Would you keep the Ultra or go one down?

[skykit84]

So aside from the so called known issues such as overheating, restarting and camera - for those who have the Ultra, what do you think of it?

Would you keep it or potentially drop to a plus?

I've got both here and really can't decide!
I got the Ultra first because of the specs on paper but found the phone even for my beastly hands too big and heavy to the point of giving wrist-ache.  Maybe this is because I can still use it one handed (somewhat)  but am I trying to make it one-hand usable when it clearly isn't made to be and the end result is ache?

Or is actually the few mm increase in size and a fairly useless 100x zoom camera not actually worth it but the plus is?

To be fair, both units have been fine in terms of the known issues - I have no restarts, I have no overheating.

What works with the plus is the weight and size - its just so much more usable and lighter especially coming from a s10.

I know this is personal preference but keen to see if I am missing something maybe others have noticed/found with the Ultra to make it worth keeping or do I do the final reset and box it up to send back.  Some of you might even say the fact the plus is more usable and lacks wrist-ache is probably enough of an answer...but I'm still wanting to know what I am missing by sticking with the plus

I am trying to not use the Ultra for the next few days to see if I "miss it".

With this lockdown, it is frustrating I can't really push the camera with outdoor pictures 

Thanks all

[SmallFish · Accepted solution]

The Ultra is beast. An annoying beast. It should give the best photos. It should make you the king/queen of the mobile world!

...It doesn't. It weighs you down and you can't help but feel that it tying you down to something less than expected. It doesn't live up the hype. It's a good phone but the camera (after two purpose made updates) is worse than the S10+. It's that simple. The marketing hype is just that. The reviews are bought - this camera has potential but spectacularly fails in most areas. Close up photos' your forte? Think again - you can't get near to anything with the default processing/lens unless you are 20 cm away and even though don't expect a crisp photo. Ow, the sensor is large and specs mean it's not designed for those types of photos. Sure, but why do we have to switch, manually, to the wide lens to get a photo of something that's meant to be close up in a flagship phone?! The photos on a bright sunny day, just like every day in the merry and content UK, are great though! Ow, wait, we can't go outside. Unless you live in a sunny mansion, you're simply wasting money on this extravagance. Don't bin your packaging and return labels just yet!

But that 5000mah battery is the best isn't it?! Err, nope. It's at best, meh. At 120Hz refresh you will barely get through a day without needing to charge unless you don't actually use the phone. 60Hz gives you a few more hours, not minutes (!), hours! For selling point of the phone that's nothing but upsetting!

Such a speedy processor and lots of RAM though?! I could mine bitcoins whilst it's doing nothing else!... Err, nope. The Exynos 990 processor is a flop. It will chain Samsung down in 2020 as the less than average mobile manufacturer. This thing eats battery when in use and is known to overheat quite badly (too hot to hold) if you expect it to work hard. It then throttles the speed right back to cool down. Try play you fancy games with this thing. I imagine hours of frustration will endure. The RAM... well, tell me why on Earth we need that much for anything on a mobile that's underpowered is almost every way.

No, I am not fond of the Ultra.

Stick with the lower end S20 or the S20+ if you want reliable punchy phones. The S20+ is so look that it reminds me a little of the S10+ that bit almost exactly the same... wait... I've seen some review that are starting to say it but 2020 is a year to miss. You do not need the S20 in your life. You may regret ever welcoming it through your doors.

Be moderate and you'll be less disappointed.

Yours

A S20+ convert.

[missing building superhuman strength in my wrists though]

[skykit84]

Brilliant reply and to be fair, pretty much bang on my thoughts too.

You did get me thinking with your closing comments on whether it is even worth going for the S20+ and maybe skip this year, keep the fault-less S10.

But I spent another 3-4 hours last night factory resetting the s20+ to get it exactly the way I want and it is working great.

And being on the plus, I'm not looking that extra bit more with the cameras whereas the Ultra just being big and heavy, I am only to find the flaws.

So yes, its goodbye ultra, and I guess goodbye free buds+ but save £200 or so and hopefully next year something more tried/tested and better comes out... or it doesn't and I get to save the money I don't have :- )

Thanks again for your insight - I think I knew all of this deep-down but wanted to double-check I was not missing something in all the hype that was going on.

[SmallFish]

The one thing I've noticed is that since swapping phones 3 times in a month, RCS chat in Messages is refusing to work (settings, chat settings). I read somewhere the Samsung Messages relies on your carrier's RCS rather than say Google's with their Messages. After resetting my network and device settings, I believe I'm locked out of RCS by my carrier... one to watch out for. No idea how to reset that now but hey hardly anybody uses RCS as it's Android only.

By the way, don't forget the S20+ was part of the same original Buds+ offer...