Durability test videos reveal Galaxy S20 Ultra’s amazing build quality

The Galaxy S20 Ultra is the most specced-out smartphone right now, no wonder it costs a whopping $1,400 for the entry-level, 128GB variant. But how durable is it? Would it last a few years to show your money’s worth? Going by a durability test video published by JerryRigEverything, the phone appears to be extremely well-built.

The phone’s body is made using a combination of high-grade aluminum chassis and Gorilla Glass 6. As usual, the Gorilla Glass 6 panels at the front and rear of the phone start showing signs of scratches with Mohs pick level 6, and deeper grooves start to appear with Mohs pick level 7. This means that it won’t pick up scratches by fingernails. Although there’s a huge camera bump at the rear, the lens won’t get easily scratched.

The video also shows how densely packed the Galaxy S20 Ultra’s body is. Those massive camera sensors, the periscope-style optical zoom lens, and a 5000mAh battery take a lot of space inside the phone. The chassis of the phone is solid, and it didn’t bend even though Zack Nelson put all his power to it.

PhoneBuff’s video pits the Galaxy S20 Ultra against the iPhone 11 Pro Max in a comparison drop test, and the former comes out on top. The Samsung smartphone sustained much less damage, owing to its slightly better build quality and Gorilla Glass 6 protection on the front as well as the rear. The iPhone, which uses an unspecified version of Gorilla Glass, sustained more damage.

Have a look at the drop test comparison video below.

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Galaxy S20’s 120Hz refresh rate is awesome despite the limitations

Samsung’s move to displays with high refresh rates has come later than most other players in the Android smartphone market. But the Korean giant made up for the delay by going straight to 120Hz refresh rate instead of slapping a 90Hz display on its latest flagship, the Galaxy S20 series. The Galaxy S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra are the world’s first smartphones to feature 120Hz OLED displays, and after just a short time of using the S20+, I’ve realized that adjusting to anything less than 120Hz refresh rate is going to be extremely tough to do.

Refresh rate, according to its definition on Google, is “the frequency with which the image on a computer monitor or similar electronic display screen is refreshed, usually expressed in hertz.” A 60Hz display refreshes the image on-screen 60 times every second, a 120Hz screen refreshes the image 120 times, and so on. What that means in layman terms is that every kind of moving content, such as a movie, game, or a GIF, is a result of a bunch of static images being displayed on-screen in quick succession to simulate motion, and the faster the refresh rate, the faster and smoother everything from movies and games to simple animations and scrolling will seem.

Limitations aside, high refresh rate displays make a big difference

And, on the Galaxy S20, the smoother user interface animations and scrolling make all the difference in the world. Samsung’s One UI skin is beautiful, and it feels even more so on my Galaxy S20+. On the Galaxy S10+ and Note 10+, the animations for when you scroll through an app or when you open an app look positively laggy in comparison. It’s not that the S10+ and Note 10+ are actually laggy, but the fact that their displays can’t refresh as quickly as the display on the S20+ makes it seem like the animations stutter on the 2019 flagships.

Again, it’s comparative: If you’ve not used a smartphone display with a high refresh rate before, you won’t find anything wrong with your Galaxy S10, Note 10, or any other Galaxy smartphone in day-to-day use. But once you’ve had the pleasure of using one of the Galaxy S20 smartphones for a few hours, you will instantly start noticing how your existing smartphone — whether it’s a flagship, mid-range, or budget device — doesn’t seem to be as fast as you thought it was before you picked up a Galaxy S20.

In fact, it’s making me dread having to use other Galaxy smartphones with 60Hz displays to review them in the coming months – the 120 Hz display on the Galaxy S20 is that good. Many wonder what all the excitement for high refresh rate displays is all about – I was one of them until I started using the Galaxy S20+, and I’m now a total believer. I really hope high refresh rate displays will become more commonplace across Galaxy devices of all segments despite some of their limitations.

What limitations are those? Well, first of all, the high refresh rate results in noticeable reduction in battery life. Secondly, the 120 Hz screen mode doesn’t stay active all the time. As we had reported when the Galaxy S20 went official, the phone reverts to 60 Hz refresh rate when the device temperature goes above 42C, when apps like Camera and Google Maps are being used, and when battery life goes below 5%. And, the problem is, the Galaxy S20+ does tend to easily heat up, especially if you take a lot of photos and if you record 8K videos.

And it doesn’t seem like the phone waits to reach 5% charge, either. I noticed the refresh rate going low even at 15% battery life, so there are plenty of situations where the phone doesn’t let you enjoy the 120Hz refresh rate. Yes, you also can’t use 120Hz with the maximum screen resolution. I don’t exactly see a problem with that, but if you do, there’s hope Samsung will remove the resolution limitation with a software update in the future or at least on its next 2020 flagship.

We’ll have more to tell you about the high refresh rate displays on the Galaxy S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra in our upcoming reviews, but if you need a single word answer to whether or not the 120Hz screen on Samsung’s new flagship series is a solid reason to make the purchase, our response is a resounding yes.

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Weekly SamMobile Quiz 16 – Come test your Samsung knowledge!

Consider yourself a superfan of Samsung? Take our quiz and see how many answers you can get right! This is a fun activity that we do with our readers every week to test their knowledge of our favorite company. The quiz has a mix of easy and difficult questions that most fans should be able to answer without turning to Google.

We intend to make a new quiz for you every weekend so we hope that you’ll participate and learn a thing or two about Samsung in the process! Don’t forget to share the results of the quiz with your friends and see if you can outscore them. A little competition never hurt anybody!

Remember, if the quiz isn’t loading properly, please access the non-AMP version of this webpage.

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Caviar unveils the Galaxy S21, a gold-wrapped Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra

If you thought $5,210 for the Caviar Galaxy Z Flip was too high-of-a-price for what is essentially a standard Z Flip wrapped in gold then you might want to strap yourselves in. The Russian luxury brand has now announced a special edition Galaxy S20 Ultra, called the Galaxy S21, which is even more ostentatious than the foldable device. It has a starting price of 344,000 rubles ($5,049) but can cost as much as 2,690,000 rubles or the rough equivalent of $39,544.

Despite the moniker, the so-called Galaxy S21 is simply a Galaxy S20 Ultra adorned with materials including gold, onyx, rubies, sapphires, etc. Caviar seemingly targets gambling enthusiasts with its latest creation and describes these expensive products as lucky charms…

As a result, the company created four variants of the same device, one for each playing card suit, as well as a fifth variant whose back panel resembles a Joker card. No, not the DC Comics Joker that was stamped on the back of the Galaxy Z Flip, but an actual Joker card from a regular set of playing cards.

It’s those four-suit models that cost 344,000 rubles ($5,049) each. For the Joker variant, customers will have to pay a staggering 2,690,000 rubles ($39,544).

The Galaxy S21 design backstory makes little sense, but the target audience probably doesn’t care

As usual, Caviar is releasing its Galaxy S21 in limited quantities. Only 21 copies of each model will be created, and as if to further hammer home the fact that this series was created for gambling enthusiasts, the number 21 is not coincidental.

It wasn’t chosen because the Galaxy S21 is oh so much better than the Galaxy S20 Ultra that it requires a sequel’s name. Instead, Caviar confirmed that ’21’ was picked simply because it represents the best combination of cards you can achieve in BlackJack.

This doesn’t explain why a Joker card would be required in a deck of BlackJack (it isn’t) and why there’s no 10-value card (like a King or Queen) to go along with the four Aces.

In other words, the design backstory of the Galaxy S21 makes as much sense as paying nearly $40,000 for a smartphone wrapped in gold. And I suspect that people who would be willing to buy the Galaxy S21 won’t care even a bit about these inconsistencies. I know I don’t, at the end of the day, but then again, I’m not the target audience.

Galaxy-Блэкджек. Российский бренд эксклюзивных лимитированных смартфонов и аксессуаров Caviar представил свое видение Samsung Galaxy S20. О дизайне смартфонов в стиле игральных карт читаем здесь: https://t.co/q2jMqJeob0 pic.twitter.com/LNzbWufM3x

— Samsung Russia (@SamsungRussia) March 6, 2020

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Galaxy A31 won’t dodge the market for much longer, support page is live

The Galaxy A31 is already a little bit late to the party if we consider the fact that its predecessor was announced 13 months ago. The good news is that we might not have to wait for much longer before we’ll be able to buy it. That is, at least in Russia, where Samsung appears to have made the necessary preparations on its website ahead of the Galaxy A31’s release.

Discovered by our colleagues over at GalaxyClub, the official support page for the Galaxy A31 in Russia is now live. The page doesn’t contain any details pertaining to the device itself, nor does it reveal the phone’s design, but its existence strongly hints at an imminent launch.

We have had some bits of information regarding the phone’s specifications for some time. A couple of months ago we reported how the Galaxy A31 should have a 48-megapixel main camera, same as the Galaxy A51, and an even larger 5,000mAh battery. Storage options should include 64GB and 128GB, and a recent benchmark revealed that the device is seemingly powered by the MediaTek Helio P65 chipset as opposed to an Exynos SoC developed in-house.

Of course, the Galaxy A31 won’t be limited to the Russian market even though support pages don’t seem to be live anywhere else just yet. Reports of the Galaxy A31 being planned for a European release have been floating around for a few weeks now. Pricing details are unknown but it could cost around €250, give or take. We’ll keep you up to speed as soon as we find out more so stay tuned.

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Daily Deal: 35% off a renewed Samsung Galaxy S9

Although the Galaxy S9 was released a couple of years ago, it still remains one of the most popular devices. Reason is that, even compared to today’s smartphones, it’s fast, reliable and has a good display setup. As concluded in our review, we love the performance and improvements Samsung implemented. You can now lay your hands on one of these for little money as the renewed devices are on sale at 35% off! They are Certified Refurbished and come with a 90-day warranty so there’s nothing to worry about.

Hit the Buy Now button below to get a renewed Samsung Galaxy S9 before they sell out!

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Galaxy A41 running Android 10 gets Wi-Fi and Bluetooth approval

The upcoming Galaxy A41 has been approved by two big regulatory agencies earlier today, namely the Wi-Fi Alliance, and Bluetooth. The device carries the model number ‘SM-A415F’ and Bluetooth outright confirms that the final product will be released as the Galaxy A41 – not that this would surprise anyone who can put two and two together and has a bit of knowledge on Samsung’s history with model numbers.

The Wi-Fi Alliance application for the Galaxy A41 doesn’t reveal a lot about the device, aside from it running Android 10, while Bluetooth simply confirms that the phone will have Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity. This is par for the course, but the fact that the phone has been approved by two regulatory bodies on the same day could indicate that Samsung is readying the device for the consumer market.

In theory, the Galaxy A41 should be around the corner, as it’s been a year since its predecessor, the Galaxy A40, was introduced. On the other hand, Samsung hasn’t been very true to its usual yearly launch schedule for the Galaxy A (2020) series, so it’s difficult to predict exactly when the Galaxy A41 might debut.

The smartphone’s 3,500mAh battery was also approved by Safety Korea last month, and alleged press renders showcasing the overall design have also leaked this week. All the clues so far point toward an official announcement by the end of the month, but we’ll have to wait for Samsung to confirm whether or not it will happen.

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