What To Expect From Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked 2020 Event

Whether you’re a die-hard fan of the Samsung brand or just like to keep tabs on what’s happening within the tech industry, Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event is likely one you’ll want to keep your eye on. Taking place on the 11th of February, the event will be streamed live, so you can see everything that’s being talked about.

Watch every announcement live on the Samsung website

The event is where Samsung takes the opportunity to announce its latest products, confirming or denying the countless rumours inevitably surrounding their latest product launches. We can’t help but get involved in the gossip, so we’ve done some digging and pulled out what we think you can expect to see at the Unpacked Event in 2020.

Samsung’s Newest Phone Announcements

In an attempt to solidify their number one position in global smartphone market share, we expect to see some serious announcements regarding a new line of flagship phones.

Before reading on, it’s worth noting that these are rumours and suggestions as to what we could see, with no guarantees.

With the most recent of the company’s releases being the S10, there are some strong rumours and a little bit of evidence to suggest that instead of releasing the S11, Samsung will skip straight to the S20.

The S20 will essentially be the natural successor to the current flagship S10

In the past, the company has generally offered two sizes as standard for their releases, a regular version and a ‘Plus’ version, often boasting improved specs and larger screen size. This year though, there are talks of three different versions of the S20 being released. The standard and Plus versions as per expectation, along with an ‘Ultra’ version of the smartphone.

One of the main improvements over the current S10 is likely to be concerning screen refresh rate, improving from the 60Hz of the S10 to a whopping 120Hz in all versions of the S20.

For those who are wondering about the benefit this brings, it essentially means that the phone refreshes the screen 120 times each second, rather than the current 90 or 60 found in other devices.

It may force users to choose between battery life and phone performance

Although this does mean better user experiences, especially when playing slightly more demanding 3D games, it could spell trouble for the battery life. There have been numerous tests on phones that have the option to use both 60Hz and 90Hz, showing that the battery takes a significant hit when running the latter, more draining option.

The good news is that the S20 should come with the option to choose between the two settings, meaning for those who are more worried about battery life than screen performance, you can simply change the setting.

It is also expected that the new range of phones will be running a brand new Snapdragon 865 chipset, an upgrade on the current industry standard 855 or 855+. This means increased processing power for those who like giving their phone a workout, along with a smoother overall experience.

Moving on to the Ultra now and this is where things get really interesting. This is something that we’ve not seen from Samsung in a long time, if ever; a third version of a flagship at the announcement stage.

The Ultra will likely be a beast of a phone, both in physical presence and the hardware onboard

Firstly, the rumours that have been circulating mention that the device will come with a 6.9” display, accompanied by the standard punch hole camera lens (more on cameras to come). This screen size overtakes the already hulking Note10+ by 0.1” and would make it Samsung’s largest smartphone device.

On the back of the device, we expect fours lenses, with the primary shooter being an incredible 108MP, something that Samsung has been working on for a while. Complementing this, we’ve heard that there will be a 48MP telephoto lens, a 12MP ultra-wide lens and finally, a 3D ToF sensor on the back, used for mapping-depth in photos.

Samsung has also recently filed a patent for a technology called ‘Space Zoom’, which we’ll likely see making an appearance in the Ultra model, perhaps even the Plus too!

Unfortunately, it’s not all good news when it comes to the S20

We’ve heard that the device will be dropping the 3.5mm headphone jack, in favour of the single-port function seen on other devices such as the Note10. This marks another casualty of the rise of wireless earphones and could be a dealbreaker for some.

What Else Will Be Announced?

Well, speaking of wireless headphones, we’d expect (and like) to see a potential upgrade announced for the Galaxy Buds, Samsung’s take on wireless earphones. With Apple releasing their Earpods Pro, we expect to see Samsung retaliate with an improved version of their wireless buds. If the Earpods Pro are anything to go by, then Samsung’s upgrade will include improved battery life and enhanced noise isolation.

Image Source: TechTalkTV (YouTube)

Additionally, we’ll likely see an announcement of the newest Samsung foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Flip. There was a recent leak concerning the Z Flip in which we saw full renders of the phone alongside some specs. If these are true, then the Z Flip will feature an ‘Ultra-Thin Glass’ screen, instead of the fragile plastic used on the failed Fold model.

With both fewer and lower quality lenses, this could be a tough sell for Samsung

There will be a central hole punch 10MP camera on the front/inside of the device, with a dual-lens setup on the outside consisting of one 12MP primary lens and one 12MP ultra-wide angle lens.

Specs-wise, we’re expecting a Snapdragon 855+, along with up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB or internal storage. There also won’t be an expandable memory card slot, nor will there be a headphone jack.

Current estimates suggest that the device will retail for roughly $1,400 in the US, likely translating to £1,400 in the UK as and when it is released here.

If it’s anything like the Fold, we may not see it in the UK at all!

The overall feeling is that some people aren’t entirely sold on the foldable format, especially given the high price point and lower specs and features of the device.

What do you think? Could you justify this high price point for a foldable device? Let us know what you think about these new releases on our Facebook page! Or, if you’re looking to get your hands on something more reasonably priced, check out our range of reconditioned Samsung phones here!

Feature Image Source: 삼성전자 뉴스룸 [Samsung Newsroom] (YouTube)