Samsung’s latest Galaxy variant impresses, but struggles to wow...

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is a serious tool for both stills and video. The Mobile World Congress is still a few weeks away, but this already looks like it could be the best smartphone of 2020.

The market's wildest monster phone is called Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra. But it's not necessarily just positive.

Lightning fast performance combined with 120 Hz display provides the most fluid user experience ever. The camera is the wildest we have tried, and then it comes with 5G.

Boring and uninspiring design at a very high price. Missing 3.5 mm jack, while it is too many of the wild features that require compromises to work as intended.

This is Samsung's best smartphone yet, with the highest price yet.

Big; Beautiful Display; 120Hz refresh rate display; Big battery that lasts all day; Fast charging capable; Incredible camera system; Amazing zoom capabilities; Supports 5G across the board; Impressive gaming performance

Large camera hump; Big price tag; No headphone jack; Very boring color choices this year; 100x Zoom is more hype than feature

A few weeks ago ZDNet Editor-in-Chief Larry Dignan and I attended briefings with Samsung to get our first look at the Galaxy S20 lineup and for the past week I've been using a Cosmic Gray 128GB Samsung S20 Ultra 5G as my daily driver on T-Mobile.

Future-proof 5G network support; Stunning large 120Hz display; Solid cameras in most situations; Good battery life

Flawed camera software; Huge phone and rear camera array; Expensive

The Galaxy S20 Ultra is not without potential. But the overenthusiastic marketing and the sheer size of that camera bump had us expecting the next big thing - instead, space zoom it isn't and Nonacell is nona-mazing, at least for now.

Big, bright and beautiful 120Hz AMOLED display; The great periscope telephoto cam offers versatile zoom options; The new gen chipset is a solid upgrade performance-wise; Stereo speakers are nice and loud; Charging is very fast.

The Galaxy S20 Ultra is… a lot. It has a big screen with a very high refresh rate, a very sharp selfie camera and support for speedy 5G. It also features a trio of advanced cameras on its rear that can shoot up to 108-megapixel-sharp pictures, 8K video and get as close as 100x to a subject.

Powerful performance; Vibrant display; Versatile camera setup

Heavy build; Exorbitant price

Zooming from 4X to 10X is better than on any other phone; 120 Hertz is buttery smooth; Beautiful display with almost no bezel; Battery life is solid; Very fast charging; Excellent loudspeaker

Very expensive; Hit or miss fingerprint scanner; 100X zoom is useless; there is no benefit to shooting 108MP photos; Uninspired design

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G is not just the most capable camera phone in the Galaxy family, it is arguably the most impressive camera phone ever. Its 108MP camera proves to be more than a numbers play.

Excellent compositional versatility; Great dedicated Night mode; Big; bold screen

Disappointing battery life; 100x zoom images are very soft; Night images could be more consistent in Auto mode

A few camera niggles at launch and breathtaking price that limits mainstream appeal, but still outmuscles just about any other Android phone you care to name. One for spec junkies with deep pockets

Unparalleled camera quality and flexibility; Stunning display; Colossal battery life - with the right settings

120Hz screen saps battery; No headphone jack; Eye-wateringly expensive