Samsung in 2020: Galaxy S20, QLED TVs, Buds Live, Z Fold 2, Watch 3, and more
Samsung is one of the largest consumer electronics companies on the planet, with various levers making nearly every gadget you might want in your home or pocket.
2020 saw the company bring out a variety of new products including new televisions, cutting-edge smartphones, and a variety of other devices that you may have already bought this year – or you might think so.
As 2020 approaches, we take a look at what we’ve seen from the company over the past year and keep you up to date with the biggest announcements made by Samsung.
Expect big things from Samsung in the coming months as well Samsung Galaxy S21 To land in early 2021 and we will likely see a whole new batch of announcements from the company at CES 2021, very.
Cell phones: Samsung Galaxy S20 and more foldable devices
The best way to summarize Samsung’s smartphone year is by telling you Samsung Galaxy S20 We have it The best smartphone In the world now. Although ads like OnePlus 8 Pro And the IPhone 12Samsung has held its crown since unveiling the latest Galaxy S series in early 2020.
Brought that series of phones 5G To the Galaxy S flagship series in a way bigger than we’ve seen before, the design has been improved, there have been some big improvements to the camera, and the company has completely embraced 120Hz display technology as well.
It was also the debut of the new Galaxy S Ultra series with Galaxy S20 Ultra Attracting a lot of interest with its 100x zoom camera. We didn’t like this smartphone in general, but this rear camera is nonetheless a great piece of technology.
Then Samsung launched the foldable phone’s second form factor – which is Galaxy Z Flip. This clamshell device might look like a Nintendo Gameboy Advance SP, but it brought a new way to look at Foldable phones In the show.
Later in the year, Samsung released a phone Galaxy Note 20 And the Note 20 Ultra With the latter of these two devices getting the most attention. It features an excellent design, a powerful 108MP camera, and various improvements to the S Pen on Galaxy Note 10 Series.
The Galaxy Note 20 didn’t impress us much because it features a “ Glasstic ” back (both glass and plastic) and some of them below high-end specs despite the very high price tag. If you want the Galaxy Note phone from 2020, we recommend spending more and moving to the Note 20 Ultra.
Samsung’s foldable journey continued with Galaxy Z Fold 2 It debuted in September with a variety of improvements over its predecessor. It is more powerful in general, plus the front screen is more usable as it has grown in size since the first generation of the product.
Samsung has also brought a new batch of devices to the market this year for those who don’t want to spend much but want some great technology. The Galaxy S20 Fan Edition It debuted in October with some bold, colorful designs and plenty of high-end features from the S20 without the very high price tag.
In general, Samsung has witnessed an impressive year in the Galaxy world with some advanced phones that occupied a special place in the rankings of the best smartphones in addition to taking some bold steps in new worlds such as the foldable space and the introduction of 5G technology as well.
TV: 8K innovations, but they’ve slipped in the budget space
In 2020, we need entertainment at home more than ever – and for most of us, our big screen TV was the place to find it. According to the NPD Group, sales of 65-inch TVs increased by more than 50% year-over-year in the first half of 2020, which means companies like Samsung had a hit in a year that was really tough.
To the credit, Samsung is not content with what it has achieved here – while it could have pulled back from its R&D budget, the Korean company has stepped forward by announcing a slew of new TV technologies, including the latest consumer-facing version of the wall.
As screen sizes increase, Samsung is also one of the driving forces behind making it look better as well: It has more 8K TV More models than almost any other TV maker, and it has publicly adopted the new HDMI 2.1 specification required for 4K at 120Hz or 8k / 60.
However, as Samsung is driving innovations in high-end space to an ever-higher level, it is losing its place in the budget space as TV makers such as Vizio, TCL and Hisense enter the market with exceptional displays of their own. These companies are doing some amazing things, in their favor, but part of the reason for their success is that Samsung hasn’t put as much engineering effort into its Crystal UHD TVs as they do with their QLED lineup: The first is often premium – LED-LCD TVs. Lit with a native refresh rate of 60 Hz and a basic upgrade feature.
Without the crystal ball, it’s impossible to say with certainty what Samsung will cook for 2021, but if it turns out to be something like this year, expect bigger screens, a greater focus on 8K resolution and a wider range of HDMI 2.1 compatible televisions that will be able to pair it with the new Xbox Series X And the PS5.
Audio: The new true wireless, but not the Galaxy Home
It has been a busy year for Samsung’s sound suite, with multiple releases throughout 2020 and more on the horizon.
In February, the company announced a follow-up to Samsung Galaxy Buds True wireless earbuds; The Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus They displayed better battery life and superior sound quality compared to their predecessors, but they failed to really boot due to a lack of active noise cancellation and limited audio codec support.
Then, in August, we had Samsung Galaxy Buds Live, A pair of unusual, bean-shaped wireless earbuds that were a popular topic for several months prior to their release.
These quirky earbuds represented an exciting design departure for Samsung, and were very different from any buds we’ve seen before. They’ve also come with a promise of noise cancellation – although their ‘semi-open’ design means they can’t compete with the likes of Apple AirPods Pro In this regard.
Recently, we heard rumors that Samsung is about to release yet another pair of true wireless earbuds. While we don’t think it will materialize before the end of the year, … Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro It is said to be launched in January 2021 alongside the new Galaxy S21 series. Is this ‘Pro’ in the name a nod to the AirPods Pro and a hint it could come with active noise cancellation? We have to wait and see.
One audio device we haven’t seen this year? And the long awaited Samsung Galaxy Home Smart speaker. We have been waiting Google nest And the Amazon Echo The competitor that will be launched for more than two years now, and while we have largely lost hope at this point, Samsung launched a miniature version of the smart speaker again in February in South Korea. So far, the Samsung Galaxy Home Mini He hasn’t left company grounds yet, which indicates that it may have been just a promotional release. In any case, we are not holding our breath for Samsung smartphones in the near future.
Wearables: The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 is another victory
Wearables weren’t the focus of Samsung in 2020, but they made some amazing advances in the market by using our best smartwatch wear for two months along with the latest high-quality wristwear.
This is Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 Which debuted in August of this year, and the new smartwatch brought a lot to what we loved about Galaxy Watch With some great tweaks and design changes.
Instead of changing everything we expect from a smartwatch, it has refined the experience with an EKG, better battery life than its predecessor and more robust internal parts as well.
Galaxy Watch 3 shocked from # 1 on our list of best smartwatches two months later with an introduction Apple Watch SEBut for many, the Galaxy Watch 3 will be the best smartwatch experience.
Additionally, Samsung re-introduced itself into the fitness tracker market in early September. The Samsung Galaxy Fit 2 It features up to two weeks of battery life, which is the company’s latest attempt to use it for Fitbit.
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