• The fingerprint sensor performance is behind the competition.
• The body gets hot under load and the CPU throttles considerably.
• Zoom camera is not as sharp as the S20 Ultra's at 4x or 10x.