MARCH 2020 PCWorld 11snapped, while extremely noisy and hazy,
were surprisingly legible.
Space Zoom may very well be the thing
that compels a few fence-sitters to take the
$1,400 plunge, but it’s the smaller camera
advancements that will make or break the S
Ultra. These include enhanced low-light
mode and nighttime hyperlapse; 8K video
recording; improved Super Steady; and a
cool innovation called Single Take mode,
which was the smartest
S20 camera trick I tried.
Instead of fussing with
modes and cameras, you
need only take a
10-second video of the
scene in front of you, and
the S20 will use AI to
decide which pics and
video clips best capture
the moment.
ULTRA
EXCESS
The Galaxy S
Ultra is probably
too much phone
for most people,
but never have I
held a phone
that felt so
consequential.
Granted, you’re
going to pay
dearly—a $1,
starting price makes the iPhone 11 Pro Max
seem like a bargain—but switching between
the S20+ and S20 Ultra felt more dramatic
than going from the S10 to the S10+.
Even more than the Note 10+ 5G, the S
Ultra is absolutely the biggest and best phone
Samsung can build right now (except for that
pesky missing headphone jack). Is it
excessive? Unapologetically so. But I’ll take it
over the Galaxy Z flip any day.The Galaxy S20 Ultra (bottom) is about 10 percent thicker than the S20.We might be a little sad that Samsung dumped the headphone jack on the Galaxy
S20, but we can’t fault the beautiful curves and contours of the overall design.