Why buy a Samsung Galaxy S22?
The fastest Galaxy S-series phone yet
Big camera upgrades
Looks and feels better than the S21
Not convinced? Try one of these alternatives to a Samsung Galaxy S22:
iPhone 13 - evenly matched, but faster
Galaxy S22+ - bigger, better, more expensive
Save on a refurbished Galaxy S21
If you want a flagship Android phone, Samsung’s Galaxy S-series is almost the default choice. But with renewed competition from Google’s excellent Pixel 6 and the mighty iPhone 13, the Galaxy S22 family has its work cut out. Fortunately, with upgrades to camera, processor, battery and the way it looks and feels, the mid-range flagship Samsung Galaxy S22 has it covered.
This is more than just a quick update to the Galaxy S21. The S22 gets a new, 4nm processor that’s Samsung’s most powerful yet. It features a new camera array with larger sensors, and a focus on improved night photography. And the design has been updated, with the welcome return of a glass back providing a more premium feel than before.
Design
This phone is Samsung’s ‘mid-range’ flagship, and in the previous Galaxy S21 it’s arguable that the plastic back was a bit too entry level. Happily, the Galaxy S22 sees a return to a glass back made, like the front, from Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus+. Together with the flat display, highly-polished aluminium sides, and reasonable 168-gram weight, it makes for a phone that’s delightful to hold.
It’s a good looking beast, too, with minimal borders around the display, and a tiny cutout in the screen for the front-facing camera. Flip it over and the back features a ‘three-in-a-row’ camera array standing slightly proud at the top left. While the Galaxy S22 can’t be unlocked with your face, its ultrasonic fingerprint detector is hidden under the display, so there’s nothing else cluttering up the screen or back panel.
Camera
Like the S21 before it, the Samsung Galaxy S22 has a triple camera array at the back, but with new sensors it promises greatly improved low light photography. Get past Samsung’s excruciating ‘nightography’ moniker, and it’s clear this phone is a big step forward over the S21.
With a 23% bigger area, the 50MP sensor on the main camera captures more light. In dim conditions it automatically switches to a 12MP output, ‘pixel binning’ to eliminate noise and produce better results. Alongside the main, wide-angle camera, the Galaxy S22 gets a 12MP ultra-wide camera and a 10MP telephoto unit offering a 3x optical zoom. With digital processing, this can step up to 30x. There’s less excitement at the front, but the 10MP selfie-camera is more than up to the rigours of video calling.
Video
Samsung says its improvements to the main rear camera improve video recording, too. The sensor’s high resolution supports 8k recording (from the main, wide-angle camera only). The phone also automatically adjusts its recording frame rate to suit conditions, improving sharpness across a range of lighting. To help, Samsung has improved the speed and accuracy of its optical image stabilisation, helping you get a steady shot even when you’re moving.
The Galaxy S22’s selfie camera is 4k capable, and can work in tandem with the rear camera in Director Mode, where you can film and include your reaction at the same time. It’s not unique to this phone, but it’s a neat trick that opens up more creative possibilities.
Display
Samsung is something of a master with phone displays, and the Galaxy S22 gets another brilliant OLED. The 1,080x2,340 resolution, 6.1” screen is capable of a claimed 1,300 nits, giving it a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and making it brighter than an iPhone. Its refresh rate ranges from just 10Hz, all the way up to a super-smooth 120Hz. The touch sampling is refreshed at up to 240Hz, making it even more responsive for gamers. And with just a small punch-hole cutout for the front camera, there’s little to get in the way of the action.
Processor
The Samsung Galaxy S22 gets quite a big processor improvement over the Exynos 2100 used in the Galaxy S21. While the new Exynos 2200 has similar clock speeds, it’s built with smaller, 4nm components. This makes it more efficient, producing less heat for a given amount of work. It’s faster, too, but not a huge step up - the Galaxy S22 is among the faster Android phones, but the iPhone 13 remains some way ahead in the benchmarks.
The Galaxy S22 launched in January 2022 already running Android 12, and Samsung’s four-update policy means it should go all the way up to Android 16.
Battery
While many manufacturers are working to fit ever larger batteries into their phones, the Galaxy S22 bucks the trend. Its 3,700mAh hour battery is smaller than the 4,000mAh unit in the S21. Samsung says that its more efficient processor and new 10Hz minimum screen refresh rate more than compensate - a charge should comfortably last a day.
This phone supports 15W Qi wireless charging, and 25W fast charging with a suitable power adaptor. Like most modern phones, there isn’t one in the box.
Colours and options
You can buy a Samsung Galaxy S22 in one of four ‘base’ colours: white, black, green and pink gold. You can also get the phone in cream, graphite, sky blue and violet, but these four colours are only available on a new S22 if you’re buying it directly from Samsung. Other than that, the only choice is between 128GB or 256GB of storage - all models have 8GB of RAM.
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