After months of rumours, leaks, and guesses, the Samsung Galaxy S22 series has finally been announced. Are we looking at a mainstream flagship contender?
Our views on the Samsung Galaxy S21 family ranged from mildly underwhelmed (the Galaxy S21) to laudatory (the Galaxy S21 Ultra), so we’re interested to see how Samsung follows up in 2022.
See our Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra review for an in-depth look at the new phone and how it ranks in multiple different areas.
Price and Release Date
Samsung didn’t confirm availability details on the Galaxy S22 range, which perhaps reflects the supply chain issues that everyone has been facing of late.
We do know how much the phones will cost whenever they do hit shops, however.
With the vanilla Samsung Galaxy S22, prices start at £769 for 128GB of storage, while the 256GB model can be yours for £819.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus starts at £949 for 128GB, while £999 will secure you 256GB. All these non-Ultra variants come with 8GB of RAM, so that’s not a choice you have to make.
There are some tougher choices to make with the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, however. Prices start from £1,149 for 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, while 12/256GB will cost £1249, 12/512GB will cost £1329, and 12/1TB will set you back £1499.
Samsung Galaxy S22 colours
At launch there will be four colours for the Samsung Galaxy S22: green, pink-gold, white, and black. There’s a chance these will vary according to region.
There’s a difference selection of colours for the Galaxy S22 Ultra: white, black, green, and burgundy.
Specs and Features
The Samsung Galaxy S22 and the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus are very similar in spec terms, but they’re not identical.
In design terms they’re very much of a piece, with flat glass surfaces made from Gorilla Glass Victus Plus (12.5% stronger than straight Victus) and Armour Aluminium frames. There’s no cheap ‘Glasstic’ material separating the two models out here, thank goodness.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra also utilises Armour Aluminium and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus Plus to the front and back, but its display is subtly curved.
The main difference, between the two non-Ultra models is size, and it feels like quite a pronounced difference this year. The Galaxy S22 measures 146 x 70.6 x 7.6mm and 168g, while the Galaxy S22 Plus is 157.4 x 75.8 x 7.6mm and 196g. The Galaxy S22 Ultra tops both at 163.3 x 77.9 x 8.9mm and 229g. It’s a bit of a monster.
Size aside, all things are not entirely equal between the Galaxy S22 and the Galaxy S22 Plus. Both have FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X displays, but the former has a smaller 6.1-inch AMOLED display compared to the 6.6-inch Galaxy S22 Plus. In addition, the larger display gets brighter to the tune of 1750 nits – just like the Ultra – compared to the Galaxy S21’s 1300 nits.
Naturally, the Galaxy S22 Ultra tops both, with a 6.8-inch QHD+ AMOLED. While the regular Galaxy S22 models can vary their refresh rates between 10 and 120Hz, the Ultra model can drop right down to 1Hz.
In performance terms, all three phones are powered by either the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (in the US) or the Exynos 2200 (globally).
The Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Plus share the exact same triple camera system, led by a 50MP wide sensor with an f/1.8 aperture, and supported by a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide and a 10MP f/2.4 telephoto. The latter gives you 3X optically zoomed shots, and both the telephoto and the wide camera get OIS support.
As for the Galaxy S22 Ultra, you’re getting a meaty 108MP f/1.8 wide, a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide, a 10MP f/2.4 3X telephoto, and a 10MP f/4.9 10X telephoto sensor. The 108MP wide sensor captures 1.23-times larger pixels than the S21 Ultra.
Selfie duty is fulfilled by a 10MP f/2.2 sensor on the regular models, and a 40MP f/2.2 sensor on the Ultra.
There are more new AI and software features here than we have space to cover in this piece, but we’ll mention a few up front. Samsung claims that the new NPU is two times faster, providing a speedier AI camera function, and the company has focused on improving low light performance. There’s new 16-bit RAW file support, and Samsung has partnered with Snapchat to use ‘Super Resolution’ and Night Mode in the app.
On the video front, Super Steady System lets you film steady video without a tripod, even at night, while the enhanced AI camera can auto-switch between frame rates depending on your surroundings.
When it comes to charging, the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Plus are stuck at 25W wired, while the Galaxy S22 Ultra sees a boost to 45W. All three support 15W wireless charging and reverse wireless charging.
Samsung Galaxy S22 series specs
Compare all the specs for the new Samsung Galaxy S22 series below.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
