introduction
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is an important phone. It is Samsung’s flagship and its best smartphone in a conventional form factor. It comes early each year and sets the standard by which the entire range of Samsung devices and most of the smartphone market are judged.
Traditionally, this is the phone with Samsung’s best display, best cameras, fastest chip, and the springboard for much of its software development. We say “traditionally,” because with the Galaxy Z Fold now in its fourth generation, there’s been a not-so-subtle shift in focus. The Galaxy Z Fold4 is Samsung’s biggest flagship, screen-wise, and it’s the platform where you see Samsung’s software innovations the most.
But some things have remained the same. If you want Samsung’s best cameraphone, it’s the Galaxy S22 Ultra. The same goes for the premium build and battery life.
On the surface, little has changed in the Galaxy S21 Ultra formula during the production of the Galaxy S22 Ultra. The new phone has an integrated S Pen along with the Note’s traditionally simple and, personally, boring design. The good thing is that Samsung has kept what made the Galaxy S21 Ultra so great: the 5,000mAh battery hasn’t been reduced to accommodate the pen, and the superb display and excellent cameras are all here. Those cameras are generally unchanged, software and slight sensor tweaks aside. And it looks like that’s going to be the plan in 2023, if it doesn’t fail and all.
This is the time to mention that this reviewer used the Galaxy S21 Ultra for most of 2021 and early 2022 until he got his hands on the Exynos-powered Galaxy S22 Ultra. Something of a Galaxy Ultra veteran, he’s not someone who falls into the trap of sticking to what he knows best. It was consistently tempted by the best smartphones on the market, but stuck with the Galaxy S22 Ultra throughout 2022. Well, more importantly, we’re not counting the cheat weeks, right?
We can confidently say that the Galaxy S22 Ultra is the best all-around smartphone on the planet (foldables are in a class of its own). It’s a multimedia-consuming powerhouse with the best screen on a phone and excellent speakers. It has the most versatile camera system with two zoom cameras, an autofocus selfie and an ultra-wide angle camera, superb output, and a smart built-in remote shutter (the pen). It’s built to the highest standards, has outstanding battery life, and its software support is robust , is there anything else?
You will hardly find a better smartphone as an overall package, let alone another, with the specific set of skills that the Galaxy S22 Ultra possesses.
Samsung has locked down the jumbo-sized flagship segment for at least another twelve months, but continues to innovate with each Ultra. The Galaxy S21 Ultra was a perfection of the stellar S20 Ultra formula, now the S22 Ultra is the epitome of it. Who would have guessed that merging the S with the Note would be a big move? Clearly, Samsung. And in a couple of months, the Galaxy S23 Ultra will be a little better here and there. Or much better everywhere? Here’s hoping.
But it’s still a few months away, so let’s go back to the Galaxy S22 Ultra. How did it hold up? Is it still worth it at the end of 2022? Yes, read on to find out.
Start a new Thread