Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos) Audio test

The Galaxy S22 Ultra is Samsung’s latest flagship and comes with more upgrades than its predecessor, such as an integrated S Pen and larger sensors to enhance night photography. It features a 6.8 “display with an adaptive refresh rate of 120Hz. Samsung claims that the new chipset, the Exynos 2200 (4 nm) in Europe, is the fastest ever. On the audio front, the device has two speakers that produce “surround sound with Dolby Atmos technology”. Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus are included. As for recording, the S22 Ultra has Zoom-in MIC (Audio zoom), which Samsung describes as “an audio recording function that focuses on the direction of interest using a combination of 3 integrated MICs during video recording”.

We subjected the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos) to our rigorous SBMARK Audio test suite to measure its performance both when recording sound using its built-in microphones, and when playing audio through its speakers.
In this review, we’ll break down how it fared across a variety of tests and several common use cases.

Overview

Key audio specs include:

• Two speakers: upper front ignition, lower side
• Dolby Atmos tuning
• Advanced Bluetooth connection
• No jack

Reproduction

Registration

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos) has similar performance to the other Ultra-Premium devices in our database, such as the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra and Google Pixel 6 Pro. For the most part, it was in average playing territory and was on par with other Galaxy smartphones. There were no obvious weaknesses – the smartphone is functional in all use cases – but only outperforms the average in volume and artifact attributes.

As a recording device, the S22 Ultra (Exynos) was a much stronger performer, especially in scenarios with high sound pressure levels, where it did an excellent job of capturing the dynamic range of music with good tonal balance, a Pleasant midrange, clear treble, and very (maybe a little too much at times) bass. It performed skillfully even in more normal situations, capturing a nice, accurate sound with good timbre, dynamics and spatial attributes.

Test summary

Learn about SBMARK audio tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone audio reviews, SBMARK engineers perform a series of objective tests and undertake more than 20 hours of perceptual assessment under controlled laboratory conditions.
(For more details on our reproduction protocol, click here; for more details on our registration protocol, click here.)

The following section collects the key elements of our exhaustive tests and analyzes performed in SBMARK laboratories. Detailed performance evaluations in the form of reports are available upon request. Do not hesitate to contact us.

Hear about the playback performance of the smartphone tested in this comparison with some of its competitors:

Here’s how the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos) fares in playback use cases compared to its competitors:

Tonal performance improves the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Exynos) slightly, but it is still well outside the top tier in this attribute.

The overall tonal balance shows a clear and fairly precise range of highs and mids, producing good reproduction of vocals. But the S22 Ultra suffers from a severe lack of low-end extension. At maximum volume, the device tends to sound aggressive.

Dynamic performance is average. The attack is slightly lacking in sharpness. Bass accuracy is hampered by a lack of low-end; therefore, the bass envelope is not accurately preserved. Punch is relatively weak, making the sound somewhat flat and lacking in good dynamic range.

The S22 Ultra’s space score puts it in better company, closer to the top 10 in our Ultra-Premium category in this attribute. The sound stage is somewhat blurred, but the localizability is still satisfactory: it is possible to correctly identify the sources of the instruments.

The balance is slightly inaccurate; the elements that should be centered appear to come from different angles of the S22 Ultra. This shift would not be perceptible to all users, so it remains in acceptable territory here. Width performance is decent and distance performance is good.

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos) performs well in the volume attribute, scoring above average. The maximum volume is good compared to other devices.

Here are some sound pressure levels (SPLs) measured when playing our sample recordings of hip-hop and classical music at maximum volume:

The minimum volume pitch is not well adjusted: some highly dynamic content (such as classical music) is not intelligible.

The graph below shows the gradual changes in volume from minimum to maximum. We expect these changes to be consistent across the range, so that all volume levels match user expectations:

The S22 Ultra had strong evidence in the artifact attribute, with very few discernible artifacts. On the synthetic signals used in the tests, there were some granular noises and overshoots. At high volumes, bass distortion emerges. Some static hisses were also noticed on some content.

Here’s how the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos) fares in recording use cases compared to its competitors:

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos) was excellent in the tone category. In addition, it has been exceptional in recording in the use case of electronic music concerts, where high sound pressure levels (SPL) often hinder other devices. In such high SPL scenarios, the tonal balance produced by the Samsung device is superb, with brilliant treble rendition, full, natural midrange, and powerful (if a little intrusive) bass.

In normal environments, the performance is still quite good in both life video mode and selfie video mode; tonal balance is well rendered, except for a slight lack of extra brightness and high-end extension, as is clarity in the upper midrange. In memo mode, tonal balance is compromised by the lack of treble and sounds more muffled. In this use case, the overall sound is pretty subtle.

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos) performed very well in recording dynamics. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was very good in all use cases and the background is well subdued. In life video mode and in the memo app, the envelope is precise, with sharp and explosive attacks precise. In selfie video mode, however, the envelope is compromised by the lack of sharpness and the attack is more rounded.

At high SPL, dynamic performance is strong but somewhat unrealistic; the attack seems somewhat rounded and the bass is rather imprecise, making for a rather fuzzy envelope.

The S22 Ultra offers solid spatial performance as a recording device. Sources are accurately reproduced in the audio scene, ensuring precise localization. Amplitude is great, creating a very realistic stereo rendering, even in selfie videos, where despite being kept in portrait mode, the device offers good amplitude. Remote performance is compromised by the unnatural midrange, which tends to push voices further away, but still feels quite realistic.

The S22 Ultra delivered an average performance in the volume attribute. The recording volume was good in all use cases. As in other recording attributes, the recording capability in high SPL environments was excellent, showing almost no distortion.

Here are the sound levels recorded in the audio and video files, measured in LUFS (Loudness Unit Full Scale); as a reference, we expect loudness levels to be higher than -24 LUFS for recorded content:

Overall, very few artifacts were observed. A slight distortion was observed on the screaming voices. The laptop was also mostly free from microphone occlusion artifacts.

Furthermore, the Galaxy S22 Ultra performs well in reducing wind noise. It is handled well in use cases of recording video and reminders, and depending on the direction of the wind, even better when recording videos or selfies. Overall, even strong winds do not affect the intelligibility of voice recordings.

In this audio comparison, you can hear how this smartphone handles wind noise compared to its competitors:

Background performance was mediocre. The background was a bit unrealistic due to a slightly unnatural tonal balance. The sound is midrange focused and sly. However, no artifacts were observed.