Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra front camera review

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is the company’s latest high-end smartphone and features the recent Exynos 990 chipset, a 6.9-inch AMOLED display, a high-capacity 5000mAh battery, and an advanced quad-camera setup on the rear.

For selfie shooters, Samsung’s latest model isn’t short on innovation on the front camera either, thanks to a neat trick that simulates a dual-camera setup. Although it features just a single sensor, the S20 Ultra can shoot selfies in both full frame or cropped format, with the latter simulating a longer focal length. Its 40MP 1/2.65-inch Quad-Bayer sensor with 2×2 pixel binning outputs 10MP images with a 25mm-equivalent focal length in its wide-angle mode, which it automatically selects when it detects two or more faces. By default, however, the S20 Ultra shoots in its cropped mode, with the same sensor producing a lower-resolution 6.5MP output at a longer 32mm-equivalent focal length when capturing single-person selfies.

The lens features PDAF autofocus, but no optical image stabilization (OIS). There’s auto-HDR processing, a screen-flash solution for low-light selfies, and an AI (artificial intelligence) mode that is enabled by default to optimize camera settings and processing based on the scene.

For front camera video, the S20 Ultra shoots at Full HD 1080p at 30fps by default, with high-resolution 4K capture at either 30fps or 60fps available as well. With no OIS on the lens, video stabilization is electronic (EIS); and the EIS crop uses the full sensor for a 25mm-equivalent field of view when shooting video.

The S20 Ultra posted a solid set of scores in our main camera review. Let’s find out how its front camera fared in our DXOMARK Selfie tests.

Key front camera specifications:

40MP 1/2.65-inch Quad-Bayer sensor with 0.7µm pixels
25mm-equivalent f/2.2-aperture lens (no OIS)
Default cropped 6.5MP output at 32mm-equivalent focal length
Optional uncropped 10MP wide-angle output at 25mm-equivalent focal length
Automatic wide-angle switching for dual or group selfies
AI enabled by default
PDAF autofocus
4K/60fps (1080p/30fps at default settings).