What just happened? The Galaxy S20 Ultra might be the pinnacle of smartphone technology, but it isn't without its faults. According to user reports, there could be a design flaw in the device that causes the camera bump to shatter randomly.
SamMobile writes that dozens of owners have been complaining about the problem on Samsung's official forums. They all insist that the phone hadn't been dropped and that the glass on the camera broke on its own.
Some users say the issue began with a hairline crack across the glass that stops the camera from zooming beyond a certain level. The crack continues to expand, further limiting the phone's zoom capabilities. For others, the glass just completely shattered without warning---one person said they woke up to find the camera glass had broken during the night.
As you can see in the pictures, one example of the problem looks like a tiny bullet has been fired through the rear bump---a phenomenon more than one owner claims to have experienced.
It's unclear what could be causing the glass to crack, though one user theorizes that "there is some sort of a gas between the camera and the glass like in a dual pane window and it just blows out from the inside outward."
The bad news for those affected is that Samsung classes this as nothing more than cosmetic damage, meaning it isn't covered under standard warranties. Anyone wanting to repair the glass will have to hand over $400, or $100 if they're signed up to Samsung's Premium Care plan.
Many flagship phones tend to have technical issues at launch that are limited to a few buyers, and the S20 Ultra is no exception. But that's little consolidation to those who paid $1,400 for a handset with a broken camera.
Earlier this month, there were reports that the Exynos version of the Galaxy S20 Ultra was displaying a slew of problems not found in the Snapdragon version.