Samsung Galaxy S20, S20+, S20 Ultra telco price plans compared

WHO'S GOT THE BEST PLAN FOR THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S20 PHONES?

With telcos gearing up for the upcoming local availability of the Samsung Galaxy S20 phones, we find out who's got the best telco price plan deal with a contract and the phone offered at a discounted rate.

At a glance, these are the recommended retail prices for the new phones without a telco contract:

LIST PRICES FOR SAMSUNG GALAXY S20 PHONES

That's right; all the models available in Singapore will only have an internal base storage of 128GB. While the Galaxy S20 does not have any other capacity points, the S20+ and S20 Ultra have other storage options in other launch countries. Fortunately, a microSD card slot is present and can accept cards of up to 1TB in size.

SO WHAT'S NEW WITH THE PHONES?

The new Galaxy S20 series can simply be summed up as refined S10 devices with improved hardware underneath and a massive upgrade to imaging capabilities.

All models boast a totally redesigned camera system, with much larger camera sensors, Single Take captures to never miss the moment over stumbling on modes/settings/filters to use, 8K video recording, Space Zoom feature that goes up to 30x zoom on the Galaxy S20 and S20+, while the S20 Ultra does a whopping 100x zoom!

The Galaxy S20 Ultra manages to achieve this incredible feat using a large 1/1.33-inch 108MP sensor, also known as the Samsung ISOCELL Bright HMX. Meanwhile, the S20 and S20+ are endowed with telephoto cameras powered by 64MP sensors.

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That's not all. The phones come in new colour schemes and a more refined design such as an even smaller front-facing hole-punch camera and the new rear camera module arrangement. The QHD+ screens also boast 120Hz screen refresh rate (usable when nothing the resolution down to FHD+) and up to two times better touch response rate.

For those playing fast action-paced games, you should experience less screen judder and a smoother experience. Discerning users might even feel these slight but useful improvements through just scrolling webpages. Don't miss reading our detailed hands-on experience of the Galaxy S20 series for even more photos and finer details.

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is also future-proofed with a 5G modem built-in. When our local telcos enable 5G networks, the S20 Ultra will receive a firmware update to support them too.

Last, but not least, the Galaxy S20 series now support eSIM in addition to a dual-SIM slot card configuration. So if you have to occupy one SIM slot with a microSD card, you still have another SIM slot and eSIM to rely upon for multi-line usage.

I'M KEEN! WHAT ARE THE PRE-ORDER OFFERS?

For all the local availability and pre-order offers, head over here! The phone will hit retail on 6th March 2020, but you can take advantage of special deals related to its upcoming launch right now.

Now on to the telco price plan comparison!

SAMSUNG GALAXY S20 SERIES PRICE PLANS COMPARED

VALUE PLANS COMPARED (~$40/MONTH)

BASIC PLANS COMPARED (~$50/MONTH)

MID-TIER PLANS COMPARED (~$75/MONTH)

HIGH-TIER PLANS COMPARED (~$100/MONTH)

PREMIUM PLANS COMPARED

QUICK ANALYSIS

VALUE PLANS TIER

At first glances, M1's $40 per month Base Plan appears to be the best budget plan - until you compare the prices against M1's $50 plan that's in the next tier of comparison. This is perhaps the first case where the same telco's higher tiered plan is actually cheaper than it's base offering in the long run.

Conclusion: Don't get any of the value-class plans for the Galaxy S20 series and check the next tier of plans.

BASIC PLANS TIER

Singtel's XO 48 might seem like the lowest priced option here, but don't forget that it comes with the least data allotment, though it offers free weekend data on top of 10GB of data per month (which is more than enough for most users), and free video entertainment subscription.

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Meanwhile M1 offers 17GB of data per month for their plan ($40 Base Plan + $10 Add-on), which is one of the most generous. However, it still doesn't offer the niceties it used to have such as free Caller ID and weekend data. You could argue that it still offers good value, but only at face value.

If you factor in the cost of Caller ID service, which most people find it useful, the overall ownership cost inches really close to StarHub's $55 plan. StarHub's plan currently offers free Caller ID, free international roaming subscription, much more talk time and more data overall.

Conclusion: StarHub's $55 plan gets our vote here for the most fuss-free offer that factors all you might need. There's also free data for video consumed through the following video apps - CatchPlay, HBO Go, Netflix and meWATCH . That means, you'll have even more data at your disposal.

MID-TIER PLANS

It gets very tricky here as cost of ownership over two years is the same - on face value. M1 offers a nice big 42GB data plan for the month, whereas the competitors offer 40GB + free weekend data. So the net amount of data you can consume per month on Singtel and StarHub is higher.

Singtel's XO 78 plan throws in CAST Entertainment Plus and even HBO Go subscriptions. Meanwhile, StarHub's $80 plan counters that with free Caller ID and international roaming fee.

Conclusion: In essence, it's a tie between Singtel and StarHub and you can't go wrong with either.

HIGH-TIER PLANS

For the same reasons as above, Singtel and StarHub come up equally recommended. If a modest amount of data is sufficient, but you prefer unlimited talk time, Singtel Combo 6 is a viable option. However we feel the XO 108 plan is a much better fit for most.

PREMIUM PLAN TIER

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For those who need the maximum number of benefits, and more than 100GB of data, StarHub's $243 plan has the best set of perks, in addition to a yearly $500 handset voucher. Singtel's Combo 12 isn't competitive and pales in comparison. M1 comes close to recommendation from a pure cost perspective, but StarHub's overall perks are better even if it's a bit more expensive.

Once you've found your ideal telco choice, head over here for all the pre-order offers! The phone will hit retail on 6th March 2020, but you can take advantage of special deals related to its upcoming launch right now. Happy shopping!

This article was first published in Hardware Zone.