Samsung Galaxy S20 vs Samsung Galaxy S10: how does the rumored handset differ?

The Samsung Galaxy S20 isn’t here yet but you’d be forgiven for thinking it was. Thanks to all the leaks and rumors, we have a very good idea of what to expect from the phone.

With that in mind we’ve created this comparison piece that examines how the Samsung Galaxy S20 will compare to the Samsung Galaxy S10 – if the rumors prove true.

As such you should take all of these comparisons with a pinch of salt, as nothing is confirmed just yet, but if you’re eyeing an upgrade from Samsung’s previous flagship then the changes are likely to be along the lines of what follows.

Samsung Galaxy S20 vs Samsung Galaxy S10 price and availability

The Samsung Galaxy S10 is of course already out and starts at $899 / £799 / AU$1,349. Or at least, that’s the starting RRP, but many stores now sell it for a fair bit less, and the price is likely to fall even more once the Galaxy S20 is available.

Speaking of which, it’s all but guaranteed that the Samsung Galaxy S20 will be announced on February 11, and based on a slip on Samsung’s own website we’re expecting the phone to hit stores on March 6.

As for what it will cost, rumors suggest a starting price of £799 for the 4G model in the UK. We don’t have US pricing for that version, but based on leaks the 5G model could start at $899/£874. We say ‘start at’ because there might be versions with more RAM or storage.

In Australia we can only estimate, with the 4G model possibly coming in at around AU$1,350-AU$1,650, while the 5G version might cost AU$1,700.

If the rumors are accurate then the Galaxy S20 might cost a similar amount to the launch price of the Galaxy S10, though again, you can pick up the older phone for a lot less now.

Design

We’re not expecting the Samsung Galaxy S20 to look enormously different to the Samsung Galaxy S10. Based on leaks, it should have a glass back and a metal frame, just like its predecessor, and a curved screen, which we’ll get to below.

The main visual change is likely to be the cameras, with the front-facing snapper on the Galaxy S20 thought to be in a punch-hole at the top center of the screen, while on the Galaxy S10 it’s at the top right corner.

The rear cameras meanwhile look to run vertically down the top left corner of the Galaxy S20’s rear, while on the Samsung Galaxy S10 they run horizontally across the back.

The S10 (above) could have a different camera configuration but otherwise look similar

It also looks like the S20 might have slightly smaller bezels than the S10, but that difference is likely to be negligible. And it doesn’t look like the new phone will have a 3.5mm headphone port, which the older model does.

As for the dimensions and weight, the Samsung Galaxy S20 is said to be 152 x 68 x 7.9mm and 164g, while the Galaxy S10 is 149.9 x 70.4 x 7.8mm and 157g. That makes them almost exactly the same size, which is unsurprising, since the S20 is likely to have a marginally larger screen but, thanks to the aforementioned smaller bezels, a similar size. The S20 is also rumored to be IP68 certified dust and water resistant, just like the S10.

Finally, we’ve heard that the Samsung Galaxy S20 will come in Cosmic Grey, Cloud Blue and Cloud Pink shades. The Samsung Galaxy S10 meanwhile is available in Prism Black, Prism Blue, Prism White, Flamingo Pink, Prism Green, Prism Silver and Canary Yellow colors.

Display

The Samsung Galaxy S20 is rumored to have a 6.2-inch 1440 x 3200 Dynamic AMOLED screen with a 20:9 aspect ratio and 563 pixels per inch.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 on the other hand has a 6.1-inch 1440 x 3040 Dynamic AMOLED screen with a 19:9 aspect ratio and 550 pixels-per-inch density. So the S20’s is marginally larger, sharper and narrower if the rumors are right, but the difference sounds small.

There are two potential bigger differences though. For one thing, the Samsung Galaxy S20 is widely rumored to have a 120Hz refresh rate, which would make interactions and animations feel smoother than on the 60Hz of the Galaxy S10.

The other possible major difference is how curved the screen is, as at least one source has surprisingly suggested that the curve will be less pronounced on the Galaxy S20 than it is on the Samsung Galaxy S10.

The S10 (above) likely has a slightly smaller screen than the S20

Specs

It goes without saying that the Samsung Galaxy S20 will be more powerful than the Samsung Galaxy S10. It’s rumored to use a Snapdragon 865 chipset in some regions (likely including the US) and an Exynos 990 one in others (likely including the UK), but these are both top-end smartphone chipsets that should be better than any chipset found in 2019’s Android phones.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 meanwhile uses either the Snapdragon 855 or the Exynos 9820, depending on what country you buy it from. Those are the previous major versions of each chipset, so they’re powerful still, but around a year older - and less powerful.

For RAM, it’s said that the Samsung Galaxy S20 will typically come with 12GB, though some regions might get an 8GB model. The Galaxy S10 can only be had with 8GB, so it’s likely to be lesser there too, albeit still powerful. The S20 will also probably come in a 5G version, whereas the standard Galaxy S10 only supports 4G.

As for storage, the Samsung Galaxy S20 could have 128GB of the stuff, but this is one area where the Galaxy S10 might have the edge, as it’s available in both 128GB and 512GB versions, though we can’t rule out the possibility of there being multiple versions of the S20 too.

The software should be similar on both phones, as the Samsung Galaxy S10 ships with Android 9 and is upgradeable to Android 10, and we’d fully expect the Galaxy S20 would have Android 10 on day one. It’s also likely to use a similar Samsung-made overlay to the Galaxy S10.

Camera and battery

Most leaks have suggested that the Samsung Galaxy S20 will have a 12MP main camera, a 64MP telephoto one, and a 12MP wide-angle one. We don’t know all the details of these lenses, but apparently the phone will be capable of 3x optical zoom, 30x digital zoom, and 8K video recording.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 meanwhile has a 12MP main camera with a variable aperture, a 12MP telephoto one capable of 2x optical zoom, and a 16MP ultra-wide one, along with the ability to record 4K video.

So the Galaxy S20’s setup sounds similar, but with some upgrades, most notably on the telephoto camera, which – if rumors are right - has far more megapixels and better optical zoom.

Moving on to the front-facing snapper, you get a 10MP one on the Samsung Galaxy S10 and reportedly also a 10MP one on the Galaxy S20, though the S20’s may well have been improved in other ways.

As for the battery, that’s 3,400mAh in the Samsung Galaxy S10 and probably 4,000mAh in the Samsung Galaxy S20, so the upcoming phone could be quite the upgrade there.

It might also charge faster, with reports of a 25W charger coming in the box, while the Galaxy S10 only supports 15W charging. It’s possible that the S20 will even go further though and support 45W charging like the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus.

Takeaway

If all of the above pans out then the Samsung Galaxy S20 will have a faster chipset, more RAM, a bigger, faster charging battery, improved (albeit similar) cameras, and a marginally bigger and sharper screen.

The design might not be much different though and it might actually have less storage than the Samsung Galaxy S10. It’s also sure to cost more than the Galaxy S10 currently does, if not necessarily any more than the S10 did at launch.

In all, the Samsung Galaxy S20 sounds like a minor upgrade in most ways but only a big upgrade in a few. For really significant improvements you’re probably going to have to look to the Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus or Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra.