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4 big reasons to buy the $1,000 Galaxy S20 instead of the $750 Galaxy S10
4 big reasons to buy the $1,000 Galaxy S20 instead of the $750 Galaxy S10
Antonio Villas-BoasFeb 17, 2020, 18:11 IST
Samsung's latest Galaxy S20 smartphones are the most expensive to date, starting at $1,000 for the base model.
Samsung is still offering the Galaxy S10 series of smartphones as lower-cost premium flagship devices.
The Galaxy S10 phones make a good case for themselves against Samsung's latest and expensive offering, but the Galaxy S20 phones still have four things going for them you may want to consider.
Some of those things include the latest and most powerful specs, totally refreshed camera systems, and 5G connectivity.
The cheapest Galaxy S20 you can buy demands 1,000 of your dollars, and it doesn't even come with all the best stuff from the Galaxy S20 Plus and Galaxy S20 Ultra.
Thankfully, Samsung is keeping around its Galaxy S10 series and cutting its prices, with the base Galaxy S10 going for $750. The excellent and cheaper Galaxy S10e, which now starts at $600 (Samsung is selling the S10e for $440 right now, which is a superb deal).
With all that said, there are four reasons why you'd want to buy the Galaxy S20 instead of the Galaxy S10:
If you're looking for the latest and most powerful specs to "future-proof" yourself against buying another smartphone too soon, the best option is usually to go with the latest smartphone.
Samsung's Galaxy S20 come with the latest and most powerful smartphone chips and specs, and if you're looking to future-proof yourself, your best bet is to get the latest and most powerful smartphone.
Indeed, the Galaxy S20 phones run on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 865 processor, which will be recognized as the top chip of choice for top Android phones in 2020. The Galaxy S10 phones run on the Snapdragon 855, which was the top chip of choice for top Android phones of 2019.
The Snapdragon 855 in the Galaxy S10 phones is no slouch, and we're seeing fewer real-life performance gains year over year with new chips. Still, performance gains are performance gains no matter how small. You'd still be happy with a Galaxy S10 for a couple years or more, but the Galaxy S20 may last you a year longer.
The Galaxy S20 phones come with a butter-smooth 120Hz screen.
You won't know how pleasing a high-refresh-rate screen looks and feels until you try one. Samsung's 120Hz screen has among the highest refresh rates on any smartphone, meaning it offers some of the smoothest animations while swiping around the Android operating system and apps, and certain videos and games that support 120Hz. It gives off an impression of luxury and performance.
With that said, high-refresh-rate screens are purely aesthetic and don't come with many tangible benefits. It's a reason to get the Galaxy S20 over the Galaxy S10. I wouldn't make it the reason.
The cameras have been completely updated from previous Galaxy phones in the new Galaxy S20 phones.
The camera systems on the Galaxy S20 phones come with new, larger sensors that can fit more megapixels. A lot more. And Samsung says the new cameras will make for clearer and sharper photos, as well as better low-light performance.
The Galaxy S20 and S20 Plus, for instance, come with a 64-megapixel camera for the zoom lens, which helps them achieve 3x optical zoom and 30x optical and digital zoom. The pixels in their regular and ultra-wide 12-megapixel cameras are also about 28% larger than those in the Galaxy S10, which should make for better low-light shots.
If you're deciding between the Galaxy S10 and the Galaxy S20 series, you're probably not looking at the $1,400 Galaxy S20 Ultra. Still, it's worth mentioning that the S20 Ultra has a whopping 108-megapixel regular camera for super-sharp shots and better low-light shots compared to the Galaxy S10's more reserved 12-megapixel regular camera.
The Galaxy S10 phone can't connect to 5G networks, but 5G isn't the biggest selling point for the Galaxy S20 anyway. It's just something to consider.
One of the biggest leaps in the Galaxy S20 phones over the Galaxy S10 series is 5G connectivity, which theoretically means faster data speeds for streaming videos, video calling, cloud gaming, and faster internet in general. With that said, I wouldn't be doing my job properly if I didn't mention that 5G networks are somewhat sparse at the moment.
Only T-Mobile has a wide-reaching 5G network, covering significantly more Americans than Verizon's or AT&T's. And to note, T-Mobile's 5G network so far isn't the type of 5G that can achieve those crazy gigabit speeds you've heard about, but it is the type with the longest range. Meanwhile, AT&T's and Verizon's 5G networks are capable of impressive speeds, but they have the shortest range.
Still, while 5G networks might not be widely accessible today, they 5G coverage will surely expand over the course of the Galaxy S20 series lifetime. If any form of 5G is available in your area now, or should you want to be ready for it when it comes, you'll be ready with the Galaxy S20 series.
Another quick note: Only the Galaxy S20 Plus and S20 Ultra can connect to those super-fast 5G networks — called "mmWave" — that can achieve those crazy gigabit speeds. The regular Galaxy S20 can "only" connect to the "slower" 5G networks that have greater range. I put those words in quotation marks because it's still pretty great that the Galaxy S20 can connect to a 5G network.
