Disappointed, next time I'll get an iPhone
I bought this phone because it has flagship specs and--with the release of the S21--it was cheaper than even higher-end mid-rangers (read, Pixel 5). It's a sleek and beautiful looking phone. I love that it's thicker than phones used to be and doesn't require a case to add bulk for it to be more comfortable to hold when I'm using it. And the battery life is phenomenal. Overall, I'm sure all the specs are great and I love the high-end screen (that's mostly why I wanted it), but it's a bit long in my opinion. It's good for fitting more icons per home screen, but it can be a little problematic when playing games. So far I've only played this one trucking game I love, but I definitely find it harder to handle on this phone than on my S6 Edge because the screen is so much longer and has no bezels to rest my fingers on. As far as streaming goes, if the phone's too wide for the picture you just get black bars on the sides, which defeats the purpose of the larger screen. Frankly, I'd much prefer a shorter (and slightly wider) phone.
But, my biggest complaint about this phone is the lack of control I have over how the proprietary software works. Between Verizon and Samsung, the phone is full of bloatware, and deleting these apps or removing their permissions is not allowed. For example, Bixby has been granted permission to use location, storage, camera, contacts, microphone and phone without any option for me to deny these permissions or remove Bixby altogether, even if I don't use it. It just says, "Device requires this permission to operate" for every one, which is a cop-out BS excuse by any measure, since literally every other non-Samsung Android phone can work without Bixby or its permissions. Likewise, I use my phone on Tracfone and I periodically get a notification that the SIM card is not a Verizon SIM card. Going into this notification's settings, the option to turn it off is greyed-out, so I am sentenced to dismissing this BS reminder every couple days for however many years I have this phone. And Google has this annoying requirement that if you use what they term a "secondary tier authentication modality" (i.e. the fingerprint reader), every 72 hours you will have to enter your password or passcode ("primary tier authentication modality") in order to unlock the phone, whether you want to or not, with no way to change or remove this requirement except for going with no security at all. They say it's for "additional security", but that's a BS excuse, too.
Now, there is no doubt that I paid good money for this phone and I OWN it outright. As the owner of the hardware, I should have the ultimate say in how that hardware is used--not Google, not Samsung, not Verizon. Greyed-out permission toggles should never be allowed or tolerated. I have purposely avoided upgrading to a new phone for the last few years precisely because I didn't want to have to deal with this type of encroachment on my property rights and autonomy by Big Tech.
The S20 may be an eye-dazzling powerhouse, but it's self-defeating shortcomings and outright disrespect of my personal space is a deal-breaker. I loved my S6 Edge, but with the changes Google has made to Android in the past few years and Samsung's insistence on polluting my phone with bloatware, this phone has single-handedly ruined Samsung and Android for me, and I will never again buy another Samsung phone. Maybe the Android experience is more amenable from a "less-bloated" manufacturer or on the pure-Android of a Google Pixel, but between Samsung and Verizon's hijacking my permission controls and Google's "Big Brother" approach to security, I think I'll dump this phone and get an iPhone...and I hate Apple.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
