My first impression about Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra was made long before I bought it. I thought that the phone was too expensive at the starting price of $1200. I couldn’t bring myself to buy one as long as it stayed at that price.
However, the gods of mobile smiled on me. Here in the US, we have started seeing discounts and deals a few months after the phone launched. The best deal I have been able to find here is on Google Fi. You can snatch the phone on Fi for $600. I’m not sure you’d find a better deal than that for now.
With the price of the phone out of the way, I was greeted by what in my opinion is one of the best looking smartphones in the market right now. In terms of design, take the S21 Ultra, replace the round edges with square ones, and you pretty much have the S22 Ultra.
I am particularly impressed by the styling of the camera layout on the back of the phone. Individual rings protruding directly from the body of the phone itself, giving the impression that the cameras are one with the phone. The S22 Ultra is definitely a looker. The only downside I found to the design of this phone is the size. This phone is damn too big. Of course, everyone isn’t going to agree with me on that one.
Moving on from the design, when you turn on this phone, your eyes will be treated to a gorgeous and glorious display. Samsung have mastered the art of display manufacturing down to the science. I am just going to say it now, their displays are the best period. You’re not going to find a flagship display that’s better than the one on the S22 Ultra.
I’m not even going to mention the LTPO 120Hz technology behind the display, because we have come to expect them on flagship phones. My favourite feature that Samsung implemented on this display is called, eye comfort shield. It works and it’s not a gimmick and I think more manufacturers should copy Samsung.
Having only had this phone for a little more than a week, I can tell you that my general initial impression has been good. The battery is not shabby, though I will need more time to test the phone and report back on battery life.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra hands-on review: Photography
Photography is one major reason why people splurge on premium flagships. From the photos I have taken with the S22 Ultra, I can say that the cameras take good shots. Here are a few samples:
Looking at photos taken with Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and iPhone 13 Pro Max, though, I noticed that the iPhone does a way better job in interpreting the colour of subjects. We took several photos of the girl in a green dress. Have a look at samples:
We took several shots, and every time, the Samsung showed the costume as blue. In reality, that costume is green. To be honest, I’m disappointed with the S22 Ultra’s colour rendition. The iPhone got the colour of the custume 100 percent right.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra is an impressive smartphone and works like one expects of a phone of its price and class (except for that colour reproduction issue in the camera samples). And, as mentioned earlier, I got mine at a very sweet deal – about 50% of the launch price.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G specs list
Mobile Wireless Network and Software
- 2G mobile network bands: GSM, GPRS, EDGE 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz. CDMA 800 / 1900, TD-SCDMA
- 3G mobile network bands: UMTS, WCDMA, HSDPA 850 / 900 / 2100 MHz. CDMA2000 1xEV-DO.
- 4G mobile network bands: LTE.
- 5G mobile network bands: NSA/SA
- SIM Type: Nano-SIM, Dual SIM
- Software / OS: One UI 4, based on Android 12
Design, Form Factor, Appearance
- Dimensions: 163.3 x 77.9 x 8.9 mm
- Weight: 227g
- Display: 6.8 inches (17.27 centimetres), 3080 x 1440 pixels, 1-120 Hz variable refresh rate, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen, Gorilla Glass Victus protection. Built-in S Pen.
- Colours: Phantom Black, White, Burgundy, Green, Graphite, Red, Sky Blue.
- Physical Build: IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 mins)
Internal Hardware Specs
- Processor Type: 64-bit, 2.8 GHz Octa-core
- Processor Name: Exynos 2200 (4nm) – Europe, Middle East, Africa. Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (4 nm) – USA/China
- Graphics Processor: Xclipse 920 – International. Adreno 730 – USA/China
- RAM: 8 GB / 12 GB
- Internal Storage: 128 GB / 256 GB / 512 GB
- External Storage: No.
Photography, Video Recording
- Main Camera: 108 MP main sensor with OIS + 12MP (f/2.2, 1/2.55″, 1.4 µm, AF) 13mm ultrawide, + 10MP telephoto camera + 10MP telephoto periscope 10x zoom lens with OIS, autofocus, LED flash, 1080p@30fps video recording
- Front Camera: 40 MP, fixed focus, Face Recognition, 1080p@30fps video capture
Audio, Video Playback
- Music Support: PCM, AAC / AAC + / eAAC + / MP3 / AMR – NB / WB / APE
- Audio: No 3.5 mm audio jack
- Loudspeaker: Stereo speakers, Tuned by AKG
- Video Support: H.264/MP4/MPEG4 player
- FM Radio:
Phone Sensors
- Digital Compass: Yes.
- Accelerometer: Yes.
- Proximity Sensor: Yes.
- Ambient Light Sensor: Yes.
- Barometer: Yes.
- Pedometer: No.
- Heart Rate Monitor: No.
- Gyroscope (G-Sensor): Yes.
- Fingerprint Scanner: Yes; in-display.
- Face Unlock: Yes.
- Iris Scanner: No.
- Motion Sensing / Gesture Control: No.
- Voice Control: No.
- Intelligent Digital Assistant: Yes; Google Assistant. Bixby Assistant.
- Infra-red Sensor: No.
Connectivity Options
- Bluetooth Version: 5.2
- Bluetooth Profiles: A2DP
- WiFi: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, hotspot
- GPS: Yes, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, Galileo
- USB: microUSB v2.0. Type-C. USB-OTG.
- NFC: Yes.
Miscellaneous Specs and Features
- Battery Type and Capacity: Non-Removable Lithium-Polymer 5000 mAh
- Battery Charging: 45W fast charging. USB Power Delivery 3.0
- Wireless Charging: Yes: 15W Fast Qi/PMA wireless charging
- Reverse Charging: Yes: 4.5W reverse wireless charging.