BEST NOT IN SHOW
TESTED SAMSUNG GALAXY S20 ULTRA
Price from R27 000 / samsung.com/za
No limits. No compromises. The Samsung Galaxy as designed by Jurassic Park’s John Hammond. The S20 Ultra takes everything we’ve come to expect from a Galaxy phone, then gives it a stunning high-refresh-rate screen and a set of cameras that could embarrass a DSLR.
Throw in hardware that could rival a desktop PC, 5G connectivity and a colossal battery, and you’ve got the blueprint for what all future flagship phones should look like… only you can put an S20 Ultra in your pocket today.
Give yourself a big hand
The familiar mix of glass and metal is instantly recognisable as a Galaxy phone, with screen bezels that have shrunk even further to the edges, but the S20 Ultra’s styling feels a little conservative. The display has lost its prominent curves, and your only colour choices are black and grey. Then again, if you want cutting-edge design, there’s always the folding Galaxy Z Flip on p34.
The 6.9in screen makes the S20 Ultra both taller and chunkier than an iPhone 11 Pro Max, and you’ll struggle to use it one-handed unless you’ve got mitts like Andre the Giant. The in-display fingerprint sensor is easier to reach now it’s further up the screen, but can be a little sluggish to detect your digits.
The chunky camera bump is impossible to miss on the back of this phone. A case will help it blend in better, and stop the glass from becoming a fingerprint magnet.
Bokeh boomer
An impressive camera count is the main reason to buy an Ultra over the vanilla Galaxy S20, with a whopping 108MP main snapper joined by a 48MP telephoto good for 100x hybrid zoom and a 12MP wide-angle, plus a 40MP front-facer for selfies. There’s even a depth sensor for giving your portraits a bokeh blur.
The 108MP sensor is physically bigger than anything else you’ll
