Hands-On With Samsung's New S20 and Galaxy Z Flip Smartphones

[MacRumors]

Samsung today announced a new slate of 2020 smartphones, debuting a range of devices that include the S20 5G, the S20+ 5G, the S20 Ultra 5G, and the most novel, the foldable Galaxy Z Flip.

MacRumors videographer Dan was in attendance at Samsung's Unpacked event in San Francisco, and he was able to spend some hands-on time with the new smartphones. Watch the video below for some close-up details and opinions on Samsung's new lineup, which competes both with Apple's current lineup and its upcoming 2020 smartphones, which we expect to see in September.

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Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip is its second foldable device, but the first that's designed with a smartphone form factor. The device starts out as a 6.7-inch smartphone, but folds in half to make it more pocketable.

The Z Flip is Samsung's first foldable smartphone that uses a glass display, with Samsung adopting new ultra thin foldable glass technology. Using glass rather than a laminate material results in a nicer display and a device that overall, feels more premium.

The hinge feels sturdier than the hinge in the Galaxy Fold, and it's a neat design because it can be set to multiple different angles and used in what's called "Flex Mode" while half folded. In this mode, the bottom half props up the top half for a hands-free mode that can be used for selfies and unique photography opportunities.

Because of the hinge design and the way that it's meant to be used at multiple angles, the Z Flip doesn't open as easily as traditional flip phones, which is a net positive. It has a solid build and doesn't feel as fragile as the Galaxy Fold.

Samsung is charging a whopping $1,380 for the Galaxy Z Flip, which is sensationally expensive for what's essentially a gimmick, but it is a high-quality, solid design that demonstrates what's possible with foldable display technology.

Samsung also showed off its new Galaxy S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra flagship devices, all of which feature 5G connectivity, huge batteries, giant bezel-free displays, and impressive camera technology.

Samsung's smartphones range in size from 6.2 to 6.9 inches, and on the higher end, 6.9-inches is massive, especially for a device that has a bezel-free design with just a single pinhole camera cutout at the top. All of the phones offer HDR10+ support along with 120Hz refresh rates, but using the 120Hz refresh rate requires bumping the resolution down to 1080p.

There are some unique camera features, especially in the high-end Samsung S20 Ultra. It features a 12-megapixel ultra wide-angle camera, a 108-megapixel wide-angle camera, a 48-megapixel telephoto camera, and a Depth Vision Camera.

The cameras are designed to take improved images in low lighting conditions, and Samsung showed off an impressive 10x lossless zoom feature that offers a total of 100x zoom on the S20 Ultra.

When it comes to batteries, these smartphones have 4,000 to 5,000mAh capacities, which beats out anything the iPhone has to offer at the current time. Samsung's devices are definitely premium and are bringing Samsung's best tech to lure smartphone users away from the iPhone, but they also have premium prices.

The Galaxy S20 has a price tag of $1,000, the S20+ is priced at $1,200, and the Galaxy S20 Ultra is priced at $1,400 and is a bit more expensive than the Galaxy Z Flip.

We're going to have more in-depth coverage of the Galaxy Z Flip and Samsung's new S20 smartphones coming in the near future, so expect to see some detailed comparisons with Apple's smartphones starting later this week.

Article Link: Hands-On With Samsung's New S20 and Galaxy Z Flip Smartphones

 

[Mr. Awesome]

Interesting... Didn’t realize that the resolution goes down when the refresh rate goes up...

 

[NIKKG]

Nice but the price is too high, lets not give Apple any ideas!

 

[Zito Abroad]

So glad I haven't allowed myself to be locked into an ecosystem, or at least allowed myself to think I'm locked in, to an ecosystem. The hardware in the S20s and Galazy Z Flip is absolutely industry leading and just too good to pass over. Can't imagine paying anywhere over $1000 for devices that have so much less hardware (storage, RAM, etc...)

 

[cmaier]

Can someone explain the use case? What is the purpose of a phone that folds in half to half the height but double the width and which needs to be opened to be used?

 

[RowellE]

*whispers* It’s beautiful.

 

[rp2011]

S20 is interesting. But I don’t expect it to sell well. Who/where is the market for super expensive android devices?

then there is the flip....another in the growing line of silly useless devices that no one asked for, or is willing to buy. I mean honestly.

 

[Rojaaemon]

Moveable or bendable parts: bad.

The first and only thing that ever broke on my first iPhone was the volume toggle switch.

 

[rp2011]

Can someone explain the use case? What is the purpose of a phone that folds in half to half the height but double the width and which needs to be opened to be used?

Fully agree with your sentiment. No one asked for, or is willing to buy them. Especially when much better non-folding devices (in a practical form factor) exist.

 

[citysnaps]

Still no. I don't need or want a device that folds.

 

[cmaier]

Fully agree with your sentiment. No one asked for, or is willing to buy them. Especially when much better non-folding devices (in a practical form factor) exist.

Give me a phone in the form factor of a pencil with a rolled up screen that can unfold, and now we’re talking. Or maybe an iPad that folds in half to make a smaller screen for airplane trays, or to separate the keyboard from the screen, and maybe that’s a potential use.

Flip phone, I don’t get it.

 

[DJ2K3000]

It will be interesting to see what kind of battery life the S20 series gets. They have huge batteries, so they should get great battery life, easily comparable or surpassing the 11 Pro Max, at least in theory.

 

[cmaier]

It will be interesting to see what kind of battery life the S20 series gets. They have huge batteries, so they should get great battery life, easily comparable or surpassing the 11 Pro Max, at least in theory.

battery size is only half the equation. Samsung’s chips tend to burn a lot more power than apple’s.

 

[NickName99]

The ZFlip would be thicker in my pocket. What’s the point of making the phone thicker?

It might be good for a purse or a shallow pocket. 🤷

 

[FightTheFuture]

Can't imagine paying anywhere over $1000 for devices that have so much less hardware (storage, RAM, etc...)

What are you talking about? Apple devices have outperformed competitors for years with “lesser hardware.”

Seems more like android manufacturers lack in optimization and have to keep cramming more memory and ghz to keep up.

 

[sirozha]

I haven't read any comments yet, but I think I can summarize them:
1. Samsung sucks.
2. Android sucks.
3. These phones are ridiculous.
4. No one needs a folding phone.
5. The screen will break quickly on the folding phone.
6. Samsung copied Apple again.
7. Even if these phones are great, they still run Android, which sucks.
8. This is a solution in search of a problem.
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Can someone explain the use case? What is the purpose of a phone that folds in half to half the height but double the width and which needs to be opened to be used?

I guess you are too young to remember the Razr. You probably weren't born yet when it was the most popular phone.

 

[Aston441]

If that really is glass, made from Silicon Dioxide, that folds, like paper...


That's a game changer. The mind reels at possibilities that havent even been conceived of yet.

 

[Zito Abroad]

What are you talking about? Apple devices have outperformed competitors for years with “lesser hardware.”

Nice try, that argument doesn't pass the sniff test with me anymore. I believed it for years, until I decided to try Android on some old used S7 Edge for S&G. To my surprise, it was awesome. Now I'm on an Note 10+, and nothing comes closer to being a complete package than this beast of a device. I even paid $200 less than what a 11 Pro Max would have cost me. The way I look at it, iPhones should cost about $300-400 less than Galaxy flagships, for offering so much less hardware. Not even close. Apple's days of being The Premium device in the industry, are long over.

 

[farewelwilliams]

I guess you are too young to remember the Razr. You probably weren't born yet when it was the most popular phone.

Razr had a reason to flip open and close. This phone doesn't.

 

[MAcNIAC]

I'll wait till the phone folds in 4

 

[cmaier]

I guess you are too young to remember the Razr. You probably weren't born yet when it was the most popular phone.

No, I remember it well. Horses and buggies were once the most popular mode of transportation.

Now they‘re not. Because better solutions prevail.

So answer my question - what’s the use case? People used to wear those flip phone on their belts. Are we going back to that?

 

[DSTL]

This phone is incredibly stupid. Where is this foldable demand coming from?

 

[HandsomeDanNZ]

I guess you are too young to remember the Razr. You probably weren't born yet when it was the most popular phone.

The RAZR was a marvel of engineering at a time when other phones were twice the thickness of the RAZR even when it was closed.
Flip phones at the time were "cool". But they were invariably thicker than what Motorola came out with in the RAZR.
This is a flip phone in an age when there is no current "cool" factor for flip phones and it is twice the thickness of a standard smartphone when closed...your statement seems meaningless and pointless to me.

 

[paradox00]

Can someone explain the use case? What is the purpose of a phone that folds in half to half the height but double the width and which needs to be opened to be used?

It's not complicated. Phones are getting too tall for some pockets. I have an iPhone XR (not the biggest phone out there), and sometimes I need to remove it from my front pocket to put on my shoes (out fear of bending it half). A folding phone allows you halve the height while still giving you a full sized screen. It's not that dissimilar from Apple eventually eliminating the top and bottom bezel to fit a taller screen in the same body.

There are a lot of downsides to this particular phone (smaller battery, last years processor, fewer cameras than the S20, durability?) but it will have its market. I don't think opening the phone to use it is a big deal (there was a time where flip phones outsold candy bar phones). Unfolding it when you're already needing to take it out of your pocket isn't an issue.... you could leave it unfolded when sitting at a desk/table (or in that weird half fold mode) for easy access.

The form factor makes a lot more sense than the Galaxy Fold which paired a mediocre phone (exterior phone screen too narrow) with mediocre tablet (mostly a vertical phone interface on a nearly square tablet).

 

[elvisimprsntr]

So SS released a phone with a more durable folding screen that renders the 4 mo old GF obsolete? Wonder what those who took out a mortgage for a GF have to say. 🤦‍♂️