Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Review; Another year has passed and again it is time to go to the Galaxy S22 series and more precisely, its ultra model. Although Samsung insists that the strongest member of the S22 series is part of the same family, we have to admit that today we will examine the latest Galaxy Note in the market under the name of S22 Ultra.
No matter what we call it, we are dealing with a high-quality smartphone that offers an extremely high potential at an extremely high price. Can these features justify the $ 1,200 label on this product? For some users, not at all, but for others who are willing to satisfy themselves with logical reasons, we will look into this. Stay with us.
Contents
- Design and appearance
- Communications and networking
- Hardware, software and batteries
- The pen is something else
- Camera and camcorder
- Conclusion
Design, appearance and display
Before we get into the look of the Galaxy S22 Ultra, we need to recap the various configurations and general specifications of this product. The newest or better to say the most powerful Samsung flagship is equipped with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal memory in its basic configuration. If you can pay $ 100 more, Samsung lets you use 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage.
If the price of the phone is not a problem for you, you can pay $ 1400 and 1600, respectively, to get the 512 and 1 terabyte versions of the Galaxy S22 Ultra and assume that you always have a portable external memory in your pocket. These configurations come with the same 12GB of RAM; So money does not work in this case and you can not force Samsung to behave differently! If you do not have a problem, you can now choose between wine, black, green and white.
Finally it’s time to get to the device’s appearance; The device is called S22 Ultra, but it is clear that its design is inspired by the Note series of the same company. Users of the tech world are well aware that S-Series devices have always been known for their curved edges, while the Note series has a long history of broken and cube-shaped design. On the other hand, the S22 Ultra is slightly wider than the S21 Ultra this time, so that it can fit the symbolic pen of the Note series.
In fact, it’s not at all difficult to understand the logic behind Samsung’s thinking. The company dropped the new Note series last year and instead decided to launch two clamshell smartphones alongside the S21 series as its new flagships. Some fans of the Note series did not support the decision; For example, if the fans of this series are very interested in carrying a pen, they still only have a special hole in the Note series to accommodate it.
This year, Samsung finally decided to take another look at this group of fans and give them their favorite phone with a different name but a familiar design. On the back of the device you can see several S22 Ultra cameras without a module. These modules can be seen not only in all last year’s models, but also in the other two models of this year’s S22 series.
The Galaxy S1 Ultra and the Note 20 Ultra have been among Samsung’s few flagships in recent years that have been scratch-resistant, but now we are again faced with a contradictory policy in the raw materials used in the S22 Ultra. With the IP68 standard, all you have to do is take your eyes off this $ 1,200 phone to turn it into an unwanted drawing book in a few days whose artist is your pocket!
So put aside stubbornness, if you are going to prepare it, do not forget to use the cover. Apparently, the Gorilla Glass Victos Plus used on the back of the device is not as stubborn and efficient as Samsung claims.
The device’s 6.8-inch display can deliver a stunning resolution of 1440 x 3088 pixels. Of course, if battery life is more important to you than display quality, you can even reduce the resolution to 720 x 1544 pixels. Thanks to the maximum brightness of 1200 nits, on the sunniest days you will see all the content on the screen and even the contrast will be clear to you.
Exactly in line with the trend in the industry over the past year or two, Samsung has decided to make the dynamic frame rate of the S22 Ultra display as dynamic as possible . Using a variable frame rate between 1 and 120 Hz, in addition to saving battery life, helps you get the most out of your device. If you wish, you can also use the 60 Hz rate in the settings.
However, this is a feature that the other two members of the S22 family do not enjoy. The Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus can only support 48 to 120 Hz gaming. While this difference may not seem like a big difference, in the battery review section we will talk about why Samsung has been so smart.
The fingerprint sensor used in the product is still from the same generation of ultrasonic sensors we saw in the previous generation of this flagship, but this time there has been a significant upgrade to Qualcomm 3D Sonic Sensor Gen 2 to give users more accuracy and speed in their daily use. To experience.
Communications and networking
The S22 Ultra is the first phone in the United States to use a Qualcomm X65 modem. The modem is also expected to be used in Apple’s OnePlus 10 and iPhone 14. The same explanation is enough to realize that one of the best modems in the history of mobile is in the new flagship of this Korean giant.
Although the full potential of this modem cannot be explored in Iran at present, global results, including the source of this study, show that it performs better than the modem used in the S21 Ultra.
Samsung has not specified and probably will not specify which frequency bands it supports. Each time you change the device SIM card, only the bands supported by the operators are displayed. However, it is clear that all 4G and 5G bands available in developed countries such as the United States are supported on the S22 Ultra.
It has even been confirmed that this is the first product that will support AT & T’s 3.45 GHz band. It is better to say this, if you are going to use this device in Iran, you do not need to think about it at all!
The device’s Wi-Fi performance is similar to the S21 Ultra. Both devices are equipped with the FastConnect 6900 Wi-Fi chip that supports Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E. In some similar situations, performance may be better or even worse than the S21 Ultra, but it can be assured that this does not reflect the actual performance of the device and is related to things outside of the device hardware.
Hardware, software and batteries
The 1st generation Snapdragon 8 was introduced with a world of advertising and news coverage, but in reality it can not show a significant difference with the Snapdragon 888. Of course, you should not get it wrong; 9 to 13% better CPU performance and 20% better graphics card performance than last year’s model, well confirm that Qualcomm and Samsung have once again had a successful partnership.
This upgrade has a lot to say in theory, but apart from the better performance of the S Pen, the overall performance of the device does not seem to be much different from the S21 Ultra. Theoretically, we should also mention the S22 Ultra’s poorer performance than all other iPhone 13 series products, which illustrates another aspect of this complex story.
Heat dissipation problems may be the main reason for this gap and prevent the actual operation of the device. The S22 Ultra performs faster and better than Samsung’s previous flagship. There is no frame drop in games and we should be happy about that.
The massive 5000 mAh battery life is very desirable. During the consecutive video playback test, the result was recorded for 12 hours and 14 minutes with 100% brightness. If the brightness is reduced to 75%, this figure will reach 13 hours and 35 minutes, which is almost an hour more than the Galaxy S21 Ultra and Note S20 Ultra. It is interesting to know that this number is about 1 hour more than the Galaxy S22 Plus. The S22 Ultra variable frame rate is probably responsible for this remarkable battery life.
Even with this satisfactory statistic, no Android phone has recently been able to perform as well as the iPhone 13 series and especially the iPhone 13 Pro Max with 18 hours of battery life. On the other hand, it should not be assumed that the iPhone 13 Pro Max has a 50% larger battery. In fact, Android seems to consume more power, and Android apps consume more power than their iOS counterparts.
Beyond that, the main issue is still the charging time of the device. We believe that Samsung, contrary to its promises, has not been able to improve the charging time of the device in a proper way. Using a 45-watt adapter, you can charge the S22 Ultra in 75 minutes. If you use a 22-watt adapter, you will have to wait 84 minutes for your smartphone to be fully charged.
You can see a difference of about 9 minutes, which is not really much. For example, the OnePlus 9 Pro charges 100% in less than an hour. The S22 Ultra charges about 24% in the first 15 minutes, but it is not clear why it takes another 15 minutes to charge the device from 92% to 100% alone. In addition to direct charging, the Korean giant’s latest flagship also supports 15-watt wireless charging and reverse charging.
What can we say about the call? Not much to mention. All Galaxy flagships of the last few years support the EVS codec, which means good call quality and speakers.
There are a number of additional features that can be used to help people with hearing loss. Also, if you wish, you can adjust your own audio settings for the device to be applied while listening to any sound, either live or Bluetooth.
The phone comes with Android 12 and One UI, and according to a commitment that Samsung has recently confirmed, it will receive Android 16. This update cycle will be even greater for security patches.
Also, the main SMS application of the device has now been changed to Google Messages. Samsung’s partnership with Microsoft, another tech giant, has led to default support for the Your Phone app. This app lets you sync, transfer files, and finally share the screen by syncing your device with your phone without having to use it just on your PC. This feature is very similar to Apple’s Continutiy feature that users of this ecosystem enjoy.
The pen is something else
At the beginning of the article, we talked about the pen. No wonder the stylus is one of the main reasons why Samsung revived the Note series at the heart of the S series. Artists love it, users enjoy its features, and Android enthusiasts remind iPhone users of its lack.
Although many of Samsung’s high-end products support the S Pen, its presence in the S22 Ultra makes it easier to carry and more efficient. As we mentioned, the main reason for increasing the dimensions of the device is the existence of this pen.
This pen is no different in appearance from the pen used in the Note 20s. The sides are flat and there is a button in the middle. The most important difference in the body is its material. Samsung has decided to use matte and more durable raw materials this time, contrary to the bright appearance of the Note 20s pen.
According to Samsung, the pen latency has been reduced from 9 milliseconds to 2.8 milliseconds. You will have a hard time expressing this difference and even understanding it, but it can be said that the new pen shows more flexibility in practice. According to Samsung, the pen now uses artificial intelligence algorithms to predict which direction you will draw. Result? If the old pen followed your movements, now the new pen predicts them.
Camera and camcorder
The 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens, the 108-megapixel main lens, the 10-megapixel lens with 3x magnification, and finally a 10-megapixel lens for 10x magnification form the quad-camera back of the device.
| Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus | Galaxy S21 and S21 Plus | Galaxy S21 and S22 Ultra | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The main lens | 50 megapixels | 12 megapixels | 108 megapixels |
| Ultra-wide lens | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Telephoto lens | 10 megapixels | 64 megapixels | 10 megapixels (dual) |
| Zoom in | 3 times optical, 30 times digital | 3 times optics hybrid, 30 times digital | 3 and 10 times optical, 100 times digital |
The front also has a 40-megapixel selfie camera. The S22 Ultra can record 8K video through the main lens and 4K video through the selfie camera.
The first new feature of this phone in the camera section is known as “Nytography”, which, according to Samsung, improves the imaging experience of this device in low light. The results of this feature have improved the performance of the S22 Ultra compared to the previous generation in low light, but the final output is not something that can completely change the story.
The light images of the phone in question have better depth of field and the colors in them are well heated, but the night mode still takes 2-3 seconds to capture its next image. The 10x magnification lens typically captures extremely dark images at night. Records that it is not satisfactory.
Images look brighter than normal in daylight. This problem is not seen in the iPhone 13 series phone, and the color of the images recorded with products such as the iPhone 13 Pro Max is closer to the real world. It is worth noting that the S22 Ultra has at least better control over shadows than the S21 Ultra.
Overall, the changes that have taken place in the S22 Ultra are not at all to the extent that we have seen with the arrival of the new generation of smartphones. For example, the transition from S10 to S20 Ultra really brought efficient night mode. This transition from S20 Ultra to S21 Ultra resulted in significant changes in focus and a 10x magnification quality. No such changes have occurred in the last episode of the series, or at least ordinary users will hardly notice anything.
Conclusion
The Galaxy S22 Ultra is a great smartphone and probably one of the top 3 Android phones right now. However, if you already own the Galaxy S21 Ultra or the Note 20 Ultra, it does not make sense to buy this phone and it will not give you much.
Of course, the changes made in this series can be considered attractive or even revolutionary for former users of the Galaxy S series, but there is no significant feature that we can consider fair in the face of the high price of the phone and buy the S22 Ultra Recommend to everyone.
If 10x magnification or Samsung S Pen is important to you, the S22 Ultra is the best smartphone on the market. On the other hand, this magnification with the same quality can be seen in the S21 Ultra.
The S21 Ultra can also meet your needs with stylus support. If all you need is a hole in the phone to fit in, you can pay a few hundred dollars more!
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The Review
Galaxy S22 Ultra
The Galaxy S22 Ultra is a great smartphone and probably one of the top 3 Android phones right now. However, if you already own the Galaxy S21 Ultra or the Note 20 Ultra, it does not make sense to buy this phone and it will not give you much.
PROS
- Full compatibility with S Pen
- Long battery life
- High quality display
- Efficient cameras
CONS
- Very large dimensions
- The price of wings
- Slight resistance of the body to scratches
