Samsung Galaxy Unpacked - 5 New Devices Released

[Origami Cactus]

21 hours ago, SeraphicWings said:

ONE THOUSAND DOLLAR for a 1080p 60Hz screen and, wait for it, PLASTIC phone

 

plastic

 

P

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Not even Apple can reach this level of dickhead at cost cutting

Seems like someone hasn't held a polycarbonate phone in their hands. While polycarbonate can be called plastic sure, it is way nicer than actual plastic phones, and imo it feels way nicer than glass backs. Glass backs just shouldn't exist on phones. Ceramic is very nice too though.

[D13H4RD]

5 hours ago, LAwLz said:

Samsung has promises "3 generations of updates"! The last couple of generations Samsung devices have only gotten 2 "generations of updates", and then 1 year of security updates. This essentially means that Samsung phones will essentially match Google's Pixel line in terms of support, which is really good (but a far cry from Apple's support). The reason for using "generations" rather than year is apparently because Android update release can change a few months in either direction, and they don't want to end up in a situation where a big Android update gets released like the month after the 3 year period is up.

That is indeed very good news. I’ve always felt that Samsung since the S7/S8 have been improving their update game in terms of consistency. They used to absolutely suck in that regard but it’s nice to see them at the very least match Google in terms of how long a device is supported for.

 

LG on the other hand......

[LAwLz]

1 hour ago, D13H4RD said:

That is indeed very good news. I’ve always felt that Samsung since the S7/S8 have been improving their update game in terms of consistency. They used to absolutely suck in that regard but it’s nice to see them at the very least match Google in terms of how long a device is supported for.

 

LG on the other hand......

Yeah they have really stepped up their update game.

They have already launched a closed beta for Android 11 on the Galaxy S20, and the latest Android security patches were released simultaneously on some Samsung and the Pixel devices. So right now, Samsung is pretty much on par with Google in terms of updates, not just in terms of number of updates, but also speed.

 

I wonder if Google have made some deal with Samsung for this to happen.

[Commodus]

17 hours ago, valdyrgramr said:

Well, I'm aware there are other options at the moment.   But, there are also phones better than most flagships when it comes to that kind of audio.   LG, for example, has put a dac in phones.   But, a lot of these "trends" are pissing people off and companies are backpedaling/toning it down at the same time.

I've seen tweaks... but really, the point is to accept that the "I will never buy again until they restore feature X" strategy rarely works. Companies seldom decide to reverse course because of a handful of outspoken people online; they respond to sales, and most people just aren't as exacting about what they'll accept. Standing on principle can be a good thing sometimes; refusing to adapt to reality is not.

 

[Doobeedoo]

New tablet looks nice. As for Note lineup it's underwhelming. The Ultra one is even step down in some things vs even S Ultra though. Especially for that very high price. Camera setup is odd, compared to main camera ultra-wide is always scuffed, it's not even native resolution with 120Hz, battery is not as big or as fast charging, lower storage/memory configs, so it's a larger S20 Ultra with cut downs and with S pen, for €1350. Meh.

[Commodus]

2 hours ago, D13H4RD said:

That is indeed very good news. I’ve always felt that Samsung since the S7/S8 have been improving their update game in terms of consistency. They used to absolutely suck in that regard but it’s nice to see them at the very least match Google in terms of how long a device is supported for.

 

LG on the other hand......

It is good news. Now, if Samsung could fix its two other issues: taking half a year to deliver OS updates, and tending to abandon lower-cost phones quickly. You shouldn't get fewer updates simply because you couldn't justify spending $1K on a flagship.

[dizmo]

10 hours ago, valdyrgramr said:

I asked for stats.  And, just because they haven't yet doesn't mean they won't.  Remember when the major names started following Apple with the notch crap?  They got a lot of shit for it, and they're also getting shit from a lot of people over the lack of a headphone jack.  It took time, but some aren't jumping on that anymore or at least toning it down from that chin and forehead crap to those ugly pinholes.

You're asking for something you know fully well doesn't exist, and I'm not about to compile it for you.

Do you know why they dropped the notch? They went with hole punch cameras; something better. They didn't go back to large foreheads. Just like they won't go back to using the headphone jack. They're really not getting tons of shit from "a lot" of people. Are they getting kickback from a very vocal minority? Sure. Is it affecting phone sales? No. Because most people don't care.

8 hours ago, D13H4RD said:

The XPERIA 1 Mark II

 

That's more of an exception than the norm though because that's not how things go with phones usually. I think many people just shrug and continue their wireless buds on the high end.

Very far from the norm, I'd imagine the main reason they even put it in that device is so that you can put an external mic with a deadkitten on it, to increase your video quality. That phone is more of a professional device than it is a consumer one.

35 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

Yeah they have really stepped up their update game.

They have already launched a closed beta for Android 11 on the Galaxy S20, and the latest Android security patches were released simultaneously on some Samsung and the Pixel devices. So right now, Samsung is pretty much on par with Google in terms of updates, not just in terms of number of updates, but also speed.

 

I wonder if Google have made some deal with Samsung for this to happen.

I'm thinking it has more to do with the work Google has been doing on the backend to make updates easier to roll out. Less work for Samsung means it's more likely to happen, as it costs them less.

4 minutes ago, Doobeedoo said:

New tablet looks nice. As for Note lineup it's underwhelming. The Ultra one is even step down in some things vs even S Ultra though. Especially for that very high price. Camera setup is odd, compared to main camera ultra-wide is always scuffed, it's not even native resolution with 120Hz, battery is not as big or as fast charging, lower storage/memory configs, so it's a larger S20 Ultra with cut downs and with S pen, for €1350. Meh.

IIRC the 45w Samsung charging was a joke anyway, and when it was tested it wasn't any faster than the 25w charging. The camera set up, I'd say, is to be expected; the Note is more of a professional phone, if you want all out photography, then you'd go with the Ultra. Even then, the Note has a much better autofocus system, more useful telephoto, and they were already considered one of the best for ultrawide shots with the Note10+, so I don't see that being an issue either, especially given that it has better optical zoom, better pixel size, and a sharper lens; I'd say the trade off in MP won't even be noticed. The phone can't have as large of a battery due to the SPen, but the screen being the first with fully dynamic refresh rate should help considerably. You only lose out on memory at the highest end, otherwise it's the same; 12GB, more than enough for most users.

 

Then you have to factor in the other improvements; the selfie cam as significantly larger pixels, 865+ vs 865, better Gorilla Glass, lighter weight, better storage, wireless Dex.

The S20 Ultra launched $100 more expensive than the Note20 Ultra. I'd say in comparison you're getting good value.

[D13H4RD]

2 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Very far from the norm, I'd imagine the main reason they even put it in that device is so that you can put an external mic with a deadkitten on it, to increase your video quality. That phone is more of a professional device than it is a consumer one.

That's how I feel given that Sony is pushing that phone as a companion tool to a professional workflow in photography/videography with Sony Alpha mirrorless cameras and FS/FX cinema video bodies.

[The Sloth]

12 hours ago, dizmo said:

I can name several that it's left and hasn't returned. Can you name a single one that got rid of it, and brought it back?

Sony, it lost in in 2018 with XZ2 and bought it back with the mark 2. 

[D13H4RD]

Just now, The Sloth said:

Sony, it lost in in 2018 with XZ2 and bought it back with the mark 2. 

That's an exception rather than the norm though, explained one post above yours.

[dizmo]

11 minutes ago, D13H4RD said:

That's how I feel given that Sony is pushing that phone as a companion tool to a professional workflow in photography/videography with Sony Alpha mirrorless cameras and FS/FX cinema video bodies.

Definitely. Especially when you look at the price. I mean, compared to the Note20 Ultra, that thing is very  spec and feature poor, and only $100 less expensive.
Though I would like Samsung to put 10bit panels into their highest end devices.

[The Sloth]

12 hours ago, dizmo said:

Though I would like Samsung to put 10bit panels into their highest end devices.

 

Don't find it table enough for the Galaxy line, Oppo X2 pro and One plus 8 pro has serious display issues, QC is very hit or miss. 

[Doobeedoo]

41 minutes ago, dizmo said:

IIRC the 45w Samsung charging was a joke anyway, and when it was tested it wasn't any faster than the 25w charging. The camera set up, I'd say, is to be expected; the Note is more of a professional phone, if you want all out photography, then you'd go with the Ultra. Even then, the Note has a much better autofocus system, more useful telephoto, and they were already considered one of the best for ultrawide shots with the Note10+, so I don't see that being an issue either, especially given that it has better optical zoom, better pixel size, and a sharper lens; I'd say the trade off in MP won't even be noticed. The phone can't have as large of a battery due to the SPen, but the screen being the first with fully dynamic refresh rate should help considerably. You only lose out on memory at the highest end, otherwise it's the same; 12GB, more than enough for most users.

 

Then you have to factor in the other improvements; the selfie cam as significantly larger pixels, 865+ vs 865, better Gorilla Glass, lighter weight, better storage, wireless Dex.

The S20 Ultra launched $100 more expensive than the Note20 Ultra. I'd say in comparison you're getting good value.

Yeah I know, that charging thing was odd. I was talking about the Ultra versions yeah. The S Ultra has better telephoto, though ok, both all phones have only 12MP ultra-wide compared to main camera. Ultra-wide should get the same attention, even more really you'd want more pixels for it, don't think it even has stabilization. People use ultra-wide way more than telephoto, who cares for that. I'd rather they invest in two great cameras, regular and ultra-wide. As for battery, yeah S pen takes some space, though unnecessary cameras take way more. Dynamic refresh rate is great, though very odd seeing them limit Hz/res though. As for memory and RAM entry model was larger in previous Note than this one as base. That's the thing. They do have that pin to memory thing and Note being for very high end multi tasking and 4K recording 1TB 16GB models doesn't exist for example. So considering all this, especially for this price, it's not a good value.

Selfie camera is worse on Note20 Ultra. Where I am S20 Ultra launched for same price as Note20 Ultra is now. So Note aside from freaking pen, random spec changes vs S series it's just confusing move. €1350 is insane for it.

[dizmo]

34 minutes ago, The Sloth said:

Don't they are stable enough for the Galaxy line, Oppo X2 pro and One plus 8 pro has serious display issues, QC is very hit or miss. 

Ahhh good to know.

14 minutes ago, valdyrgramr said:

So, you have no stats to back your claim while making a massive assumption with 0 numbers to prove it.

Nice dodge.

5 minutes ago, Doobeedoo said:

Yeah I know, that charging thing was odd. I was talking about the Ultra versions yeah. The S Ultra has better telephoto, though ok, both all phones have only 12MP ultra-wide compared to main camera. Ultra-wide should get the same attention, even more really you'd want more pixels for it, don't think it even has stabilization. People use ultra-wide way more than telephoto, who cares for that. I'd rather they invest in two great cameras, regular and ultra-wide. As for battery, yeah S pen takes some space, though unnecessary cameras take way more. Dynamic refresh rate is great, though very odd seeing them limit Hz/res though. As for memory and RAM entry model was larger in previous Note than this one as base. That's the thing. They do have that pin to memory thing and Note being for very high end multi tasking and 4K recording 1TB 16GB models doesn't exist for example. So considering all this, especially for this price, it's not a good value.

Selfie camera is worse on Note20 Ultra. Where I am S20 Ultra launched for same price as Note20 Ultra is now. So Note aside from freaking pen, random spec changes vs S series it's just confusing move. €1350 is insane for it.

Ehhhh not quite. The Note has a better telephoto if you really dig into it. The Note has a sharper lens, larger pixels, more optical zoom and significantly more hybrid zoom. If you're looking at it just from a megapixel aspect, sure it's a larger number, but that doesn't make a better camera.

They probably didn't make a huge memory model because previous versions didn't sell. Samsung will market everything for a bit, and axe the stuff that doesn't make sense. That's likely why that's no longer a thing. Again, with the front facing camera, the one on the Note has much larger pixels than the one on the S20 Ultra. It also has Dual Pixel PDAF instead of just PDAF. So, no, the S20 Ultra is not better just because the MP count is higher. The fact that you don't find the pen useful means this device was never for you in the first place. You seem more camera focused, so yeah, the S20 Ultra is more your device.

 

[ImGoneLol]

Post Removed

[dizmo]

7 hours ago, valdyrgramr said:

Not dodging.  I asked for proof, but instead you provided a baseless assumption.  You assume it is a vocal minority, but have yet to provide me any stats to validate it.  Until you can do that all you are doing is assuming.  Now, we can agree to disagree.  But, your argument is nothing more than assumption since you have nothing to back it with.  What you would need are the stats you are refusing to gather and provide.

I'm not going to bother, as I really don't care what you think enough to back it up with research You'll find out you're wrong in good time.

4 hours ago, RileyDeraes said:

I was honestly a little disappointed. The Note 9 had me hyped, but software at launch was underwhelming so I switched it out for an iPhone. The S10 launch was pretty good too, and I still use an S10e as my daily driver. The Note 10 was disappointing, the Fold was a disaster at first, the S20 didn't seem interesting, and now the Note 20 lineup is just... bad. The Flip is definitely interesting though.

 

It's just such a shame that when Samsung got hardware almost perfect, they improved their software, but then somehow made their hardware worse. Their software is actually pretty good, and I'd be excited about the Microsoft/Windows integration, if it wasn't for the fact that their hardware choices just don't appeal to me. This S10e will probably be my last Samsung device.

 

The Pixel 4a and Asus ROG Phone 3 have both caught my eye, and there's several other brands I'd rather go with than Samsung

Haha, what exactly did you find disappointing? The Note20 Ultra has a ton of improvements over last gens phone. The regular one is rather disappointing, but I think low sales will push it significantly cheaper in a few months and it'll be a great buy.

 

I mean, by the sounds of it you're more into niche devices. The RoG phone has insane spec, however the phone is massive. I am surprised Samsung hasn't jumped into that arena yet, but I imagine they're waiting until their SoC made in conjunction with AMD comes to fruition. That will be a Snapdragon slayer.

[ACEHACK]

nah man this is bullshit, i will stick to my note 9 one more year. that's what i said to myself to note 10 when a device that is targeted toward power users, has less feature than the previous gen for no reason. now note20 is a joke, 128gb, not even 2k 90 hz screen, no jack, no microsd, no iris+facial recognition for unlocking( no idea why, beside it wont fit in the holepunch), no bpm meter from note9, no front facing speaker. is this a joke, like for real , i would pay 600 for that phone and that's being generous. note 20 ultra shouldn't even exist, it should be the base model. note was always the 1 model that Samsung made, which was their absolute overkill flagship phone. now the s is what note should be and note is like their ace series. hopefully other brands will make a phone with pen and edge display that doesn't suck, cause if note 30 is gonna be anything like this, i am out.

[D13H4RD]

Regarding the jack, I really doubt it's gonna make a return on any high end device that has axed it Tbh, with some exceptions. 

 

There just isn't enough of a significant sales drop amid the backlash for it to be controversial enough to make a straight u-turn on such a decision, especially since many people tend to shrug and just keep buying wireless earbuds. 

 

I still dislike the move but I've just come to accept that we likely won't be seeing it make a full return on the high end. The fact that after all this while, only Sony and Motorola brought it back is kinda telling.

[Doobeedoo]

14 hours ago, dizmo said:

Ehhhh not quite. The Note has a better telephoto if you really dig into it. The Note has a sharper lens, larger pixels, more optical zoom and significantly more hybrid zoom. If you're looking at it just from a megapixel aspect, sure it's a larger number, but that doesn't make a better camera.

They probably didn't make a huge memory model because previous versions didn't sell. Samsung will market everything for a bit, and axe the stuff that doesn't make sense. That's likely why that's no longer a thing. Again, with the front facing camera, the one on the Note has much larger pixels than the one on the S20 Ultra. It also has Dual Pixel PDAF instead of just PDAF. So, no, the S20 Ultra is not better just because the MP count is higher. The fact that you don't find the pen useful means this device was never for you in the first place. You seem more camera focused, so yeah, the S20 Ultra is more your device.

 

Yeah I know it's not everything in MPs though, main has laser AF that's good, but yeah it's a big difference in MP even if it offers more optical and hybrid zoom. We'd need to see reviews but yeah. Still, ultra-wide cameras are not good enough as they should be really more attention should've been put into them. People use ultra-wide more than telephoto. 

True that 1TB/16GB model won't really sell much currently, though while axing some things for now, price didn't go down. Ye ok front cam has better AF and larger pixels, we'll see how they compare. Overall still it's a modest difference in some points, ye still, mainly for those that really are into that pen mainly, I do like the pen and they made nice improvements and latency too. Though Note is not worth it if you're not going to use pen for the most part. I mean yeah I'd appreciate more camera improvements rather for sure, mostly want to see main and ultra-wide get equal and proper attention, so that ultra-wide is great and has good AF, low light, recording as you'd expect from main. Telephoto is neat, mostly I'd use as optical. Selfie, they can remove it and put a complete display all I care. 

 

I'm just eyeing on new phones, will still hold a bit on my current, really the only one I'd consider now is Sony Xperia 1 II though.

[spartaman64]

On 8/5/2020 at 9:19 AM, SeraphicWings said:

ONE THOUSAND DOLLAR for a 1080p 60Hz screen and, wait for it, PLASTIC phone

 

plastic

 

P

L

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S

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I

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Not even Apple can reach this level of dickhead at cost cutting

i agree the screen is terrible but i prefer plastic to glass as I dont want to worry about putting my phone down too hard or something. plastic looks much better than cracked glass lol. also its more comfortable to hold and has less smudges. and they cant go with a metal back as that interferes with wireless charging

[suicidalfranco]

the only good thing i've seen here is the poly build on the regular note.

Everythin else: just garbage decision at an unreasonable markup 

[zeusthemoose]

Leaks are showing the Note 20 being available in red, blue, and pink in South Korea

[dizmo]

2 hours ago, Doobeedoo said:

Yeah I know it's not everything in MPs though, main has laser AF that's good, but yeah it's a big difference in MP even if it offers more optical and hybrid zoom. We'd need to see reviews but yeah. Still, ultra-wide cameras are not good enough as they should be really more attention should've been put into them. People use ultra-wide more than telephoto. 

True that 1TB/16GB model won't really sell much currently, though while axing some things for now, price didn't go down. Ye ok front cam has better AF and larger pixels, we'll see how they compare. Overall still it's a modest difference in some points, ye still, mainly for those that really are into that pen mainly, I do like the pen and they made nice improvements and latency too. Though Note is not worth it if you're not going to use pen for the most part. I mean yeah I'd appreciate more camera improvements rather for sure, mostly want to see main and ultra-wide get equal and proper attention, so that ultra-wide is great and has good AF, low light, recording as you'd expect from main. Telephoto is neat, mostly I'd use as optical. Selfie, they can remove it and put a complete display all I care. 

 

I'm just eyeing on new phones, will still hold a bit on my current, really the only one I'd consider now is Sony Xperia 1 II though.

It's not just the zoom level though it's also the larger pixels. They make a huge difference in image quality. Price didn't go down because they added other things. I think the memory, while unfortunate, is probably a decision they made with a great deal of market research; I imagine most people are either fine with 128GB, and if they're not, they'd be even happier with 512GB. I mean, either way, it is expandable. Of course the Note isn't worth it if you're not using the pen; that's its main selling point. That's why people buy it. Haha, personally I think the selfie camera needs the most attention. Make it as good as possible, especially now that people are going to be doing a lot more video calls. Though they didn't know that when the phone was finalized.

 

It's funny how you mention value spec wise, and then bring up the Xperia 1 II...which as arguably the worst spec for the price

I'm curious what this years Zenfone will be like. I'm really hoping they switch to AMOLED for it.

 

[Doobeedoo]

4 minutes ago, dizmo said:

It's not just the zoom level though it's also the larger pixels. They make a huge difference in image quality. Price didn't go down because they added other things. I think the memory, while unfortunate, is probably a decision they made with a great deal of market research; I imagine most people are either fine with 128GB, and if they're not, they'd be even happier with 512GB. I mean, either way, it is expandable. Of course the Note isn't worth it if you're not using the pen; that's its main selling point. That's why people buy it. Haha, personally I think the selfie camera needs the most attention. Make it as good as possible, especially now that people are going to be doing a lot more video calls. Though they didn't know that when the phone was finalized.

 

It's funny how you mention value spec wise, and then bring up the Xperia 1 II...which as arguably the worst spec for the price

I'm curious what this years Zenfone will be like. I'm really hoping they switch to AMOLED for it.

 

Yeah larger pixels is nice, but for ultra-wide you need more, no one focuses on ultra-wide as main camera which is just lame. Both should have great quality, low-light and recording performance. I'd rather see that, those two get the best they can than have 2 other extra cameras that are either useless or just average. 

Yeah Note is for pen focused users true, though it's odd how they separate S and Note though. Could be done better.

 

Yes I expected you'd mentioned about Xperia 1 II in that regard. It's very expensive at €1200, I agree it should be €999 though. But the that phone is for the most part amazing. I like the camera setup aperture approach more. Also, let's be real it's the best looking phone . Others all look same and have the horrid ugly punch hole, phones I'd never buy. Really the only missing neat extra things on Xperia 1 II is mmWave, 120Hz, fast charging, that's why that price stings and should be lower because sans those features. Would be perfect then. On Samsung side, they limit those display settings and their fast charging is iffy as we know. 

Hm ye Zenfone seems they focus more on ROG phone heh. Currently aside from Sony I'll wait to eventually see what will come from OnePlus and will they return with complete display. Google probably won't with Pixel I take.

[dizmo]

23 minutes ago, Doobeedoo said:

Yeah larger pixels is nice, but for ultra-wide you need more, no one focuses on ultra-wide as main camera which is just lame. Both should have great quality, low-light and recording performance. I'd rather see that, those two get the best they can than have 2 other extra cameras that are either useless or just average. 

Yeah Note is for pen focused users true, though it's odd how they separate S and Note though. Could be done better.

 

Yes I expected you'd mentioned about Xperia 1 II in that regard. It's very expensive at €1200, I agree it should be €999 though. But the that phone is for the most part amazing. I like the camera setup aperture approach more. Also, let's be real it's the best looking phone . Others all look same and have the horrid ugly punch hole, phones I'd never buy. Really the only missing neat extra things on Xperia 1 II is mmWave, 120Hz, fast charging, that's why that price stings and should be lower because sans those features. Would be perfect then. On Samsung side, they limit those display settings and their fast charging is iffy as we know. 

Hm ye Zenfone seems they focus more on ROG phone heh. Currently aside from Sony I'll wait to eventually see what will come from OnePlus and will they return with complete display. Google probably won't with Pixel I take.

I mean, there's more to it than that. The Note has better storage, more RAM, better SoC, better autofocus system, the ultrawide is basically the same though Sony does get stabilization for it, Note has better video options, better selfie cam, better USB spec, reverse wireless charging, bigger battery...

I like the design of the Sony in regards to the square sides. Other than that, I'm not a fan especially with the 21:9 design.

I'd like to see a comparison between them but I think it's unlikely to happen; hardly anyone is going to buy the Sony, so reviewers probably won't think of it.

 

I like how they keep the Zenfone cheap. Last year it had killer spec for the $500 ask. If you're into cameras, might be worth waiting for the next S line. Samsung has been working on a 1" mobile sensor, might make its way into those.