Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Review – Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra was released on February 2022, and it certainly took the world by surprise, especially after rumors of the Note series getting canceled. Now, to be fair, Samsung never officially admitted to canceling the Note series but with the rumors and Samsung skipping the Note 21 series, it was evident that the Note series was all but canceled. But then the Samsung S22 Ultra was launched and while it does carry the moniker of the “S” series, it is indeed the Note that Samsung always wanted to deliver.
It even has the S-pen with built-in housing to keep the S-pen secured just like how it is on the Note series. The new design along with the upgraded processor, S-pen, and a vastly improved camera might just be enough to sway you back to the Note series experience. Let’s start the detailed review of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and find out if it has what it takes to be the reincarnation of the Note series.
Table of Contents
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Review
Highlights
- The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra features 6.9 inches QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with an advanced 120Hz refresh rate.
- It is powered by the latest flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor for the US, India, and other countries while the European market gets the Exynos 2200 processor. Both of these processors are manufactured with a 4nm EUV manufacturing process.
- The smartphone is pre-loaded with Android 12 out of the box and has the new OneUI 4.1.
- The phone has a Quad camera system with a 108MP main sensor while the selfie camera has a 40 MP sensor.
- The Li-Ion 5000mAh battery powers the smartphone with 45W of fast charging support.
Design and Display
The design of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has seen a substantial change compared to last year’s model, S21 ultra, and also the Note 20. While the previous S21 Ultra had an eye-catching and yet substantial camera bump and design, this year’s S22 Ultra almost has no camera bump. What you get on the back is a smooth matte glass finish that looks classy and even more premium depending on the color.
The phone comes in seven basic colors: Burgundy, Green, Phantom Black, and Phantom White but if you purchase the phone from Samsung official website, you get 3 more color options: Red, Sky Blue, and Graphite. The sides are curved to give you a firm grip while the top and the bottom are completely flat which makes it possible for the phone to stand upright.
When it comes to the display, the Galaxy S22 Ultra gets a significant upgrade. The device comes with a 6.8 inches Dynamic AMOLED 2X display panel that comes with an advanced 120Hz refresh rate. This revolutionary technology will help a lot in conserving the battery. The resolution of the display is QHD+ and so everything on the display, especially the texts looks super crispy. The display can get extremely bright at 1750 nits peak brightness when it is directly under the sun. Both the display and the back panel is protected by the Corning Gorilla Glass Victus plus.
Memory and Internal
The smartphone is powered by the new flagship 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. The new processor can run as high as 3GHz clocking speed, but not everyone gets the same chipset. The US, India, Australia, Canada, among other countries get the Snapdragon chipset while those in Europe will get the 4nm Exynos 2200 chipset variant which the brand can clock as high as 2.8GHz.
The Snapdragon variant gets the Adreno 730 GPU while the Exynos variant has Xclipse 920 GPU. Both the Chipset has excellent performance and gaming capabilities are far better than ever and come very close to Apple’s chipset The phone comes in four variants – 8GB to 12GB RAM and 128GB to 1TB internal storage on UFS 3.1. On the latest Android 12 OS and has One UI 4.1 user interface.
Camera
The phone’s Quad camera system is spread out in a very unique fashion and looks very elegant. The main rear wide camera sensor is the 108MP wide sensor while the other 3 sensors are 12MP ultra-wide, 10MP periscopic sensor for 10x optical zoom, and another 10MP telephoto sensor for 3x optical zoom. The main sensor is certainly an improvement over the previous year’s model. The dynamic range is better.
The detail level has improved even better and there’s more depth to the images than ever before. The same goes for the ultrawide, the biggest improvements came to the periscopic zoom sensor, which can now capture details in a way that S21 just can’t. The images coming out of the new periscopic sensor are simply outstanding and way better.
Even during the night, the images coming out of the main and the zoom sensors are extremely well detailed. All the sensors have OIS and laser AutoFocus system for better and faster focus. The 40MP selfie sensor is no slouch either and can take some of the most incredibly detailed selfies day or night. When it comes to video recording, the cameras can shoot up to 8K@24FPS. The selfie camera can also shoot videos at 4K@60FPS.
Battery and Others
The Li-Ion 5000 mAh battery inside the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra smartphone will give you a full day battery life even if you are a very heavy user. The charger isn’t included but it has support for 45W fast charging speed, along with 15W fast wireless charging and 4.5W of reverse wireless charging to charge your smartwatch or your wireless earbuds.
The fingerprint sensor is an under-display ultrasonic sensor that is fast, accurate, and responsive. Being an ultrasonic sensor, it is far more secure than any optical sensor that is found on most smartphones.
The device also comes equipped with the new Wi-Fi 6E standard, Bluetooth 5.2, dual-band GPS system for faster lock-in and better accuracy, and IP68 rating for water and dust resistance. The Galaxy S22 Ultra phone price starts at $1,197 (Rs 109,999 in India) approx.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Pros and Cons
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra smartphone.
| Specifications | Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Announced | February 2022 |
| SIM | Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.43 x 3.07 x 0.35 inches |
| Weight | 228g |
| Size | 6.8 inches |
| Display | Dynamic AMOLED 2X 120Hz HDR10+, 1750 nits brightness ~500 PPI density |
| Protection/Other | Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ Stylus, 2.8ms latency IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 mins) |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3088 pixels |
| OS | Android 12, One UI 4.1 |
| Chipset | Europe 4nm – Exynos 2200 Global 4nm – Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 |
| CPU | Europe Octa-core 1×2.8 GHz Cortex-X2 3×2.50 GHz Cortex-A710 4×1.8 GHz Cortex-A510 Global Octa-core 1×3.00 GHz Cortex-X2 3×2.40 GHz Cortex-A710 4×1.70 GHz Cortex-A510 |
| GPU | Europe Xclipse 920 Global Adreno 730 |
| Card slot | No |
| RAM | 8GB, 12GB |
| Internal | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB UFS 3.1 |
| Camera | 108 MP (wide), PDAF, Laser AF, OIS 12 MP (120° ultrawide), dual pixel PDAF, Super Steady video 10 MP (periscope telephoto), dual pixel PDAF, OIS, 10x optical zoom 10 MP (telephoto), dual pixel PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom LED flash, auto-HDR, panorama Max – 8K@240fps HDR10+, stereo sound recording, gyro-EIS |
| Selfie | 40 MP (wide), PDAF Dual video call, Auto-HDR Max – 4K@30fps |
| Loudspeaker | Yes (stereo speakers) |
| 3.5mm jack | No 32-bit/384kHz audio |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 5.2, A2DP, LE |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO |
| NFC | Yes |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | No |
| USB | USB Type-C 3.2, USB On-The-Go |
| Sensors | Under display fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer Samsung DeX Ultra-Wideband (UWB) |
| Battery | Li-Ion 5000 mAh Fast charging 45W USB Power Delivery 3.0 Fast Qi/PMA wireless charging 15W Reverse wireless charging 4.5W |
| Colors | Phantom Black, White, Burgundy, Green, Graphite, Red, Sky Blue |
| Expected Price | $1199 (Rs 89,999 in India) approx. |
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra smartphone provides you with the best possible display, powerful camera, and overall the best possible android smartphone experience as of yet. Whether it’s the exquisite design or the color or the camera, Samsung has left no stones unturned.
Samsung has perfected its flagship phone and what it has delivered with the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is simply mesmerizing. If you don’t mind paying the price tag, there’s just no reason not to buy this smartphone. But if you do want an alternative to Samsung, then the new ZTE Nubia Z40 Pro is quite the competitor.
