Samsung Galaxy S22 series hands-on: Small, medium, and an Ultra Note
You’ve all said hello to the newGalaxy S22 and S22 Ultra, but now it’s time for a more intimate introduction. No, it’s still not time for our full review, but Samsung gave us one hour with its new lineup, and in between photographic explosions (and a bit of smartphone tile-laying), we poked and prodded and fondled the new lineup with the same giddy, geeky excitement as we would a freshly-arrived purchase. Consider this hands-on a preview ahead of our main feature.
I know what you’re here for, but let’s build up to it.
Samsung Galaxy S22 and S22+
Samsung’s non-Ultra Galaxy S formula is starting to get predictable, and I mean that in a very good way. For over a decade, it felt like every new generation hit the reset button, with a new industrial design and no sense of continuity from model to model and year to year. Apart from the software and the logo on the back, each new release could be almost any Android phone (with a few exceptions). But, from the back, the Galaxy S22 looks almost exactly like last year’s S21.
The camera hump in the corner still flows right into the metal frame (though it’s not actually a single piece) with three holes in a line for the three cameras. It’s a simple and elegant design that I enjoy a lot, though that perfect meldingcanmake some cases fit just a little awkwardly in the top-left corner — it’s not much of an issue in practice, though.
Samsung’s camera specs always seem a little stale since they often get reused between device series, but there are some upgrades this year. On paper, the new wide-angle camera you use most of the time has a higher resolution and slightly wider FoV. The telephoto camera also sounds a little different, with a resolution drop, a pixel size increase, and a slightly smaller aperture — we’ll have to wait and see what that means in practice. The ultra-wide camera sounds the same as before: 12MP f/2.2 with an FoV of 120˚. The 10MP selfie camera also sounds like it was pulled off last year’s model.
This time the back on both the S22 and S22+ is glass — Gorilla Glass Victus “Plus,” to be precise. The prior S21 used Samsung’s honestly very nice “glasstic” matte-textured plastic. It’s still finely gritty and just slightly less fingerprint-prone than the plastic was — a change most would consider more premium, though Samsung’s plastic didn’t bother me at all. There are still plastic bits inside, and Samsung’s touting the fact that some of them are made from recycled fishing nets dredged from the ocean, which is pretty cool.
We only got to observe the screen indoors in perfectly controlled lighting for a short period, but at a glance, it seemed up to Samsung’s usual standards. It’s still not LTPO like the Ultra’s screen, which means it doesn’t have the snazzy dynamic refresh rate switching that can get down to super low-rates for power savings, but it’s still fast and fluid. Both models also have an edge up over the S22 Ultra in one notable way: The bezels on the models we saw were among the smallest I’ve ever seen in a smartphone, and werealmostperfectly uniform — the difference is slight, but it’s still there if you look very closely.
The shape of the phones is also a surprise. Of course, leaks indicated Samsung was going for a more flat edge with a rounded profile that ends at a sharp angle on both the front and back, but I found myself enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. I think some using the larger Galaxy S22+ caseless might find the lip a little uncomfortable to hold for long periods of time, but I really like the way the smaller model feels in my hand.
I hesitate to judge the software yet — it wasn’t clear if the models we used were running preproduction software or not, and we were warned some of the accessories might be — but One UI 4.1 is mostly One UI 4, even if these phones get a snazzy point version number bump. For a more detailed assessment there, keep an eye out for our upcoming reviews.
In basically every physical way, the S22 feels like a refinement of the S21, building on the existing design in subtle ways to feel more complete while breeding recognizable lines that are clearly “Samsung” at a glance. Of course, final judgments are held for our reviews, but Samsung’s starting to feel mature and methodical in a way it just hasn’t before, evoking solid Apple vibes in its approach.
Galaxy S22
Galaxy S22+
Galaxy S22 Ultra
Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/Exynos 2200
128, 256GB
128, 256, 512GB, 1TB
6.1" FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x, 48~120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate
6.6" FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x, 48~120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate
6.8" QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x LTPO, 1~120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate
3,700mAh, 25W fast charging, 15W wireless charging, Reverse wireless charging
4,500mAh, 45W fast charging, 15W wireless charging, Reverse wireless charging
5000mAh, 45W fast charging, 15W wireless charging, Reverse wireless charging
Rear Cameras
50MP f/1.8 primary, Dual Pixel AF, OIS; 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide (120° FoV); 10MP f/2.4 3x optical zoom sensor with OIS; 30x digital zoom
108MP f/1.8 primary, 0.8µm large pixels, OIS and PDAF; 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide (120° FoV); 10MP f/2.4 3x optical zoom sensor with OIS; 10MP f/4.9 10x optical zoom with OIS; 100x digital zoom
Front Camera
40MP f/2.2 with autofocus
Connectivity
5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
5G, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, ultra-wideband
Dimensions
70.6 x 146 x 7.6mm, 168g, IP68 certified
75.8 x 157.4 x 7.6mm, 196g, IP68 certified
163.3 x 77.9 x 8.9 mm, 229g, IP68 certified
Phantom Black, Phantom White, Green, Pink Gold Online exclusives: Graphite, Cream, Sky Blue, Violet
Phantom Black, Phantom White, Green, Burgundy Online exclusives: Red, Sky Blue, Graphite
Starting at $800
Starting at $1,000
Starting at $1,200
This will sound weird, but I get that same “more mature” vibe the S22 exudes when it comes to the S22 Ultra as well, even though it’s a total departure from the Galaxy S series. And that’s because, at heart, this isn’t really a Galaxy S phone. Samsung has simply decided the Note needed a new name: For all intents and purposes, thisisthe Galaxy Note22, just with a different label and released a little earlier in the year as part of a newly unified lineup.
Side by side with the rest of the lineup, you can immediately tell this phone doesn’t fit in. The lines are different, the camera hump is different, the bezels are different. The phone shares very little with its smaller siblings. Put it next to a Galaxy Note20 Ultra, though, and it’s averydifferent story. Samsung wouldn’t let us photograph the new models next to any devices we brought with ourselves, but AP’s Stephen Schenck had his Note 20 Ultra with him, and at a glance, I can’t tell the difference between it and the new Galaxy S22 Ultra. It’s a big heavy phone with an almost identical profile and shape.
The biggest change is with the camera bump. You might think it would have some serious number advantages over the two-year-old Note20, but they still actually have a lot in common.
The primary wide-angle is still 108MP, though it’s not exactly the same — the field of view is slightly wider and the aperture slightly smaller. You might think that’s generally a downgrade, but Samsung has a new “Nona-binning” technology that bins 9 pixels down to 1 for enhanced low-light performance, paired with multi-frame capturing that preserves the increased detail of a full-resolution shot. Samsung’s marketing the S22 Ultra’s night-time photo and video skills as “Nightography.” On paper, it sounds like the best of both worlds: high-resolution photos with good low-light performance. We’ll have to wait and see how all this works in practice, though.
The ultra-wide camera is unchanged: 12MP and f/2.2, but the telephoto configuration is a little different. Compared to the Note20, you get two of them rather than just one, a benefit inherited from the S21 Ultra. They’re both 10MP, as on the S-series phone, with specs that indicate the 10x optical zoom camera just about matches the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s.
Camera aside, the shape of the phone also evokes that Note series vibe. Here you have a flat top and bottom with nearly perfectly rounded sides, just like the last Note. It’s much less sharp-feeling than the smaller models and has a curved display that’s appropriate for its size, making it slightly easier to heft.
The S-Pen — new for the Galaxy S lineup, old hat for the Note — is on the bottom left. Personally, I think the right side makes more sense for the majority of right-handed folk, but it probably won’t be an issue in practice.
The S-Pen feels and looks like it did on the Note 20 series. Fair warning: I’ve never been an S-Pen person, and don’t enjoy using a phone with a stylus, but it seems like exactly the same experience it was on prior Note models, just on a Galaxy S this time. (Don’t worry, I’m not doing the review.) That means you can scribble notes to yourself easily with the screen off, write instead of type, and doodle whenever you like.
The S-Pen still has the button on the side, the expected fast and fluid input, and support for Air Gestures that let you flick the air with it in-hand and do stuff. Samsung says pen-on-screen latency is down to just 2.8ms now, but I’m not really sure how that makes a difference since the prior lag was right around one frame at 120Hz. Whatever the cumulative impact, drawing decidedly non-juvenile images in the notes app felt responsive and lag-free, and the S-Pen ejection/seating mechanism is as satisfying as it’s always been and perfect for fidgeting.
There are some details the new phones share as well, like the fingerprint sensor — still in-display, still ultrasonic, but the newer 2nd gen Qualcomm sensor Samsung started using with the Galaxy S21 series.
Samsung also has some Apple-like tech for the cameras that make things like detecting and optimizing focus and capture for up to ten subjects in the frame, tracking their movements, and a stereo depth map for portrait photos that can capture “single strands of hair” —sounds familiar.
There are other benefits and distinctions between the models as well: The S22+ and S22 Ultra do Wi-Fi 6E, the small one does just Wi-Fi 6, they’re all5G phonesacross mmWave and Sub-6 (with support for AT&T’s new 5G bands), they charge at 45W (S22 Ultra/S22+) and 25W (S22). The Galaxy S22 Ultra has a chunky 6.8” LTPO AMOLED display at 1440x3088, the smaller models make do without the LTPO power savings at 6.6” (S22+) and 6.1” (S22) with a 1080x2340 resolution.
The impact of all the rest of these numbers is a little hard to grasp in a single hour, so you’ll have to wait for our full reviews for a more detailed assessment.
First-party cases for the new phones, including some strappy ones.
In my brief time with the phones, though, I walk away with the strong impression that Samsung is starting to take its industrial design much more seriously from year to year, with the effect of building a more recognizable image for the Galaxy S brand, even as that now changes to encompass what was once the Note. And it’s a unification that will help further assert the company’s commercial and marketing dominance through recognition.
Every year, the Galaxy S phone basically defines the high-end smartphone experience. You might be poised to jump down to comments, crying, “Not so! There are plenty of great Android phones out there,” but no other models in the western markets sell as well. As far as most of the hoi polloi are concerned, AndroidisGalaxy. On the one hand, that makes the Galaxy S22 and S22 Ultra the most important launches of the year. But on the other, it also means they’re the most far-reaching ambassadors for Android, and every other OEM should be a little concerned, because a few more generations of recognizable design like this could brand Android itself, especially as the market continues to consolidate.
Interested parties can reserve Galaxy S22 series phones just below — there are some perks like storage upgrades and extra store credit if you do. Our full reviews will be coming soon.
Pre-order Samsung Galaxy S22 series
Starts at $800 at Samsung
From faster storage to better speakers
Google’s made several improvements over the years
It’s never been cheaper
Navigate through galaxies of customization with Samsung’s One UI Home
Tidal is the best app for streaming music
The entry-level Pixel delivers value
