Today, during the Galaxy Unpacked 2022 event, Samsung launched its lineup of Galaxy S22 devices. Before the event, we were given access for a couple of minutes to use and photograph their latest smartphones: Samsung Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+, and Galaxy S22 Ultra. They are all 5G smartphones with some impressive specs, and they’re now available for preorder. If you want to know about these devices, here’s what we liked about them based on our brief hands-on experience:
NOTE: If you want to view Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked 2022 global event, go to this page.
1. An finetuned elegant design with pleasant colors
The design of the Samsung Galaxy S22 and S22+ is very similar to last year’s Galaxy S21 lineup. However, the looks are a bit more refined and elegant than last year’s, and all smartphones will benefit from the latest Gorilla Glass Victus+, which further fine-tunes the concept of thin durable glass on a smartphone.
Samsung Galaxy S22+
TIP: If you would like to know more about the different types of Gorilla Glass and what’s different between them, read this article: What is Gorilla Glass?
Both the Samsung Galaxy S22 and S22+ are available in four colors: white, pink gold, black, and green. We appreciate that Samsung has decided to increase the color palette for this year’s lineup, and we like the colors they chose better than those available for the Galaxy S21 family.
Samsung Galaxy S22 and S22+ come in four colors
Another improvement we appreciate is that the standard Galaxy S22 has a glass back, instead of a plastic one, like last year’s model. Thanks to this feature, the device feels great to hold in your hand, and it looks just as good as its more expensive brothers.
Samsung Galaxy S22 has a glass back
2. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra follows the design of the Note series
Unlike last year’s Galaxy S21 Ultra, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra doesn’t follow the same design language as the other smartphones in its series. Instead, it has a design that reminds us of the Galaxy Note series. We like it a lot, and we think it’s elegant and better suited for fans of the Galaxy Note series. What do you think?
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G is available in three colors
As shown in the picture above, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is available in three colors instead of four: black, white, and burgundy.
3. The S-Pen makes a comeback with Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
Last year’s Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra included S-Pen support, but it didn’t bundle one. The new Galaxy S22 Ultra follows in the footsteps of the Galaxy Note series not only through its design but also by bundling the S-Pen.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has an S-Pen built in
We don’t know yet whether we’re talking about a new version of the S-Pen or whether it’s the same as the one bundled with the Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G we reviewed back in 2020. This remains to be clarified.
4. The Samsung Galaxy S22 line-up features the new Exynos 2200 processor
The “international” version of the Samsung Galaxy S22 lineup will feature the new Exynos 2200 mobile processor that was developed in collaboration with AMD. This version will be sold in Europe, Australia, Latin America, Africa, and other regions except for China and the USA.
Traditionally, Samsung’s Exynos processors offered slightly weaker performance than Qualcomm’s Snapdragon, especially in mobile gaming and photo-processing. This year’s new Exynos 2200 is important because it promises to deliver console-quality graphics on your smartphone, with mobile hardware-accelerated ray tracing. According to Samsung, the users of the international version of the Galaxy S22 line-up should also enjoy enhanced post-processing for picture-taking and video recording due to the Exynos 2200.
Samsung Exynos 2200 was developed in collaboration with AMD
Even though these promises sound appealing, Samsung has still opted to use the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset on their Galaxy S22 lineup for China and the USA. If the new Exynos 2200 proves to be the superior chip, it will be the first time in many years when European users like ourselves will enjoy a better experience than US residents. Wouldn’t that be something?
5. Improvements in the camera department
The smartphones in the Samsung Galaxy S22 family have a couple of hardware differences in the camera department. The wide and telephoto cameras have different specifications than last year’s model, which hopefully will improve the camera experience. However, what’s sure to change quite a lot are the picture and video processing capabilities, especially on the models with the Exynos 2200 processor.
The new generation of Galaxy S22 devices promises to deliver a better camera experience
We’re expecting the Galaxy S22 family to deliver significant improvements, especially in night-mode photography processing, due to Samsung’s collaboration with AMD.
6. The Samsung Galaxy S22 lineup comes with Android 12 and One UI 4.1
The Samsung Galaxy S22 lineup will come with the One UI v4.1 software overlay developed on top of Android 12. This version further finetunes the One UI v4.0 release that’s already available for Galaxy S21, S20, and S10 devices.
Welcome to One UI 4.1 and Android 12
The list of improvements expected for One UI v4.1 includes better virtual RAM management, enhanced wallpaper-based color theme integration, an improved system and camera performance, extended battery life (we aren’t that happy on this front after receiving One UI v.40 on our Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G), and new S-Pen features.
Your first impressions of the Samsung Galaxy S22 lineup?
Now you know our first impressions after interacting for a couple of minutes with the new Samsung Galaxy S22 lineup, as well as the information available about what’s new on these smartphones. We’re pretty excited by this lineup, and we can’t wait to receive it in testing to share our real-life experience with these smartphones. Before closing this article tell us what you think. Did you watch the Galaxy Unpacked 2022 event? Do you like what Samsung is offering? Or are you more excited about smartphones from competing manufacturers? Comment below and share your perspective.
