The Samsung Galaxy S22 was announced a couple of months ago alongside the S22+ and S22 Ultra, which is the smallest phone in the S22 series. I’ve already had my first look at the phone here, which should be the phone that most people will be getting instead of the Ultra variant. I’ve been using the phone for a few weeks and here comes the full review.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Specs
- 6.1-inch Full HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display (48Hz-120Hz)
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor (Malaysia) or Exynos 2200 processor
- Cameras:
- 12MP ultra-wide + 50MP main with OIS + 10MP 3x telephoto with OIS
- 10MP front camera
- 3,700mAh battery with 25W wired Super Fast Charging
- Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
- IP68 water and dust resistance
- Colors: Phantom White, Pink Gold, Phantom Black, Green
- One UI 4.1 based on Android 12
- Pricing:
- 8GB RAM + 128GB storage: RM3,499
- 8GB RAM + 256GB storage: RM3,699
More Premium Build
In terms of design, the Galaxy S22 looks the same as the Galaxy S22+ but smaller, which is the same as last year’s S21. The front is a 6.1-inch Full HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, which is slightly smaller than last year’s S21. It still has the same flat display with a hole-punch selfie camera and there’s also an in-display ultrasonic fingerprint sensor that is pretty responsive.
The back of the phone is now a Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ instead of plastic and the chassis is protected by the more durable armor aluminum. The S22 is heavier than the S21, but I’m okay with that since it feels more premium.
Samsung has removed the two-tone design from the S21 series, but it still has the same Contour Cut Camera housing that blends the camera bump into the frame design.
The buttons and USB-C port are still located in the same positions. The phone also has stereo speakers, one at the bottom next to the USB-C port and another one that doubles up as an earpiece.
Just like the Galaxy S22 Ultra, Samsung has replaced the z-axis vibration motor with an x-axis motor that generally improves the haptic feedback but reduces the vibration intensity at the same time. It now has a softer vibration intensity, sometimes I didn’t even notice it when I place the phone on the table or in my pocket.
Smaller Display
The Galaxy S22 sports a 6.1-inch Full HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate. It still doesn’t have an LTPO panel, hence its refresh rate can only go down to 48Hz. Initially, Samsung mentioned that the refresh rate can actually go all the way down to 10Hz but changed afterward, you can read the article by Tom’s Guide here explaining everything.
The screen still has the top-class quality that remains to be the benchmark in the smartphone industry. This is the phone you can get right now for the best viewing experience.
Snapdragon Processor
Just like its bigger brothers, the Samsung Galaxy S22 is also powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor with 8GB RAM and up to 256GB UFS 3.1 storage. It performs well as expected but also gets hot easily since the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor tends to run hot under heavy load. Since this is the smallest phone in the S22 series, it is somewhat expected that the thermal management is the worst, but it is still acceptable.
One UI 4.1
The Samsung Galaxy S22 runs on One UI 4.1 based on Android 12 with the same user experience as the S22 Ultra, minus the S Pen experience. You now get to turn on/off the camera access and microphone access instantly via quick settings toggles. Furthermore, it will also show a green indicator on the top right of the screen if the app is using the camera or microphone. It also comes with video call effects that let you turn on virtual background, auto framing, and change the mic mode when you are in the middle of a video call.
Triple-camera Setup
In terms of camera, the Galaxy S22 has the same cameras as the S22+ — 12MP ultra-wide + 50MP main with OIS + 10MP 3x telephoto with OIS.
Image quality is pretty much the same as the S22+, you get consistent colors between the ultra-wide cam, main cam, and telephoto cam. Images appear to have a great dynamic range, great detail, and great colors.
3,700mAh Battery
The Samsung Galaxy S22 packs a 3,700mAh battery, which is smaller than its predecessor (4,000mAh). The phone can last through a day with 4 hours of screen-on-time, slightly worse than last year’s model. Unlike its bigger brothers, the phone only supports 25W Super Fast Charging, which took an hour plus to charge from 15% to full.
Final Words
The Samsung Galaxy S22 is available in 8GB+128GB and 8GB+256GB variants, retailing at RM3,499 and RM3,699, respectively. If you are looking for a compact flagship phone, it is actually a good choice with the premium build quality, a top-class display, and impressive cameras. In case you are wondering, here are the differences between the S22 and S22+:
- 6.1-inch screen vs 6.6-inch screen
- 3,700mAh battery vs 4,500mAh battery
- 25W fast charging vs 45W fast charging
- Wi-Fi 6 vs Wi-Fi 6E
- S22 doesn’t support Ultra Wide Band
If you want a bigger phone, just go for the S22+.
Buy Here
Yay
- Impressive build
- Top-class display
- Great cameras
Nay
- Unimpressive thermal management
- Battery capacity is smaller than its predecessor
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