Rarely have we been more impressed by a new mobile than the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. The flip side of the coin is that it is expensive – if not as expensive as the biggest iPhone it competes with.
That’s why Samsung, like Apple, has cheaper variants of the S22 for those who do not want to dig so deep into their wallets. And for those who think the Ultra is too big. We have looked at the middle one, S22 +, which is really just a slightly larger variant of the S22. It is the screen, the price and the battery that set them apart.
Cheap we can not call either the S22 or the plus variant. If you need 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage memory, they cost 9990 and 11,990 kroner, respectively. The Ultra with the same RAM and working memory costs from NOK 13,490 and fills even more of the hand. But it also has qualities that the two brothers do not have.
In any case, there is no reason not to spend 500 kroner extra to get 256 GB instead of the very cheapest model with 128 GB. Apple charges $ 1,500 for the same memory upgrade.
Flat
Where the Ultra has a screen that curves over the long sides, the smaller models have a completely flat screen. It is taste and pleasure. What matters is that the 22+ has the same very bright screen as the Ultra, with a maximum brightness of 1750 nits. The cheapest is not as luminous and stops at 1300 nits. But by all means, it’s good too, and it holds up to sunlight.
Both are also equipped with a new type of glass that Samsung claims they are alone in. For now. Gorilla Glass Victus + is over 10 percent more scratch-resistant than the variant without +. Both have a back covered with glass, also with Gorilla Glass Victus +. It may be an upgrade from the previous models that had a plastic back. Maybe, we say, because it’s an upgrade to something that can be crushed. But it’s nice behind the cover. Of course, you have to get it right away.
Compared to the Ultra, the screens are also more normal in resolution. 1080 x 2340 pixels in a 19.5: 9 configuration is fine. The insanely high resolution of the Ultra looks great on paper, but you can not see it.
Cameras
The big surprise when we tested Ultra was that the cameras were virtually the same as in its predecessor. Nevertheless, the result was much better. In the two smaller models, which have exactly the same cameras, two out of three are brand new.
The main camera has a pixel boost from 12 to 50 MP, and it has a physically larger sensor of 1 / 1.56 “. It is an increase from 1 / 1.76”. It gives smaller pixels of 1.0µm compared to before 1.8µm, but because they now merge groups of four pixels into one large one, it is about 2.0µm when you shoot with 12.5 MP. If you use all the pixels, you get a more high-resolution image, but it is mostly overkill in file size.
Tele
Samsung has also replaced the telecamera with a 10 MP that magnifies the optical 3X. Before, they had a hybrid camera with a 64 MP sensor and 1.1X optical magnification. It gave a hybrid magnification of 3X.
The latest ultra-wide-angle camera is the same as before.
There is no doubt that the cameras perform significantly more than before. Whether this is due to the cameras, the upgrade of the processor or new algorithms, as we have seen on the Ultra, is not easy to determine. What we can see is that the new cameras are on a new and better level than those from the previous generation. Night photography has become impressively good, but not as detailed as in the Ultra. Still, this is more than good enough for most people, we would think. Both the main camera and the ultra-wide angle see more in the dark than the human eye can see.
For normal photography, of course, the S22 + must bite the grass compared to its big brother. The main camera in the Ultra is simply better. That said, you actually have to analyze a lot to reveal the differences that are there. This is perhaps a slightly unfair comparison, because the camera in 22+ is very good compared to most other phones.
Samsung has made progress on video and especially when it comes to video stabilization. It is impressive how good it has become. The optical mechanism is as far as we know the same as before, so the improvements must come from the algorithms that improve the digital stabilization.
Performance
Although the three new S22 mobiles have the same processor; Exynos 2200, there is a slight difference in performance. The S22 +, and we assume the S22, is not as fast as the Ultra. This may be because the Ultra we tested had 12 GB of RAM, while the plus had 8 GB. This applied to 3DMark Wildlife, which measures graphics performance. Geekbench 5, which measures CPUs for single and multitasking, shows about the same result. The performance is about the same in all the new Samsung phones. Oddly enough, the Geekbench 5 Compute showed a significantly better result in a new test of the Ultra than when we tested the first time.
Biometrics
Face recognition is lightning fast. The same is the ultrasonic fingerprint reader. A little tip here: It may pay to scan your face twice, if you do not want to use the alternative face of someone else. The same goes for the fingerprint. If you register your finger two or three times, it goes faster.
Samsung Galaxy S22 +
Screen: 6.6 inches, 2340 x 1080 pixels, AMOLED screen. 10 to 120 Hz update
Processor: Exynos 2200
System memory (RAM): 8
Storage space: 128 to 256 GB
Main cameras: 50MP wide angle (f / 1.8); 12MP ultra-wide angle (f / 2.2) and 10MP telecamera (f / 2.4) with 3x optical zoom
Front camera: 10MP (f/2.2)
Operating system: Android 12 with One UI 4.1 interface
Wireless: 5G, Bluetooth 5.2, WiFi 6E (supports 6 GHz band)
Other:
Battery: 4,5 Ah
Charging power: 45 watt
Size: 157.4 x 75.8 x 7.6 mm
Weight: 195 g
Award: 11,490 to 11,990
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Brightness
Let’s state that the screen on the Galaxy S22 is very bright. It is set to the same maximum brightness as the Ultra model. 1750 nits. When we measure it with a simple lux light meter, we manage to squeeze out 758 lux from a white surface with the light set to max. The new Motorola Edge 30 Pro, which is also in for testing, performs a full 851 lux. Does that mean it is brighter? Yes, if the point is to light up the entire screen in white. You never have to do this, as it is better to use the LED lamp as a lantern.
When we take it out in the sun and let the rays bother the screen’s readability as much as possible, the case is completely different. S22 + is very easy to read in direct sunlight. The Motorola is also legible, but lags far behind. This is where light sensors and screen adjustment come into their own and make the right pixels shine what they are good for.
Sound
The sound in the S22 is excellent. It plays loud and even performs a touch of bass. Like most mobiles that play stereo, it has a speaker in the band, and then it uses the voice speaker as the second. So there are two very different speakers, but the result is good, and it saves space.
The battery
There is not as large a battery in the S22 + as in the Ultra. It has 4.5 Ah, but also a smaller screen with fewer pixels that use less power. There is nothing to say about battery life, but it also applies to many other modern phones.
Fortunately, Samsung has increased the charging power to 45 watts. The smaller S22 stops at 25 watts, but also has a battery of only 3.7 Ah.
Upgraded
In our opinion, a very important feature of Samsung’s new mobiles is the decision to give them four upgrades of Android now that you buy them and five years of security upgrades. This means, since this is sold with Android 12, that you will get upgrades in the years to come that cover even Android 16. Then we are well above the average time on how long mobiles are kept. Actually, the only thing missing is that Samsung does this. Apple has been doing this for a long time, and the others in the Android camp should keep up with the class. It is first and foremost the S and Fold models that will get so many upgrades. Samsung has not yet decided how to handle the A-models in the same way yet.
Plus |
Minus |
| Very good screen | Charger not included |
| Very fast | |
| Very good main camera | |
| Wonderful night pictures | |
| Videostabilisering |
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