Samsung Galaxy S20 Phones: Australian Price, Specs, Release Date

Samsung Galaxy S20 Phones: Australian Price, Specs, Release Date

The first Samsung Unpacked for 2020 is now in the bag. With it comes the new Samsung Galaxy S20 range which has three phones (and a lot of variants) – the S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra.

Thanks to yet another leaky boat, we weren’t surprised by the specs, but now they’re all shiny and official. We have all the details right here for you, including when you can get them in Australia and how much they cost.

While Samsung began dipping its toes in the 5G waters at its S10 launch in 2019, it’s now going full steam ahead on next-gen connectivity. This year only two of the S20 series variants will have 4G – the entry-level S20 and one of the S20+ models. As for the flagship S20 Ultra (thank you for not making your big boy flagship sound like a Viagra brand, Samsung), it will only be available with 5G.

Now let’s get down into the specs.

[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2020/02/samsung-galaxy-s20-plans-pricing-australia/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/samsung-s20-7-410×231.jpeg” title=”Every Samsung Galaxy S20 Phone Plan In Australia” excerpt=”It’s new phone season and Samsung has thrown down the gauntlet with its new S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra devices. It didn’t take Australian telcos long to publish their brand new S20 plans, and we have all of them here for your convenience.”]

Samsung Galaxy S20 Specs

At the entry level we have the S20, which comes in 8GB RAM with 128GB storage (4G) or 12GB RAM with 128GB storage (5G). Next up is the S20+, offering four options- 8GB RAM with 128GB storage on 4G or 12GB RAM/ with either 128GB, 256GB or 512GB storage on 5G.

Is your head spinning yet? If you’ve managed to keep up, we have the big daddy Ultra. It only comes with 5G connectivity, but you can either choose 12GB RAM with 128GB or 256GB storage, or ramp it up to 16GB RAM with 512GB storage. If you’re thinking those beefy specs are going to cost you, you’re right. But we’ll get to that.

Interestingly, last year the most specced out S10+ you could get came with 1TB storage. My guess is that it wasn’t particularly popular (at least the price probably wasn’t) if this year’s equivalent has been this scaled back.

As for the display, this year all three devices have been given a 120Hz refresh rate.

Samsung Galaxy S20 battery

There’s also a significant improvement on the battery life compared to the S10 series, at least on paper. The S20 comes with 4,000mAH, the S20+ with 4,500mAH and the S20 Ultra bumps it all the way up to 5,000mAH. All of them come with fast wireless charge 2.0 and wireless power share. I still haven’t seen this feature work effectively in any brand that does it, at least when it comes to phone-to-phone charging, but maybe I’ll be surprised this time around.

In the very least it will be good for charging wireless earbuds, like the new Galaxy Buds+, which come free with some of the pre-orders.

The 5G will be bigger again, rocking a 4,500mAh battery against the single 256GB storage option.

Other features include Dynamic AMOLED display with an in-screen ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, both of which were new in the S10 range in 2019. The Infinity-0 display, or The Hole as we like to call it, is also back to house the front-facing camera and face-unlock sensor.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Camera

And then there’s the camera.

The S-Series cameras have been fine over the last few years, but have been noticeably eclipsed by competitors such as Huawei, Oppo and Google. The same coud be said for Apple until the iPhone 11 Pro Max came out. It’s still not the best in class, but it finally felt like Apple was showing up for the party.

And now it feels like Samsung might be doing the same. At least when you look at the spec sheet.

The S20 boasts a triple rear setup with 64MP telephoto, 12MP wide and 12MP ultra-wide lenses. At the front it has a 10MP selfie cam. This is a nice bump from last year’s entry-level S10e which only had a dual array on the back and the same MP on the front.

It can spin, too!

The S10+ has the same setup, but also adds a ‘DepthVision’ sensor, otherwise referred to as a Time of Flight (ToF) sensor by other brands.

Where it gets really interesting is with the S20 Ultra. While the telephoto lens is smaller at 48MP and the ultra-wide lens is still at 12MP, the wide-angle lens has been bumped all the way up to 108MP. As for the selfie cam, its sitting at a casual 40MP.

This is a huge leap from last year’s S10+ which only had a 12MP telephoto, 12MP wide-angle and 16MP ultra-wide rear setup (plus ToF on the 5G model) and 10MP front-facing camera.

And Samsung certainly think so, too.

The company is really talking about what its cameras can do now. In addition to the rich image quality more megapixels offer, its also going after the likes of Huawei when it comes to zoom.

It’s been dubbed Space Zoom technology, because why not? It’s said to combine hybrid optic zoom with AI-powered digital zoom to get huge results. For the S20 and S20+ that means 30x zoom. As for the Ultra… it will be apparently reach up to 100x zoom. That’s huge if true.

Considering the detail I was able to see in the moon with Huawei’s P30 pro 50x zoom (albeit you really needed a tripod or stable surface), I can’t wait to actually test this. The demo during the Unpacked stream was… not ideal, but I’ll still wait to see how it goes for myself.

Another interesting feature is ‘Single Take’ which will take capture multiple photos in one shot or video. This basically means that it can simultaneously capture one shot as cropped, as a live focus and in ultra-wide, meaning that you get those options without having to re-shoot. This functionality is also available with video.

Speaking of which, every S20 phone will be able to shoot in 8K, which makes sense since Samsung is pushing hard on 8K TVs. In fact, the press release boasts being able to stream 8K phone footage to an 8K TV. They will also all have Super Steady capability, which uses AI motion analysis to stabilise video shooting.

While the array on this thing scares me about as much as the Pixel 4’s did, I can forgive aesthetics if the photos and video are as hot as those numbers imply.

I guess we’ll find out once it comes in for review.

And since we’re talking about numbers, let’s get down to them. Here are all the key specs for the entire range laid out for you.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Samsung Galaxy S20+ Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
Operating System Android 10 Android 10 Android 10
Display 6.2-inch Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED, 2X Infinity O Display (3200X1440), HDR10+, 120Hz 6.7-inch Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED, 2X Infinity O Display (3200X1440), HDR10+, 120Hz 6.9-inch Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED, 2X Infinity O Display (3200X1440), HDR10+, 120Hz
Body 151.7 x 69.1 x 7.9mm, 163g 161.9 x 73.7 x 7.8mm, 188g 166.9 x 76.0 x 8.8mm, 222g
Camera Rear:Ultra Wide 12MP F2.2, Wide-angle 12MP F1.8, Telephoto: 64MP. Front: 10MP F2.2 Rear:Ultra Wide 12MP F2.2, Wide-angle 12MP F1.8, Telephoto: 64MP, DepthVision sensor. Front: 10MP F2.2 Rear:Ultra Wide 12MP F2.2, Wide-angle 108MP F1.8, Telephoto: 48MP, DepthVision sensor. Front: 40MP F2.2
SIM SIM and eSIM SIM and eSIM SIM and eSIM
Processor Exynos 990 Exynos 990 Exynos 990
Memory/Storage 8GB RAM/128GB storage (4G) or 12GB RAM/128GB storage (5G) 8GB RAM/128GB storage (4G) or 12GB RAM/ with 128GB/256GB/512GB storage (5G) 12GB RAM/128GB storage or 16GB/512GB storage (5G)
Water Resistance IP68 IP68 IP68
Battery 4,000 mAH with 25W fast charge and fast wireless charging 2.0 4,500 mAH with 25W fast charge and fast wireless charging 2.0 5,000 mAH with 45W fast charge and fast wireless charging 2.0
Connectivity 4G or 5G 4G or 5G 5G
Colours Cosmic Grey, Cloud Blue, Cloud Pink Cosmic Grey, Cloud Blue, Cosmic Black Cosmic Grey, Cosmic Black
Price $1,349 for 8GB/128GB + 4G, $1,499 for 12GB/128GB + 5G $1,499 for 8GB + 128GB + 4G, $1,649 for 12GB/128GB + 5G, $1,899 for 12GB/512GB + 5G $1,999 for 12GB/128GB + 5G, $2,249 for 16GB/512GB + 5G

When it comes to Australian pricing, you have some options – mostly because there are so many damn SKUs. You can see the full list in the table above.

There will be three colour options to choose from for the S20 (Cosmic Grey, Cloud Blue, Cloud Pink) and it will start at $1,349.

The Galaxy S20 will have the same colour options but will start at $1,499.

And then there’s the Ultra. It comes in Cosmic Grey or Cosmic Black and the cheapest you’ll be able to get it for is $1,999 for the 12GB/128GB version. If you want to go all out for 16GB RAM and 512GB storage, it will set you back $2,249.

While this is $150 less than last year’s biggest flagship, it’s still the price of a fancy laptop. Will it be worth it this time around? We’ll have to wait and see.

The Samsung Galaxy S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra will be available for pre-order from February 12 and on sale from March 6. Customers who pre-order a S20+ or S20 Ultra will also receive a pair of Galaxy Buds+, which have an RRP of $299.


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