Samsung’s ‘Ultra’ new 5G smartphone comes with ultra-high price tag

February 12, 2020

By Kim Komando

It’s a new year, and Samsung has big plans for its flagship line of smartphones and accessories. At the Galaxy Unpacked 2020 event, the South Korean telecom giant brought its A-game, and left the tech press dazzled with previews of new gear.

In 2019, Samsung held a second Galaxy Unpacked event that revealed the Galaxy Note 10, as well as a few other surprises. Later this year, we might see a similar event for the upcoming Galaxy Note model rumored to be in the works. Tap or click to see what Samsung revealed in 2019.

But this year, Samsung isn’t just showing new models of its existing lineup — it’s also announcing a brand new piece of hardware with a folding glass screen. This comes alongside a series of models with 8K cameras, and one special phone with a 100x zoom lens.

Here’s everything Samsung revealed at Galaxy Unpacked 2020.

Move over, Fold: Meet the Galaxy Z Flip

Samsung has never been one to give up easily. After the disastrous (and highly flammable) Galaxy S7 burned itself out, Samsung continued to pump out more Galaxy phones in spite of the criticism.

In a similar vein, following the fragile Galaxy Fold, Samsung is releasing a brand new foldable phone and hoping we’ll forget about last year’s mistakes. Tap or click here to see what went wrong with the Galaxy Fold.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is an entirely different breed of phone. In fact, it shares much of its design DNA with Nokia’s brand new RAZR revival, which also hones in on the classic flip-phone design. Tap or click here for a closer look at the new Moto RAZR.

But the Galaxy Z Flip is a Samsung phone, which means it comes chock full of all the bells and whistles you’d expect from one of the world’s most popular smartphone makers.

The device includes what Samsung calls a “revolutionary piece of foldable glass” that protects the underlying display and can be folded over 200,000 times. It also has a unique hinge that uses microfibers to keep debris out — an issue that hampered the Galaxy Fold.

The hinge is also unique in the fact that it’s geared to hold its pose — meaning a Galaxy Z Flip at rest on a table can function much like a laptop. You can set it down flat and angle the upper portion of the screen for perfectly stable selfies (which come from a 10 megapixel front camera, no less.)

The 6.7 inch display neatly folds into its clamshell design, which helps protect it from drops and scuffs. The device also features a small hidden display on the outer enclosure for alerts, photos and more.

And speaking of photos, the rear camera packs a whopping 12-megapixel ultrawide and a regular 12-megapixel wide-angle camera. It also supports Samsung’s night mode for low-light settings.

The Galaxy Z Flip weighs 6.45oz, includes 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The device will retail for $1,380 and goes on sale Friday, Feb. 11 at AT&T, Sprint and Samsung’s official website. Let’s hope the second time’s the charm for Samsung.

Skipping 10: Meet the Galaxy S20 series!

Wait, we thought it was gonna be the Galaxy S11! Well, even if the numbers seem like an overshot, the tech inside the latest Galaxy S20 models seems futuristic enough to earn the moniker.

Each phone features an OLED HDR+ display with an insane 120Hz refresh rate — the kind found in high definition TVs. You’ll be able to pick up three different 5G-compatible models: The S20, S20 Plus and S20 Ultra. These phones are massive, sizing in at 6.2, 6.7 and 6.9 inches, respectively.

When it comes to cameras, the phones get even wilder: 12 Megapixel cameras with massive zooming capabilities. The Ultra model can even zoom in up to 100 times the original resolution. And if that wasn’t enough, you get standard 8K video recording to boot.

But phones this powerful don’t come cheap. The base model for the Samsung Galaxy S20 starts at $999, the S20 Plus at $1,199 and the S20 Ultra at a terrifying cost of $1,399.

You can trick it out even further up to $1,599 if you want extra memory. These models will be available for sale on March 6, and can be preordered from Samsung, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile starting Feb. 21.

Buds for life: Meet the Galaxy Buds Plus

Samsung also announced an upgrade to its popular pair of Galaxy Buds headphones, which are now truly wireless with three external microphones to make conversations even clearer. This upgraded model is compatible with iPhones, but you’ll need to download a special app to set it all up.

Most impressively, the upgraded headphones boast an 11-hour battery life, which can be extended to a whole day with the help of the included charging case. And if you’re out of juice, three minutes’ worth of charge will give you an hour of battery life. Not bad, Samsung. Not bad at all.

The Galaxy Buds Plus will retail for $150 and, like the Galaxy Z Flip, will be available Feb. 14. You can preorder it from Samsung today. Well, you can try to, at least. It’ll be hard to afford the headphones if you’re already buying all the other cool Samsung stuff coming down the pipeline!