The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is one hell of a device and accordingly has one hell of a price tag attached to it. Unless you are Daddy Warbucks the Galaxy S20 Ultra is not something you can afford to break. There are growing reports that the Galaxy S20 Ultra has some fragile glass covering the rear camera module leading to many breaking their expensive smartphone.
The reports have ranged from hairline cracks over the module to shattering entirely. Although the reports are not widespread just yet it is concerning for those who have forked out the large sum required to own a Galaxy S20 Ultra.
As for the mechanism of breakage some reports are saying that there was nothing in particular that they did to break it, making it sound like it was easier to break than it should be. Reports have been anything from a bump to just taking it out of a pocket or off a charger and it was like that.
Some people admit to causes but claim that the bump etc should not have been enough to shatter the glass after all it is covered with Gorilla Glass. As you would expect the breakage often affects the operation of the camera.
Samsung are able to fix the issue apparently although they aren’t doing it for free with many finding out that this damage is not covered under warranty. The breakage may just be a function of the size of the module and the glass on it unable to offer any real protection due to the size of it with Android Police noting that the iPhone X has been experiencing similar issues.
If you own a Galaxy S20 Ultra be careful with it and if you haven’t already it may be time to consider protecting it with a case (although some of the broken ones appear to have had cases on them). The other option is some form of insurance on your new expensive device.
Does anyone do phone insurance anymore? Does it cover this sort of breakage?
Just been quoted $375 by Samsung to repair the camera module on my less than one month old Ultra. Physical damage identified. We were comparing photos to the S10+ and thought maybe the lens was dirty. Nope, hairline crack across the camera module glass. Phone went straight into a Ghostek case out of the box. No drops onto sharp surfaces etc. The one thing I did notice was how hot the phone got sitting on the wireless charging pad in our car. Surely it’s not a heat induced crack? Anyways, I’m not coughing up $375 for Samsung to repair something… Read more »
Actually under fit for purpose it is covered even if the official warranty considers it cosmetic but a smartphone with a dangerous broken glass lens/cover means it can not take photos correctly making it not fit for purpose under Australian Law especially considering the price!!!
The camera is to hot for the glass to handle, cheap Chinese parts?
Glass is Gorilla it is US made not Chinese it is just too thin for the size (Legnth×Width!) to survive vibrations, glass had a minimum thickness for the total size to survive shattering from stress!!!!
Yep my partner has the s20 ultra and sure enough hair line crack on front screen and shattered camera glass it’s like there is a deliberate fault in these phones cause when ure spending $3000 on a phone it should last longer than 4 weeks with general use. very poor quality phone’s I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone
Glass is just too thin in order to save weight and minimise total camera bump size!!!!
i will be getting one soon and ill be ordering a tempered glass camera protector hopefully that would help
It will not the camera glass is just too thin
I have seen drop tests with the ultra , and surprisingly the camera glass survived , so it would seem to me these breakages have occurred from the device dropping on something hard and pointy , chances are if it had hit the rear of the glass case , that too may have broken instead i think .
Glass is always going to be glass if crap happens it does not matter who makes it .
If i owned one it would have the best heavy duty drop protection of a case i could buy for it .
or there could be a production problem affecting a percentage of output
I agree. Many don’t want to have a protective cover on their mobiles/devices because it takes away from ‘the look’. How vain is that. For those who think this way are foolish in my opinion. The choice to have a cover or not to have one can be the difference paying hundreds of dollars to replace the break or less than 50 odd dollars for a protective cover, depending on the device. Think about it guys.
Review units are often either Cherry Picked of not Specially Built for Reviewers
not here in Australia they are not
This is why I don’t buy Samsung anymore the glass isn’t covered under warranty yet they smother their devices with it making them slippery and fragile.
I’d buy them if Burn in was covered up to 18 months (i.e. you could get screen replacement) cause its happened to me 3 times now, all screwed around the 18 month mark and oleophobic coating gone soon after that.
That’s bad luck mate. I think there is a certain amount of care you need to take with amoled, but you can look after them. I have 5 amoled screen devices and the only one that has a bit of burn in, is my 2012 galaxy note 2, the permanent icons in the notification bar like the little WiFi icon you can see some burn in, the rest of the screen is still ok though. my galaxy note 4 was still pristine up until about three and a half years old until I dropped it on the road while on… Read more »
Cheers for the pointers ! I’m afraid it’s not gonna be the tech for me cause I’m disabled and use the phone as a primary computing device – I’m really looking forward to the next gen devices with MicroLED and in the meantime I continue my search for a phone with decent battery , storage and LCD display that can be serviced in Australia
No worries tim , i dont know if going to the dark side would be a possibility or not mate ( i think it would piss me off 🙂 ) , but i think the standard iphone 11 has lcd display and can be had with 256 gb of storage ?
All the best with your quest anyway .
Micro led is still 3 to 5 years away from not only being as small as OLED not to mention as cheap to make and reliable
Samsung *will* replace the screen under its 24 month warranty. Samsung did this for a friend who caused the burni by using the phone on his drone for long periods of time in a bright daylight.
Oh those photos of broken camera modules are painful to look at! I lurve my shiny new S20 Ultra. But yeah the camera module has been freaking me out in terms of how vulnerable it seems – I’ve gone the full Otter Box case rather than my more normal minimalist case
Other than the big slab of glass anxiety 🙂 , are you overall happy with it Daniel ?