Samsung Galaxy S20+ Cosmic Black 128GB

You're buying this for the display and the camera, which are both still brilliant and land in the top 12% of all phones we've tested. The processor is the obvious trade-off here, delivering a middling 68th-percentile performance that trails modern budget phones. Snag one at the bottom of the $160 to $400 price range, and the fundamentals make it a ridiculous value for a secondary device or a media lover on a tight budget.

Inside, you'll find either a Snapdragon 865 or Exynos 990, paired with a generous 12GB of RAM. That headroom keeps multitasking fluid, but the processor itself shows its age when you push it. In our benchmarks, the S20+ puts up numbers that are solidly middle-of-the-pack, landing in the 68th percentile overall. You're looking at real-world performance pretty similar to a current budget phone. It handles social media, streaming, and photography without breaking a sweat, but video editing or high-end gaming will feel a step behind the current flagships.

The 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED display is where this phone really fights back. It's exceptional. Scoring in the 89th percentile, the 1440 x 3200 resolution at a buttery 120Hz makes everything look crisp. HDR10+ support and that 1200 nits peak brightness mean you won't be squinting outdoors, either. The stereo speakers back up that great screen with clear, loud audio, making this a surprisingly good little media machine for a refurbished device.

Pitting the S20+ against the iPhone 16 or Pixel 9 Pro XL is a mismatch on paper, those are bleeding-edge flagships. The S20+ gets demolished in processing power but, surprisingly, holds its own on display and battery longevity. A more relevant fight is against the new Motorola Moto G or Xiaomi Redmi Note 14 Pro+. Those modern budget champs will smoke the S20+ in processor score and have much fresher software commitments. But the Samsung fights back with that 3x optical zoom telephoto lens, a feature often missing from the Moto, and a superior 120Hz AMOLED panel that gets brighter than most cheap phones. The Honor X9c is another strong competitor here, offering a newer build and likely better social proof, though its camera system won't have the same zoom versatility.

Value is the S20+'s entire reason for existing in 2024. With prices ranging from a low of $160 up to $400 across different vendors, you absolutely need to shop around. At the low end, you're getting a flagship-grade display and camera system for less than the price of a new budget Moto G. That's a steal. Climbing toward $400, however, the value proposition gets shaky. You start to brush up against more modern mid-range phones with longer software support and newer, more efficient processors that don't have five years of wear on them. Find one from a vendor with a solid return policy at the $160-$220 mark, and the price-to-performance ratio becomes hard to beat.

The Samsung Galaxy S20+ holds up surprisingly well in 2024 if you focus on the fundamentals. Its display and camera scores both sit in the top 12% of phones in our database, meaning you're getting a screen and photo experience that still trades blows with much newer mid-range devices. The 6.7" Dynamic AMOLED panel hits a peak brightness of 1200 nits and runs at 120Hz, so everything from doomscrolling to Netflix looks smooth and vibrant. You're also getting a legit telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, something that's vanishing from modern $400 phones. Just know that buying refurbished, especially a Grade B unit, means the body will have some stories to tell with expected dents and scuffs.

The biggest compromise is raw processing power. The Snapdragon 865 or Exynos 990 inside lands in the 68th percentile for performance, which is firmly average by today's standards. It won't stutter in daily use thanks to 12GB of RAM, but don't expect it to crush the latest Genshin Impact update without dialing settings back. Battery life, however, is a pleasant surprise at the 91st percentile. The 4500mAh cell combined with a 45W wired top-up means you'll get through a day easily and can refill in a hurry. For a five-year-old design, the fundamentals are doing a lot of heavy lifting here.

Gamers and power users should look elsewhere. That average 68th-percentile performance score means this phone's processor will start feeling sluggish with demanding apps long before a new mid-ranger would. Anyone who values pristine hardware should also skip, because the Grade B condition guarantees scuffs and scratches. Software update longevity isn't captured in our raw performance data but is another reason to avoid a five-year-old phone if you plan on keeping it for three more years.

The Galaxy S20+ in refurbished form is a pragmatic pick, a foundational smartphone that gets the core experience right. It skates on the strength of its brilliant 89th-percentile display and a still-versatile camera array that puts many modern $300 phones to shame. The performance is what it is, good enough for daily life but not thrilling, and the battery life remains a legitimate strength. You're making a conscious trade-off. You get a taste of old-school Samsung flagship refinement instead of a new budget phone's longer support window. If you can snag it near that $160 low-water mark, the data says it's a smarter buy than anything else in the price bracket.