Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra vs Galaxy A72
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.9-inch Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra (with Exynos 990) that was released on February 11, 2020, against the Samsung Galaxy A72, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G and came out 13 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
- 92% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (711K versus 371K)
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- 30% higher pixel density (511 vs 393 PPI)
- Handles wireless charging up to 15W
- The rear camera has a 4x optical zoom
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- Delivers 8% higher peak brightness (897 against 830 nits)
- Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 25W)
- Thinner bezels – 5% more screen real estate
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A72
- Shows 41% longer battery life (36:59 vs 26:19 hours)
- The phone is 1-year and 1-month newer
- Weighs 17 grams less
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Value for money
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | Super AMOLED |
| Size | 6.9 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3200 pixels | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 511 ppi | 393 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 90 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 800 nits | 400 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | - | 800 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 6 | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.9% | 84.9% |
| Display features |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display |
- Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 99.2% | 98.7% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 367 Hz |
| Response time | 6.2 ms | 4.8 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 166.9 mm (6.57 inches) | 165 mm (6.5 inches) |
| Width | 76 mm (2.99 inches) | 77.4 mm (3.05 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.8 mm (0.35 inches) | 8.4 mm (0.33 inches) |
| Weight | 220 g (7.76 oz) | 203 g (7.16 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP67 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Plastic |
| Colors | Black, Gray | White, Black, Blue, Pink |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 990 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G |
| Max clock | 2730 MHz | 2300 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 2 + 4) | 8 (2 + 6) |
| Architecture |
- 4 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2.5 GHz: Cortex-A76 - 2 cores at 2.73 GHz: Exynos M5 |
- 6 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 465 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 2 cores at 2.3 GHz: Kryo 465 Gold (Cortex-A76) |
| L3 cache | 2 MB | - |
| Lithography process | 7 nanometers | 8 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali-G77 MP11 | Adreno 618 |
| GPU shading units | 704 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 800 MHz | 750 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1126 GFLOPS | ~384 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 202750 | 119340 |
| GPU | 219003 | 73217 |
| Memory | 130201 | 79831 |
| UX | 157575 | 95997 |
| Total score | 711852 | 371130 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 38.6 °C | 38.2 °C |
| Stability | 53% | 99% |
| Graphics test | 25 FPS | 6 FPS |
| Graphics score | 4319 | 1038 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 8802 | 7232 |
| Video editing | 6175 | 6243 |
| Photo editing | 31559 | 17192 |
| Data manipulation | 8779 | 7559 |
| Writing score | 12443 | 9133 |
Memory
| RAM size | 12, 16 GB | 6, 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 3200 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 512 GB | 128, 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.0 | UFS 2.1 |
| Memory card | MicroSD | MicroSD |
| Memory card max size | Up to 1000 GB | Up to 1024 GB |
Software
| Operating system | Android 10.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | One UI 4.1 | One UI 5.0 |
| OS size | 23.7 GB | 25.8 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 45 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | No |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (100% in 80 min) | Yes (54% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:20 hr | 1:15 hr |
| Web browsing | 08:26 hr | 11:27 hr |
| Watching video | 11:53 hr | 14:00 hr |
| Gaming | 04:13 hr | 05:39 hr |
| Standby | 93 hr | 151 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 108 megapixels | 64 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 12032 x 9204 | 9000 x 7000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 4x | Optical, 3x |
| Flash | LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 24FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 123° |
| Lenses | 4 (108 MP + 48 MP + 12 MP + 0.3 MP) | 4 (64 MP + 8 MP + 12 MP + 5 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens |
- 108 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.33", Samsung Bright S5KHM1 (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- 64 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.7" (CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
| Telephoto lens |
- 48 MP
- Aperture: f/3.5 - Focal length: 103 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/2", Sony IMX586 (CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- 8 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 - Pixel size: 1 micron - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
| Ultra-wide lens |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1.12 micron |
| Macro lens | - |
- 5 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 |
| Depth lens |
- 0.3 MP
- Aperture: f/1.0 - Pixel size: 5 micron |
- |
| Camera features |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode |
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy A72 from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 40 megapixels | 32 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 7864 x 5200 | 4000 x 3000 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Pixel size | 0.7 microns | 0.8 microns |
| Sensor type | CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/2.65" | 1/2.8" |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS |
DxOMark camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 b/g/n/ac) |
| Wi-Fi features |
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.1 | 2 |
| USB features |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo |
| NFC * | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM * | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Active |
| eSIM support * | Yes | No |
| Hybrid slot | Yes | Yes |
| LTE Cat * | 22 | 15 |
| 5G support | Yes | No |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | Yes |
| FM radio | No | Yes |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Mid-range |
| Announced | February 2020 | March 2021 |
| Release date | March 2020 | March 2021 |
| SAR (head) | 0.32 W/kg | 0.23 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.56 W/kg | 1.17 W/kg |
| Sensors |
- Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
*
Disclaimer!
NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is definitely a better buy.