It has almost become sort of a tradition for Galaxy S smartphones to be excellent high-end devices that are unable to keep up with their competitors in all aspects of smartphone life. For example, browsing the web Is slower, battery life is shorter, charging takes longer, Wi-Fi performance is lower, and other smartphones offer more storage at the same price point. European customers with Exynos-based S20 devices take an extra hit as those SKUs offer a lower performance than their Snapdragon siblings and a less flexible 5G support to boot.

That said the Samsung Galaxy S20 remains a very good high-end smartphone with a slim and narrow case that people with small hands will very much appreciate. It also offers a modern and almost conservative design as well as a low weight.

Its up-to-date good-looking software is a blast to use, it offers a very wide array of supported LTE frequencies, and a very fast 4G or even 5G modem. Its camera takes great photos, particularly in low light, and the latest patch fixed many of the issues reported by early adopters. Its flexible triple-lens camera with finely adjustable hybrid-optical zoom can be considered run-of-the-mill quality in the high-end smartphone segment, but that did not keep us from really liking it. A lot. The display is once again superb, and can easily outshine all of its competitors with ease, and both brightness and color accuracy have been improved over its predecessor.

We were not particularly fond of its high temperatures under load and the CPU’s heavy thermal throttling. Considering the S20’s significantly improved battery life that is a real pity.

The Samsung Galaxy S20 offers improved battery life, an extremely bright display, and good cameras. Unfortunately, it does also have its unique set of quirks.