Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus 5G long-term review: a lot of power, little juice

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus 5G has been around for a long time - it was only recently Samsung Galaxy S20FE presented. I used the Samsung flagship for a few months and will go into the most important points in this long-term test.

A few months ago, Samsung provided us with a test device for the Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus 5G. At this point, thanks to Samsung for providing the test device for a generous amount of time. The smartphone mainly accompanied me in everyday life for several months. In this long-term test, I will draw a detailed conclusion after several months of use. First of all: It's a great smartphone, but it has one major weakness.

Handy and well made

In addition to AKG headphones, the box also contains a SIM needle, a USB-C power supply and charger, along with a quick start guide. If you open the box, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus 5G comes straight towards you. This is well packed and equipped with a protective film ex works. There is no case or other accessories in the package.

As usual, Samsung can't complain about the design and workmanship. The buttons have a good pressure point, only I personally don't really like the huge camera surface on the back. Here one could have proceeded much more discreetly and not so prominently. The grip is also really good - with a weight of around 186 grams, it is fairly safe and comfortable to hold.

Liquid and hot

With the 6,7-inch display, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus 5G can really score. This has a resolution of up to 3200 x 1440 pixels (WQHD +) and offers a refresh rate of up to 120 Hertz. However, both cannot be combined - either FHD + (2400 x 1080) and 120 Hz or 60 Hz and the highest resolution. In combination, the best of both worlds would have been incredibly good, but the battery would have suffered even more than it currently does. But more on that later.

The camera hole on the top is pretty inconspicuous and doesn't bother us. (Image: © 2020 TechnikNews)

The color representation of the Samsung display panel convinced me again - strong colors, good contrast thanks to AMOLED and adjustable white balance. I also really liked the inconspicuous notch, more like a “camera hole” on the top of the display. The flagship gets my full score for the display, but I would be in favor of a compromiss of 90 Hz and WQHD+ for that.

An always-on display is also on board, which discreetly shows the time and notifications, shown as an app icon. Well done, but it pulls even more on the battery.

5G fast and warm

Many Samsung users will probably be familiar with the word warm from their own device. Here, too, it's the same problem - oh, Samsung! Inside is the Exynos 990 octa-core processor. This, together with its 8 or 12 gigabytes of RAM (depending on the variant), makes it quite warm in the hand. It can happen that the Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus 5G warms up with a simple restart. Things like updating apps or installing system updates also have a thermal impact.

On the back it gets quite warm at times. (Image: © 2020 TechnikNews)

Otherwise, the 5G processor delivers very good performance in everyday life, great multitasking and fast speeds in the 5G network. In our test report in Drei's 5G network in Linz The Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus was also there, which did well. Things like the "Service Mode" that Samsung offers and the filled or not filled 5G display in the status bar were quite helpful for the test. With the latter, you always knew immediately whether 5G is currently active or not - other smartphones, for example, permanently display 5G, although it currently only uses the 4G network. Such things are measured on other smartphones from the competition.

128 GB or 512 GB (depending on the variant) are available as data storage - expandable by up to 1 TB using a microSD card. That can really be seen.

Battery full and empty quickly

The biggest criticism is the poor battery life of the Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus 5G. This problem can be found across the board review reports of our colleagues. Our editor Nils, who Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra tested, found the same problem with his model. A problem that Samsung has had for a long time - mainly caused by the Exynos - and that they just can't get under control. This criticism does not appear in test reports on the S20 Plus with Qualcomm processor.

The smartphone didn't even last a full day, and you don't have to reckon with more than three to four hours of SOT (Screen-On-Time) - but without 5G and without a permanently activated always-on display. You can probably achieve a bit more with deactivated 120 Hz and a lower resolution. But this value - it can be said directly - does not do justice to a flagship for this price.

But there is hope for those who are pampered with power outlets: the S20 Plus recharges fully in just over an hour. A 25-watt fast charger is included in the scope of delivery, Samsung calls this "Super fast charging". As you can imagine, this only works fastest with the original charger. It charges wirelessly with 15 watts, regardless of which charger you use.

With "Wireless PowerShare", the flagship is generous and can wirelessly charge other devices on the back. According to the manufacturer, the 4.500 mAh battery should last up to 17 hours in Wi-Fi - that will never run out. After several months of daily use, this problem has not been resolved, and even after several updates, nothing has improved.

Good camera and wide zoom

After a point of considerable criticism, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus 5G, on the other hand, can convince again with the camera review. Strong colors, good contrast, wide zoom and good close-ups. All of this is thanks to the quad camera, which is set up as follows: 12 MP (f / 2.2, wide-angle), 12 MP (f / 1.8, ultra-wide-angle), 64 MP (f / 2.2, zoom), 0.6 MP (f / 1.0, Time of Flight). The latter ToF sensor is used for distance measurement and depth detection of subjects.

The camera could have been a bit more subtle and less protruding. (Image: © 2020 TechnikNews)

This overall package on the back does not sound bad on the data sheet and keeps what it promises, even in everyday life. Let's take a look at it with a few test photos that have been taken over the past few months - there are also some motifs at night with night mode, 30x zoom and HDR.

The following images are absolutely unprocessed, but compressed without loss in order to keep the loading times and memory consumption of the website low.

Samsung Galaxy S20 + 5G: test photos

Software good but sluggish

I was surprised by Samsung's good update policy - every month the latest security patch came right at the start of the month, always together with some improvements and bug fixes. I wasn't used to that from previous models and it really surprised me in a positive way. Nevertheless, I'm not really a fan of One UI: Even though the interface has been cleaned up and polished in the latest version 2.x, it is sometimes really sluggish. Loading lists, such as apps, and searching in the settings takes an unusually long time, which then slows down the Exynos processor, which is actually so fast.

With the last update in November 2020, the situation has improved significantly and the software now runs really well and performs well. Samsung seems to be aware of these problems and regularly improves them with updates.

Waterproof and Dolby Atmos

The water resistance of the S20 Plus (IP68) is also worth mentioning, together with the possibility of Dolby Atmos sound, which sounds really good in everyday life, especially with films. The speakers also deliver good performance with music: good bass, clear highs and good lows. Compared to other smartphones in this price range, they also play relatively loud. The conversation volume is also pretty good during phone calls and you can understand your conversation partner really well even with a lot of background noise.

The fingerprint sensor is reliable and fast, but you should switch off the animations so that it is even faster. (Image: © 2020 TechnikNews)

Furthermore, all models of the S20 series can be expanded with a microSD card or are dual SIM capable. So either two SIM cards or one SIM and a memory card. However, 5G only works with the first SIM card, which is a bit of a shame with two 5G SIMs. The fingerprint sensor in the display also worked quickly and reliably, but you should definitely deactivate the unlock animation to make it faster. This can be easily changed under Settings> "Biometric data and security"> "Fingerprints"> "Show unlock animation".

tl; dr - conclusion

So what can I say about the Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus 5G? A very well-made flagship with good performance, a top camera and regular updates, which really caught my attention and convinced me as a "Samsung user again". If it weren't for the problem with the battery: you can't quite make it through the day with the S20 Plus 5G, even with the most stripped-down settings. The heatproThe Exynos' problem is a really annoying shortcoming that Samsung seems to have been struggling with for ages. They really need to get to grips with this and get the problem under control with the successor.

If I had to recommend the smartphone a few months ago at an initial price of just under 1.000 euros, I would not have done so. At this point in time, the price-performance ratio was simply not possible with this catastrophic battery life. At currently around 700 euros, I give the device a chance and would recommend it - but not to anyone who does not regularly have a socket for charging at work or during the day nearby. Otherwise you get a good overall package and - apart from the battery life - probably the best Samsung smartphone so far.

And I must have really liked it - otherwise, with four months of almost continuous use, it wouldn't have been so long with me.