Samsung S22 Ultra review: release date, price, specifications and features

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Introduction

Greatings, everyone.  In this article, we'll see if the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is the best Android phone money can buy or not. Its sleek design features an integrated S Pen, a brighter display, and numerous camera upgrades.

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is a significant device. It's Samsung's flagship and the company's best smartphone in a traditional form factor. It is released early each year and serves as the benchmark against which the entire Samsung device lineup, as well as the majority of the smartphone market, is measured.

Historically, this is the phone with the best display, best cameras, fastest chip, and the platform for much of Samsung's software development. We say "traditionally" because, as the Galaxy Z Fold enters its fourth generation, there has been a noticeable shift in emphasis. The Galaxy Z Fold4 is Samsung's largest flagship in terms of screen size, and it is the platform on which Samsung's software innovations are most visible.

However, some things have not changed. The Galaxy S22 Ultra is Samsung's best cameraphone. The same is true for premium construction and battery life.

On the surface, little has changed in the Galaxy S21 Ultra formula when producing the Galaxy S22 Ultra. The new phone includes a S Pen in addition to the Note's traditional simple and, to me, boring design. The good news is that Samsung has kept what made the Galaxy S21 Ultra so great - the 5,000mAh battery was not reduced to accommodate the pen, and the superb display and excellent cameras are all present and correct. Aside from minor software and sensor changes, those cameras remain largely unchanged. And it appears that will be the case in 2023 - if it isn't already. And it appears that will be the plan in 2023 - if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

S22 ultra review: Price

The Galaxy S22 Ultra in 8GB/128GB configuration starts at $1,199. It costs $1,299 to upgrade to 256GB, $1,399 to upgrade to 512GB, and $1,599 to upgrade to 1TB.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra is now available for purchase in black, white, green, and burgundy. The larger phone is available in graphite, sky blue, and red online.

Samsung S22 Ultra review: specifications

	Samsung S22 Ultra
wieght	8.04 ounces
screen size	6.8 inches
refresh rate	1-120Hz
CPU Speed	2.8GHz, 2.5GHz, 1,8GHz
CPU Type	Octa-Core
Storage	128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
cameras	Main 108 MP, Ultra wide 12 MP, Periscope telephoto 10 Mp with 10× optical zoom, Telephoto 10 MP with 3× optical zoom
Selfie camera	40 MP
Rated battery life	18:01h

Samsung S22 Ultra review review: features

Samsung S22 ultra review: Design and build quality

The Galaxy S22 Ultra is based on the Note 20 Ultra in terms of design. In fact, it's nearly identical to Samsung's mid-2020 phone. The arrangement of the camera lenses on the rear is the most obvious visual difference between the two, and this is where the S22 Ultra takes its only visual cues from the S21 Ultra. While there's nothing inherently wrong or out of date about these older designs, I wish Samsung had put more effort into making the Galaxy S22 Ultra a one-of-a-kind device that relied on its own strengths rather than those of its immediate predecessors. That's not to say it isn't a stylish piece of hardware; it most emphatically is.

I could do without the four main colours Samsung chose this year, though the matte finish they all share is nice. The black and white colorways are common, and the green and burgundy don't really resonate or stand out to me, though you may disagree. I preferred the Note 10 series' shimmery, multi-toned finish. Unfortunately, we haven't seen the additional online-only colours in person yet. Samsung painted the metal frame of the Galaxy S22 Ultra to match the Phantom Black review unit we have, though it has a more glossy finish. Of course, many will choose to cover the phone up with protection anyway.

If there's one thing I like about the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra's design, it's the camera module — or, more accurately, the lack of one. While the lens arrangement on the Galaxy S22 Ultra is similar to that on the S21 Ultra, the raised module (the typical camera "bump") has been removed. In terms of the size of its camera bumps, Samsung was one of the worst offenders in recent years. The S22 Ultra does away with the unsightly camera module, though the raised circular lenses remain quite large.

Samsung S22 ultra review: display

With the Galaxy S22 Ultra, Samsung has raised the bar in terms of display quality. As previously stated, the dynamic 120Hz refresh rate allows for smooth scrolling during our hands-on time. In addition, gamers will appreciate the 240Hz touch sampling rate.

But there are two notable display upgrades here. The screen has a peak brightness of 1,750 nits, which could be the brightest we've ever seen. (The standard brightness level is still quite high at 1,250 nits.)

A new Vision Booster feature, which can adjust the screen's brightness on the fly throughout the day, is the other display perk. This means that you should be able to use the S22 Ultra outside even in direct sunlight.

When I took the Galaxy S22 Ultra to Bryant Park with the iPhone 13 Pro Max and Google Pixel 6 Pro, the display on the Galaxy S22 Ultra was noticeably brighter than the two competing phones when I played the Reacher trailer.

the panel on this Galaxy S22 Ultra delivered rich colours and wide viewing angles, as well as smooth motion during action scenes.

	Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra	iPhone 13 Pro Max	Google Pixel 6 Pro
Max brightness	1,359 nits	1,038 nits	842 nits
sRGB color gamut	137.5%	109.3%	104.2%
DCI-P3 color gamut	97.4%	77.4%	73.8
Delta-E color accuracy (lower is better)	0.25	0.21	0.3

When I took the Galaxy S22 Ultra to Bryant Park with the iPhone 13 Pro Max and Google Pixel 6 Pro, the display on the Galaxy S22 Ultra was noticeably brighter than the two competing phones when I played the Reacher trailer.

When watching a trailer for Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, the panel on this Galaxy S22 Ultra delivered rich colours and wide viewing angles, as well as smooth motion during action scenes.

Samsung S22 ultra review: User interface and Performance

This long-term review was pushed back to include Android 13, which Samsung released at the end of October, a full month faster than last year's Galaxy S21 Ultra, which arrived a month earlier than the Galaxy S20 Ultra OneUI 3.0 update. It attests to Samsung's improved software support and track record.

Samsung S22 ultra review: S Pen

The best part is that you don't need to use a stupid case to store the S Pen like you did with the Galaxy S21 Ultra. The phone has a S Pen holder built right in.

We've heard. We rarely use it for anything other than the camera app. We did have to sign an embargo agreement on the fly and mail it back; I suppose it wouldn't have been any more difficult with another phone. Even if I don't use it often, I would always prefer to have a S Pen.

The OneUI 5 update

transformed the Galaxy S22 Ultra into an entirely new device. When it was released with Android 12, it was the most unresponsive flagship-tier phone on the market. It suffered from frequent slowdowns and hiccups, which ruined the experience of owning such a high-end phone. Apps never crashed, so the Galaxy S22 Ultra was spared the embarrassment of being unusable, as some earlier Pixels were. However, the apparent stability did not compensate for the lack of fluidity.

The lack of smoothness on the Galaxy S22 Ultra was disconcerting when compared to devices such as a current Xiaomi, a Pixel 6, or an iPhone 13 series phone. And, yes, we tried the little trick of lowering the Window animation scale, Transition animation scale, and Animator duration in Delepoper options; this didn't help much with the lag.

Fast forward to October, and the OneUI 5 update has transformed the Galaxy S22 Ultra into one of the smoothest devices in its class. Even at the default animation and transition scale of 1x, there are no hiccups or slowdowns.

OneUI is one of the most useful operating systems available. It makes the most of a large screen, and there are at least three ways to enter split screen (Multi window) on the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

You could do it by going to the Recent Apps screen and tapping on the app icon. You can also enable Samsung's Edge Panels, which is a customizable drawer of apps and panels that you open with a swipe on the phone's right edge.

The beauty of this feature is that it allows you to save your favourite Multi window combinations, such as Chrome and YouTube, Instagram and YouTube, Chrome and a Calculator, and so on. Then you quickly tap them open.

Swiping from the bottom with two fingers in OneUI 5 enables a gesture to quickly open the split-screen mode from within any app. You must enable the gesture via Settings - Advanced Features - Labs, as well as the Multi window for all apps feature.

It would be great if Samsung could port the taskbar from the Galaxy Z Fold4 to the Galaxy S22 Ultra as a Labs feature, giving me a fourth way to access the Multi window.

Let us now discuss Good Lock. It's a collection of mini apps that you can get from Samsung's Galaxy app store. They enable you to completely personalise your Galaxy smartphone. It's extremely potent. One Hand Operation+, for example, is an app that allows you to customise edge gestures for various functions, such as swiping from the bottom right to go Back, bottom left for Recent apps, and pulling down the notification panel with a downward swipe on the bottom right side of the screen, among others. Edge Touch, on the other hand, allows you to disable touch sensitivity at your screen's edges and specify the exact width in pixels.

Sound Assistant

allows you to customise the volume panel that appears when you press the volume keys, set the volume keys to control the media volume rather than the ringtone volume, and even set the volume keys to control the media volume rather than the ringtone volume.

Nice Catch

can show you which apps caused your phone to vibrate, ring, display a toast notification, or wake up your screen, allowing you to identify rogue apps.

Camera Assistant

lets you enable or disable Auto HDR, disable the camera's default sharpening algorithm if you prefer softer images, and choose whether or not to allow the camera to automatically select another lens if the current one is too dark, for example.

Then there's Video, which is simply the best, bug-free local video player I've ever used on Android (yes, even better than VLC), My Files is a fantastic file manager app with a full feature set, and Samsung Notes supports both handwriting with the S Pen and typing with the keyboard, as well as adding screenshots to your notes, and so on.

The built-in Gallery app is a fantastic app for quickly creating a collage. The Calendar (formerly S Planner) has a much more informative interface than Google Calendar, the Phone app has irreplaceable Swipe right to call and Swipe left to message gestures, and so on.

The Secure Folder protects sensitive documents and files from prying apps by utilising Samsung's Knox security framework.

Finally, the ExperRAW app

provides full control and DNG file support for all of the cameras on the Galaxy S22 Ultra. After that, the files can be fully edited in Adobe's Lightroom suite. But there's more to it in the camera section.

Despite the laggy Android 12 experience, the Galaxy S22 Ultra has performed consistently. Under normal use, it also rarely gets too hot. I'm also confident that it will get Android 14 in a year and will continue to receive monthly security updates for at least the next two years.

Samsung S22 ultra review: cameras and picture quality

A more detailed and brighter image may be produced with the S22 Ultra's innovative Adaptive Pixel Tech, which enables simultaneous capture of 108MP (Re-mosaic mode) and 12MP (Nona-binning mode) photos. A clearer zoomed-in image is promised by the two telephoto lenses, which are both 10MP and have separate optical zooms of 3x and 10x, respectively. Moreover, the sensor has been redesigned to work best in low light.

When it comes to the zoom powers of the S22 Ultra, Samsung has clearly defeated the competition. Samsung has improved the sharpness and three-dimensional clarity of objects to unprecedented heights just by the use of zoom. But, the camera system as a whole is also the most feature-rich on a smartphone device to date. Aspects like single take, director's mode, object eraser, remaster, and pro mode boost photography capabilities to levels other smartphones can only dream of.

With pixels that are 1.23 times brighter than those of the S21 Ultra, the Ultra now features a 108MP sensor. This larger, higher-resolution sensor combines with Samsung's Multi-Frame Processing technology to combine multiple exposure frames for improved night photography that sharpens your photographs by processing four times as much data.

Even in natural light, the S22's image pops with better clarity, breadth, and depth of colour when compared to the S21 Ultra in a 23x comparison shot. But, the quality of the Ultra's photo, especially when zooming in, is unmatched, and for us, the colour saturation is more natural and benefits from a somewhat wider colour palette. The comparison between the Ultra and the iPhone 13 Pro Max at 3x zoom is closer.

Samsung S22 Ultra review: video quality

All five of the cameras on the Galaxy S22 Ultra can capture video at a resolution of 4K60. It can also record 8K video with its primary camera, but it can only do so at 24 frames per second. This restriction ought to have been removed by this point; 30 frames per second ought to be feasible.

All of these options offer video stabilisation, but if you have other ways to support the phone, you can easily disable it.

While the other modes let you choose between h.264 or h.265, 8K capture is always encoded in h.265 HEVC. Regardless of the video mode, stereo audio is captured with a 256kbps bit rate.

The easiest way to think of 8K video is as a checkbox on the spec sheet rather than a feature that is actually useful. Given the correct subject matter, the clips (80Mbps) might expose some extra detail, but they display a lot of artefacts and a general softness. We would not engage.

Our preference is for 4K, while the Ultra offers higher quality. We would rate the main camera's 4K30 (48Mbps) footage as "very good" because there are better ones available. Dynamic range is superb and colour reproduction is accurate without becoming lifeless. With the exception of a slight loss in fine resolution, 4K60 (70Mbps) is essentially equivalent.

The wide dynamic range, detailed footage produced by the ultrawide camera is also quite nice. Inconsequential changes with minimal bearing on overall impressions include somewhat warmer colours than on the main camera and slightly cyan-leaning skies.

The 3x telephoto capture is also good, minus a little too much noise grain. The colours are accurate, the dynamic range is great, and the video is clear and detailed.

Although the periscope device is less than thrilled to have its clips seen at 1:1, they nevertheless maintain what we would consider good quality. This is as good as it gets given that real 4K at 10x is essentially unavailable elsewhere.

With its primary and ultrawide cameras, the S22 Ultra has excellent stabilisation. When the camera is pointed in one direction, the phone can successfully eliminate camera shake caused by walking or simple handholding. Nevertheless, one problem we noticed is that while panning, the footage has a tendency to slightly overshoot the pan and then revert back a few degrees. It's strange and can bother you. It seems like one of those issues that a firmware upgrade will address.

Even so, there is still some tremor in the final product when using the 3x and 10x telephoto lenses.

Moreover, there are a few Very steady modes. The resolution is limited to 1080p and you can choose between 30 or 60 frames per second. There are two magnifications available: 0.6x and 1x. However, the phone uses the ultrawide camera in both modes and disables autofocus.

Selfie videos have excellent clarity, and when stabilisation is activated, they are also incredibly smooth. However, stability does reduce field of vision, and it takes quite a bit of stretching to suit your full head while still giving it some breathing room. Selfie sticks are quite helpful, and even a small one will work.

The coverage will be better if the stabilising is turned off, but the trade-off in shakiness is too great. We'd take the hard road.

Samsung S22 Ultra review: Sound quality

The Samsung S22 Ultra lacks a 3.5mm headphone jack, unlike the Sony Xperia 1 III, which has one. Like with the iPhone 13 Pro Max (which uses Apple's exclusive Lightning connection), you must use a dongle to connect a pair of wired headphones to the Samsung S22 Ultra.

By playing 1 by the Beatles in Spatial Audio on all three smartphones, we assess their audio capabilities. The Sony handset performs best in terms of melodic cohesiveness, clarity, and timing across all frequencies. That's not to say the S22 Ultra's performance is subpar; it just doesn't hang together as well, and as a result, our music loses a little bit of its impetus, drive, and intensity.

The Samsung S22 Ultra's dual-firing speakers, however, provide a meatier and more expansive soundscape than the competitors while listening without headphones. We don't miss the dynamic haptic vibration option that was present on Sony's Xperia 1 III. The Samsung S22 Ultra's inbuilt speaker system produces stronger sound overall, which is impressive even though it was probably expected given the size of the screen.

Samsung S22 Ultra review: Battery life and charging

A huge 5,000 mAH battery powers the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and, according to Samsung, may last more than a day under normal use. The Tom's Guide battery test, which involves continuous web browsing over 5G with a screen brightness of 150 nits, has been performed a few times.

The S22 Ultra's best battery life to date when connected to T-Network Mobiles in 60 Hz mode is 10 hours and 18 minutes. That's good and far better than the 7:55 from the Google Pixel 6 Pro, but this runtime falls short of the 11 hours and 25 minutes the S21 Ultra lasted and the even longer 12:16 for the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

The S22 Ultra only lasted 8:50 with adaptive mode activated for the display (which scales up to 120Hz), which is less time than we had anticipated. We'll report back with future results.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra supports 45W charging, an improvement over the 25W charging in the Galaxy S21 Ultra, for when it's time to recharge. According to Samsung, you may reach 50% in 20 minutes, which is roughly 10 minutes quicker than the S21 Ultra.

Samsung S22 Ultra review: verdict

Although the Galaxy S22 Ultra costs $300 more than the Google Pixel 6 Pro, its superior user experience is now made possible by slick and helpful S Pen support, which, when combined with its especially vibrant, immersive display, good sound quality, and outstanding photography features, presents the strongest argument yet for turning away from Apple.

Then there is the iPhone 13 Pro Max, which outperforms the S22 Ultra in terms of speed, battery life, and camera quality (with the exception of low-light shots). But, I choose the Galaxy S22 Ultra's more streamlined appearance and impressive zoom.

Ultimately, the Galaxy S22 Ultra is the best premium Android phone, and it's very close to being the best phone period.