Samsung Unpacked February 2020: New S20 trio and the long-awaited Z Flip made their world debut

This year's Samsung Unpacked event showed off the all-new S10 family successor and an all-new foldable screen flip phone to rival a certain modernized icon from late 2019.

Samsung's annual Unpacked event is where the giant South Korean electronics brand will announce a range of brand new models to the whole world. This year is no exception with Samsung throwing in two types of model. Numerous leaks had been lurking around the web for a very long time, but the cover had finally dropped on February the 11th. So what are those brand new models Samsung has lined up?

• Samsung Galaxy S20/S20+

Photo: Samsung

First up, the S10 successor. This year saw Samsung drop the 'e' moniker from the lineup. In other words, no S20e this year. The 6.2" S20 itself would be the smallest and the cheapest model throughout the whole range, while the 6.7" S20+ now became the mid-tier model. Spec-wise, both variants shared a nearly identical setup with one another. Powering both variants was either Samsung's own Exynos 990 or Qualcomm's Snapdragon 865 chipset with Android 10 and One UI 2.0 skin running out of the box. While they have different screen sizes, they shared the same 1440p+ resolution and featured a 120Hz refresh rate at 1080p+ resolution.

The triple camera setup received a new module, with the S20+ gaining an additional 0.3MP 3D ToF sensor. The native 12MP 1/1.76" 26mm primary wide camera now featured a large native pixel size of 1.8µm. What you should know about this new particular module was that Samsung had ditched the variable f/1.5-f/2.4 aperture, first seen in the S9 and S9+, in favour of a single f/1.8 aperture. The telephoto camera was a 64MP Quad Bayer 0.8µm sensor with 3x hybrid zoom while the ultrawide camera was a 12MP 13mm 1.4µm camera. Both primary and telephoto cameras sported Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF). For video recording, you can shoot 8K resolution at 24fps alongside the usual 4K 30/60 fps, FHD 30/60/240 fps and HD 960 fps. Selfie wise, that was a 10MP camera with Dual Pixel PDAF.

In terms of memory and storage, the 4G trim would only have an 8GB/128GB RAM/internal storage configuration, whereas the 5G trim bumped the RAM to 12GB and the S20+ 5G gained another two internal storage choice of 256GB and 512GB. In Malaysia, only S20 4G and S20+ 4G would be available costing MYR 3,599 and MYR 3,999 respectively.

• Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G

Photo: Samsung

If the S20 and S20+ replaced the S10e and S10 respectively, the S20 Ultra 5G replaces the top-of-the-range S10+. Unlike the S20 and S20+, the Ultra was a completely different beast altogether. Being the top model, it sported the biggest screen at a whopping 6.9" with the same 1440p+ screen resolution and 120Hz refresh rate at 1080p+ resolution. But whereas the S20 and S20+ have a battery capacity of 4,000 mAh and 4,500 mAh respectively, the Ultra packed a massive 5,000 mAh battery with 45W wired fast charging as standard that promises a full battery charge in 74 minutes.

The Ultra retained the same quad-camera setup as the S20+ and shared the same ultrawide camera and 0.3MP 3D ToF sensor. The only differences were the primary and the telephoto camera. Let's start with the biggest number of all. The primary camera was a 108MP 1/1.33" 0.8µm sensor with OIS and PDAF. It may sound exactly the same as the one in Xiaomi's Mi Note 10, but there was one notable difference between the two. While Xiaomi was using the ISOCELL Bright HMX module, Samsung had developed a new module based on that 108MP sensor. Called the Bright HM1, Samsung applied an industry-first Nonacell technology, which is Samsung's marketing term for the 9-to-1 pixel binning technique. Instead of merging four neighbouring pixels together into a single 2x2 effective pixel like in any Quad Bayer camera, the HM1 merges nine pixels into a single 3x3 effective pixel. Despite the massive resolution count, it can produce a bright 12MP photo with an unprecedented effective pixel count of 2.4µm. That is the kind of pixel size you would normally find in a 1" camera.

The telephoto camera was also a Quad Bayer sensor with OIS and PDAF, although the resolution had gone down from 64MP to 48MP. However, Samsung made up to that slight downgrade with a periscope lens, thus directly joining in the Periscope Zoom Club alongside Huawei, Oppo, and Vivo. With 102mm focal length and 10x hybrid optical zoom, Samsung promised a whopping 100x Super Resolution Zoom or Space Zoom as Samsung would personally call it. As for the ultrawide camera, it was the same 12MP 13mm 1.4µm module found in the S20 and S20+. Despite the absence of a proper 5G network nationwide, the S20 Ultra 5G would be sold in Malaysia for a hefty price tag of MYR 4,999, making it the most expensive 5G phone sold in the country at the moment.

• Samsung Galaxy Z Flip

Photo: Samsung

Since the introduction of Motorola RAZR 2019 late last year, smartphone brands had been trying to copy that modernized icon. From the looks of the all-new Galaxy Z Flip, it seemed like the South Korean giant had done a good job. But while Samsung copied Motorola's idea, it didn't necessarily mean that they copied the design as well.

Like the Galaxy Note10 Lite and Galaxy S20+, the Z Flip's screen was a 6.7" AMOLED panel with 1080p+ resolution. While that was taller and larger than the RAZR 2019, the same couldn't be said for the secondary external display. The RAZR 2019 had a 2.7" 600x800 screen whereas the Z Flip only had a tiny 1.1" 112x300 screen. Samsung argued that the tiny 1.1" screen was there for you to see all the notifications at a glance. Frankly speaking, that tiny external display was the only area where Samsung lose the battle. In terms of electronic components, the Z Flip kicked the RAZR 2019's bottom all the way into space. While the Motorola was a mid-range foldable screen flip phone, the Z Flip was a real flagship.

The Z Flip was powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ chipset with Android 10 and One UI 2.0 skin running out of the box. The rear camera was a dual setup with an optically-stabilized 12MP 27mm primary wide camera and a non-stabilized 12MP 12mm ultrawide camera, while the front selfie camera was a 10MP unit. Only one configuration would be available for the Z Flip with 8GB RAM and 256GB internal storage. Sadly, no microSD card slot or 3.5mm audio jack would be available. While the RAZR 2019 was only available as an eSIM-compatible smartphone, Samsung included a slot for a physical nano-SIM card. More than that, Samsung made their proprietary Samsung Pay service available to the Z Flip with support for both NFC and MST technology.

At the moment, the Z Flip was not officially launched in Malaysia. But with a recommended price tag of US$1,380, don't expect the Z Flip to be affordable even though it was cheaper than the other Samsung foldable screen smartphone in the shape of the US$1,950 Galaxy Fold.