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Here's what to expect at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2020

Here's what to expect at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2020
PUBLISHED ONJanuary 29, 2020 4:27 AMByCookie Monster

1. OFFICIAL NAMES OF THE PHONES

Let's get this out of the way: what will be the names of Samsung's upcoming smartphones?

Starting with the Galaxy S series, the common consensus was that the Galaxy S11 series would be announced at the event.

However, three separate reports have suggested otherwise. Reliable tipster Ice Universe shared in December 2019 that Samsung could debut them as the Galaxy S20 as "next year is 2020, and 20 is a new beginning".

WinFuture corroborated the rumour; it claimed that Samsung would be dropping the "e" moniker from the Galaxy S series (such as the S10e model) and adding an "Ultra" moniker for the flagship model. WinFuture suggested that the models are likely to be called the Galaxy S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra.

@MaxWinebach posted photos of a phone with the boot screen showing "Galaxy S20+ 5G", which is the strongest evidence yet of the new naming convention.

As for the next foldable phone, it was commonly referred as the Galaxy Fold 2. However, Ice Universe believed it is branded as the Galaxy Z Flip.

2. DESIGN OF THE GALAXY S20

Similar to previous Galaxy S series phones, Samsung is likely to adopt a near bezel-less design for the Galaxy S20, but with two main changes: the centre punch-hole camera placement and the rear camera bump design.

Purported renders of the Galaxy S20 and S20+ reveal the phones having the hole punch at the top centre of the display - just like the Galaxy Note10 series. The sides of the display are also said to be less curved. These were later confirmed by purported official press photos of the Galaxy S20 models.

While recent Galaxy S series models come with rear cameras arranged in a horizontally, Samsung is likely changing that for the Galaxy S20 series. The rear cameras are expected to be housed in a massive rectangular bump on the top left corner.

The three Galaxy S20 models are likely to come with bigger displays. @evleaks claimed in November that the three display sizes are 6.2-inches, 6.7-inches and 6.9-inches. Purported renders of the Galaxy S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra corroborated the claim.

Samsung could be giving a new branding for the display. It has trademarked the SAMOLED brand in the smartphone display category. In addition, the Galaxy S20 models will have ultrasonic under-display fingerprint sensors and support for 120Hz refresh rate.

3. DESIGN AND DISPLAY SIZE OF THE GALAXY Z FLIP

While the Galaxy Fold is a chunky foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Flip is expected to be thinner and more elegant.

Bloomberg reported in September 2019 that Samsung's second foldable phone can shrink to a pocketable square when folded inwards.

Purported photos of the device confirm the clamshell form factor with a hinge mechanism covering the gaps between the two folding halves.

Like the Galaxy S20 series, the Galaxy Z Flip will have a hole-punch selfie camera in the centre. The foldable display is smaller though at 6.7-inches with huge bezels around it. There is also a smaller display on the outside.

The 6.7-inch foldable display is said to use materials different from the current range of foldable phones. Bloomberg wrote that it would be using Ultra Thin Glass (UTG), a claim which is corroborated by tipster Ice Universe.

If true, the Galaxy Z Flip will be the first foldable phone in the world to use UTG and this material offers several benefits such as a more flat look, less wrinkles, fewer creases and better scratch resistance.

4. CAMERA CAPABILITY WILL BE A BIG FOCUS

As mentioned in the earlier section, the Galaxy S20 models are seen with a huge camera bump at the rear. What has Samsung packed into this huge camera bump?

The South Korean company collaborated with Xiaomi on the industry's first 108MP mobile image sensor, which was introduced on the Mi Note 10. The Samsung ISOCELL Bright HMX is expected to appear on the Galaxy S20 according to Korean publication The Elec.

There could also be a new camera sensor designed exclusively for the Galaxy S20 series. The company has filed a trademark application for "Bright Night sensor" that will be used in smartphones and tablets.

Leaked renders of the Galaxy S20 series show at least three other sensors alongside the 108MP sensor. Rumours suggest that there will be a telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom, an ultra-wide shooter, and a 3D sensing ToF sensor. These camera specs are corroborated by MySmartPrice and @IshanAgarwal24:

  • Galaxy S20: 12MP main + 64MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom + 12MP ultra-wide
  • Galaxy S20+: 12MP main + 64MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom + 12MP ultra-wide + ToF
  • Galaxy S20 Ultra: 108MP main + 48MP telephoto with 10x optical zoom + 12MP ultra-wide + ToF

All three Galaxy S20 models are said to support 8K video recording which is a first for smartphones. The Galaxy S20 and S20+ are stated to support digital zoom up to 30x while the Galaxy S20 Ultra is stated to support digital zoom up to a whopping 100x!

As for the Galaxy Z Flip, it is believed to come with the 108MP sensor, a telephoto lens capable of 5x optical zoom, and a ToF sensor.

5. OTHER KEY SPECS

Samsung has been using a mix of Qualcomm Snapdragon mobile platforms and its own Exynos chipsets for the flagship phones. This year should likely be no different.

A purported full list of specs states that the Galaxy S20 models with 5G connectivity will be equipped with the Exynos 990 chipset. The Exynos 990 chipset was announced in October 2019 and is built on 7nm process technology.

It has two powerful custom cores, two high-performance Cortex-A76 cores, four power-efficient Cortex-A55 cores, and an embedded Arm Mali-G77 GPU which is based on the new Valhall architecture.

It also has a 120Hz refresh-rate display driver and an advanced image signal processor (ISP) that can accommodate up to 6 individual image sensors and pro-grade photography with resolution up to 108MP.

There are also reports of Samsung equipping the Galaxy S20 models with Qualcomm Snapdragon 865.

The latest Snapdragon mobile platform was unveiled in December and is tipped by Qualcomm as the most advanced global 5G platform with unparalleled connectivity and performance for flagship phones. More details about the Snapdragon 865 can be found in the two articles below:

Moving onto the internal storage options, Samsung is believed to be offering 128GB as the base model across the lineup with the Ultra model having a 512GB variant. In addition, there will be microSD support across the Galaxy S20 models.

As for the phone's RAM capacity, details are scarce at the moment. Considering that the Galaxy S10e has 6GB RAM and the Galaxy S10/S10+ have 8GB RAM, it won't be a surprise if Samsung doubles the amount of RAM in the Galaxy S20 models to support "media-intensive" apps and to ensure a seamless multitasking experience.

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The Galaxy S20 Ultra is rumoured to have as much as 16GB RAM, which is probably an overkill for a smartphone.

While the Snapdragon 865 and/or Exynos 990 chipsets power the Galaxy S20 models, the Galaxy Z Flip is said to run on the Snapdragon 855+ mobile platform.

Unveiled in July 2019, the Snapdragon 855+ is optimised for enhanced performance and experiences in 5G, gaming, AI and XR (virtual reality/augmented reality), so it should be capable enough.

In fact, judging by what we found from the ASUS ROG Phone II that uses this same processor, it is the fastest Android phone we've tested to date.

6. LAUNCH EVENT, AVAILABILITY AND PRICE

Earlier this month, Samsung sent out media invites for its Galaxy Unpacked event which is scheduled on 11 February in San Francisco, 11am PST (3am SGT). We'll be there to cover the event live, so stay tuned to Hardware Zone for the latest updates.

Alternatively, you can watch the live stream at Samsung Mobile Press, Samsung Global Newsroom, and Samsung.com.

Taking into account the previous launches of Samsung's flagship phones, pre-orders for the Galaxy S20 could begin soon after the end of the Galaxy Unpacked event. Here's a flashback on what happened last year:

  • Samsung began pre-orders for the Galaxy S10 series on 22 February, which was one day after the launch event.
  • Pre-orders were available at the three telcos, Samsung Experience Stores, Galaxy Studio, consumer electronics & IT stores, and Lazada Singapore.
  • Island-wide availability started from 8 March.

Samsung could replicate the same pre-order process for the Galaxy S20 this time although a leaked promotional banner revealed that the pre-order gift this time consists of the new Galaxy Buds+.

There's a chance that pre-order promotion will differ across different markets, so keep your fingers crossed for more details!

As for the Galaxy Z Flip, there was a report claiming that the foldable phone could hit retail shelves earlier than the Galaxy S20 models.

Yonhap News Agency reported that South Korean telcos were in discussions with Samsung to sell the foldable phone immediately after the launch event.

Retail prices for the upcoming phones were obviously leaked as well. 91Mobiles and tipster Ishan Agarwal shared the following price list for the Galaxy S20 models:

  • Galaxy S20 to be priced from EUR 899 (S$1,400)
  • Galaxy S20 5G to be priced from EUR 999 
  • Galaxy S20+ 5G to be priced from EUR 1,099 
  • Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G to be priced from EUR 1,349 

For the Galaxy Z Flip, it is tipped to be more affordable than the $3,088 Galaxy Fold. Yonhap News Agency and Max Weinbach shared the same estimate that the Galaxy Z Flip is likely to be priced in the mid-US$1,000 (S$1,400) range.

This article was first published in Hardware Zone.

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