Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra First Impressions!

Samsung announced the release of three new smartphones in February 2022:

- Galaxy S22

- Galaxy S22 +

- Galaxy S22 Ultra (This article will cover the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, the top-of-the-line model in Samsung's current lineup)

If you haven't watched Samsung's Unpacked Event, you can watch it here for the complete list of details and announcements of other products. Samsung's Unpacked event was impressive. I loved how Samsung focused on the environment and global challenges with its partnership with the United Nations to support its goals. 

But now let's get back to what truly matters here: the phone itself. 

With a built-in S Pen, advanced night shots (called "Nightography"), improved video capabilities, and an extended battery life that lasts longer thanks to software tweaks and optimizations, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is a formidable beast. 

Price in The UAE

The Galaxy S22 Ultra will be available in the UAE market by early next month. Still, you can preorder right now on Samsung's website and get gifts worth AED 1,033, including an AED 734 eVoucher and 1-year Samsung Care+. This offer period is between the 9th of February and 3rd of March. 

Prices for the three variants of the Galaxy S22 Ultra are:

- 4,699 AED for 128GB with 8GB RAM (I don't recommend this low capacity)

- 5,099 AED for 256GB with 12 GB RAM (my favorite sweet spot)

- A whopping 5,499 AED for 512GB with 12 GB RAM (if you want to max everything out)

Available colors are Burgundy, Phantom Black, Phantom White, and Green. Samsung also offers online exclusive colors: Graphite, Sky Blue, and Red. 

Design

This year, Samsung merged two of its best-selling smartphones, the S and the Note series, into one interesting product. We haven't seen a new Note phone since the Galaxy Note 20, and that's been 2 years. I couldn't help but notice that the phone is merely the next iteration of the Note series and has nothing to do with the S series. It's as if Samsung suddenly decided to cancel the S Series and use the Note's design and specs and slap the "S" moniker on it. The design takes lots of cues from the Note series, such as the sharp corners (which supposedly resemble a book) and the embedded S pen. I may not be a fan of a boxy shape, but the phone's performance and features have set a new standard in the industry.

According to Samsung, the phone's front and back are equipped with the state-of-the-art Corning Guerilla Glass Victus +, and is currently exclusive to the Galaxy S22 series.

If you're a Note user (or an Ex Note user like me), you'd love the addition of the S Pen. Samsung claims 70% lower latency and enhanced AI prediction, so you can write and draw more naturally on your S22 Ultra's wider screen.

The main difference from last year's model is that Samsung stripped away the rectangular camera housing, and now the lenses are protruding elegantly. However, I somehow felt that the phone lost its iconic design and character. Although this flat, plain shape almost eliminates wobbling when placing the phone flat on a table, it somehow makes the phone look a bit dull. I always put Spigen covers on my phones, anyway, so that was never a problem for me.

It's as if the S22 Ultra has an identity crisis. Since this is an S Series, it would've been much better if the phone had rounder edges, just like the S21 Ultra but with the addition of the S Pen. This way, you'd get the best of both worlds without looking like a Note doppelganger with an S label, but that's just my opinion. 

Performance 

This is one of the most exciting aspects of the device, at least for me. AMD's partnership with Samsung introduced a game-changing Exynos 2200 processor with an "Xclipse GPU" powered by AMD's RDNA 2 architecture. I was surprised that Samsung didn't talk much about it, mainly because the processor has two variants: the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and Samsung's very own Exynos 2200. 

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 will be available in South Korea, North America, Australia, India, the UAE, South Africa, whereas the Exynos 2200 chipset will be available for Europe and the UK. 

Unfortunately, the UAE version gets the Snapdragon chipset- unlike last year's model when the S21 Ultra got the Exynos version (but back then the Snapdragon version was arguably better in terms of of thermal performance and graphics). Still, both processors are based on a 4 nm chip and are almost identical in terms of CPU performance because they use the same architecture, and Snapdragon's 8 Gen 1 is no slouch. However, you get console-level graphics with AMD's magical touch for the Exynos version. Both versions get  better night shots and an optimized mobile gaming experience. 

I can't wait to test the performance of this device, especially with Ray Tracing support on mobile games. Imagine having the power of a PS5 in your pocket!

Screen 

The screen is increased in width at 77.9 mm, compared to 75.6 mm from the previous generation, and you can feel that instantly once you pick up the wider phone. 

My S21 Ultra feels like the way I used to look super thin in university, and the S22 Ultra feels like the "wider," not "fatter" version of me; thank you very much. 

I think this is a welcome upgrade. For me, the larger, the merrier! I always felt that the iPhone 13 Pro Max was more comfortable because it's wider at 78.1 mm than the S21 Ultra, which is a bonus. A wider phone is more convenient to look at but can become unwieldy if you have small hands. Yet, keep in mind that Samsung's phones are taller than Apple's. The Galaxy S22 Ultra has a cinematic 19.3:9 screen ratio for an immersive viewing experience. 

There are significant improvements with the QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display at an immersive 6.8 inches and a 120 Hz LTPO screen with an enhanced variable refresh rate that drops all the way to 1, 16% more brightness, and a 3,000,000:1 contrast ratio; you'd get the best screen technology on any phone right now.  

You're also looking at a 240 Hz touch sampling rate (found on many other devices). Samsung introduced a "Vision Booster" technology that intelligently adjusts not only the brightness throughout the day, but also and the contrast and color, especially under direct sunlight. It can do this through an AI algorithm and a peak brightness of a massive 1750 nits. So, when you're outdoors in the glare of bright sunlight, your screen is much more viewable.

Software 

The phone comes shipped with Android's latest version is 12, or what Samsung calls One UI 4. 

I LOVE THIS VERSION. 

Unlike previous versions of Android, this version proved to be more stable and provides an almost smoother iPhone-like experience. However, more important than buttery smooth animations is the powerful Samsung Knox vault security platform, which includes a secure processor and memory that completely isolates sensitive data like your passwords, biometrics, or Blockchain keys from the phone's main operating system. 

Android 12 also has an incredible security feature that alerts you if an app uses your camera or microphone, so you'd know if any sneaky app is running in the background with a green dot at the upper right corner of the screen. 

To top it off, Samsung even goes one step further by providing the already existing option of completely disabling your camera and microphone until you authorize access again. This is very, very useful for the ultimate privacy, but this option already exists on the Galaxy S21 Ultra - my current phone. 

Samsung also introduced Wallet14, a digital repository of credit cards, IDs, and asset management. I currently use Cam Scanner for my IDs and credit cards, which is very useful for quick access. 

Finally, this is also great news from Samsung, and it shows that the company is heading towards the right trajectory. Samsung announced that it now supports up to four generations of Android OS upgrades! This is great news for Android fans since Apple provides unrivaled support with its iPhones for up to 5 years worth of iOS updates. 

Camera

Although the camera hardware on the S22 Ultra is identical to the S21 Ultra, camera performance is perhaps the biggest improvement for this phone this year. Main enhancements include a big pixel sensor, Super Clear Glass & Lens, Detail Enhancer, Auto Framerate, Super Night Solution and Adaptive Pixel.

This year's model still has the same 108 MP sensor, 12 MP ultrawide, 3x, and 10x telephoto lenses, and a 40 MP selfie camera. The improvements are geared towards better portrait blur and edge detection, better low-light performance with Samsung's adaptive pixel technology, and enhanced video performance (which is very important for me). Adaptive pixels refer to merging multiple frames into one to capture more light. This process combines "a detailed 108 MP image with a "nonna-binning" 12 MP image for more light. This combination creates an optimally bright 108MP image, providing crisp resolution throughout the day." as Samsung described in their presentation. 

That being said, there's a caveat to this. If you were expecting some photography revolution in smartphones with the S22 Ultra, such as the much-rumored 200 MP ISOCELL HP1 sensor, then you'd be disillusioned. I am also disappointed that this year's model omitted the logical step up from the S21 Ultra, which is increased FPS for 8k recording. The S22 Ultra still has the same 8k video recording at 24 FPS. I thought I'd see 60 FPS this year, but I guess Samsung will introduce this next year along with the 200 MP ISOCELL camera. There's a positive side to this, though. Samsung seems to have taken its time to perfect existing hardware with better optimizations rather than rushing a half-baked product such as the under-display camera found on the Galaxy Fold 2. 

This sample image was shot with the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Source: Samsung

The sensor not only pulls in more light but the "Super Clear Lens" also tones down lens flare. Samsung also claims "fast-acting, near-instant" AI image processing.

One exciting feature that I like is what Samsung refers to as "Auto Frame," which is the equivalent of Apple's "Center Stage.", introduced last year on the iPad Pro. If you haven't read my review of the iPad Pro, you can read it here. 

Simply put, an intelligent algorithm automatically places the subject in the frame, even moving. I will see later on if Samsung's version of this is as good, if not better than Apple's. 

And for professionals out there, Samsung introduced a format called "Expert RAW," a multi-frame-based RAW format that promises a variety of flexible options. With the Expert RAW app, you can now have complete control of your camera's lenses and features such as Auto Focus, ISO, EV, and White Balance settings. As a professional with access to all that rich metadata, you can now edit directly on your Galaxy S22 with Adobe Lightroom.

Samsung also mentioned several partnerships in the presentation, including YouTube and Snapchat, with the latter taking advantage of Samsung's powerful new camera features. 

Battery 

The S22 Ultra has the same 5000mAh battery capacity as last year's model, but Samsung optimized it with the help of more intelligent AI to last longer than a day.

However, I need to test that to see if that claim holds, especially with QHD, 120 Hz enabled, and high-performance processing enabled. My Galaxy S21 Ultra barely lasts half a day, but that is because I am a power user. 

Samsung also added 45W fast charging, which is a significant upgrade, although a far cry from other competitors that offer 66W charging. Wireless reverse charging is also available for this year's model, much like the S21 Ultra. 

Are you planning to upgrade your phone to the Galaxy S22 Ultra? Some people might consider this new breed of phones the perfect combo with enhanced camera capabilities. In contrast, others may not be so excited about styluses and boxy designs. One thing is for sure, this phone has set a new benchmark for what a phone can do, and it sure is exciting to see more innovations in the smartphone space. 

To view a full list of specs, click here. 

To watch Samsung's 2022 Unpacked event official replay: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpTBm_fg-Wk

To read Samsung's press release:

https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-galaxy-s22-ultra-offers-the-ultimate-and-most-premium-s-series-experience-yet

To visit Samsung's website to preorder: 

https://www.samsung.com/ae/smartphones/galaxy-s22-ultra/buy/

Note: This article is not sponsored nor endorsed by Samsung. The views expressed in this post are the author's. 

Images Source: Samsung 

Correction: In the previous version of this article, I incorrectly stated that the Exynos version was available for the UAE. I've updated the article to reflect this.