When it comes to the case of the Samsung Galaxy S22, Samsung has definitely embraced the idea of evolution over revolution. Taking a look at the S22 lineup, it’s quite clear that the S22 Ultra takes after the Galaxy Note lineup while the S22 and S22+ take after their S21 predecessors.
Given that the S21 design was quite impressive and well received by the public, it’s no surprise that Samsung decided to stick with it; that said, there is some controversy on whether the S22 ultra’s rounded edges are better than the flat edges from last year’s S21 lineup. Honestly speaking, I think it comes down to personal preference.
Samsung Galaxy S22 design
The Samsung S22 lineup shares a lot of similarities design-wise with the previous-generation S21. I think Samsung may have found their own look which is quite similar to Apple’s lineup of iPhones which arguably all look the same albeit with some minor differences.
Dimensions | 146 x 70.6 x 7.6 mm (S22), 157.4 x 75.8 x 7.6 mm (S22+) |
Weight | 168 g (S22), 196 g(S22+) |
SIM | Single SIM (Nano-SIM) or Dual SIM (2 Nano-SIMs + eSIM, dual stand-by). |
Biometric Support | Fingerprint (under display, ultrasonic), Face Unlock. |
Build | Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus+), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus+), aluminum frame IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 mins). |
Audio | Double stereo speakers, No 3mm jack. |
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The design Samsung has settled on is sleek and good-looking and I wouldn’t have any issues if they decided to stick with this look for their S series smartphones. I mean, if Apple can get away with using the same design for years then why shouldn’t Samsung do so. Personally, I would have liked a more bold move this generation but the “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” mentality that Samsung has going on sits quite okay with me. There’s no question that the Samsung S22 series are all nice to hold and sit quite comfortably in your hand.
Samsung Galaxy S22 display
Now, let’s move on to the display. The Samsung S22 comes with an AMOLED display. Sadly, there’s no LTPO panel in the base S22.
Display Size | 6.1 inches (S22), 6.6 inches (S22+). |
Panel | Dynamic AMOLED 2X HDR10+ |
Refresh rate | LTPS 120Hz(S22), LTPO 120Hz(S22+) |
Resolution | 1080 x 2340 |
Brightness | 1300 nits (S22), 1750 nits (S22+) |
Screen to body ratio | 87.4% (S22), 88.3% (S22+) |
This year Samsung decided to go with aN LTPS panel that can dynamically adjust the refresh rate from only 48Hz all to 120Hz which is less energy efficient considering an LTPO panel can drop all the way to 10Hz.
Samsung also added a Vision Booster Feature that can dynamically alter the screentone to adjust contrast and colors to the best-suited setting according to your environment. This is mostly to prevent the display colors from looking all washed out in bright sunlight.
All that said, the Samsung S22’s screen is vibrant and lovely to look at. That AMOLED screen simply delivers possibly the best possible viewing experience you can get on a smartphone which comes as no surprise given that Samsung is also doing well in the display industry with their top-of-the-line monitors and TVs. Simply put, you won’t get enough of this screen. It’s a great display.
Looking for a budget phone? Check out our Samsung A02s Review.
Samsung Galaxy S22 performance
The Samsung S22 is fitted with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 for the U.S and China models, while I suspect that the U.K and other regions will get the Exynos 2200 version.
Chipset | Exynos 2200 (4 nm) – Europe Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (4 nm) – ROW |
GPU | Xclipse 920 – Europe Adreno 730 – ROW |
CPU | Octa-core (1×2.8 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3×2.50 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.8 GHz Cortex-A510) – Europe Octa-core (1×3.00 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3×2.40 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.70 GHz Cortex-A510) – ROW |
RAM | 8GB |
Storage | 128GB, 256GB |
OS | Android 12, One UI 4.1 |
In either case, Samsung claims there’s a performance increase this year as listed below:
General performance: 5%
Graphics performance: 40%
Neural processing unit: 133%
Simply put, this year Samsung made a massive leap in performance over the last generation S21 lineup. All that said, the S21 still had quite beefy specs which still hold up quite well. One would expect that with the massive upgrades this year, the S22 lineup will feel much better, but after some everyday use, the difference is negligible. I really don’t feel like the S22 is that much faster than the S21, at least in common everyday tasks.
Samsung claims that the new upgrades will help in better analyzing Network usage and behavior as well as optimizing app performance to prevent high battery drainage. This still remains unproven since the battery life in these S22 phones still last a day long just like the S21 lineup and in some cases like with the Snapdragon Gen 1, the newer phones last shorter although just by a few minutes. You can check out MrWhoseTheBoss’s battery test video down below.
I don’t know why, but Samsung chose to drop the RAM on the S22 to a minimum of 8GB which is a downgrade from the S21 lineup. I guess they figured that most people don’t need 12 GB of ram on their phones since most mobile apps don’t even exceed 6GB of RAM usage
Another thing is that the base S22 comes with a 3700 mAh battery which is a downgrade from the S21’s 4000mAh battery. Weirdly enough, Samsung also chose to stick with 25W cable charging and 15W wireless charging for the base S22 which is similar to the S21 while the S22+ and S22 Ultra will be receiving an update to which will enable 45W fast charging although you still need to buy a charger separately…sigh…anyways, other than the downgraded battery and RAM everything else is all well.
For the OS, the phone comes with Android 12 and One UI 4.1 which provide great performance and customisability. Samsung has also made it easier for developers to optimize their apps to work well with their phones so now, apps like Instagram and Snapchat will be granted native camera support which eliminates the crappy pictures and video that these apps normally take on android phones since they will be using the native camera not just taking the picture on the viewfinder. So yeah android will finally look just as good as iOS in social media apps.
Samsung Galaxy S22 camera
Yeah, let’s now talk about the camera. The Samsung S22 sticks with a triple camera array with a new variety of sensors.
Main | 50 MP, f/1.8, 23mm (wide), 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS 10 MP, f/2.4, 70mm (telephoto), 1/3.94″, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚ (ultrawide), 1/2.55″ 1.4µm, Super Steady video |
LED | LED flash, auto-HDR, panorama |
Video | 8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+, stereo sound rec., gyro-EIS |
Selfie | 10 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), 1/3.24″, 1.22µm, Dual Pixel PDAF Dual video call, Auto-HDR |
Selfie video | 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30fps |
Credit: GSM Arena
The new main lens sports a 50MP sensor with “Tetra-binning” technology which performs some form of supersampling to convert the 50MP images to 12MP images with higher fidelity. The telephoto drops from 64MP to 10MP but has a 3X optical zoom rather than the last generation’s hybrid 3X zoom. The ultrawide lens has a wider 120° FOV (Field of View) which is a welcome upgrade from last year’s 79°. The front camera is still fitted with a 10MP sensor but better AI image processing delivers much better selfies and videos with greater detail and dynamic range.
The decision to go with a 3X optical zoom with less MegaPixel count was a good idea. Samsung has also improved on its portrait mode with better image separation down to single strands of hair being well separated from the background.
Check out our iPhone 13 review.
After taking photos with the S22, they were okay with great colors and details but none of them stood out like the Google Pixel 6 pictures or weren’t nearly as consistent as the iPhone 13’s, especially in low light. That said, the photos are great. They are vibrant and punchy but it’s clear that the S22 is outclassed in this sector.
Video is where the S22 shines. I don’t think that there’s is any other smartphone that supports 8K video but the S22 allows for video recording up to 8K 24fps just like the S21. I really wish Samsung adds more framerate options like 30fps or 60fps which would really be a great deal, especially considering Apple’s decision to include ProRes in their iPhone 13 lineup would drive more customers towards their smartphones for video recording.
There’s no doubt smartphones might end up replacing conventional mirrorless and DSLR cameras for video recording (though not any time soon) given the flexibility and ease of use of smartphones which is proving to be marketable, especially on social media platforms, and so making sure their phones have unbeatable video quality would really help Samsung in the future.
Samsung Galaxy S22 pricing
The Galaxy S22 is a good-looking, comfortable, and reliable phone with excellent performance, camera quality, and a reliable battery. That said, It’s a recommended buy but if you had already bought a Galaxy S21, don’t expect a big upgrade.
Buy the S21 through the links below:
Samsung Galaxy S22: Click here
Samsung Galaxy S22+: Click here
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Click here
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy S22 is a great phone for those who are in dire need of an upgrade. If you already have a Galaxy S21, I can’t help but sway you away from buying one. Sure the camera and performance are better but most people won’t notice any difference…apart from your bank balance…lol…anyways, if you have deep pockets and feel like you need a new phone the S22 is probably the best deal you can get right now especially if you are an android user.
What are your thoughts on the Samsung S22? Leave them down below in the comment section.
When it comes to the case of the Samsung Galaxy S22, Samsung has definitely embraced the idea of evolution over revolution. Taking a look at the S22 lineup, it’s quite clear that the S22 Ultra takes after the Galaxy Note lineup while the S22 and S22+ take after their S21 predecessors.
Given that the S21 design was quite impressive and well received by the public, it’s no surprise that Samsung decided to stick with it; that said, there is some controversy on whether the S22 ultra’s rounded edges are better than the flat edges from last year’s S21 lineup. Honestly speaking, I think it comes down to personal preference.
Samsung Galaxy S22 design
The Samsung S22 lineup shares a lot of similarities design-wise with the previous-generation S21. I think Samsung may have found their own look which is quite similar to Apple’s lineup of iPhones which arguably all look the same albeit with some minor differences.
Dimensions | 146 x 70.6 x 7.6 mm (S22), 157.4 x 75.8 x 7.6 mm (S22+) |
Weight | 168 g (S22), 196 g(S22+) |
SIM | Single SIM (Nano-SIM) or Dual SIM (2 Nano-SIMs + eSIM, dual stand-by). |
Biometric Support | Fingerprint (under display, ultrasonic), Face Unlock. |
Build | Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus+), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus+), aluminum frame IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 mins). |
Audio | Double stereo speakers, No 3mm jack. |
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The design Samsung has settled on is sleek and good-looking and I wouldn’t have any issues if they decided to stick with this look for their S series smartphones. I mean, if Apple can get away with using the same design for years then why shouldn’t Samsung do so. Personally, I would have liked a more bold move this generation but the “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” mentality that Samsung has going on sits quite okay with me. There’s no question that the Samsung S22 series are all nice to hold and sit quite comfortably in your hand.
Samsung Galaxy S22 display
Now, let’s move on to the display. The Samsung S22 comes with an AMOLED display. Sadly, there’s no LTPO panel in the base S22.
Display Size | 6.1 inches (S22), 6.6 inches (S22+). |
Panel | Dynamic AMOLED 2X HDR10+ |
Refresh rate | LTPS 120Hz(S22), LTPO 120Hz(S22+) |
Resolution | 1080 x 2340 |
Brightness | 1300 nits (S22), 1750 nits (S22+) |
Screen to body ratio | 87.4% (S22), 88.3% (S22+) |
This year Samsung decided to go with aN LTPS panel that can dynamically adjust the refresh rate from only 48Hz all to 120Hz which is less energy efficient considering an LTPO panel can drop all the way to 10Hz.
Samsung also added a Vision Booster Feature that can dynamically alter the screentone to adjust contrast and colors to the best-suited setting according to your environment. This is mostly to prevent the display colors from looking all washed out in bright sunlight.
All that said, the Samsung S22’s screen is vibrant and lovely to look at. That AMOLED screen simply delivers possibly the best possible viewing experience you can get on a smartphone which comes as no surprise given that Samsung is also doing well in the display industry with their top-of-the-line monitors and TVs. Simply put, you won’t get enough of this screen. It’s a great display.
Looking for a budget phone? Check out our Samsung A02s Review.
Samsung Galaxy S22 performance
The Samsung S22 is fitted with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 for the U.S and China models, while I suspect that the U.K and other regions will get the Exynos 2200 version.
Chipset | Exynos 2200 (4 nm) – Europe Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (4 nm) – ROW |
GPU | Xclipse 920 – Europe Adreno 730 – ROW |
CPU | Octa-core (1×2.8 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3×2.50 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.8 GHz Cortex-A510) – Europe Octa-core (1×3.00 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3×2.40 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.70 GHz Cortex-A510) – ROW |
RAM | 8GB |
Storage | 128GB, 256GB |
OS | Android 12, One UI 4.1 |
In either case, Samsung claims there’s a performance increase this year as listed below:
General performance: 5%
Graphics performance: 40%
Neural processing unit: 133%
Simply put, this year Samsung made a massive leap in performance over the last generation S21 lineup. All that said, the S21 still had quite beefy specs which still hold up quite well. One would expect that with the massive upgrades this year, the S22 lineup will feel much better, but after some everyday use, the difference is negligible. I really don’t feel like the S22 is that much faster than the S21, at least in common everyday tasks.
Samsung claims that the new upgrades will help in better analyzing Network usage and behavior as well as optimizing app performance to prevent high battery drainage. This still remains unproven since the battery life in these S22 phones still last a day long just like the S21 lineup and in some cases like with the Snapdragon Gen 1, the newer phones last shorter although just by a few minutes. You can check out MrWhoseTheBoss’s battery test video down below.
I don’t know why, but Samsung chose to drop the RAM on the S22 to a minimum of 8GB which is a downgrade from the S21 lineup. I guess they figured that most people don’t need 12 GB of ram on their phones since most mobile apps don’t even exceed 6GB of RAM usage
Another thing is that the base S22 comes with a 3700 mAh battery which is a downgrade from the S21’s 4000mAh battery. Weirdly enough, Samsung also chose to stick with 25W cable charging and 15W wireless charging for the base S22 which is similar to the S21 while the S22+ and S22 Ultra will be receiving an update to which will enable 45W fast charging although you still need to buy a charger separately…sigh…anyways, other than the downgraded battery and RAM everything else is all well.
For the OS, the phone comes with Android 12 and One UI 4.1 which provide great performance and customisability. Samsung has also made it easier for developers to optimize their apps to work well with their phones so now, apps like Instagram and Snapchat will be granted native camera support which eliminates the crappy pictures and video that these apps normally take on android phones since they will be using the native camera not just taking the picture on the viewfinder. So yeah android will finally look just as good as iOS in social media apps.
Samsung Galaxy S22 camera
Yeah, let’s now talk about the camera. The Samsung S22 sticks with a triple camera array with a new variety of sensors.
Main | 50 MP, f/1.8, 23mm (wide), 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS 10 MP, f/2.4, 70mm (telephoto), 1/3.94″, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚ (ultrawide), 1/2.55″ 1.4µm, Super Steady video |
LED | LED flash, auto-HDR, panorama |
Video | 8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+, stereo sound rec., gyro-EIS |
Selfie | 10 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), 1/3.24″, 1.22µm, Dual Pixel PDAF Dual video call, Auto-HDR |
Selfie video | 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30fps |
Credit: GSM Arena
The new main lens sports a 50MP sensor with “Tetra-binning” technology which performs some form of supersampling to convert the 50MP images to 12MP images with higher fidelity. The telephoto drops from 64MP to 10MP but has a 3X optical zoom rather than the last generation’s hybrid 3X zoom. The ultrawide lens has a wider 120° FOV (Field of View) which is a welcome upgrade from last year’s 79°. The front camera is still fitted with a 10MP sensor but better AI image processing delivers much better selfies and videos with greater detail and dynamic range.
The decision to go with a 3X optical zoom with less MegaPixel count was a good idea. Samsung has also improved on its portrait mode with better image separation down to single strands of hair being well separated from the background.
Check out our iPhone 13 review.
After taking photos with the S22, they were okay with great colors and details but none of them stood out like the Google Pixel 6 pictures or weren’t nearly as consistent as the iPhone 13’s, especially in low light. That said, the photos are great. They are vibrant and punchy but it’s clear that the S22 is outclassed in this sector.
Video is where the S22 shines. I don’t think that there’s is any other smartphone that supports 8K video but the S22 allows for video recording up to 8K 24fps just like the S21. I really wish Samsung adds more framerate options like 30fps or 60fps which would really be a great deal, especially considering Apple’s decision to include ProRes in their iPhone 13 lineup would drive more customers towards their smartphones for video recording.
There’s no doubt smartphones might end up replacing conventional mirrorless and DSLR cameras for video recording (though not any time soon) given the flexibility and ease of use of smartphones which is proving to be marketable, especially on social media platforms, and so making sure their phones have unbeatable video quality would really help Samsung in the future.
Samsung Galaxy S22 pricing
The Galaxy S22 is a good-looking, comfortable, and reliable phone with excellent performance, camera quality, and a reliable battery. That said, It’s a recommended buy but if you had already bought a Galaxy S21, don’t expect a big upgrade.
Buy the S21 through the links below:
Samsung Galaxy S22: Click here
Samsung Galaxy S22+: Click here
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Click here
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy S22 is a great phone for those who are in dire need of an upgrade. If you already have a Galaxy S21, I can’t help but sway you away from buying one. Sure the camera and performance are better but most people won’t notice any difference…apart from your bank balance…lol…anyways, if you have deep pockets and feel like you need a new phone the S22 is probably the best deal you can get right now especially if you are an android user.
What are your thoughts on the Samsung S22? Leave them down below in the comment section.