Samsung’s latest generation of Galaxy S flagships is finally official. The Galaxy S22 lineup includes the vanilla S22, the S22+, and the S22 Ultra, which is now one of the most, if not the most powerful phone in the world.
The main upgrades include Samsung’s flashy new chipset, the Exynos 2200, which is made in collaboration with AMD, and its RDNA 2 graphics. The RDNA 2 technology also powers the current most powerful gaming consoles on the market, namely the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.
The Exynos 2200 models will hit the global market, but Chinese and American customers will get the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 version.
Design and Display
At first glance, you can tell that the S22 Ultra is the love child of the Galaxy S series and Note series. The design language is reminiscent of the Galaxy Note 20 with symmetrical dimensions and aggressive display curves at the sides. The S Pen is fully integrated into the phone now with a dedicated slot, unlike last year’s S21 Ultra, which only came with S Pen support without full integration.
Does this mean the Galaxy Note series is officially dead? Most likely.
The display is a tall 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel with 2K resolution and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate. Since it is a ‘Dynamic’ AMOLED panel, it can dial down the refresh rate when needed to save battery. Other than that, the screen has support for HDR10+ content, 12-bit colors, and 1750 nits peak brightness.
The fingerprint sensor is an ultrasonic one embedded into the display.
The S-Pen and S22 Ultra are also IP 68 water and dust-resistant. It will be available in Phantom Black, Phantom White, Green, Burgundy, Graphite, Red, and Sky Blue, with the last 3 being exclusive to Samsung.com.
Internals and Storage
As mentioned earlier, the S22 Ultra boasts the flagship Exynos 2200 SoC, which rivals the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and the Dimensity 9000 in terms of performance. The Xclipse 920 GPU is powered by AMD’s rDNA 2 graphics, which should enable hardware-level ray tracing in smartphones for breathtaking visuals in video games.
Samsung says that the S-Pen has lower latency than the previous generation at 2.8 ms.
The base memory configuration will be 128GB/8GB but Samsung will offer up to 1TB storage and 12GB RAM if you don’t mind spending an arm and a leg. The phone will boot One UI 4.1 based on Android 12 and Samsung is promising 4 years worth of OS updates and 5 years of security patches, which is a first for Samsung.
Cameras
The main camera setup is a beast. It includes a 108MP primary camera sensor sized at 1/1.33″ and it is equipped with Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS, Laser Autofocus, and more. It is capable of 8K video recording at 30 FPS, 4K 60FPS, 1080p slow motion, HDR10+ clips, and more. The second sensor is a 10MP periscope telephoto camera capable of a whopping 10x optical zoom.
The third sensor is another 10MP telephoto camera, but it is not fit with a periscope lens for super zoom capabilities. It is limited to 3x optical zoom. The last sensor is a 12MP ultrawide camera with 120 degrees FOV. All these cameras have support for OIS and super steady video clips and images.
Even the 40MP selfie camera can capture 4K videos at 60 FPS.
Battery and Pricing
Samsung has finally lifted the 25W fast charging barrier. The S22 Ultra has support for 45W wired charging on its 5,000 mAh battery as well as 15W wireless charging and reverse wireless charging.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has a starting price of $1200, which translates to Rs. 227,000, though it will cost a bit higher in Pakistan.
Specifications
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (USA/China), Samsung Exynos 2200 (International)
- CPU: Octa-core (1×2.8 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3×2.50 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.7 GHz Cortex-A510) – International
Octa-core (1×3.00 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3×2.50 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.80 GHz Cortex-A510) – USA/China - GPU: Xclipse 920 – International
Adreno 730 – USA/China - OS: Android 12, One UI 4.1
- Supported Networks: 2G, 3G, 4G LTE, 5G
- Display:
- 6.8″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X with 1440 x 3080 pixels resolution; 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+, 12 bit colors
- Memory:
- RAM: 8GB, 12GB
- Internal: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
- Card slot: No
- Camera:
- Rear (Quad): 108 MP, f/1.8, 24mm (wide), 1/1.33″, 0.8µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, Laser AF, OIS
10 MP, f/4.9, 230mm (periscope telephoto), 1/3.52″, 1.12µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS, 10x optical zoom
10 MP, f/2.4, 70mm (telephoto), 1/3.52″, 1.12µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom
12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚ (ultrawide), 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, dual pixel PDAF, Super Steady video - Front: 40MP
- Rear (Quad): 108 MP, f/1.8, 24mm (wide), 1/1.33″, 0.8µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, Laser AF, OIS
- Colors: N/A
- Fingerprint sensor: Under-display (Ultrasonic)
- Battery: 5,000 mAh, 45W fast charging, fast wireless charging, reverse wireless charging
- Price: $1200
The main upgrades include Samsung’s flashy new chipset, the Exynos 2200, which is made in collaboration with AMD, and its RDNA 2 graphics. The RDNA 2 technology also powers the current most powerful gaming consoles on the market, namely the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.
Pre-Ordered S22 Ultra Graphite