Stuff - UK (2020-04)

MOBILE AWARDS

Samsung, which undoes a lot of the
sensor’s capacity for detail.
Zoom is the real head-turner here,
with a periscope-style setup good
for 4x optical, 10x ‘hybrid’ using
multiple exposures, and up to 100x
digital with sensor cropping. Up to
10x, this is easily the best phone
camera zoom around, even making
the iPhone 11 Pro Max look positively
amateurish. Results up to 30x zoom
are usable but clearly processed
and artifact-heavy, while 100x zoom
is little more than a gimmick: the
viewfinder shakes so much it’s
near-impossible to focus on a faraway
subject, and images have the clarity
of an early webcam.

Refresher, anyone?
Samsung’s AMOLED phone panels
always deliver ultra-vibrant colours,
unbeatable viewing angles and
impeccable brightness, and the S20
Ultra is no exception. HDR10+ videos
look sublime, with infinite contrast
and amazing highlights.
The big change for 2020 is the
120Hz refresh rate. Turn it on and
animations suddenly flow like water,
with every bit of motion becoming

so much easier on the eye. Even

scrolling through Twitter is suddenly

a treat for the eyeballs.

Clever scaling means you won’t

notice that 120Hz forces you down

to a Full HD+ 2400x1080 resolution,

but having a screen update itself

twice as often isn’t going to do your

battery life any favours. If you insist

on sticking at 120Hz, you can expect

a 25-30% faster battery drain over

the standard refresh rate. Throw in

some 8K video recording into the

mix and you can be out of juice in

12 hours – that’s despite the colossal

5000mAh battery.

Exy’s midnight runner

A new phone generation needs new

silicon, so every Galaxy S20 gets

Samsung’s octa-core Exynos 990

CPU. It’s paired with a massive 12GB

of RAM and 128GB of built-in storage,

while a microSD card slot leaves room

to grow later.

It’s a real powerhouse, as you’d

expect, showing no signs of slowdown

at any point and running every app

and game smoothly. All that RAM

lets you pin up to three apps in

memory so they never need to

reload, but the phone is so quick to

multitask you might not need to.

Mobile data is super-fast, as long

as you’re on a 5G network. And in an

area with coverage. And, seemingly,

if the wind is blowing in the right

direction. Early adopters in cities

with 5G will love the speed increases

when they get them, but it’s not yet

a feature to buy a phone for.

VERDICT

The S20 Ultra proves Samsung

still rules when it comes to Android

hardware. But it’s not perfect. The

high refresh rate saps battery, and

the 100x zoom isn’t all that useful.

Oh, and it’s eye-wateringly pricey.

The S20 and S20+ have identical

performance and equally gorgeous

screens, but both cost significantly

less. They’ll be more than enough

phone for most.

LG V60 THINQ

The third ‘dual-screen’

smartphone from LG gets

a Snapdragon 865 chip

and 5G connectivity, but

it’s the camera and mic

setup capable of HDR10+

8K video with 3D audio

that piques our curiosity.

The main 64MP shooter

competes with the Galaxy

S20 (right) on sensor size,

while pixel-binning creates

16MP images to combat

noise in low light. It’s joined

by a 13MP ultra-wide lens

with a 117° field of view,

and a ToF depth sensor.

£tbc / lg.com

FACTORY FLAW

The coronavirus is causing

tech production lines

to grind to a halt. That

includes Samsung’s

foldable phone factory

in Gumi, South Korea.

PANEL BEATER

LG Display is a major

supplier of OLED panels.

Its phone screen factory

was temporarily closed

after a bank worker nearby

tested positive.

PHONE IN SICK

All this could cause major

shortages for Samsung and

LG, while Apple has warned

of iPhone shortfalls.

Microsoft says it won’t

meet PC expectations,

and Valve expects issues

with VR headset supplies.

CORONAVIRUS

CALLING

SAMSUNG

GALAXY S20

The S20 line is catnip for

spec-hounds. Both the

6.2in S20 and 6.7in S20+

sport HDR+ AMOLED

displays with 120Hz

support, and each gets

Samsung’s latest CPU, a

10MP selfie-snapper and

5G capability. Where the

two differ slightly is in the

rear cameras: the S20’s

triple array consists of

a 12MP ultra-wide lens,

12MP wide-angle and

64MP telephoto; the S20+

also gets a ToF sensor.

from £800 / samsung.com

REALME X50

PRO 5G

Coming up fast on the

outside, RealMe’s first

5G handset gets a 64MP

quad-cam setup including

a 12MP lens with 20x

hybrid zoom, a wide-angle

lens and a portrait lens.

Flip it on its front and dual

32MP and 8MP in-display

selfie-snappers are there

to capture your narcissistic

side. That’s a lot of picture

power, while a Snapdragon

865 processor and 6.44in

90Hz display mean it’s no

mug in other areas either.

from €599 / realme.com

Tech specs

O6.9in 3200x1440 AMOLED

OExynos 990 O12GB/16GB RAM

O108MP + 48MP + 12MP + 0.3MP

rear, 40MP front O5000mAh

O128GB/512GB/1TB

O167x76x8.8mm, 222g

Because the night

Low-light photos

are an improvement

over the previous

generation, but

Google and Apple

still do it better.

I can hear music

A down-firing

speaker handles

bass and mid-tones

while the earpiece

blasts out the high

frequencies.

M

O

R

E

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P
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H O O T E R S
STUFF SAYS Outmuscles any Android phone you care to name ++++,