Samsung’s fresh new Galaxy S22 flagship smartphone may seem like a bit of a halfhearted upgrade over last year’s S 21. I’m sure it looks away bit more premium, but many of the features will give you a serious sense of deja vu. And though the camera hardware has been overhauled and Samsung has tweaked quite a few bits here and there, the question is, is the Galaxy S22 worthy of a place in your pocket? Purse, pants, wherever you decide to stash it?
Well, I’ve had my SIM in there for a full week now, using it as my full-time smartphone. So here’s my in-depth Samsung Galaxy S22 Review.
Contents
Samsung Galaxy S22 Design
Now, one of the few aspects of last year’s S 21 that I’m really glad carried over to this year’s model is that Dinky design at a nap Peel over six inches, the Galaxy S22 is comfortable to stash in your jeans all day long and easy enough to use onehanded, especially as there’s actually a one-handed mode. And I found I had absolutely no problems when it came to usability even when I was lounging back in bed.
Because the screen does not cover the edges of the smartphone. That means that your palm flesh doesn’t cause Merry havoc whenever you’re clutching the phone really tight. And while yeah, the Galaxy S22 does lack any kind of real flair, I do kind of like that simple design, and I am a fan of how that Dinky camera chassis now blends in with the rest of the back. The front and back ends of the S 22 are protected by Gorilla Glass Victus, with Samsung’s Armor aluminum frame sandwiched in between.
I do get a little bit worried wherever Gorilla Glass Victas is concerned because while it is more shadow resistant than previous versions of Gorilla Glass, I found that it also scratches up rather easily just with everyday wear and tear, and panic levels are at maximum with the Galaxy S22 there’s no preinstalled screen protector on there, but Thankfully Touchwood.
So far no scuffs or little Knicks anywhere to speak of. And the only way you’re going to put a dent in that edge in there is if you actually dropped the Galaxy S22 onto a hard floor from quite a height as well. You’ve also got full IP 68 water and dust resistance here as well, so no worries if you want to rocket the shower, the bathroom, Jacuzzi, whatever you want to do. And right now Samsung is offering the Galaxy S22 and a small selection of colors.
Got to say, my favorite models are that shiny white effort and this year’s Moody green version too. I think of the two. I am leaning towards this lovely green effort as that dark finish does hide grubby prints and grime rather effectively, and it just looks rather fetching.
OneUi And Features
I can’t see I really have many complaints when it comes to the software running on the Galaxy S22, the latest freshest Android twelve, of course, with Samsung’s One UI 4.1 launcher squatting on top of it. And yes, I can see it’s been a flawless experience.
I’ve seen a few weird little quirks and bugs here. Occasionally I was tapping a notification and absolutely bugger all words happen. A couple of apps have just said bollocks to it. I can’t be bothered anymore and shut down in the middle of me using them. But a few little moments of micro frustration aside, this thing has been well behaved.
However, I gotta say the Galaxy S22s haptics are a weak source probably a consequence of that shrunken stature. I’m not even kidding. There’s more power in a cockroach’s pelvic thrust than there is in this weedy little motor. Still, one UI sets up pretty much all the features you’d hope for in a flagship phone, including plenty of opportunities for customization a fair few times, saving tools like big speed routines, and the usual security smart as extra protection on top of Android. And that ultrasonic fingerprint sensor is a winner.
As usual, it’s not bothered one little bit at all if your thumb is sopping wet, although we’re going to see it, the piercing lock is a bit all over the place here on the Galaxy S22. Sometimes this phone acts like my so-called mates when I bump into them out on the street. Just pretend that it’s got no idea who the hell I am. Bacutus to Samsung North is offering four OS updates over time with the Galaxy S22 that’s got you supported all the way up to Android 16, and you’ve got even longer on the security updates as well.
It is rather stiff in Bajor. There’s a bit of a shame, though, that like most other premium expensive flagship smartphones here on the Galaxy S22, there’s no expandable storage, and no micro SD memory card support at all. And that’s especially annoying if, like me, you’ve got the basic 128 gig model of the Galaxy S22, because already after just a week of use, I’m close to filling two-thirds of that internal storage.
Display And Audio
Not helped by the fact that the system files a frigging massive and I haven’t even downloaded any movies or shows to watch on that slick 6.1 inches dynamic AMOLED display when I’m out and about.
That screen is very similar to the AMOLED panel found on the older S 21, except now it’s a way bit brighter easily bright enough to comfortably see stuff while you’re wearing shades on a Sunshine day, and it could also drop for a lower refresh rate. Now, to save on Juice, although, as we will discover later in this review, that doesn’t really seem to have much impact on the Galaxy S22 stay in power.
The picture quality is not mouring or gripping. The full HD plus resolution of this compact screen means fine detail packed into every frame, and as usual, you can expect vibrant visuals that properly punch you right in the chops.
Samsung has a new Vision Booster feature on this device, and this feature helps the screen color and contrast to match the environmental lights, so darker images are easily visible. Personally, I can’t say I know it’s much different at all over the S 21, but even when I was kicking back with some Moody, Marvel shenanigans in a brightly lit room, I wasn’t scratching my head over what was actually happening on screen.
The contrast is absolutely beautiful. The viewing angles are perfect, as you’d expect from an Allied display as well, so top-notch stuff, and I have heard some people complaining that the Samsung Galaxy S22 display is too small to comfortably enjoy a movie or a show on. All I can see is that my eyes are F, and I had absolutely no issues kicking back for a couple of hours watching a film on this thing.
Try streaming an entire movie on a bloody iPhone Se, and then you can complain about the size, all right? The stereo speakers are crazy loud on top volume, although the sound quality isn’t too clean once you do hit those highs. I did enjoy streaming music to my headphones and true wireless buds using Bluetooth Five Two. However, with full codec support for zero latency and the best possible audio experience now.
Performance And Gaming
The Galaxy S22 is powered by Samsung’s own fresh new four nanometers Exodus 2200 chipset, or at least it is here in the UK and certain other regions. And over the past week, the performance has been absolutely fine.
Apps seem to steal open for absolute ages in the background, and even with a couple of dozen running at once, it’s really rare to see any kind of judges or jitters. This said, the top end of the S 22 does get a bit toasty at times, for example, when downloading files and streaming music simultaneously.
And also, if you are German for a good long while on something like Genshin Impact, you can expect this phone to properly warm up your fingers. Thankfully, I didn’t notice any throttle, even with the graphics settings maxed out. And while the S 22 isn’t as capable as many Snapdragon Eight Gen One rivals, it still packs enough grunt to see you through whatever you need.
That screen may be quite compact by 2022 standards, but it’s still sizable and sharp enough to give you a clear view of the action when you are gambling online with effectively zero-touch lag at least none that I noticed anyway. Of course, Samsung’s dedicated Gimme tools aren’t as finely crafted or as easy to use as those found on many other phones.
And also, Sammy has promised big things from its Eclipse GPU, which is integrated into that Exinoss chipset, including full Ray tracing support for mobile games in the future. But there are very less games that can take advantage of this technology. No complaints on the connectivity side, though, you got full WiFi six support and 5G, naturally, and I had absolutely zero issues whether it was connected to WiFi networks or 5G mobile networks.
Battery Life
However, the Galaxy S 22 suffers from one crippling weakness. As bad as a Dodgely designed vent on a Death Star, and somewhat annoyingly, it’s the exact same reason that meant I couldn’t recommend last year’s Galaxy S 21 flagship smartphone you see packed inside of the S 20 two’s compact frame is a very small 3700 milliamp-hour capacity cell, so once again, it’s been nonstop battery walls here on the S 22 every single day. For this past week, I’ve been using this as my full-time phone. It’s been dead by about 09 to 10 p.m. In the evening.
It’s never lasted a full day on a single charge, and it’s not even like I’ve been playing Gentian Impact nonstop on this thing. Even days where I’ve done absolutely no Gaming and whatsoever only done a little bit of camera action, a little bit of video streaming. It still generally dies before I’m all tucked up with Teddy. That’s around four to 5 hours of screen time. And yes, a lot of compact smartphones unfortunately do suffer from the same battery life.
Worse. But if you do want a compact handset that can last you a full day easily, then definitely check out something like the Xiaomi Twelve, which easily makes it throughout a day, even with plenty of tasks on the action. And as always, there is nothing to write about charging speeds. Here on the S 22, you’ve got 25 Watt wired charging. 15 Watt wireless charging is so pretty paltry compared with a lot of big Chinese rivals, certainly, which tend to offer more like 66.
80 100 Watts charging these days. Now, if that doesn’t completely put you off, you’re still intrigued by the S 22.
Cameras
Let’s check out that main camera tech, which is now a fresh 50-megapixel sensor camera hardware may be different here on the S 22 now versus the older S 21, but not much has really changed up in terms of the actual photo and video quality for your photos. Yeah, the F 22 does still occasionally boost those colors to make a scene look more appealing, but not as bad as some Samsung blurs of the past.
This phone is fantastic when it comes to capturing action shots of kids, cats, and other mobile subjects. The shutter speed is generally fast enough to tap and snap lots of picks in quick succession unless you’re snapping away in low light, that is, in which case you should be waiting a good couple of seconds for each image to be captured and processed.
Still, the Galaxy S 22 generally copes well with strong light and contrast. I only really saw any real saturation when I was practically shooting into the sun, and when you move indoors or to darker areas, the S 22 still corpses well, capturing enough finer details so your photo will look good when you Chuck it up onto a TV or monitor. Tin is as good in low light as the Pixel Six series smartphones or the Oppo Xinx Five series as well, but it’ll do the job.
The primary camera sensor is once again joined by a twelve Meg ultra-wide-angle lens, which does as well as expected proven up to the task of snapping more dramatic results. And while the ten Meg Telephoto shooter with the three times optical Zoom isn’t a patch on the ultras space Zoom shenanigans, it’s still very handy for getting closer to your subject without disturbing them.
But of course, this wouldn’t be a Samsung smartphone without like a gajillion different bonus camera mods. That portrait mode is as impressive as always, allowing you to adjust the severity of the bucket after you take the shot, although the edge detection does occasionally get a bit janky.
My personal favorite, however, is still that single take mode, which is great when your kids or pets are up to something. This not only captures a short video clip but also sets up a variety of filtered picks and comedically bizarre gift-style efforts that are highly shareable. Standard video can be captured at up to eight K resolution, which is a hit-and-miss affair.
I prefer keeping the Galaxy S22 at ultra HD level with a choice of 30 or 60 frames per second. Filming picture quality is really great, even with lots of motion in the shot, and once again, the visuals aren’t too troubled by tricky conditions like high contrast scenes. Audio is clearly captured from all directions, and even when things are a bit breezy, that sound wasn’t distorted much at all.
Overall top stuff, Although the Upper Phenix Five still hasn’t beat in low light. And last up, the Galaxy S22 sets up another ten Meg selfie Cam which may have a little megapixel, Cam, compared with many rivals, but I was happy enough with the results.
Processing times are again long in low light but you don’t end up with much grain and there’s enough room to fit in plenty of heads when needed. And yeah, you could shoot up to 4K resolution video using the front-facing selfie camera as well. The video quality doesn’t quite look as good in 4K.
It does from that rear camera but it’s certainly possible for just a bit of Vlog action or whatever and the audio picture is pretty good even outdoors the windows so you don’t too bad at all right, there’s my full final Frank review of Samsung’s fresh Galaxy S22 flagship smartphone and I’ve got to say it does feel like a serious case of deja vu. Not just because it’s an incremental upgrade over the S 21, but also because that lackluster battery life makes the Galaxy S22 about as appealing as Satan’s on the pit. so that’s probably a little bit harsh on the Galaxy S22.
It’s a perfectly fine flagship smartphone. I did enjoy using it this past week when it wasn’t dying on its ass. I’ve got to say though, I do prefer the Xiaomi twelve. Yeah, Xiaomi doesn’t offer the same level of software support as Samsung or the same great range of security features, but it’s just as delightfully dinky and the Xiaomi twelve also boasts flawless performance and much better battery life. So anyhow, that’s my review but what about you guys?
Have you been using the Galaxy S22 as your full-time smartphone? It’d be great to hear your thoughts down in the comments below especially if you’re using that Snapdragon model which you get over in the US versus this exodus model. I’ve heard the Snapdragon model is a bit better when it comes to the battery life so that would be great here.
