Product check: A phone that colleagues hate

Dhe temptation is too big, just a quick glance: the colleague at the other end of the open-plan office is watching cat videos again. And the neighbors have really delicious cookies on the kitchen table. A quick glance at is enough for these espionage observations Smartphone – all you need is the camera of the new “Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ”with a total of 100x digital magnification. It is definitely the most exciting innovation in the South Korean manufacturer’s flagship. The WELT test reveals whether the expensive top model can convince otherwise.

Whoever takes the device in his hand for the first time has to get used to the huge dimensions. Samsung scratches the seven-inch mark with a screen size of 17.44 centimeters. The huge infinity display is made of robust gorilla Glass 6 is a feast for the eyes.

The processing is as usual noble, an aluminum frame combines front and back made of glass fluently and without corners and edges. On a positive note, you separated yourself from the “Bixby button” to activate your in-house voice assistant. And Samsung is one of the last manufacturers to say goodbye to the headphone jack for a top smartphone. There is little to discuss about speed and ease of use of a cell phone in this price range. In Europe, the device is available with the Samsung Exynos 990, an octa-core processor with a clock rate of up to 2.73 GHz.

The biggest seller, however, is likely to be the new camera equipment. The S20 Ultra has an absolute unique selling point on board: a 108 megapixel main camera with a 100x “space zoom”. Even without an extension lens, all kinds of objects can be projected close to the smartphone display.

However, this is a purely digital enlargement. In the test, this clearly affects the image quality. Razor-sharp images are a marketing gimmick, but the performance of the camera is still outstanding: Even with 100x digital magnification, details of buildings or landscapes can still be seen.

In addition, Samsung installs a telephoto lens with 4x optical magnification and 48 megapixel sensor, a 12 megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera and a sensor for portraits with depth of field. The results are impeccable in all lighting conditions.

If you want to have the new flagship in the ultra version, you have to automatically choose a 5G version – even if the network coverage is still in its absolute early stages and most Mobile phone tariffs not yet contain the superfast data network. The version with 128 gigabytes of storage costs 1349 euros, for half a terabyte even 1549 euros.

Ultimately, Samsung delivers an absolutely top-of-the-line device, but has finally said goodbye to an affordable Apple alternative. Anyone who has been watching the South Koreans for a long time also knows the price development – even the S20 Ultra should get cheaper quite quickly. If you still do not want to wait and can do without expensive additional equipment, you will find a device in the Galaxy S20 + for around 900 euros street price with a much more attractive price-performance ratio.

– .