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Hands-On With Samsung's New S20 Ultra: Is It Worth $1400?
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Bad things are only bad when Apple does them.
In fact, the definition of bad is when Apple does something.
I know there are those who love their Samsung phones but...
I just got a used Samsung Galaxy S7 on Swappa the other day (arguably the "best" smartphone made a few years ago) running Android 8.0. I needed to get an Android phone to run one important app that's not available on iOS.
After playing with it for a couple days, I'm totally done with it. The Android/Google interface bugs me and the OLED screen really bugs my eyes. To me, the whole experience is so inferior to using any iPhone. I'd rather use an old iPhone 6 on iOS 9 than that thing.
Good thing I only need to use it for just that one app cuz I'm sure not going to use it any other time. It sucks
I just got a used Samsung Galaxy S7 on Swappa the other day (arguably the "best" smartphone made a few years ago) running Android 8.0. I needed to get an Android phone to run one important app that's not available on iOS.
After playing with it for a couple days, I'm totally done with it. The Android/Google interface bugs me and the OLED screen really bugs my eyes. To me, the whole experience is so inferior to using any iPhone. I'd rather use an old iPhone 6 on iOS 9 than that thing.
Good thing I only need to use it for just that one app cuz I'm sure not going to use it any other time. It sucks
$1400 bubble gum change. Can't hang, stick to your iPhone 11.
I am not a fan of the design of this smartphone it looks like a midrange device.
Here's the thing Samsung sell their product on a high price but will immediately have a price drop after a couple of months.
Here's the thing Samsung sell their product on a high price but will immediately have a price drop after a couple of months.
The iPhone is a solid performer but this new Samsung for those that like bells and whistles in the photo venue will probably enjoy Ultra S20. The most important part for those who do lots of shooting is storage. Apple as usual forces you buy "large" up front while Samsung allows for a storage card. I left the iPhone ranch because I was fed up with pretty much fixed menu screens (limited) and the fact I really could not have less icons on a screen that were larger (avoid having to put my glasses on all the time for the phone). My Samsung S8+ is still working quite well and I have good storage plus a card to add storage. My card holds music, audio books, and still plenty of room for photos and an handful of short video. If/when Apple makes storage our choice and a bit more flexibility of menu screens etc., I'll be back to Apple. Until then I am in the semi tame Android world riding a strong performer that pales in comparison to the new kid Ultra S20.
Now that made me giggle!
Apple doesn't give two trucks about what Samsung is doing.
About cameras on smartphones and the hump, we still have some way to go to this beauty: Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom from 2013.
I know I’m not going to spend that much on my next iPhone.
About cameras on smartphones and the hump, we still have some way to go to this beauty: Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom from 2013.
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Boy, talk about throwing stuff on the wall to see what sticks...
The 100x is purely a gimmick. The image it produced is completely unusable. 30x is arguably the max zoom you can do for a usable photo. If Samsung simply advertised it as 30x "awesome" zoom, I would be more appreciative of the feature. But the marketing went for 100x space zoom instead, boasting numbers just to trick people.
Imo, the best value is still the regular S20. The only issue is that Samsung only offers it in 128GB config, forcing you to spend more on the higher end models if you want more internal storage.
My favorite feature of the S20 is the single take. This is just brilliant, and will surely make capturing things in life much more fun. One shot and you get multiple photos and videos. I wish more companies would look at this feature and "copy" it.
My TL;DR on the S20 family based on my short time playing with them at Samsung retail stores:
S20: best value. You get all the necessary flagship hardware and the same software.
S20+: get this if you need more than 128GB internal storage. Samsung is worst than Apple now for segmenting their flagships like this.
S20 Ultra: worst value, filled with gimmicks just to raise Samsung's profit margin. Only get it if you want the largest screen. Don't get tricked by the 100x zoom, think of it as 30x zoom instead.
Favorite feature: Single take. Best consumer feature so far brought by Samsung/Android.
The Ugly: no headphone jack.
Imo, the best value is still the regular S20. The only issue is that Samsung only offers it in 128GB config, forcing you to spend more on the higher end models if you want more internal storage.
My favorite feature of the S20 is the single take. This is just brilliant, and will surely make capturing things in life much more fun. One shot and you get multiple photos and videos. I wish more companies would look at this feature and "copy" it.
My TL;DR on the S20 family based on my short time playing with them at Samsung retail stores:
S20: best value. You get all the necessary flagship hardware and the same software.
S20+: get this if you need more than 128GB internal storage. Samsung is worst than Apple now for segmenting their flagships like this.
S20 Ultra: worst value, filled with gimmicks just to raise Samsung's profit margin. Only get it if you want the largest screen. Don't get tricked by the 100x zoom, think of it as 30x zoom instead.
Favorite feature: Single take. Best consumer feature so far brought by Samsung/Android.
The Ugly: no headphone jack.
The problem is Google is really dragging its feet in supporting the progression of mobile camera technology. Google is more focused on their own software AI to enhance photos. Just look how long it took Google to support dual camera (Pixel 4). Even Android One devices had to develop their own camera apps to support more than one lens since the stock Android camera app didn't.
Of course the downside is that no 3rd party apps can truly take advantage of the best hardware in phones like Samsung/Huawei since they don't have access through it via the APIs.
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Or the headphone jack.
Prior to this phone release, almost every youtuber is still bashing Apple for the lack of headphone jack. Once Samsung did it, nobody's talking about the lack of headphone jack anymore. Gotta keep those free review units from Samsung coming, I guess.
I agree with what falainber says above. You can buy Windows computer from $300 up to $3,000 or more. I bet Windows O.E.M.'s sell a lot more $300 computer than they do $3,000. All of them will run Windows 10.
I bought an iPhone SE on AT&T prepaid for $50 while the most expensive iPhone currently goes for over $1,400. Both run the most current version of iOS.
Most computer manufacturers sell versions across multiple price points.
I used to stand in awe of computer specs... but I swear, now when I hear something as ludicrous as “16gb of RAM” in a current gen phone- I can’t help but wince & feel a bit sorry for them.
That's just normal. Heck look at Google, making fun of Apple for removing the headphone jack when they released the original Pixel. The next year, Pixel 2, no headphone jack. And also the notch. Come Pixel 3, worst notch ever in history.
True. The stats shows that the top sellers from Samsung are The Galaxy A10 and A50. The Galaxy S phones didn't even make it into the top 10 best selling phones list.
NOT for mainstream, but for a Engineering Proof of Concept, it's a great bargain !
The 16GB of DRAM enables High Perf Apps to be prototyped on it, without the RAM Mgmt problems of todays iOS, which more OR less pigeon holes the Dev of High Perf App on iOS !
Every iOS App Dev who has had a High Perf App since mid-2016 or so, knows iOS RAM Mgmt went from being very good (A- grade OR so), to being really bad (currently a D-, & that's being nice).
RAM Mgmt is the most-important over-looked feature of ANY smartphone !
Like curb weight on a vehicle, OR the starting OL on ones favorite NFL football team.
The 16GB of DRAM enables High Perf Apps to be prototyped on it, without the RAM Mgmt problems of todays iOS, which more OR less pigeon holes the Dev of High Perf App on iOS !
Every iOS App Dev who has had a High Perf App since mid-2016 or so, knows iOS RAM Mgmt went from being very good (A- grade OR so), to being really bad (currently a D-, & that's being nice).
RAM Mgmt is the most-important over-looked feature of ANY smartphone !
Like curb weight on a vehicle, OR the starting OL on ones favorite NFL football team.
Where are all the Samsung users that were saying $1200 for an iPhone is insane?
I wish I could laugh at this, but it’s true. You didn’t hear much about the Pixel’s either, but I definitely heard about the iPhone 11. No such thing as bad publicity.
wow. lots of are so stuck on apple and the iPhone
be a little open minded and admit that Samsung has caught up to Apple
The new Mac Pro already got wasted by a AMD Thread-ripper 32 core PC at double the benchmark numbers and $5000 less on the price of Apples 16 core Intel offering.
be a little open minded and admit that Samsung has caught up to Apple
The new Mac Pro already got wasted by a AMD Thread-ripper 32 core PC at double the benchmark numbers and $5000 less on the price of Apples 16 core Intel offering.
The more expensive phones get the cheaper the phones I buy. Got my one plus 7 pro for $699 last year and it has been a fantastic phone! The one plus 7 pro cost almost $200 less then when I bought my LG V30. My goal is when I upgrade phones every 2 years the phone must be equal or less than the last phone I bought. No reason a phone should be over $1,000.