Unpacked – The Samsung Galaxy S20 Series. All you need to know.

Let’s jump straight in. There’s three of these puppies. The Galaxy S20, S20+, and the S20 Ultra.

You get some pretty astonishing filming (8K) and photography credentials here. Indeed, the entire Unpacked event was filmed and broadcast using Galaxy S20 Series handsets.

There’s something called “8K Video Snap” which lets you watch 8K footage and grab a frame to convert into a high quality photo.

You can do 8K video recording at 24 fps (7680×4320), 4K UHD video recording at 60 fps (3840×2160), 1080p FHD video recording at 60 fps (1920×1080) or 720p HD video recording at 30 fps (1280×720).

Here’s a look..

But wait. What’s the difference?

Well, the S20, which is the one you’ll probably end up with on contract, has a 6.2″ Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED screen with a 4000mAh battery.

The S20+ gets a bigger 6.7″ Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED screen and a slightly bigger battery (4500mAh). Both of these will be available in three colours – grey, blue and pink for the S20 or black, grey and blue for the S20+.

Both of the above get 64 megapixel camera technology with the 30x “Space Zoom” technology, which is partially aided by digital zoom wizardry. The S20 doesn’t have the “DepthVision” camera but gets a 12 megapixel ultra-wide camera plus a 12 megapixel wide-angle and a 64 megapixel telephoto. The S20+ gets the same arrangement but adds that DepthVision lens.

They both have 10 megapixel in-screen selfie shooters (f2.2, dual-pixel auto-focus).

Wait, what’s DepthVision?

This is a Time of Flight (ToF) camera which can judge depth and distance. It uses the known speed of light to measure distance, effectively counting the amount of time it takes for a reflected beam of light to return to the camera sensor.

And then, there’s the S20 Ultra

This is at the top of the tree. It comes in two colours – grey and black. It’s got the biggest screen (a 6.9″ Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED unit, which seems nuts but we still want it) and a 108 megapixel camera with a 100x zoom (yes, 100x zoom)! That comes with a 5000mAh battery.

The back of the S20 Ultra has a different camera arrangement – a 12 megapixel ulta-wide shooter, a 108 megapixel wide-angle unit, a 48 megapixel telephoto and that DepthVision camera. There’s a 10x Hybrid Optic Zoom and then that “Super Resolution Zoom” up to 100x. Optical Image Stabilization and Tracking AF are also thrown in.

This has a 40 megapixel in-screen camera up front.

All the phones have Infinity-O 3200×1440 pixel screens with HDR10+ certification. All also have a 120Hz refresh rate too. The PPI on all of the screens is 511 or above.

What else do you get? Well, there’s the Samsung Knox security and intelligent battery capabilities to lengthen your usage. There’s 5G, 4G, WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, NFC and USB-C.

The phones include Fast Wireless Charging 2.0 and fast charging on cable too. You can do Wireless Powershare to charge other devices. CPU-wise you’re getting a 64-bit octa-core CPU running up to 2.8GHz.

Oh, and in addition to the different models, there’s also (just to confuse things) different variants of each model.

– The Samsung Galaxy S20 5G model is available with 12GB RAM, or you can get the 4G model with 8GB RAM.

– The Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G version with 12GB RAM and either 128GB, 256GB, 512GB of storage.

– The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ulta is a 5G model and there’s a 16GB RAM model with 512GB or a 12GB RAM with 256GB or 128GB.

You get a microSD card slot too. Bonus!

Running Android 10 there’s stereo speakers, sound by AKG (plus Dolby Atmos technology) and it’s IP68 water resistant. There’s an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor and that Bixby thing that nobody really likes.

Get the full specs on the Samsung website here.

Where do I get it from?

EE – They have dished out their pricing. If you get the S20+ 5G or Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G before March 8th you can claim a free pair of Galaxy Buds+ headphones.

Galaxy S20 5G – available with £50 upfront for £59 per month on a 10GB 5G Essential Plan with unlimited minutes and texts

Galaxy S20+ 5G – available with £50 upfront cost for £69 per month on a 30GB 5G Essential Plan with unlimited data minutes and texts

Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G – available with £50 upfront cost for £84 per month on a 30GB 5G Essential Plan with unlimited data minutes

Head to the EE website here for the details.

Virgin – They put the S20 5G family up for pre-order. They tell me that you can get your hands on the Samsung Galaxy S20 5G three days before the official release. This is if you order before March 8th March. Virgin Media is also offering 3x data on selected plans.

Plans start from £37 a month (Samsung Galaxy S20 5G) with no upfront cost. You’ll also get a free 5G upgrade when it becomes available. The S20+ 5G is up for £40 a month and the S20 Ultra 5G from £46 a month. If you’ve got Virgin Media cable then you can grab the Truly Unlimited mobile plan (for unlimited everything) from £63 a month for the S20 5G, £66 a month for the S20+ 5G or £72 a month for the S20 Ultra 5G.

Head here to get the Virgin S20 5G, here for the S20+ 5G and here to get the S20 Ultra 5G.

Vodafone – Pre-order the new Samsung Galaxy S20 series from £60 per month with a £29 upfront cost to get unlimited data. You can trade-in an old Samsung Galaxy or Samsung Note and get £15 off for each and every month of your contract. They’re also offering a 12 month upgrade promise so that you can upgrade to a new handset with no early upgrade fee after just 12 months. As with a lot of network, if you pre-order the Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G or S20 Ultra 5G before February 29th and you bag a free pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds+ worth £159.

Vodafone will also be offering up the device 3 days early if you pre-order before March 8th.

· Samsung Galaxy S20 (4G) – for £60 per month (plus £29 upfront cost)
· Samsung Galaxy S20 5G – for £60 per month (plus £29 upfront cost)
· Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G – for £68 per month (plus £29 upfront cost)
· Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G – for £78 per month (plus £29 upfront cost)

Get the full details at Vodafone.co.uk.

BT Mobile – Sitting on the EE network, you can pre-order the Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20 5G and Galaxy S20+ 5G right now. BT Broadband customers get a £5 discount on all monthly Galaxy S20 plans. The Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G is available for £10 upfront on a £64 per month plan with 30GB of data and unlimited UK minutes and texts (and the free pair of wireless Samsung Galaxy Buds+ headphones again if you pre-order before March 8th).

The Samsung Galaxy S20 5G is £10 upfront on a £60 per month plan with 30GB of data and unlimited UK minutes and texts

The Samsung Galaxy S20 for just £10 upfront on a £55 per month plan with 30GB of data and unlimited UK minutes and texts

Head to the BT website for more info.

Sky Mobile – They’ll have the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G, Galaxy S20+ 5G, Galaxy S20 5G and Galaxy S20. Head to the Sky Mobile website for more information. Plans start from just £54, £43 and £38 per month for the Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G, Galaxy S20+ 5G, Galaxy S20 (5G and 4G models) respectively.

Anyone opting for a 5G smartphone will get 5G for free.

giffgaff – Pre-register interest for the phones online from here. The Samsung Galaxy S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra will all be available at a “pay today” price or a pay monthly option. Up front payments start from £25 with a flexible duration of 6, 12 or 24 months.

The devices will be provided unlocked, ready to use with a giffgaff goodybag ranging from £10 to £25.

Model	Price*
Samsung Galaxy S20 4G	£799
Samsung Galaxy S20 5G	£899
Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G	£999
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G 128GB	£1199
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G 512GB	£1399

The goodybag benefits are as follows..

goodybag	Minutes	Texts	Data
£6	Unlimited minutes	Unlimited texts	500MB
£8	Unlimited minutes	Unlimited texts	2GB
£10	Unlimited minutes	Unlimited texts	6GB
£12	Unlimited minutes	Unlimited texts	10GB
£15	Unlimited minutes	Unlimited texts	15GB
£20	Unlimited minutes	Unlimited texts	80GB
£25	Unlimited minutes	Unlimited texts	Always On* (*80GB, then reduced data speed of 384kbps from 8 am to midnight)