Is the S20 Ultra a failure?

[aggie]

I'm going to preface my response by saying that i bought the most expensive version of the Ultra and it's going to be my daily driver for at least a year. With that being said...

While it may have been labeled a "commercial success", I'm wondering the ratio of sales to upgrades. I mean, buying the phone outright makes it a lot easier to return, rather than upgrading on JoD or similar programs. That MIGHT be a factor that determines the number of how many are sold...the fact that for upgrades, it's probably more difficult (not impossible, but a definite hassle) to return the product. I know that for JoD, there's no trial period, so when you jump, it's one way.

In addition, all the rebates and promotions basically get you locked in and committed for the sheer fact that people traded in devices, and because they were already shipped out and the process was already begun, it would again be near-impossible to reverse it upon learning that the key features were nothing but parlor tricks.

Finally, and speaking of price, the high value given to devices that were relatively old (I traded my N9 and got $500 in total rebates plus $200 from Samsung) meant that it was easier for people to rationalize keeping the phone, because in my case, it wasn't $1600, it was $900 after all the incentives.

So short answer, yes, it "sold" well. Long answer, there's a lot of caveats to that oversimplified statement.

What I'm hoping for is that this phone causes a tech epiphany, making that people see the specs, realize that they didn't match the performance, and start looking at things besides stats and numbers. In addition, I'm hoping that reviewers do a better job of taking the phone through it's paces before putting out a glowing review. It's really a shame that absolutely no one reviewed the phone and talked about how my much it sucked under low light conditions when taking pictures of moving objects. I mean, do none of these reviewers live Indoors? Do none of them have kids? Do they always have lighting crews to optimize the scenes they're shooting? I don't get how do many things were glazed over.

I personally bought the phone, and, once I realized I was locked in, turned right around and used part of the rebate money to buy a Pixel 3XL...a phone with way less impressive specs, but honestly, a phone that I'm finding more and more should have been a phone I bought while keeping my Note 9.

Well said and you are spot on with the camera analysis. Trying to take pics of my kids with any movement at all is frustrating. My Note 10+ which I unfortunately traded in for the Ultra was actually better. While the Ultra is a fine device the camera is extremely disappointing. Going to keep it for a while and see what improvements future updates bring but in the meantime picked up a Pixel 4XL on swappa and going to give it another chance. I loved the camera on it as I have all Pixel devices. My only complaint was battery life but I'm very rarely anywhere that I can't plug in and keep it charged up.

 

[rdrive41071]

Well said and you are spot on with the camera analysis. Trying to take pics of my kids with any movement at all is frustrating. My Note 10+ which I unfortunately traded in for the Ultra was actually better. While the Ultra is a fine device the camera is extremely disappointing. Going to keep it for a while and see what improvements future updates bring but in the meantime picked up a Pixel 4XL on swappa and going to give it another chance. I loved the camera on it as I have all Pixel devices. My only complaint was battery life but I'm very rarely anywhere that I can't plug in and keep it charged up.

There has been 2 camera updates already - and a 3rd one coming very shortly. Hopefully the auto-focusing will be resolved soon.

 

[MoreDef]

There has been 2 camera updates already - and a 3rd one coming very shortly. Hopefully the auto-focusing will be resolved soon.

I've come to accept that no camera update will bless the 20U with Pixel-like photos in certain situations, and that's fine. I wanted Pixel-like photos, I got a Pixel, problem solved. I think that's just one of those things that is the responsibility of reviewers to fully do...review the phone and take it through it's paces, not just do the same thing as every other YouTuber and take stills in perfect conditions. Any camera can take halfway decent photos in that situation, but reviewers get their devices early to have enough time to do something more than take pictures of the building across the street, or their caramel macchiato...or stupid green plants and a cluttered mess of colorful objects.

While the 20U can't shoot like the Pixel, the same thing goes in the other direction too...my 3XL just got a message that I couldn't upload pictures to this site because the memory was too low. My S20 laughed and asked it to hold it's beer. True story....except for the laughing and beer part.

 

[donm527]

I guess you can say that within the S20 line, with Ultra sales accounting for at least half over the other models the Ultra is a success.

But Samsung has been disappointed at S20 sales as a whole falling below expectation and numbers compared to S10 same time last year.

S10 total sales failed to sell as many S9, which failed to sell as many S8 and so on. Which I think I read somewhere Samsung has failed to sell as many S phones as their best model which was I believe the S4.

https://www.androidauthority.com/galaxy-s9-sales-low-882992/

Yes, the S20 Ultra in the S20 line I think can say is a success when comparing sales over it's other S20 models. But sales compared to previous gen Samsung phones...

Is the S20 Ultra a failure? This is easy to answer. From a commercial viewpoint, the answer is a definate "no". The S20 Ultra is making up half of all S20 series sales, exceeding Samsung's expectations. I've read that stock in some countries has run out and that camera components unique to the S20 Ultra are being ramped up in production.

 

[rdrive41071]

But Samsung has been disappointed at S20 sales as a whole falling below expectation and numbers compared to S10 same time last year.

Maybe a worldwide pandemic has a little to do with that, plus 17mil people unemployed in under a month. Maybe?

 

[MoreDef]

Maybe a worldwide pandemic has a little to do with that, plus 17mil people unemployed in under a month. Maybe?

Well it's a victim on two fronts. First, it released at a premium price right at the beginning of a global economic crisis.

Second, it came out during a time of indoor quarantine when it's camera absolutely sucks at indoor low light of anything with a pulse.

But it also didn't help it's cause by misrepresenting itself as a game changer in photography. People realized it was too much of a hyperbole.

 

[donm527]

No doubt it will factor in and muddy the numbers. We'll never know for sure just how well or just how not well sales would have been without a pandemic.

https://www.tomsguide.com/news/samsung-galaxy-s20-sales-crash-is-coronavirus-really-to-blame

Maybe a worldwide pandemic has a little to do with that, plus 17mil people unemployed in under a month. Maybe?

 

[BlackZeppelin]

https://youtu.be/hHSLtCuFji8

This is great news and what I said before, a sign of things to come.

Pixel will apparently pick up the Exynos processor as it will develop a 5nm chip. Not only that, but Exynos will no longer use it's custom Mongoose cores, which apparently is the week link in the processor, but user the superior stock ARM cores. So the combination of a new Exynos 5nm chip with ARM is a great sign of things to come. The S21 should be much improved.

 

[kolyan2k]

There isnt that much to phone. CPU and ram is all bs as long as phone runs smooth. Design is ok, same as all others, stupid glass. You are felt with just battery, display, and camera..not much else.

 

[BlackZeppelin]

There isnt that much to phone. CPU and ram is all bs as long as phone runs smooth. Design is ok, same as all others, stupid glass. You are felt with just battery, display, and camera..not much else.

Not sure what you were trying to say there.

 

[kolyan2k]

Not sure what you were trying to say there.

Was trying to say that Samsung cant get 1/3 of a phone right. So camera is important, otherwise you are just getting a nice display and good battery

 

[BlackZeppelin]

The next Exynos processors should be a match for the next Qualcomm ones. Unlike the current versions. I myself will be eyeing off the S21 or Note 21 to replace my Note 9.

 

[donm527]

Just wondering if you are in a country where you get the Exynos version of the S20?

The next Exynos processors should be a match for the next Qualcomm ones. Unlike the current versions. I myself will be eyeing off the S21 or Note 21 to replace my Note 9.

 

[BlackZeppelin]

Just wondering if you are in a country where you get the Exynos version of the S20?

I am. Australia. Hoping for better Exynos processors next time round for the S21.

 

[Oscar Maradiaga]

Yes