The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is a clear candidate for king of the high-end among the devices released in 2022: sophisticated cameras, practical S-Pen and almost perfect screen. The downside: somewhat blurry images and a very high price.
Design-wise, Samsung’s new flagship features a solid aluminum frame with nicely rounded edges, as well as glass on the front and back. It is pleasant to the touch, fits well in the hand and is robust. Also, the new camera system with the five individual round lenses at the rear is more elegant than the large module of the predecessor model.
The system consists of four cameras on the rear: a main camera of 108 megapixels (MP), two cameras with 10x and 3x zoom of 10 MP and a wide angle with 12 MP. The fifth front has a resolution of 40 MP.
Inside the Ultra is Samsung’s Exynos 2200 processor with eight cores, up to a terabyte of memory, and – depending on the model – eight or twelve gigabytes (GB) of RAM. In addition, the device equips a 6.8-inch AMOLED screen. This one is slightly curved on the sides and is very bright, with a maximum brightness of 1750 nits.
With its 5,000 milliamp-hour battery, the Ultra guarantees, with occasional use without many social networks and games, up to two or three days of autonomy in standby mode. The headphones and power supply are no longer included in the box, according to Samsung, for environmental reasons. Instead, the S-Pen stylus is supplied, which is housed at the bottom left of the phone’s casing.
And this is where the S22 Ultra starts to differentiate itself from its predecessors and the smaller models in the S22 series. With the digital pen, the new model also incorporates organization capabilities previously reserved for the Galaxy Note series. The S-Pen offers many possibilities: from the practical note application with handwriting recognition to drawing functions or the discreet remote triggering of the camera.
A detail to note: when writing on the screen, there is a kind of audio-haptic response similar to the noise of writing on paper. Bottom line: Galaxy Note tablet users will also be pleased with the S22 Ultra.
In everyday use, the Ultra behaves as befits a smartphone with a base price of just under 1,300 euros (approximately US$1,400). It looks good, is fast and promises good autonomy. In terms of comfort, Samsung has taken a step forward. The fingerprint sensor is finally placed in a way that it can be comfortably reached with the thumb. The bright screen is very easy to read, even in bright sunlight.
Except for a few shortcomings, the camera system is also top-flight. Already from the S20 Ultra, the combination of four cameras is powerful and versatile. This offers good quality both in still photos and high-resolution videos as well as in special modes, for example, combining photos and videos from the different cameras (single shot). Those users who work a lot with videos will appreciate the director function: with its help, you can switch between different zoom levels and lenses while shooting.
Daytime shots are sharp, colorful and vivid. The Ultra’s combination of lenses, sensors and software ensures detailed images even in low light. The mechanical stabilization of the cameras prevents the images from moving. At low zoom levels, a tripod is not needed.
Speaking of zoom: the Ultra can offer up to 100x magnification with a combination of optical and digital zoom. In practice, however, it is better to stay below a zoom factor of 30, as above this value the photos are blurry. In this aspect, little has changed since the S20 Ultra.
Another small problem: if you zoom in on images, you can sometimes see that the camera software has intervened quite forcefully. The result is washed-out details and noise in unexpected places. According to a test carried out by the German specialist magazine “Chip”, other Samsungs, such as the predecessor S21 Ultra or the newly introduced S21 5G FE, performed slightly better in this regard.
The consumer will no longer have to decide between a Note tablet or a Galaxy mobile. The S22 Ultra combines the camera and organizer features of both models in one device, so a new edition of the Galaxy Note would be superfluous. And in other respects too, the S22 Ultra is pretty much the pinnacle of what’s currently good and expensive in the top Android segment.
Still, that doesn’t mean you don’t have competition. Oppo’s Find X5 Pro, for example, comes close to the Ultra in performance and photo quality: no zoom cameras, but a sleek ceramic case. Google’s Pixel 6 Pro is also a serious rival and has nothing to envy the Galaxy Ultra in terms of image quality.
However, the combination of plenty of power, outstanding cameras, and a stylus is currently only available from Samsung.
Aside from the subjectively more attractive design and the S Pen, the S22 Ultra’s progress over the predecessor, the S21 Ultra, is negligible and hardly noticeable in everyday use. The S Pen is also available separately at an additional cost, but in this case the phone does not have a suitable slot to store it.
In short: for those who prefer something new, complete and with an integrated stylus, the S22 Ultra with 128 GB of internal memory and 8 GB of RAM is an excellent option. The version with 256 memory and 12 GB of RAM is available for a very small price difference.
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