✔️ 2022-09-11 15:08:05 – Paris/France.
Ryan Haines/Android Authority
Samsung entered 2022 with a bang, launching its flagship Galaxy S22 series before the end of February. While the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Plus looked like iterative (albeit very capable) updates, the high-end Galaxy S22 Ultra was a power-lover's dream with its Galaxy Note-inspired design and features. . It quickly established itself as one of the best Android phones you can buy, but has it stayed there? Let's take a look back at one of the best phones of early 2022 in our revisited review of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.
I have to say before I get into the nitty-gritty that I've never considered myself a power user when it comes to smartphones, instead favoring a more balanced – and slightly smaller – device when I'm lucky. However, with some work events and personal trips planned for the summer, I thought it was time to see what Samsung's productivity powerhouse could do. I popped my primary SIM card into the Galaxy S22 Ultra, stuck the massive phablet in my pocket, and set off to experience the best of Samsung.
Good
Samsung's stylus-featured flagship earned four and a half stars and our coveted Editor's Choice badge in our full review, meaning it had a lot going for it right off the bat. It's no surprise that the high-end device has aged well over the past half year. In fact, Samsung's Galaxy S22 Ultra remains at or near the top of many of our best lists despite countless devices launching in the months since.
Cameras
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The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra took its place among the best camera phones soon after its launch. The fact that it did so without any significant improvement over its predecessor is a testament to how far ahead Samsung is in the imaging stakes.
The phone's quad-camera setup is a well-balanced quartet, with a class-leading 108MP main sensor as the star of the show. Two 10MP telephoto sensors and a 12MP ultra-wide option provide coverage for almost any scenario and distance, and that's before we even get into photography software features. Finally, the 40MP punch-hole selfie shooter completes the ultra-premium package.
Although I relied on the Galaxy S22 Ultra's main sensor for most of my time with the phone, I never shied away from running the peripheral lenses. Samsung's camera app offers fast 3x or 10x optical zoom options thanks to the two corresponding telephoto lenses. If you're feeling particularly adventurous, you can enter digitally for 30x or 100x "space zoom", but I found the extreme zoom made more sense as a magnifying glass than an actual camera.
You can check the full range of zooms for yourself and decide where your cut point would be.
10x zoom 30x zoom 100x zoom
As you can see, once you go beyond 10x zoom you do so at the expense of color and detail, although for a camera of smartphone, these results are extremely impressive. You can still identify the weather vane at 30x, but the shingles and red painted wood are much darker than they actually are. At 100x the duck shape is still clear, although there are some weird color effects around the edges. That said, Samsung's image stabilization is excellent at these longer lengths and nearly eliminated my shaky hands.
Whichever camera you use, you're bound to notice Samsung's slightly oversaturated color profile. Some hues, mostly reds and greens, come back much richer than the real thing, including the pepperoni on the pizza below. The grass at Yankee Stadium wasn't that green, but it's still better than the product on the field (sorry, Yankees fans).
Yankee Stadium – StandardStation Clock – StandardMoynihan Train Hall – StandardMiniature White Horse – PortraitPizza – StandardMural – Standard
Overall, Samsung's camera app remains one of the best, especially if you like control. The large viewfinder is surrounded by settings that let you control everything from aspect ratio to dedicated food and panorama shooting modes. If that's not enough, the default app packs a Pro mode, which swaps controls to focus on your ISO, shutter speed, white balance, and more. If it's always not enough, there is Expert RAW. Samsung's most powerful camera app is not installed by default, but if you download it, you can then export images in RAW format to dig into the editing process using Lightroom or from any other platform you prefer.
Software and updates
Ryan Haines/Android Authority
Samsung shipped its premium flagship with Android 12 on board, and it's still here — for now. The Android 13 update isn't too far off, but the latest generation of One UI software is already excellent. It incorporates some of Material You's best customization options with smart Samsung features that make it easier to use with one hand. One UI will never be the lightest Android skin, but it will still be one of the most feature rich.
I particularly appreciate that Samsung has finally accepted Google Messages as the default SMS app. It's not Google Messages as you usually know it, however, it does have some Samsung twists. Instead of launching your conversations at the top of the big screen, they start about halfway up, making them much easier to reach. It's a small but welcome touch for those of us with small hands.
One UI is one of the best Android skins in the game, and the long-term update support is the icing on the cake.
The integration of the Galaxy S22 Ultra's S Pen is another perfect example of what the phone achieves. Where its predecessor required an external stylus and pairing process, the internal case means the S Pen comes to life as soon as you release it. It's become a staple for quick note-taking, and the ability to double as a remote shutter isn't bad either.
Joe Hindy / Android Authority
However, there is still a bit of bloatware out of the box, which is disappointing for a device of this size. You have to tell Samsung you're not interested in extra Microsoft apps (unless you want them, of course), and the Galaxy Store is only too happy to send push notifications for games you're not interested in. not.
While bloatware and App Store ads will never hold a place in my heart, Samsung's amazing update promise is getting a lot of love. The Galaxy S22 Ultra is ready for four full Android updates and five years of security coverage. It will stay up to date through Android 16 and into early 2027 before it goes out to pasture. That's beyond any other Android OEM on the market, and it keeps Samsung's flagships among the easiest to recommend for long-term value.
Build quality and display
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While we'll come back to the design itself (in a slightly less positive light), there's no denying that the Galaxy S22 Ultra is built to last. It's a massive slab of Gorilla Glass and Armor Aluminum wrapped in an IP68 rating to withstand the elements. The set exudes quality, not just because it has a certain heft when you pick it up.
The construction of the Galaxy S22 Ultra exudes quality.
Samsung's Phantom finishes were some of our favorites when they were introduced to the Galaxy S21 series, and they're still excellent. The black satin glass hasn't aged much in the months since its launch and continues to feel great in my hand. My Galaxy S22 Ultra has certainly suffered a drop or two, but it shows no wear.
As far as the display goes, Samsung's giant 6,8-inch AMOLED is as good as it gets. Despite extensive use (and multiple trips across the country to various members of the Android Authority team), it only shows a minor scratch on its Gorilla Glass Victus Plus display, and the 120Hz refresh rate and Quad HD resolution make the blemish easy to ignore. The Galaxy S22 Ultra is one of the brightest phones I've used, boasting a peak brightness of 1 nits that holds up in the sun with no problem. It houses the punch-hole 750MP selfie camera and ultrasonic fingerprint reader, both of which have continued to excel since their launch.
Performance
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The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor in the Galaxy S22 Ultra (in the US) may be a double-edged sword overall, but it still performs well six months after its introduction. It went through everything I threw at it, including four hours of Spotify streaming and GPS navigation on a road trip through Pennsylvania. Qualcomm's flagship chipset still runs hot under load, but I found it more than capable of getting the job done.
You can also pair the premium processor with up to 12GB of RAM and a whopping 1TB of storage, though that's more than most people need. The base spec drops to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, but I still found it more than enough throughout my testing. It's worth considering an increase in base storage, given that there's no option for a microSD card, but you can always sign up for more cloud storage to save some cash. .
When it comes to connectivity, the Galaxy S22 Ultra sports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2, which continue to set the standard among flagships. It also contains NFC, a must-have for Samsung Pay (or Google Pay, depending on your preference).
Although the Galaxy S22 Ultra sets the standard for Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 devices, it lags behind the new Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1. The Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro and OnePlus 10T leave behind Samsung's top dog thanks to their half-gen improvements, with the main boost coming from sustained performance. Nevertheless, it remains a smartphone very powerful. For those in regions with the Exynos 2200 variant, the praise isn't quite so high, although it's still a perfectly capable flagship device for day-to-day use.
Charging
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What's old is new again, right, Samsung? Keep your apple-bottomed jeans in the closet, we're talking refills. Samsung introduced 45W wired charging to its Galaxy Note series a few years ago before dropping it to 25W in recent generations. Now top speeds are back, as long as you have a compatible charger.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra requires a USB PD PPS-enabled charger to reach its high-speed potential, and it's worth it. My tests reached a full charge of around 5% remaining in just over 70 minutes. That's a lot faster than even a 30W charger, which took almost half an extra hour to fill the heavy cell. Check out our guide for tips on the best Galaxy S22 chargers to buy.
Samsung's 15W and reverse 4,5W wireless speeds are nice, but neither are particularly useful in the rush. You can expect to spend two hours wall-mounted on a compatible wireless pad, while the reverse wireless option is best kept for headphones and wearables. I had to use it once in an emergency situation, but it was barely worth the battery drain on my secondary device.
The not so good
Winning our first prize and going home with more than four stars, it's hard to find much wrong with a device. However, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra still isn't perfect. We'll overlook the lack of expandable storage, headphone jack, or charger in the box (three omissions that, for better or worse, are common on nearly all modern high-end flagships), but there are a few other shortcomings worth mentioning.
Battery life
Ryan Haines/Android Authority
The Galaxy S22 Ultra packs a massive battery — a full 5mAh battery. It is sized to compete...
SOURCE: Reviews News
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