Review 58: December 14-2020 at 04:00 pm
This is the truth about the differences between the American version and other countries version of the S20 Ultra.
I brought a device from USA and another one from Morocco to test them.
In this review, you’ll find the differences in performance between both of these devices.😈
Hello Guys, your Coffee or Tea hot, Usually Samsung releases flagship devices with two different CPUs, One is for the US market and the other is for the rest of the world.
This has been the case for more than a year now.
And every year, people debate whether the US version better and vice versa!
But this year, people say that the differences between both versions are huge, They said that the Qualcomm version is way better than the Exynos version. But these CPUs are supposed to give you the same performance.
💬 Why would Samsung release a device that costs more than 1500 USD with different performance? It would bee unfair!😡
To make this review, I had to buy the Qualcomm version from USA that costed $400 more than the price of the version available in Morocco.
We tested different things in both of these devices and we repeated these tests again to make sure, We did this so that when we show the numbers, they’d be realistic.
Let me remind you to bring your coffee or Tea: ☕ 🍵 😍
There were tests that were identical between these devices. We’ll explain them to you.
Things that were identical: Usage and OS are the same. Speediness of opening apps were nearly identical, The audio is the same as they use the same hardware. The screens are identical as the supplier is the same, WiFi speeds are nearly identical. and Both of these devices support WiFi 6, which brings more internet speeds.
Let’s showcase the experiments:
Let’s start with the Geekbench app. With this test, we’ll know if there are differences between both of these CPUs.
Exynos 990 version scored 862 points for single core, while the Snapdragon 865 version scored 766 pints,The Exynos 990 is 11% better. But for the multicore, the Exynos 990 scored 2641 points, while the Snapdragon scored 2867 points.
The african version is 7% better than the US version, It is up to you whether you care about the 7% or not.
For single core, the Exynos is 11% better, while the Qualcomm is 7% better than the Exynos, Why didn’t we use the Untutu benchmark? This app was removed from the store.
Untutu benchmark app isn’t accurate, There are lots of apps. Advise us as to which benchmark apps should we use in the future.
Let’s discuss the 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme test.
This test is for graphics on flagships, It uses Open GL and Vuikan to test them. We this we make sure that our tests are accurate.
Let me start with Exynos 990 version:
It scored 6803 points in Open GL 3.1, The Snapdragon version scored 7231 points.
The Snapdragon version is 5.9% better than the Exynos. The Exynos version scored 6066 points with Vulkan, while the Qualcomm version scored 6535 points.
The Qualcomm version is 7.1% better than the Exynos version, The Qualcomm is 6.5% better than the Exynos version in general in Graphics.
But we tested PUBG and other games, but is the 6.5% percentage worth this hype?
You decide.🙃
For me, I will tell you what I think about this comparison and what I am sure of.
Let’s move to the PCMark and their Work 2.0 Performance test. The Exynos scored 12170 points, while the Snapdragon scored 11691 points.
The Exynos is 3.9% better than the Snapdragon, The Exynos is better by nearly 4%, but who needs all of this power anyway?
If you offer me one of these devices but one with a better camera, I’d go with the better camera, But if they’re identical in specs, with 6% or even 10% better CPU performance, would you think this would be an important point for me? But if the CPU is 20% of 30% better, I’d go with it.
The Exynos version still runs February updates, Some of these updates have brought better camera performance. You might ask why didn’t you test the cameras then?
Because the updates have already brought enhancements to the cameras, focus and isolation, while the Exynos hasn’t received it yet.
We’ll have to wait until the Exynos receives the Mars updates, and then we’ll test it again to make it fair.
We’ve tested the cameras, but we’ll have to retest the cameras again once the Exynos receives the update.
But I didn’t want this review to be late, so we’ll make another review once the update is received. Keep visit us to get the latest.
The Untutu benchmark isn’t available on the store, but we’ll have to test how both devices handle heat.
We installed Untutu benchmarks from the APK store on both devices. The difference between both devices was shocking.
The Exynos CPU heat was between 52 and 60 Celsius, With this temperature, the device becomes a little bit warm, But the Qualcomm device’s temperature was 40 Celsius.
There is 12 degrees up to 20 degrees heat differences with high performance. This means that the Exynos version might have problems with high temperature, But the performance numbers were similar, as you’ve seen before.
The heat makes a difference, but there won’t be a performance temperature, The room temperature where we tested the devices was 24 Celsius.
We decided to play a game on both devices and check whether the heat temperature is the same on both devices, We decided to test PUBG game.
We also enabled HDR while playing it. The Exynos scored 30 to 40 fps and the temperature was 41 to 43.
The Snapdragon version scored 39 to 40 fps and the temperature was 41 to 42.
The temperature was the same, but the Qualcomm provided better fps and performance with a minimum 39 fps.
For those who care about fps, you’ll find a difference between both of the CPUs.
Both devices were set up with 120Hz frequency and Ultra performance. This is the official result.
Let’s discuss the battery life:
When I bought the US version, I brought the dedicated 45w charger for it, I had to buy the charger as it only works with this CPU.
Let’s discuss the battery life:
The Exynos battery lasted 8 hours and 52 minutes while the Snapdragon version lasted for 10 hours and 33 minutes, The snapdragon scored nearly 2 hours more than the Exynos.
Honestly, 2 hours do make a difference, We ran a live video on both devices with the same resolution to test them and those were the results.
We left these devices in live broadcast without using them. 2 hours is a significant difference.
We tested the 25w charger and the 45w charger with both of these devices.
Let me start with the 25w charger:
In 15 minutes, the Exynos version charged up to 29%, The Snapdragon scored the same number.
They also scored the same in 30 minutes as both charged up to 58%.
Let me remind you that the batteries were 0%, Both devices charged to 100% in one hour and 7 minutes, but there were 8 seconds differences in favor of the Exynos. It is not that difference, though. With the 25w, both devices charged to 100% in the same exact time.
Let’s discuss the 45w charger:
The Exynos version charged to 39% in 15 minutes, But the Snapdragon charged to 36% in 15 minutes.
The Exynos charged up to 64% in 30 minutes, While the Snapdragon charged up to 59% in 30 minutes.
The Exynos charged to 100% in 1 hour, 2 minutes and 52 seconds, The Qualcomm version charged to 100% in 1 hour, 3 minutes and 7 seconds.
The Exynos wins the fast charging, but the difference is only 1 minute and few seconds, It is not a huge difference, though, but these are the facts.
I will tell you about the camera tests now and the final sayings before the review ends.
The pictures:
The Exynos comes with better sharpness and more natural colors.
The Snapdragon device comes with warmer colors but the skin is apparently beautified. In the ultra wide lens, the colors are nearly identical on both devices, but photo processing and details are way better in the Snapdragon version.
It is clear that the Exynos struggles with photo processing, Could it be because of the update?
The colors in portraits with front facing camera are nearly the same, but the details and isolation is better on the Snapdragon version. When it comes to the cameras, the Snapdragon is better.
But other tests were identical except for the single core performance, where the Exynos was 11% better. But with other tests, there was either no difference or 6% to 7% in favor of the Snapdragon version.
The latest Snapdragon update has brought lots of enhancements for the camera.
The Exynos hasn’t received the update yet. It’d be great if we receive them frequently.
I am not sure if these differences make you lean towards the Qualcomm version.
There’s still a 5G test. We thought that one of these devices will win this test.
I am contacting Samsung to know exactly what carrier should I use with the Qualcomm CPU.
I’ll let you know about the test in the News article…
💬 For me, the differences are not worth it, but these are the facts, One of these CPUs is better than the other when it comes with capabilities, If the differences were huge, then I’d believe it is unfair, But the differences are very minimal, but Samsung are forced to use Qualcomm CPUs in USA.
What can we do?
Should you get a CPU that’s 7 or 8% better but without warranty?
Or should I ditch the Qualcomm version and go with the Exynos version with 2 years of warranty?
Or should I ditch this device altogether and choose another one?
Samsung flexed their muscles with the S20 Ultra device, but the Ultra isn’t the super star of the new series.
The star is the S20+. And similar to previous generations, It is a balanced device. But Samsung decided to flex their muscles with the Space Zoom feature, which few people will use.
For me, the S20+ is the star of the new series, I think it is the star of this year, and we should focus more on it.
It is up to you choose.👍
See you in the next reviews.😈