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  • Feb 12, 2020

    Samsung Galaxy S20 and Z Flip launch under shadow of coronavirus

    Samsung has unveiled its new flagship smartphone range, the Galaxy S20, as well as a new foldable phone. The three models in the S20 range all come with 5G and top-of-the-range camera and entertainment features

    Samsung is making all three models in its new flagship smartphone range 5G-compatible. The top-end Galaxy S20 also introduces a 100x zoom camera.

    The phone, called the Galaxy Z Flip, has a clamshell design much like the Motorola Razr, which launched just days before Samsung’s Unpacked event on February 6.
    Like the Razr, Samsung’s new Galaxy Flip’s design also looks like a modern take on the classic flip phone from the early 2000s.

    The firm also confirmed a new foldable, the Galaxy Z Flip. It uses “folding glass” in its display and small fibres in its hinge to protect itself from damage.

    Several rivals plan their own handset launches over the coming weeks.

    But the spread of the coronavirus poses a threat to production.

    “The virus is going to affect the supply chain,” said Ben Wood from the consultancy CCS Insight.

    “Although Samsung has diversified its manufacturing into places way beyond China, there will still be components in these phones sourced from China.”

    Many factories in the country have delayed re-opening after its New Year break because of fears the virus could spread in the workplace. China is also the world’s biggest smartphone market, and the outbreak has hit local demand.

    Samsung has suffered less impact than many of its rivals to date because it makes most of its handsets in Vietnam, and sells relatively few phones to Chinese consumers.

    But TrendForce – a research firm – still predicts the virus will cause the South Korean firm to produce 3% fewer devices than it might have in the current quarter.

    “I’m expecting that to mean some delays in delivering the new handsets,” added Francisco Jeronimo an a***yst at IDC.

    Samsung told the BBC it was making its “best effort to minimise impact on our operations”.

    Samsung Galaxy S20 Smarter shots
    There are three S20 variants:

    the basic model with a 6.2in (15.7cm) display. It has three rear cameras: a 64-megapixel telephoto lens, a 12MP wide and a 12MP ultra-wide. It starts at $999/£799

    the S20+ has a 6.7in (17cm) display. It adds a depth sensor to the basic model’s array. It starts at $1,199/£999
    the S20 Ultra has a 6.9in (17.5cm) display. Its telephoto lens is only 48MP, but the wide-angle lens is bumped up to 108MP. It starts at $1,399/£1,199

    The S20 Ultra’s camera module is thicker than that of the others to incorporate a periscope. This uses a prism to reflect light into the device’s interior, allowing the wide-angle option to feature a longer lens and bigger sensor.

    Although it is possible to take 108MP shots, owners are expected to let the phone automatically merge groups of nine pixels into one most of the time. This aids low-light photography.

    The 100x “super-resolution zoom” facility uses the lower-resolution 48MP camera. Machine-learning techniques stitch together pixels from up to 20 different frames to achieve a better result than would be possible via a simple digital zoom.

    It allows Samsung to boast double the zoom range of Huawei’s competing P30 handset, although one expert questioned how usable it was in practice.

    “The 100x zoom ends up with a quite blurred image, so I don’t think people will turn to it that often”, commented Mr Jeronimo.

    “But it should have a wow factor when shown off in stores. And at 20x to 30x you can get a good photo.”

    The phones also introduce Single Take mode. Samsung said this uses artificial intelligence to simultaneously take a mix of stills and videos via the various cameras, giving the owner a selection to choose from after the fact.

    “We want to make sure consumers can really enjoy the moment in front of them… and don’t have to worry about adjusting settings,” explained product manager Mark Holloway.

    The phones are also among the first to be capable of recording in 8K resolution – four times as many pixels as 4K and 16 as many as 1080p high definition.

    Most people do not yet own 8K screens, but Samsung suggests this offers a degree of future-proofing as well as the ability to extract high-quality stills from the footage.

    “Both the new tech and the more user-friendly user interface should help with how Samsung’s camera functionality is perceived,” commented Carolina Milanesi from Creative Strategies.

    “Its results in the past were not quite on a par with competitors, perhaps signalling it wasn’t leveraging software to do the heavy-lifting as much as the likes of Apple and Google. This time round there is definitely more ‘AI’ involved.”

    Samsung Galaxy S20 5G future
    Samsung is pitching gaming as one benefit of having 5G connectivity, suggesting that lower latencies will mean that players can see and react to events in online titles split-seconds faster than if they were on 4G.

    The phones’ Google Duo app also displays video chats in higher quality when on 5G.

    Networks are still in the early stages of deploying the technology, but one consultant said it was still wise to offer it as standard.

    Read More @ busitechnews.com/samsung-unveils-s20-flagship-and-folding-flip-phone-video

  • Feb 12, 2020

    prices brazy but i'm due for an upgrade

    12gb of ram and 120hz

  • Feb 12, 2020

    under shadow of coronavirus

  • Feb 12, 2020
    ·
    2 replies

    Foldable phones are such a stupid gimmick

    It’ll die out like sliding keyboard phones

  • Feb 12, 2020
    imShy

    Foldable phones are such a stupid gimmick

    It’ll die out like sliding keyboard phones

    Yeah there's really no point of having a folding phone that's the same size as a regular phone.

    Only reason to have a flip phone is for nostalgia purposes.

  • Feb 12, 2020
    ·
    1 reply
    imShy

    Foldable phones are such a stupid gimmick

    It’ll die out like sliding keyboard phones

    With every part of a phone getting smaller all the time at some point in the not so distant future the phones will be just a bit more than a sheet of glass. I could definitely see double screens being convenient and useful then. Right now there's always compromises about them and the one constant is that they're always hella thick.

    So once there is a folded phone that isn't thick and that is just as good as any other non-foldable phone when folded but becomes an ipad when unfolded, it'll be a hit. Probably in like 10 years. They just need some think to work out the kinks.

  • Feb 12, 2020

    ill wait for 1+8

  • Feb 12, 2020

    $1400 starting price

    And it can't even do high refresh 1440p Anything past 60 fps is 1080p. Another W for my oneplus 7 pro that does 90hz 1440p with no bezels or notch...

  • JayS 🦄
    Feb 13, 2020
    Coffee Nerd

    With every part of a phone getting smaller all the time at some point in the not so distant future the phones will be just a bit more than a sheet of glass. I could definitely see double screens being convenient and useful then. Right now there's always compromises about them and the one constant is that they're always hella thick.

    So once there is a folded phone that isn't thick and that is just as good as any other non-foldable phone when folded but becomes an ipad when unfolded, it'll be a hit. Probably in like 10 years. They just need some think to work out the kinks.

    I think folding on the vertical plane is more exciting than folding on the horizontal plane.

    Flip phone form factor is dead.

  • Feb 13, 2020

    might upgrade to this, still dont know

    120 only on 1080p might blow hard, have to see how it looks in person

  • Feb 14, 2020

    Z Flip is super fire, but i think the S20 Ultra is the best one

  • Someone defo gonna hack the restriction on 120hz

  • Feb 15, 2020

    read that as a $20 phone lol

  • Feb 16, 2020

  • Sep 15, 2021

    theses phones are fire think i’m gonna cop one after my 12 pro max start getting bad

  • Sep 15, 2021

    I hope flip phones arent the future i'd prefer if the Note came back tbh