On February 9th, 2022, Samsung officially announced the new Galaxy S22 series of devices. The new devices have a similar structure to that of the last years Galaxy S21 series with a brand new S22, S22+, and S22 Ultra.
Galaxy S22 and S22+
The Galaxy S22 and S22+ are your traditional S series devices that we have seen over the last few years. Both phones feature a 10MP front camera, 12MP Ultra-Wide camera, 50MP Wide camera, and a 10 MP Telephoto lens. The Galaxy S22 also features a 3,700 mAh battery with 25W wired charging and 15W wireless charging as well as a 6.1-inch FHD+ display that goes up to 1,300nit peak brightness, meanwhile the Galaxy S22+ series bumps this up to a 4,500mAh battery with up to 45W wired charging and a 6.6-inch FHD+ display that goes up to 1,750nit peak brightness. Both phones have a 120Hz refresh rate and 8GB RAM and can be configured with up to 256GB of internal storage.
As for performance we still have to wait and see how these phones compare to others in terms of performance but it’s safe to assume that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in the USA, China, and India will have similar performance to other flagships running the same processors. However, only time will tell how much of an improvement the Exynos 2200 variant in international markets will hold up.
Galaxy S22 Ultra
The Galaxy S22 Ultra marks a major departure from previous top end models in the Galaxy S series as it’s the first device in the series to incorporate an S-Pen storage silo and come with an S-Pen in the box, much like the Note series used to before it. It also has a more boxed off design compared to the traditionally rounded design given to previous S series devices and a vastly different camera design style when compared to its sibling devices the S22 and S22+ as the cameras are part of the back of the device instead of being part of a separate camera bump on the device.
As for specs the S22 Ultra comes with the same processors as the S22 and S22+ but offers options for up to 12GB of RAM and 1TB Storage, a 5,000mAh battery, 12MP Ultra-Wide camera, 108 MP Wide camera, and two 10MP Telephoto cameras: one with a 3x Optical Zoom and 36-degree field of view and the second with a 10x optical zoom and an 11-degree field of view. The Ultra also comes with a 6.8-inch Edge QHD+ display with a maximum brightness of 1,750nit and a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz.
With the Galaxy S22 Ultra now incorporating most of the incredible features from the old note series it is unfortunately now time to say goodbye to the beloved lineup of phablet devices and it’s time to say hello to the new era of foldables taking the place of Samsung’s experimental flagship device lineup. Only time will tell if the Galaxy S22 Ultra can live up to the Notes prowess but for now we just have to accept that the time of the Note is over.
Pricing and availability
The Galaxy S22, S22+, and S22 Ultra will be released on February 25th, 2022, with starting prices of $799.99, $999, and $1,199, respectively. All three devices will launch with Android 12 and are guaranteed up to 4 years of Android OS upgrades and 5 years of Security upgrades. This makes them the leading Android phone maker when it comes to providing updates, even beating google and their Pixel lineup which Google are now fully in charge of the hardware and software for.