Samsung took the stage today to announce its new top-of-the-line smartphones: the Galaxy S22, S22 Plus, and S22 Ultra. They arrive with improvements in design, power, and cameras.
Another highlight is the presence of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and Exynos 2200 processors, depending on the region. For the Philippines, we will be having the Qualcomm chip.
Design and Display
The entire Galaxy S22 family will feature all-metal construction, in the same Armor Aluminum material found in the Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 models. The back will have the Gorilla Glass Victus Plus on all three smartphones. This means that the most basic variant will no longer come with a plastic cap like the S21 series.
But the family has not completely lost the presence of this material. Samsung uses recycled plastic in some parts, like the buttons and the inner pad to house the bottom speaker. There is also IP68 certification, for protection against water and dust.
Samsung Galaxy S22
The S22 and S22 Plus will look more like their predecessors in visuals. Their chassis is rounded at the ends, with a punch-hole front camera and rear cameras in the back that slides to the sides.
The S22 Ultra is distinguished by its appearance inspired by the old Note 20 line. It has straighter edges, with a module-less rear bouncing for the cameras. The lenses are integrated into the cover independently. Another highlight of it is the presence of an S Pen embedded in the body of the model.
To complete, they have a fingerprint reader under the screen but do not provide a memory expansion slot for a microSD card. Both the S22 and the Plus contain a thickness of 7.6 mm, while the Ultra is 8.9 mm.
Samsung has kept the Dynamic AMOLED 2X material on its smartphone screens. The S22 is the smallest in the family at 6.1 inches. The S22 Plus comes with 6.6 inches. This duo has Full HD+ resolution. The S22 Ultra is the most advanced of the trio, with 6.8 inches in size and Quad HD+ resolution. There is an auto-switching refresh rate of up to 120 Hz.
Power and Battery
In the memory set, the three editions are accompanied by 8GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of storage, while the Ultra variant still has an additional option of 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal space.
The entire family will come equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or Exynos 2200 chipsets, depending on the region. The decision would have been taken by the global matrix, without justifying whether or not it was due to the scarcity of components experienced by the sector.
Samsung Galaxy S22+
On the battery side, the S22 has 3,700 mAh and the S22 Plus has 4,500 mAh, both of which are quite lesser compared to the previous line. The S22 Ultra maintains the 5,000 mAh capacity. The difference is that the more modest one supports 25W charging, but the other two have been scaled up to 45W. Despite this, Samsung continues without sending the charging adapters in the box.
All three phones come out of the box with One UI 4.1, based on Android 12 and with 5G support. It is worth remembering that Samsung offers three OS updates. The highlight of the Ultra’s system is the S Pen support, with a latency of 2.8 ms – faster than the 9 ms of the Note 20 family.
Camera
These devices have a rear camera system with three (S22 and S22 Plus) or four (S22 Ultra) sensors. Whether with the main 50MP of the first two or the 108MP of the last one, they have the “Nightography” concept, aimed at features for photos at night.
For this, Samsung enlarged the pixel size, to absorb more light. In addition, there is Auto Frame, which adjusts the fps rate of videos automatically, according to the available light in the filmed environment. It is still possible to take night portraits also with the telephoto sensor – with 3x optical zoom – and for selfies – the S22 and S22 Plus will have a 10MP (f/2.2) front camera, while the S22 Ultra will have a 40MP sensor (f/2.2).
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
In the case of the Ultra’s 108MP lens, it is capable of taking photos at full resolution, maintaining both detail and brightness – as if it had combined the nine pixels into one to maintain luminosity, but without reducing the size of the images.
On the videos, optical stabilization (OIS) has become wider, with a 58% wider angle in its physical adjustment. The electronic system has four times more stabilization – from 200 to 833 times per second – to improve the prediction of smartphone movements.
Another technology is Al Auto Focus, designed to automatically focus on the main subject in the scene, even if it is moving. Samsung’s new high-end handsets will still have cinematic videos, with real-time background blur.
Pricing and availability
Customers who pre-order the Galaxy S22 and S22+ through Samsung.com from February 9th, 11:00 p.m. until March 3rd, 2022, can get freebies and discounts worth up to PHP 13,200. They will get a PHP 10,000 e-voucher, which can be used to buy a selection of mobile phones from the Samsung Online Store, as well as a Lucky Box Strap and a Silicone Case with Strap for PHP 1,999.
During the period of February 10 to March 3, 2022, customers can pre-order Samsung Experience Stores, select Authorized Samsung Stores, Lazada, Shopee, Abenson.com, and MemoXpress Online, and receive up to PHP 10,200 in freebies, including a pair of Galaxy Buds2 worth PHP 6,990, a Silicone Case with Strap worth PHP 1,999, and a Lucky Box Strap worth PHP 1,299.
In addition to telecom partners and Samsung.com, the Galaxy S22 and S22+ will be available in March 4, 2022 at select Authorized Samsung Stores, Lazada, Shopee, Abenson.com, MemoXpress Online, and Lazada, Shopee, Abenson.com, and MemoXpress Online.
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