Galaxy S

The Galaxy Note 20 phones are less than three months away from launch at this point, and the rumor mill now grinds faster. By most indications, the phones will be an incremental upgrade on the S20 series, but one touted change is expected to significantly improve the user experience.

There have been multiple reports from Galaxy S20 Ultra owners of their phones developing cracks on the huge camera glass. Some claim it happens even without dropping the phone or any such impact. While the veracity of such claims remains in doubt, Nillkin is already selling a case for the S20 series that offers a dedicated slider for the camera glass.

Rumour has it that a "Lite" Samsung Galaxy foldable smartphone will be arriving later this year. A blend of parts from the last three years, the Galaxy Fold Lite or Galaxy Z Flip Lite will apparently retail for US$1,099.

The Samsung Galaxy S20+ has now been tested by DxOMark. The scores offer a few notable takeaways, including inferiority to the S20 Ultra, an overall lack of improvement over the Note 10+, and the real-world effectiveness of the S20 and S20+'s digital zoom.

The Mate 10 Pro, P20 Pro, and Mate 20 Pro all delivered sub-par selfie cameras, and it seemed Huawei was working on that with its recent flagship phones. The Honor V30 Pro appears to be a deviation from that path, as the phone only recorded scores on par with two-year-old flagships when tested by DxOMark.

The Galaxy S20 Ultra features a 40 MP sensor as its selfie camera. Bigger is supposedly better and one would expect it to be the best on the market, yes? Well, no. The S20 Ultra only finishes joint second on DxOMark's selfie chart, and more interestingly, with just one more point than the Galaxy Note 10+ 5G and its meager 10 MP sensor.

A device listed as the Mi 10e has surfaced on Geekbench. While that's already surprising enough, the phone is shown to be powered by an Exynos 990, and actually posts scores typical of the disappointing Samsung SoC.

Google has released its latest security patches for Android, and as usual, the Pixel series of phones had first pick of them. However, Samsung has reportedly gotten ahead of all other OEMs by rolling these May 2020 upgrades to 3 of its phones. One is its latest foldable, whereas another is a 2019 mid-ranger.

In an attempt to bolster Galaxy S20 sales in the subcontinent, Samsung India is now throwing in a voucher worth Rs 4,000($53) for everyone who pre-ordered a Galaxy S20 series phone. The offer is eligible for pre-ordered devices that are activated between May 4th and May 20th, and is only valid for purchases made via the Samsung India website.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ celebrated their three-year birthdays a while ago, and Samsung has now relegated them to its quarterly update list, with support expected to end completely in a year. The S8 Active and Galaxy Note 8, however, remain on the monthly update list.

Samsung has officially confirmed that it will be launching a sequel to the Galaxy Fold. The news was buried in its financial report last week as it sought to assure investors that it is going to continue to try innovating itself out of a general decline in smartphone dominance.

The Exynos 990 on the Samsung Galaxy S20 has failed just about every test it's been presented with and that trend continues. In a gaming comparison video versus the MediaTek Helio G90T-powered Redmi Note 8 Pro, the Exynos 990-powered Galaxy S20 proves yet again that it shouldn't be an option for smartphone gamers.

The Galaxy Z Flip is Samsung's contemporary attempt at a clamshell-style foldable phone. The phone starts at just under US$1400, and has now made the trip over to DxOMark where it posted scores akin to two-year-old flagship phones from the competition.

AMD's upcoming mobile graphics chip reportedly outperforms the Qualcomm Adreno 650 by a significant margin on GFXBench. According to a post on a Korean tech forum, the yet-to-be-named chip trounced the Qualcomm GPU by a factor of three in some tests. We can expect to see Samsung unveil this new GPU by 2021.

Chinese sources report that Samsung has finished development for the 150 MP sensors and started work on the 250 MP ones. The first 150 Mp sensors are expected to launch with Xiaomi's flagship handhelds later this year, while the 250 MP sensor could arrive in late 2021.

Samsung’s Galaxy S20 Ultra was expected to be the Android enthusiast’s smartphone of choice in 2020, however, things don’t appear to be going too well for the high-end handset. Following reports of a range of issues plaguing the flagship handset in the past couple of weeks, a new report indicates cracked rear camera glass is now also emerging as a possible issue.

A Strategy Analytics report indicates that Huawei and Samsung together account for a tremendous 67.6 percent share in the market for 5G smartphones. Vivo, Oppo, and Xiaomi trail far behind. However, with Apple set to launch its own 5G iPhones later this year, things could change.

Samsung recently filed trademarks for the Galaxy Buds X in India, the UK, and the European Union. The trademark filing comes just a month after leaked renders for a new, bean-shaped Buds SKU popped up, indicating that the Galaxy Buds X are likely Samsung's next contender in the TWS space.

The Exynos 990 used on the global Galaxy S20 phones has come under fire for poor sustained performance and efficiency, and it would seem that Samsung plans to ditch it. The South Korean company is reportedly working on a 6nm Exynos 992 for its next flagship phone, the Galaxy Note 20.

Samsung is one of the leading mobile device panel makers in the world, so it came as a bit of a surprise to learn that it is using BOE to supply the displays on its sleek Galaxy Book S. A new report points to Samsung potentially using BOE to supply OLED panels for its Galaxy smartphones as well.

The Samsung Galaxy S20 series are Samsung's most ambitious devices yet, and have been painted to represent a giant leap forward. But things aren't always as they seem, and considerably better value can be found elsewhere in Samsung's own stables.

Samsung has decided it is time to ditch notches and punch-hole cameras, at least for one of the upcoming devices in its range. Looking like a Galaxy A series contender, the new smartphone will be the first from Samsung to feature a pop-up camera.

A Samsung Community forum moderator has stated that the company is reportedly working on delivering the One UI update to Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note 9 users. Unfortunately, there is no word about when the firmware will be available for download, but it is reassuring to know that it will make its way to the devices eventually.

Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Note 20 series might not come with a ToF sensor. The company cites a lack of user interest as one of the primary reasons. Additionally, some of the ToF sensor's work can now be done via software.

Some owners of the most expensive Galaxy S20 variant have reportedly complained to its maker, Samsung, that its rear cameras cannot focus over very short distances. The same users have called for a firmware upgrade that might fix this. However, this problem may be due to the physical constraints of the phone's image sensor.

Coming in 11-inch and 12.4-inch variants, Samsung will pitch the Galaxy Tab S7 series as a direct competitor to Apple's fourth-generation iPad Pros. With an S-Pen included in the box and optional 5G, could the Galaxy Tab S7 and S7 Plus offer better value for money than the new iPad Pro range?

US$1400 should get you the absolute best smartphone around, one would think. Apparently not, as the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra has made the trip over to DxOMark and mostly disappointed, with an overall score that places it outside the top five on the website's charts.

A Samsung executive has written a piece on where this OEM's image sensor technology is headed. It includes claims that it is working on new components with qualities that beat those of the human eye. This includes estimated resolutions of about 500MP, whereas the Korean giant is aiming for 600MP.

Since the launch of the Galaxy S10 series a year ago, Samsung users have complained heavily over the slow unlocking speeds of the in-display fingerprint readers on their phones—including the S10, Note 10, and S20 series. Here's how to make things a tad faster.

Owners of the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra have complained about a bug that makes their displays assume a green tint when brightness is reduced. It also appears to be present on the regular S20 and S20+. Thankfully, though, Samsung has promised to fix it.

Rejoice, Galaxy S9 series owners, you may just be set to receive the One UI 2.1 update after all. A Samsung chat rep has confirmed that the Galaxy S9 Plus—and the S9 by proxy—will receive the One UI 2.1 update that has already been sent out to the S10 and Note 10 phones.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite has now officially made its way over the US with a not-so-insignificant US$650. Seeing it steps on the toes of the regular Galaxy S10, some may be wondering why exactly the phone exists at all, but there appears to be some logic to it.

There is still hope for Galaxy Note 9 owners who are eagerly anticipating the arrival of One UI 2.1 on their devices. A Samsung Community moderator said the process is under review, but it'll be a while before the update is rolled out.

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is undoubtedly an impressive piece of hardware. It costs a massive US$1400 and most would expect it to be perfect at that price point. Sadly, it isn't, as it still suffers from acute autofocus issues, and what appears to be a display defect only compounds issues.

Samsung has finally announced the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite, and it is an absolute stinker. While the device may look modern with its thin bezels and slim form factor, the inclusion of a TFT panel means that you should give the Tab S6 Lite a miss. Seriously, why release a £339.00 (~US$425) tablet with a TFT panel in 2020?

The latest variant of the Samsung Galaxy Buds+ are hailed as some of the best non-ANC TWS earbuds out there. However, they are also affected by the potential for severe wind-noise during voice calls. Their latest firmware update is touted to fix this problem.

Apparently being released in 64 GB, 128 GB, LTE and Wi-Fi variants, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite will also be available in two colours. Full specifications for the Exynos 9611-powered tablet have been revealed too, as has a so-called Book cover accessory that Samsung will sell separately.

The Exynos 990 is having a rough ride of it currently. Not only did Samsung snub the chipset for its home market, but there has also been a slew of reports about a flurry of issues affecting the Galaxy S20 Ultra. With complaints about the Exynos 990 version of the device piling up online, it now seems that the US$1,400 flagship can no longer run Pokémon Go, either.

Samsung is reportedly working on two selfie camera modules, one of which supports OIS. It is expected to make its debut alongside the Galaxy S21 next year. This will be the first time an OEM incorporates OIS in a phone's front-facing camera after Sony did it four years ago with the Xperia XA Ultra.

Samsung recently updated is One UI Home launcher app to address a screen rotation issue affecting Samsung Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note 10 users. The update also patches bugs affecting shortcuts and Task Changer.

A Galaxy S20 Ultra Exynos 990 user claims to be facing major QA issues on his smartphone. In a Twitter post, the user claims autofocus is broken, even on the latest firmware, and that the US$1400 has "poor performance," "poor battery life," and "heats like hell."

The Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite has been issued with a new software update. It confers a fresh build of One UI 2.1 on the phone, which comes with a range of camera and AR Emoji enhancements. It also changes its security patch level to the most recent one.

The new Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro smartphone has leapfrogged over various iPhones to head Soomal’s display evaluation charts for both subjective user experience and the more objective professional color tests. It’s a good result for the Xiaomi device, but the charts do not yet include flagship rivals such as the Huawei P40, OPPO Find X2, or Samsung Galaxy S20.

Samsung was first to unveil patents for in-display selfie cams, but Oppo one-upped the Korean giant by presenting working phone prototypes integrating in-display cameras. While Samsung is now strongly considering adding in-display cams to the upcoming Galaxy S21 launching next year, Oppo could still be first-to-market, if its prototypes showcased last December are any indication.

You can now get a Samsung Galaxy A50 for free with every Galaxy S20+ in the US. The offer is only valid Verizon, AT&T and Sprint variants of Samsung's 2020 flagship. The promotion also holds for those who want an unlocked version of the phone, but it'll cost an extra $50.

Following the publication of a patent filed by Samsung for a quad-curved display, Concept Creator and LetsGoDigital have teamed up to imagine what such a smartphone could look like. Featuring the rear-facing cameras from the Galaxy S20 Ultra, the design resembles a P40 Pro, but one that truly curves over the front of the device.

Samsung once again trying to get Apple directly in its sights with rumored new 12.4-inch and 11-inch Galaxy Tabs. It has been all over the shop with display sizes and ratios, but is once again following Apple’s lead.

Samsung has published an update to its security patch update roadmap. It outlines which devices get monthly, quarterly or less frequent upgrades of this nature, revealing in the process that the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are on neither of these lists. This, then, definitively marks the end of the series' life.

Comparison camera shots between the Exynos 990-powered Galaxy S20 and the Snapdragon 865-powered ones have revealed that the Exynos models take better pictures—in low light, at least. This is likely one of the few things the Exynos phones are better at.

The recent One UI 2.1 update for the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy S10 adds a 120 Hz display refresh rate option, but the phones cannot make use of it as their displays are hardware-limited to 60 Hz. The new update also re-enables the NavStar module in the Good Lock app, but there are still bugs to be fixed.