Samsung Galaxy S20 vs Galaxy A12
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.2-inch Samsung Galaxy S20 (with Exynos 9 Octa 990) that was released on February 11, 2020, against the Samsung Galaxy A12, which is powered by MediaTek Helio P35 and came out 10 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
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- 4.9x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (652K versus 133K)
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- 109% higher pixel density (563 vs 270 PPI)
- Delivers 74% higher peak brightness (821 against 472 nits)
- Handles wireless charging up to 15W
- Optical image stabilization
- The rear camera has a 1.1x optical zoom
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Ability to record video in 4K resolution
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- More energy-efficient CPU – Exynos 9 Octa 990
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A12
- Shows 68% longer battery life (41:00 vs 24:28 hours)
- Comes with 1000 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 4000 mAh
- Has a 0.3 inch larger screen size
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
- The phone is 10-months newer
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 | PLS TFT |
| Size | 6.2 inches | 6.5 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3200 pixels | 720 x 1600 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 563 ppi | 270 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 800 nits | 450 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | No |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 6 | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.5% | 82.1% |
| Display features |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display |
- |
| RGB color space | 99.8% | 96.3% |
| PWM | 242 Hz | 337 Hz |
| Response time | 8.5 ms | 52 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | 864:1 |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 151.7 mm (5.97 inches) | 164 mm (6.46 inches) |
| Width | 69.1 mm (2.72 inches) | 75.8 mm (2.98 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 163 g (5.75 oz) | 205 g (7.23 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | No |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Plastic |
| Colors | Gray, Blue, Red | White, Black, Blue, Red |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-button |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 990 | MediaTek Helio P35 |
| Max clock | 2700 MHz | 2300 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 2 + 4) | 8 (4 + 4) |
| Architecture |
- 4 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2.5 GHz: Cortex-A76 - 2 cores at 2.73 GHz: Exynos M5 |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A53
- 4 cores at 2.3 GHz: Cortex-A53 |
| L3 cache | 2 MB | - |
| Lithography process | 7 nanometers | 12 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali-G77 MP11 | PowerVR GE8320 |
| GPU shading units | 704 | 32 |
| GPU clock | 550 MHz | 680 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1126 GFLOPS | ~43.5 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 185116 | 49721 |
| GPU | 195014 | 16841 |
| Memory | 144113 | 34529 |
| UX | 126679 | 32377 |
| Total score | 652761 | 133842 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 49.7 °C | 44.1 °C |
| Stability | 51% | - |
| Graphics test | 25 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 4221 | - |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 8843 | - |
| Video editing | 6024 | - |
| Photo editing | 30239 | - |
| Data manipulation | 8544 | - |
| Writing score | 11877 | - |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 3, 4, 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4 |
| Memory clock | 3200 MHz | 1866 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 32, 64, 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.0 | eMMC 5.1 |
| 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 10.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | One UI 4.1 | One UI Core 5.1 |
| OS size | 20.1 GB | 13 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4000 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 15 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 75 min) | Yes (20% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:15 hr | 3:03 hr |
| Web browsing | 08:40 hr | 16:07 hr |
| Watching video | 10:04 hr | 12:14 hr |
| Gaming | 04:15 hr | 06:08 hr |
| Standby | 83 hr | 153 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 8000 x 6000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 1.1x | Digital |
| Flash | LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Digital |
| 8K video recording | Up to 24FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | No |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | No |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 123° |
| Lenses | 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP) | 4 (48 MP + 5 MP + 2 MP + 2 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.76", Samsung S5K2LD (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- 48 MP
- Aperture: f/2.0 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/2", Samsung S5KGM2 (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
| Telephoto lens |
- 64 MP
- Aperture: f/2.0 - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.72", Samsung Bright S5KGW2 (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- |
| Ultra-wide lens |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Samsung S5K2LA (ISOCELL CMOS) |
- 5 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 |
| Macro lens | - |
- 2 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 |
| Depth lens | - |
- 2 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 |
| Camera features |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode |
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy A12 from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 10 megapixels | 8 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 2592 x 3872 | 3264 x 2448 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | - |
| Pixel size | 1.22 microns | - |
| Sensor type | CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.2" | - |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 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 4 (802.11 b/g/n) |
| Wi-Fi features |
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot |
| 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 | Standby |
| eSIM support * | Yes | No |
| Hybrid slot | Yes | No |
| LTE Cat * | 22 | 7 |
| 5G support | No | No |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Mono |
| Headphone audio jack | No | Yes |
| FM radio | No | Yes |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Budget |
| Announced | February 2020 | November 2020 |
| Release date | March 2020 | December 2020 |
| SAR (head) | 0.28 W/kg | 0.67 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.52 W/kg | 1.38 W/kg |
| Sensors |
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Proximity sensor
- Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - 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 is definitely a better buy.