The Galaxy S20 Ultra is Samsung’s biggest Android phone, and its most daring sales pitch: you can own the world’s most advanced 5G phone with massive camera specs... if you’re prepared to spend more money than ever on a non-foldable smartphone.
The Ultra is designed for early adopters, and three things stand out: it has a massive 6.9-inch display with next-gen fluid-scrolling tech that will stretch your hand; five cameras to capture 108MP photos, 40MP selfies and 8K video, and 5G antennas with peak speeds 66 times as fast as 4G LTE.
The 48MP telephoto lens allowed us to get up close and personal with far away subjects thanks to an impressive variety of zoom lenses. It far surpasses the 2x optical and 10x digital zoom of previous Samsung phones, and the limited 8x digital zoom on the Google Pixel 4 - although 100x zoom snaps were hardly Instagram-worthy.
The S20 Ultra has a monster spec list: 12GB or 16GB of RAM and 128GB or 512GB of internal storage kick things off.
There’s also a huge 5,000mAh battery for pulling down battery-intensive 5G signal, although we found it could only last more than 24 hours in 4G mode.
There is a return of the in-screen fingerprint sensor from last year’s phones, but it sadly is the first S phone without a 3.5mm headphone jack.
It’s impossible to justify the Galaxy S20 Ultra price for everyone – even those who bought the S9 Plus or S10 Plus, and intended to get the next ‘big one’ from Samsung.
For others, though, the word ‘upgrade’ means a completely different thing: they want a phone that pushes new boundaries, and they don’t mind if that pushes the price tag further into Galaxy Fold territory.
The Galaxy S20 Ultra is Samsung’s own version of Tesla’s ‘Ludicrous Mode’ in its electric cars, and even if the camera is a bit overhyped and inconsistent at the moment, early adopters will love showing off how its cameras go from 0.5x to 100x zoom real quick.
5G, battery life, specs and software
- 5G mmWave speeds are up to 66x as fast 4G LTE, but only in some areas
- During our testing, 4G LTE was sometimes faster than sub-6 5G
- Google Duo video calls are helpfully now integrated into the dialer app
- Samsung's Quick Share feature apes Apple's AirDrop so you can easily transfer files, but it's limited to S20 phones for the moment
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra release date and price
- Initial release date: March 6 in the US and Australia
- The UK won't get the phone until a week later, March 13
- 128GB + 12GB of RAM: $1,399 / £1,199 / AU$1,999
- 512GB + 16GB of RAM: $1,599 / £1,399 / AU$2,249
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra release date is Friday, March 6 in the US and Australia, or March 13 in the UK, alongside the S20 and S20 Plus.
The S20 Ultra costs a staggering $1,399 / £1,199 / AU$1,999, which is more than any non-foldable smartphone we've tested in the past – and that price is just for the version with 128GB of internal storage and 12GB of RAM.
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