**** The Official Samsung Galaxy S20 Family Thread ****

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After reading a ton of reviews I really think that the S20 is worth skipping IF you already own an S10. Not only is the price astronomical even for the "basic" S20, but the fact that 5G is still offered as an additional extra model to milk even more money out of consumers really irks me.

Agreed. Although I'm coming from former Windows Phone Flagship Lumia 920 from 2012, so... Yeah. It's quite an upgrade. :)

I will buy an S30 when 5G is standard in all models and even then a few months after release when the prices reduce, like always, by 20-30%.

Do flagship phones even come down in price? Because everywhere I look it's always largely the same price even months afterwards. It's only when they're closing in on their EOL when prices start coming down I've noticed.

Buying a new phone on release really is a mugs game nowadays.

Well, I guess it depends on your needs then. :)

I need a phone, I need access to Whatsapp again (means Android or iOS, but I'm not going for Apple because its camera is not what I'm after), I need a camera (decent one at least, and the S20 Ultra takes my fancy :) ), I need a device that can actually last for more than a few hours (the Lumia 920 can hold a charge for a whole day nearly; 12 hours worth, but if calls and internet is used, wifi or mobile, it goes down quick these days, and the Apple alternative isn't what I'm after), and I need it effectively "now" (could have gone for pre and current gen stuff, but compared to the S20 Ultra, they fall behind, so why put in £650 for a new S10 when I can put in a bit more for the upgraded camera and slightly longer support? (compared to the S10 that is), and if dragged out like the Lumia 920 expect it to still be functional and viable in 6-8 years down the line?).
 
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Samsung phones reduce in price pretty quickly tbf, not as much as they do in the US but no doubt you’ll find a good deal in a few months
 
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Samsung phones reduce in price pretty quickly tbf, not as much as they do in the US but no doubt you’ll find a good deal in a few months

Do you mean deal as in part of a telecoms monthly package or sim-free? As package, yeah, I've seen them come down too. Sim-Free, not so much from what I've seen, but I haven't kept an eye on the Samsung Sim-Free section for that long, so if that too gets a cut, that'll be nice for those waiting.

Unfortunately, waiting is not something I can afford to do anymore (have been waiting since last year looking at the XPeria 1) and it's got to a point where it's no longer viable to wait. :(
 
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Samsung phones reduce in price pretty quickly tbf, not as much as they do in the US but no doubt you’ll find a good deal in a few months

They do over here as well but unofficially - I mean as in ebay sites and prices etc.

( I always buy new phones on ebay / wonda mobiles from large sellers without any issues. ) I know the note 10 plus was £400 cheaper for a grey import months after it came out.
 
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The issue with grey imports is the warranty. If you're willing to accept the additional risk, there are big savings to be made.
 
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They do over here as well but unofficially - I mean as in ebay sites and prices etc.

( I always buy new phones on ebay / wonda mobiles from large sellers without any issues. ) I know the note 10 plus was £400 cheaper for a grey import months after it came out.
Gonna start paying more attention to eBay!
Seem some good deals on iPhones shortly after launch for example.
 
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Gonna start paying more attention to eBay!
Seem some good deals on iPhones shortly after launch for example.

Grey imports of Mate 20x, P20 Pro, P30 Pro all working fine still ! ( Family got the ones I didn't use any more for free )
Most of the power sellers offer a RTB warranty to places like europe or china. Its def a risk but I have saved £1000 - £2000 on uk prices

Have to do your research though on the sellers and warranty ofc.
 
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The iphone 11 is a top tier camera phone. The s20 U was never likely to trounce it, particularly on pre-release software.

Agreed. On the hardware front, it certainly favours the S20 Ultra, but I do like that it competes and certainly holds well against the iphone. Although in that youtube review, I personally thought that the iphone shots were not colour accurate according to what I see on screen, as I've calibrated my screen and the iphone images were very off in more pictures than not. The Focus and other issues "may" be software fixable, unsure. That does raise an exclamaition mark in my head, but again, out of time to wait and see for later releases now unfortuantely, so it's what to choose from what's available "now" for me. So will tough it out on the S20 Ultra anyway.

As for grey imports, well. For a secondary phone (which I will aim for later on), I may do so. But for a primary device, rather than deal with any potential hassle, will stick to a local one.
 
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Agreed. Although I'm coming from former Windows Phone Flagship Lumia 920 from 2012, so... Yeah. It's quite an upgrade. :)

QUOTE]

I'm not alone, finally ditching my Lumia 950XL for the cosmic grey Ultra.
I was waiting for the Xperia 1 ii Pro, but its still in dev and limited markets so may not even make it to the UK. :mad::mad:
I have been rocking a PAYG three SIM for the last week, to test what they are like where I live, seem alright for data so that is who I'm going with as the 100Mhz of contiguous spectrum for 5G is a winner for me.
The only downside is a March 27th delivery date, its going to be a long month...
 
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I'm not alone, finally ditching my Lumia 950XL for the cosmic grey Ultra.

Previously had the 950XL too, but fortunately after about 10-11 months from its purchase, the battery developed a fault and the then repair group was totally inadequate at handling it. Was able to go back to Microsoft Store and tell them that I'm without a phone for too long a period (the purpose of the phone itself, also dropped hint that medical and work needs to be able to reach me and without mobile was an issue), and they refunded the entire phone back to me. But that of course set me back to the 920, so a further step back in time and an even greater upgrade now. Although I'm going for Cosmic Black here, the other colours don't match my typical look unfortunately.

The only downside is a March 27th delivery date, its going to be a long month...

You buying the phone outright Sim-Free? If so, can see the shortage there. I'm going with my carrier, so a bit easier, mine should arrive or I can pick up on the 8th.
 
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Here's my take on the Galaxy S20 cameras that I'll be putting on the website at some point:

- The S20 Ultra's autofocus is straight-up broken in the current firmware. But it's also 100% fixable with a patch.
- At 4x-10x, the Ultra's zoom is really good if there's enough light.


- The S20 Ultra's 108MP sensor is useful only in very specific situations but you don't get much additional detail at full-res.
- The main S20/S20+ sensor is great in almost all situations. Give this to me on every phone.
- Samsung still softens facial detail to a stupid degree


This is my sticking point, actually. Sure, give me a dozen cameras and plenty of versatility but if my daughter's face is a painting because I'm sitting indoors and she's not completely still, go back to the drawing board.

Google and Apple figured this out already.

I'd really hoped that bigger sensors + Snapdragon 865 + improved computation would have fixed this by now, but nope.

Tldr these are really good cameras that are hugely improved over last year's phones, with one glaring flaw that affects people who take a lot of photos of people, mainly kids, indoors.

Also Single Take is almost good but all the videos have dumb songs attached to them.

https://twitter.com/journeydan/status/1232461287667326977?s=21


Sad to see Samsung is still obsessively smoothing faces, I know this is a big thing in the Asia market but it’s horrible imo. Puts me off their phones completely
 
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