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Introduction
A recent trend we're seeing with flagship phones is that they now come in threes. So whereas in the past a Plus model was the best of the litter, now it's either a Max or in the case of the S20 - an Ultra. We already reviewed this one and now it's time for the S20+ which is the middle option for a high-end Samsung in 2020.
Being a middle option, it misses out on the Ultra's unique camera system and shares the same setup with the vanilla S20 - okay, the Plus adds a ToF module. Other than that small detail, the S20+ is essentially the same phone as the S20, only bigger.
Which isn't a bad thing - if you're a fan of large screens and find the S20 too small but the Ultra too expensive and camera focused, the Plus is here for you. At 6.7 inches in diagonal, it's closer in size to the ultimate flagship than it is to what could be called the 'compact' 6.2-inch S20.
With the bigger display, a bump in battery capacity is another difference in the S20+ vs. S20 specsheets - not many of these, but the ones that are there matter.
Here's a quick refresher on the hardware and some of the key features of the S20+ before we move on.
Samsung Galaxy S20
- Body: 161.9x73.7x7.8mm, 186g; curved Gorilla Glass 6 front and back, metal frame; IP68 rating; Cosmic Grey, Cloud Blue, Cloud Pink, Cloud White, Aura Red color schemes.
- Screen: 6.7" Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 1440x3200px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 525ppi; 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sensing; HDR10+ support.
- Chipset (market dependent): Exynos 990 (7nm+): Octa-core (2x2.73 GHz Mongoose M5 & 2x2.50 GHz Cortex-A76 & 4x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G77 MP11. Snapdragon 865 (7nm+): Octa-core CPU (1x2.84 GHz Kryo 585 & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 585 & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 585); Adreno 640 GPU.
- Memory: 8GB RAM, 128GB built-in UFS 3.0 storage, shared microSD slot.
- OS/Software: Android 10, One UI 2.1.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 12MP, 1/1.76" sensor, 1.8µm pixel size, 26mm equiv., f/1.8 aperture, PDAF, OIS. Telephoto: 64MP, 1/1.72", 0.8µm, f/2.0, PDAF, OIS, 3x hybrid optical zoom. Ultra wide angle: 12MP, 1/2.6", 1.4µm, f/2.2, fixed focus.
- Front camera: 10 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), 1/3.2", 1.22µm, Dual Pixel PDAF.
- Video recording: Rear camera: 8K 4320p@24fps, 4K 2160p@30/60fps, FullHD 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@960fps. Front camera: 4K 2160p@30/60fps, FullHD 1080p@30/60fps.
- Battery: 4,500mAh, 25W fast charging support over Power Delivery 3.0 (25W charger supplied in the box).
- Misc: Fast Qi/PMA wireless charging 15W; Power bank/Reverse wireless charging 9W; Ultra-sonic under-display fingerprint reader; NFC; FM radio (USA & Canada only); Stereo loudspeakers; Samsung DeX support (desktop experience).
As is commonly the case, we're reviewing the Exynos version of the Galaxy S20+. It's also in 4G-only spec - a 5G-capable variant is also available, but since we don't have access to a 5G network anyway, it makes little difference to us and to the findings in this review.
Samsung Galaxy S20+ unboxing
The Galaxy S20+ comes in the standard Samsung flagship-grade packaging. That means a sturdy black box with not much in terms of frills. There is a bold S20, spilling over to the sides if that counts as an accent.
What certainly counts are the contents. You get a 25W charger that is USB PowerDelivery compliant and a USB-C-to-C cable to go with it. A headset is also included and it too has a USB-C port - there's no 3.5mm jack on this Samsung.
We were pleasantly surprised when we unboxed the Galaxy S20 Ultra to find a silicone protective case. Well, that's not the case with the S20+, as it wasn't with the S20 proper - you'll need to provide your own protection.
Design
The Galaxy S20 family's design story is one of polishing and fine-tuning. Once Samsung was all settled on glass and aluminum with the S6, it became a matter of refinement and iterating on different display and back panel curves, frame thickness and finish, button placement, the lot. The S20s then should be nearing perfection.
Now, a case could be made that the ever slimming bezels are detrimental to handling, with the almost nonexistent chin leaving no room to rest a thumb. If you're of that general predisposition, you'll probably appreciate that this generation has the subtlest of display curves we've seen on a Samsung flagship in a while - display curves have typically been a thorn in the side of more conservative folk who prefer the good old days.
What we're trying to get at, is that Samsung's nailed the S20's design to be closer to universally likable than more extreme efforts of the past. Bezelless, without being too curvy, what's not to like?
Having said that, we doubt you'd able to just slap any glass screen protector on your Galaxy S20+ - there's still enough of slope to make it a tricky affair. A minor silver lining is that the phone comes with a pre-applied plastic sheet, though you'll grow to hate it instantly if you opt for the gesture navigations. Every swipe in from the sides to go Back will mean scratching your thumb - a gentle scratch, of course, but still unpleasant. Call us petty, but we're just saying it the way we're feeling it. You can always remove the protector and put your trust in the Gorilla Glass 6, that's what it's there for.
There's another sheet of that on the back too - both sides of the phone are protected by Corning's latest. The innards should be safe from harm as well - there's an IP68 rating on the Galaxy S20+ to attest to that.
The Galaxy S20+ we have for review is in the Cosmic Black color scheme. We'd normally avoid boring black paintjobs for our own phones, but this colorway in particular makes the S20+'s camera assembly disappear and that's the only relatively unsightly bit about the otherwise good-looking handset.
If you don't mind the camera bump's black plaque standing out, you'll have a choice of four more colors for your S20+ - Cosmic Grey, Cloud Blue, Cloud White, and Aura Red. It's a much better selection than the Ultra's two shades of boredom (Cosmic Grey, Cosmic Black) but it's very likely that not all options will be available across all markets.
Mind you, that camera cluster isn't all that bad to look at, certainly not the monstrosity that the S20 Ultra has. Samsung's done what it could to make it as symmetrical as possible, fitting the three actual cameras on the left and the flash and ToF pair on the right. A mic also had to go in there.
It's one of three mics. Looking at the top of the phone, we see another mic, way off from the card slot, so you don't poke it accidentally trying to get your cards out. The card tray will hold a nano-SIM and a microSD card on single-SIM models, while dual SIM version will have a shared slot for the second SIM and the microSD - not ideal, but that's how it's usually been.
On the bottom of the phone, we find the primary mic for voice calls (3 out of 3). The USB-C port is centered here, with the main loudspeaker to the opposite side of the mic.
Power button and volume rocker on the right • Card slot up top • Bottom plate arrangement
Another loudspeaker is up top on the front - as per Samsung's arrangement since the S9, the earpiece also serves as a second channel for loudspeaker purposes.
Where the Plus in the Galaxy S20+ has the greatest significance is physical size. It measures 161.9x73.7x7.8mm - a full centimeter taller than the vanilla S20. It is somewhat closer to the Ultra in this respect, that one being 5mm taller still. The S20+ does manage to keep a slim waistline - the S20 is, in fact, a fraction of a mil thicker, which goes up to a full millimeter when comparing S20+ to S20 Ultra.
What's likely the closest competitor, the iPhone 11 Pro Max, is some 4mm shorter than the Galaxy S20+ but is also wider by as much. The iPhone is also quite the chunk with its 226 grams, actually more than even the Ultra. Meanwhile, the S20+ weighs a very reasonable 186g, even less than the iPhone 11 Pro non-Max, and it's lighter than the Galaxy Note10+ by 10g, though it's still an increase over last year's model.
We really don't mind it, though. It's nowhere near what you'd call a hefty phone, particularly when you consider the battery capacity you're getting. The 7.8mm thickness barely makes a bulge in a pocket and makes for a really comfortable hold. It is tall, that much we'll give it, but that's where the trend is going.
6.7 inches of Dynamic AMOLED 2X
The Galaxy S20+ has a 6.7-inch display - closer to the Ultra's 6.9 inches than it is to the vanilla S20's 6.2. In all other respects, it's identical to those two. You still get the 120Hz refresh rate alongside the 240Hz touch sampling, and the native resolution of the panel is 1440x3200px in a 20:9 aspect ratio.
As is the case on the S20 and the S20 Ultra, the S20+ forces you to choose between the high refresh rate and the maximum resolution - 120Hz is only available up to 1080p, while 1440p caps the refresh rate at 60fps. Faced with this dilemma, we're leaning towards the 120Hz/1080p combo.
The results for brightness we got out of the Galaxy S20+ are mostly in line with the numbers posted by its stablemates, if slightly lower. When adjusting the slider manually, we measured a maximum of 379nits, compared to nearly 400nits on the other two. The 797nits in Adaptive mode with the display under direct light are marginally lower than on the S20 and a full 100nits lower than the Ultra.
Having said that, the S20+ has one bright display - it pumps out 200nits more than the OnePlus 7T Pro and 100nits more than the Huawei Mate 30 Pro, with a Pixel 4 XL far behind. Even so, the iPhone 11 Pro Max manages two dozen nits more, while the Find X2 Pro with its 871nits in our test is closer to the Ultra.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, |
White, |
||
| 0 | 398 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 894 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 397 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 814 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 379 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 797 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 820 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 536 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 871 | ∞ | |
| 0.002 | 388 | 194000:1 | |
| 0.008 | 533 | 66625:1 | |
| 0 | 464 | ∞ | |
| 0.028 | 683 | 24393:1 | |
| 0 | 436 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 429 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 596 | ∞ | |
The S20+ adopts the two-mode color reproduction scheme Samsung's been using lately. In Natural mode, we measured an average DeltaE of 1.7 with a 3.1 maximum for our set of sRGB test swatches - excellent accuracy. The Vivid mode offers a wide gamut and can reproduce the DCI-P3 color space with relative accuracy - an average DeltaE of 3.4 for the P3 test swatches, though the whites are a bit bluish (DeltaE of 4). You can fix this by bumping the Cool-to-Warm slider a notch to the right, and you'll get near perfect whites (DeltaE of 1) and slightly better overall accuracy (average DeltaE of 2.8).
The numbers aside, Vivid mode delivers the familiar AMOLED punch we know and love, while Natural looks a bit lifeless in comparison (though perfectly okay in isolation). Vivid is the mode out of the box.
The color modes have a few implications on maximum brightness. While it is almost identical in Adaptive mode (797nits in Vivid, 792 in Natural), the Natural mode's maximum in manual operation is 340nits as opposed to the 379 in Vivid - a more noticeable difference. We checked ,and the refresh rate and display resolution setting had no effect of color rendition or maximum brightness.
As expected given the 'Dynamic' in the panel's branding, the display on the Galaxy S20+ supports HDR10+, the royalty-free dynamic metadata HDR format that Samsung pushes next to DolbyVision. At the time of writing, both Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and YouTube will happily serve you HDR content.
Samsung Galaxy S20+ battery life
The Galaxy S20+ is powered by a 4,500mAh battery, midway between the S20's 4,000mAh powerpack and the Ultra's 5,000mAh unit. While the S20+ unit we have for review is the 4G-only version, its modem is still external to the chipset as it is on the 5G variant, and the increased battery consumption from this, coupled the high refresh rate display means that 2020 Samsung flagships won't top up any battery life charts.
As we did on the S20 and S20 Ultra, we tested the S20+ in the two modes that we feel make the most sense. Number one is with the display set at 120Hz (and consequently resolution at 1080p), while the other option is at maximum 1440p resolution and 60Hz. We observed similar performance on the S20+ as we did on the Ultra, with the vanilla S20 deviating in some ways, which we'll investigate when we get the chance.
At 120Hz/1080p, we clocked 11 hours of web browsing and 13:30h of video playback on the S20+ - roughly half an hour more in each task when compared to the Ultra. The advantage remained in 60Hz/1440p mode, where we clocked 13:00h on the S20+ in web browsing and 17:09h of looping videos (12:08h and 16:35h were the Ultra's respective times). We also clocked 21 hours of possible voice calls on a single charge with the S20+.
The overall Endurance ratings of the Galaxy S20+ turned out identical to the Ultra's - 87 hours with the display at 120Hz/1080p and 97 hours when set at 60Hz/1440p.
Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSer App. The endurance rating above denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the Samsung Galaxy S20+ for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so that our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritty. You can check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
Charging the S20+ with the bundled 25W adapter (Power Delivery with PPS) takes 57 minutes from flat to full and 30 minutes into the process you'd be looking at 62%. Only the Ultra supports Samsung's 45-watt charging, which doesn't make all that big of a difference in real-life charging speed, so the lack of such support on the S20+ isn't really an issue.
More importantly, the S20+ supports wireless charging, up to 15W with compatible chargers. It will also charge other devices itself - Samsung calls the feature Wireless PowerShare, and it works at up to 9 watts. An ideal use case would be for traveling light with just the phone's charger and using the handset to power things like wireless earbuds or a smartwatch.
Speaker test
The Galaxy S20+ has a stereo speaker setup with the earpiece serving as the second channel. It defaults to the left channel when the phone is in portrait orientation, with the primary speaker on the bottom taking over the right, but when in landscape, the two will switch accordingly.
Oddly enough, the S20+ wasn't quite as loud as the smaller S20 in our testing, but it still earned a 'Very Good' rating, as the other two phones in the family. On the other hand, the Plus's frequency response was closer to the Ultra, go figure. In any case, the Galaxy S20+ sounds excellent and well worthy of its flagship position.
Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal "0db" flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.
OneUI 2.1 and Android 10
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
A brand new triple camera setup
The Galaxy S20+ gets the camera setup of the S20, with a twist - it adds the Ultra's ToF pair with 0.3 million-dot depth detection capability, hence its DepthVision branding. The actual camera array consists of two 12MP snappers and a 64MP one.
Looking at this new camera setup on a surface level doesn't really excite all that much. Comparing it to Samsung's last-gen configuration in something like the Galaxy Note10, a bump in the 'telephoto' resolution does stand out, but also the decrease in the megapixel count for the ultrawide and the absence of Samsung's signature dual aperture tech for the 12MP main snapper.
Of course, we need to look a bit deeper than that to notice the upgrades in this new generation camera. Starting with the main Samsung S5K2LD 12MP sensor, behind an f/1.8 aperture lens. What you get with this module are nice and big 1.8µm pixels, adding up to a 1/1.76" sensor. Quite a decent upgrade over the last generation 1.4µm pixels and type 1/2.55" sensor. And in terms of other extras, this new SAMSUNG ISOCELL sensor still has Dual Pixel PDAF tech, while the lens is also stabilized.
The 12MP Samsung S5K2LA ultrawide camera (lens aperture is f/2.2) has also grown in size for this generation of Samsung flagships. A pixel size of 1.4µm doesn't sound nearly as impressive as the one on the main camera, but compared to the Galaxy Note10 and its 1.0µm, it still constitutes a big upgrade. Just like last year, the ultrawide is the S20's first choice when it comes to capturing its rather impressive Super Steady video. But, more on that later.
Finally moving on to what is likely the most interesting new addition to the S20 and one already striking-up controversy left and right due to Samsung's marketing, as well as a bit of confusion. The 64MP Samsung Bright S5KGW2 sensor with its 1/1.72" size and 0.8µm pixels is the hardware behind Samsung's "3x hybrid optical zoom" marketing for the S20. Sounds good enough on the surface, but as it turns out, the actual optical zoom level the lens provides is practically insignificant,
This means that Samsung is using cropping, combined with some advanced processing algorithms, to pull off its "hybrid optical zoom", up to an impressive-sounding 30x magnification. Using "optical" in the name is hence technically correct, but understandably a bit deceitful. Even so, like the saying goes - if it works, it is not stupid. So, we definitely approached the zooming capabilities on the S20 and S20+ with an open mind, giving the tech the benefit of the doubt in our tests. Plus, the Samsung Bright S5KGW2 does sound interesting with its OIS.
Camera experience and features
Samsung's camera app has a lot of features to cover and hopefully do it in an intuitive way, but it's been a rather mixed bag for us. One the one hand, certain things have definitely been simplified, like the removal of manual HDR toggles from the main UI. Instead, it's either AutoHDR or nothing.
Samsung Galaxy S20+ camera UI
On the other hand, the camera UI still feels a bit cluttered and clunky in many areas. For instance, the quick aspect toggle on the left-hand side, not only switches between the already rather confusing 4:3, 1:1, 16:9 and Full modes, but in the particular case of the S20 and S20+, you can also select a 64MP mode from here. The latter flips over from the main 12MP camera to using the new 64MP camera for stills. A great feature, but probably one that could have been positioned a bit better.
In video capture mode this menu is equally as confusing, offering options for - 1:1, 16:9, Full and then 16:9 8K, with no actual indication of what resolution the other modes are using. Again, not a major deal and we do understand why Samsung decided to do things this way, but we still find mixing aspects and resolutions in a single toggle an imperfect solution. Plus, things get more confusing still when you add zooming into the mix, which we'll get to in a bit.
What we will say about Samsung's actual zooming controls is that while these do end up having a few confusing aspects to them, their overall execution is clean and makes sense, for the most part - in fact, more so than on the Ultra. You get convenient toggles for zoom levels on the right, with the maximum level depending on your current shooting mode. Stills can go up to 30x in regular mode and 10x in night mode and video goes up to 12x. Of course, since Samsung is achieving this zoom via cropping, any setting in between these levels is also possible, works just as well and can be achieved by pinch zooming the UI.
Camera main settings
Beyond the main camera UI, there is the settings menu, which is pretty well laid out. Nothing really stands out as being confusing or hard to understand. The more advanced and sometimes experimental things, like HDR10+ video capture are confined within their own Advanced menu, which is a nice touch. The Zoom-in mic is enabled by default.
Video resolution settings
Video resolution selectors generally do a decent job of disabling options that are made unavailable in a given moment due to another setting taking precedence. For example, neither the 64MP camera or the ultrawide can capture video at 60 fps. Hence, when you switch to the ultrawide, the 4K and FullHD 60fps options in the resolution selector menu get grayed-out. By the same logic, if you first go into settings and select a 60-fps capture mode, the zoom toggles get disabled. This is done since the S20 uses its main 12MP camera to shoot regular videos, but flips over to the 64MP one if you want to do a zoom-in video or 8K.
There is a workaround if you really want to capture zoom videos at 60fps. You need to select a 30fps mode first, then zoom in and then go in the settings again and flip over to 60fps. The camera will actually remember your zoom settings across most settings changes. Hence, you will end up with a zoomed-in 60fps mode, but it will be cropped from the main 12MP camera and the results look quite disappointing. Still, if you really want to, the option is kind of there. We almost wonder if this behavior slipped through the cracks or it that's its intended state.
Samsung Galaxy S20+ video capture interface
Super Steady video capture is only available at FullHD resolution, which is no surprise. That is also the case on the S20 Ultra and the S20. What's actually better on the S20 and S20+ than it is on the ultimate flagship, is that here the phone actually leverages its regular camera for the zoomed-in Super Steady mode. Hence, you still get the benefits of autofocus from it, which you couldn't get on the Ultra with its ultrawide-only approach to Super Steady recording (despite offering you the same two zoom levels in the viewfinder).
Selfie tone settings • Mode settings
Finishing some of the advanced settings options off, we have a nifty interface to fine tune the overall selfie skin tone you would like to see from the 10MP front snapper. You also ger more than a few additional shooting modes, hidden away under "More" in the camera UI, by default. You can freely pick and rearrange the options in this menu as you see fit.
Single Take is a new feature, which is great if you find all these camera options a bit overwhelming or too much for your taste. What it does is actually capture both photos and short clips from all of the phone's cameras simultaneously, all the while encouraging you to try different angles and pan around. After that, you get an AI-curated album full of the best shots out of the bunch from the different cameras, including some stylized ones, animated gifs and short videos. It works surprisingly well and is naturally best suited for capturing dynamic moments and subjects that move around, like kids and pets or even both together. We kind of get why Samsung has found a place for Single Take on the main camera mode selector.
Single Take • Motion photo • Filters
If you just want a short clip with your stills, the much simpler Motion photo is still present. So are filters, for that extra flare. The camera app actually includes a nifty feature for creating custom filters, based on the look of any photo you feed into the algorithm. Not a bad idea. Of course, a full-featured Beauty mode is also present, with all the Sims-like sliders your heart desires.
And to spice up your videos in particular, Samsung has some of its older generation headlining features, or gimmicks, depending on how you look at things still present. Like the ability to craft and overlay an animated avatar in AR mode or simply draw something that maintains its place within the frame.
The fact that the S20+ shares the S20's hardware means it produces the same image and video quality. Having said that, we still took most of our usual samples on the S20+ and you'll find those below. We went into a lot of detail in our examination of the Galaxy S20's camera performance when we reviewed the base model a couple of weeks ago. We encourage you to head over there for more in-depth analyses and comparisons with the Galaxy Note10+ and the Galaxy S20 Ultra.
Daylight photo quality
The Galaxy S20+ delivers very pleasing images in daylight, that should have been obvious. The main camera has very competent processing, Auto HDR is reliable if a little relaxed in terms of pulling up the shadows, and colors are satisfyingly vivid without going to over the top.
Daylight samples, main camera (1x)
The ultrawide angle camera isn't quite up there in terms of per-pixel detail (none of the ultrawides on the market seem to be) but still captures enough. Colors are a nice match for the main cam and dynamic range is good, if not quite up there with the 1x module.
Daylight samples, ultrawide camera (0.5x)
The telephoto cam that isn't. The Galaxy S20+'s zoom camera that optically offers just 1.07x magnification over the main unit takes properly impressive shots in its nominal 64MP resolution given plenty of light to work with.
Daylight samples, zoom camera (64MP, 1x-ish)
At 2x and 3x magnification you can count on nicely detailed images. If a phone had an actual 2x or 3x telephoto camera and put out these photos, you'd be perfectly happy with those. Samsung's approach may be different, but the end result is what matters.
Daylight samples, zoom camera (2x)
Daylight samples, zoom camera (3x)
At 4x zoom, things are still looking good even on a per-pixel level, though the photos are starting to lose their sharpness.
Daylight samples, zoom camera (4x)
10x zoom is pushing the limits of usability, and those shots are best not examined up close - at fit-to-screen they'll do.
Daylight samples, zoom camera (10x)
As a wrap-up, here's the same scene shot at the available pre-set zoom levels to illustrate the zoom range of sorts of the Galaxy S20+. The highest 30x zoom level is only usable for checking out distant objects, not really for obtaining a 'photo' of them.
Zoom levels: 0.5 • 1x • 2x • 3x • 4x • 10x • 30x
Low-light photo quality
The S20+'s excellent performance continues into low-light shooting. Dynamic range is already great even before resorting to Night mode, detail is excellent and noise is kept reasonably in check.
Low-light samples, main camera (1x)
Night mode improves the noise performance and gives a noticeable boost to shadow pulling up extra detail there.
Low-light samples, main camera (1x), Night mode
The effects of the Night mode processing are particularly impressive in ultrawide angle images, where dark scenes are often underexposed in Photo mode, but become significantly better in Night mode.
Low-light samples, ultrawide camera (0.5x)
Low-light samples, ultrawide camera (0.5x), Night mode
Similar benefits in terms of noise reduction and shadow development can be seen in the Night mode shots taken a 3x zoom, though they do still look okay in Photo mode as well.
Low-light samples, zoom camera (3x)
Low-light samples, zoom camera (3x), Night mode
Portraits, bokeh
Live focus mode on the Galaxy S20+ benefits from the inclusion of a ToF module letting it more precisely gauge depth information in the scene than what the S20 can. Two zoom levels are available, the wide one being captured by the main cam, while the zoomed-in mode comes from a crop out of the 64MP shooter. Both offer proficient subject detection and portraits look really good out of the S20+.
Live focus samples, zoomed-in mode
Live focus samples, wide mode
One peculiarity we discovered due to the fact that shooting these was a one person affair, was that using the self timer locks focus at the time you press the shutter button, and not at the time of taking the picture. It was a trial and error procedure with focusing at the palm of one hand, stretched out to where the subject (himself also the photographer) would be 5 seconds later. Samsung could probably rethink the logic behind this.
Live focus mode is equally well suited to non-human subject when you want to emphasize your subject and make it stand out from the background. We think the S20+ did an axcellent job even with fairly complex subjects.
Live focus samples, non-human subjects, zoomed-in mode
Live focus samples, non-human subjects, wide mode
Selfies
Selfies out of the S20+ should be the same you'd get from the S20. A similarly looking specsheet had us believing that the hardware is the same as on the Note10s from last year, but looking up the sensor designations proved otherwise.
In any case, the images look excellent and are nicely detailed when the light is right. In dimmer conditions, the phone prioritizes detail over noise reduction which we find to be a welcome approach. We did count more than the usual number of misfocused shots in darker light. Colors do have a slightly muted look in comparison to the primary cam's output, though we'd be happy with the selfies taken in isolation.
Selfie samples
Selfie portraits will make you happy, as long as you understand the limitations of the single-camera approach. Alternatively, you can have your hair in check and you'll be fine.
Selfie samples, Live focus mode
The fact that the S20+ shares the S20's hardware means it produces the same image and video quality. Having said that, we still took most of our usual samples on the S20+ and you'll find those below. We went into a lot of detail in our examination of the Galaxy S20's camera performance when we reviewed the base model a couple of weeks ago. We encourage you to head over there for more in-depth analyses.
Video recording
The Galaxy S20+ has the same video recording modes and peculiarities as the vanilla S20. Headlining those is the 8K video recording capability (at 24fps), but there's also 4K30 from all cameras, as well as 4K60 from the main camera.
You have an option to record HDR10+ video which you can then view on compatible devices (like, say, the S20+ itself) or upload to YouTube. Additionally, you can set the S20+ to use the space-saving h.265 codec as opposed to the default h.264. 8K is encoded in h.265 regardless.
The 1x zoom level is handled by the main 12MP shooter while the ultrawide cam does the 0.5x magnification. 8K and all zoom levels starting at 2x and beyond come from the 64MP camera.
Stabilization is available in all modes and that includes 8K24 and 4K60, which is nice. You can also disable it if you wish, which is also nice as some makers don't let you do that.
Then there's Super Steady stabilization and it comes at two zoom modes, a wider one and, well, a less wide one. The former one uses the ultrawide camera, while the cropped in mode is handled by the main cam, complete with autofocus. This is one respect where the S20+ and the S20 do one better than the S20 Ultra, where both zoom levels are captured with the ultrawide angle camera.
The selfie camera is upfront about what it does - 4K and 1080p, 60fps and 30fps, autofocus, stabilization in 30fps modes only.
Much like the S20 Ultra and S20, the S20+ can record night-time hyperlapses, effectively taking a bunch of Night mode stills with light trails, and stitching them into a video.
Regular low-light videos are also quite nice out of the Galaxy S20+ thanks to the big sensors.
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.
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