In early February 2022, Samsung introduced three high-end smartphones. If the Galaxy S22 Ultra is less a successor to the Galaxy S21 Ultra than to the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, the Galaxy S22 is based on a much more classic approach, taking up almost exactly the positioning of the Galaxy S21. Has Samsung found the right balance between power, autonomy, completeness, and compactness this year? Answer in this complete test.
On February 9, Samsung presented six new products: three smartphones in the Galaxy S22 series and three tablets in the Galaxy Tab S8 series. In our columns you can find a lot of content about these products: a face to face between the Galaxy S22 and the Xiaomi 12, another between the Galaxy S22 and the Galaxy S21, and the last one between the Galaxy S22 Ultra and the iPhone 13 Pro Max that focuses on photography.
We received at the editorial office the three smartphones. The test of the Galaxy S22 Ultra has already been published. This successor of the Galaxy S21 Ultra assumes, even more, its kinship with the Galaxy Note. It has the same design as the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, with an integrated slot for the S-Pen, as well as a double telephoto lens. The next test is the Galaxy S22, a natural competitor to the standard iPhone 13. A smartphone that, unlike the Galaxy S22 Ultra, is very similar to its predecessor.
There are of course changes, as we saw in the duel S22 vs S21. But do they change the grip significantly? Which points have been improved by Samsung? And most importantly, is the experience better, or has it been degraded? We'll answer all these questions in this full test.
PRICE AND AVAILABILITY
The Galaxy S22 will be available on March 11, 2022, two weeks after the Galaxy S22 Ultra. It will be offered at a recommended retail price of 859 euros in 8+128 GB version and 909 euros with 256 GB of storage. The additional 128 GB of storage is sold for 50 euros, a price in the average market. Beware, the Galaxy S22 does not have a microSD card reader to extend the internal memory. The choice of storage is therefore important.
The Galaxy S22 is marketed at the same price as its predecessor. Also, this is now the main uplifting news. Of course, it could have gone down, as in 2021. But it could have gone up, like on the Galaxy S22 Ultra, whose best-equipped version is more expensive than the S21 Ultra.
At 859 euros, the Galaxy S22 is positioned against very ambitious Chinese smartphones. We are talking about, for example, Oppo's Find X3 Neo, Asus' ZenFone 8, Xiaomi's Mi 11, Vivo X60 Pro, or the Motorola Edge 20 Pro. All were launched in 2021 at 799 euros. All will logically be renewed in 2022 at similar prices.
Samsung does not choose this price at random, since the iPhone 13, which has a similar screen size, is sold at 909 euros with half the storage. And like Apple, Samsung does not deliver a charger with its smartphone either. In the very small box of the Galaxy S22 (even smaller than the Galaxy S21), you will find, apart from the phone, only a USB Type-C to USB Type-C cable.
DESIGN
The design of the Galaxy S22 takes a large part of the evolutions brought by the Galaxy S21. For example, we find the slightly protruding camera module, embedded in metal protection. The holes for the lenses are also hollowed out here (unlike those of some competitors who stand out even more).
We also find a very flat touchscreen on the front, unlike the Galaxy S20, the last "small" high-end flagship of Samsung to adopt a curved screen. Finally, the Galaxy S22 retains its IP68 protection: it can be immersed in water for half an hour at a depth of 150 cm.
The technical elements are also placed in the same way. Power button and command over the volume button on the right.. USB Type-C port, microphone, SIM drawer, and main speaker on the bottom edge. The optional amplifier is on the top edge. Fingerprint reader under the screen. Punch in the center of the top edge of the screen for the selfie sensor. And phone earpiece is hidden between the screen and the aluminum surround.
here is a family resemblance between the S22 and the S21: it is undeniable. There are also some differences between the two generations. The first one is visible on the edges. The metal chassis covers not only a part of it but the whole. This means that the aluminum protects the ends of the back of the phone (as it protects the screen). Thus, the smartphone looks more massive and thicker.
To reinforce this impression, the Galaxy S22 adopts an even less "curved" design than its predecessor. On the one hand, the smartphone loses the lateral curves of its back (which is now completely flat), but also the roundness of its edges, which are now almost straight. This gives this model a little iPhone look when viewed from the side.
The Galaxy S22 looks thicker than the Galaxy S21. But this is a false impression. In fact, the S22 is smaller than the S21, both in height, width and height. It loses 5.7 mm in height, 0.6 mm in width, and 0.3 mm in thickness. We will see in the next part of this test the consequences of this change of size for the screen.
The Galaxy S22, on the other hand, loses only 2 grams on the scale. This is mainly due to the increase in the mass of aluminum used, as well as the change of material of the back. Indeed, the latter is no longer made of polycarbonate, but of mineral glass. And more precisely in Gorilla Victus+, as in the front. Note that there is no pre-installed screen protection here, as always with Samsung.
SCREEN
What's more, now we will investigate the Galaxy S22 screen. As we mentioned before, the Galaxy S22 is smaller than its predecessor. The difference is more accentuated in height than in width. This implies that the panel is not only smaller but that its ratio has changed slightly. It goes from 20:9 to 19.5:9. So it is easier to reach the top of the screen here than with the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S20.
The screen size also changes. It is now 6.1 inches (compared to 6.2 inches), as the Galaxy S10. However, the screen definition does not change: it is still Full HD+. Of course, the number of pixels is slightly lower in height, going from 2400 pixels to 2340 pixels. This is the consequence of the change of ratio. In width, no change: 1080 pixels. And the resolution remains the same too: 421 pixels per inch. Which is very good.
The nature of the slab remains the same. Samsung takes the Dynamic AMOLED 2X that we have enjoyed for two years now. The contrasts are still as deep and the colorimetry is very well mastered. The opposite would have been extremely disappointing, after so many years of mastering the subject.
In natural mode, one of the two modes proposed with the S22, the Delta E of this screen is 1.8 and the average temperature is 6399° (for a white well white). That is to say, values are very close to the ideal. These are excellent figures. The natural mode is not the default mode. The latter is the bright mode. With it, the Delta E is 4.7 and the temperature rises to 6797°. If the white remains white, the colors are more contrasted and less respected.
Let us also address here an important point: brightness. In natural mode, it reaches 490 nits. And in bright mode, it is close to 600 nits. We are far from the maximum value announced by Samsung of 1300 nits. This is only achievable in daylight, under the sun, and very locally. To bring this official value closer to the real brightness, Samsung has added a setting in the parameter menu called "Additional brightness".
If you enable it, you increase the screen brightness by 60%, so from 500 to 800 nits in natural mode and from 600 nits to 1000 nits in bright mode. This is a very good idea to improve readability in very bright environments. Of course, this setting also increases power consumption. In order not to burden the autonomy, we advise you to use it only occasionally.
Let's finish this analysis of the screen with the refresh rate. It reaches 120 Hz maximum, as for the Galaxy S21. The screen is LTPS. This means that the frequency can go down to 48 Hz. But it can not go down as low as an
INTERFACE
When you turn on the smartphone, you will discover the new Android interface from Samsung: One UI 4.1. It is based on Android 12, so you get the latest version of Android and the latest update of One UI. This is not surprising. But it's always good to see that Samsung takes care of its high-end customers, even when they choose the cheapest Galaxy S. LTPO screen that goes down to 1 Hz. By default, the rate is set to the adaptive setting. But you can also set it to 60 Hz.
We find in this interface all the fundamentals of One UI, a very complete and very provided interface. The application drawer with several pages is always very practical. The shortcut pane is on the right border. The Samsung Pay pane on the bottom edge is very convenient to make a contactless payment. And always the "Microsoft" folder is preinstalled on the second home screen.
This folder contains Office, Onedrive, LinkedIn, and Outlook, a very marked "b-to-b" selection. The Redmond firm is not the only commercial partner of Samsung: Netflix, Spotify, and Facebook are also preinstalled. But their presence is limited to the application drawer. We do not like the presence of pre-installed third-party applications. But the selection offered here is limited. And, as always, you can uninstall them.
The selection of applications developed by Samsung is much richer. Galaxy Store. Samsung Members. Samsung Notes. Samsung Global Goals. Samsung O. Galaxy Shop. Samsung SmartThings. Samsung Pay. Galaxy Wearable. Samsung AR Zone. Samsung Health. Samsung Browser. Bixby. Game Launcher. Samsung TV Plus. The latter allows access to audiovisual programs for free with movies, series, sports, documentaries, etc. Among the content providers, you have Pluto TV, Rakuten TV, Euronews, or Vevo. Note also, on the audiovisual side, the arrival in Samsung Health of training programs in the video ... a bit like Apple Fitness +.
By going to the Settings menu, you always have access to Galaxy Themes, a store to download (sometimes paid) interface elements: full theme, wallpaper, icons. You can customize the color of the icons and graphic elements of the interface. But One UI does not yet include Material You, which allows you to automatically adapt the colors of the interface to the background.
In the advanced features, you'll find some classics, such as Link to Windows (to create an Apple-like experience), Quick Share to enhance sharing with other smartphones, split-screen mode, or control of the power key that can also be used to launch an application or activate Bixby. It is also here that you can choose whether the game icons appear on the interface or only in Game Launcher.
PERFORMANCE
Let's move on to the performance part of this test. One of the most awaited novelties of the S22 series is the Exynos 2200 (here accompanied by 8 GB of RAM), the first SoC from Samsung integrating a GPU developed by AMD. The latter is called Eclipse 920. It is based on an RDNA2 architecture, like the GPUs of the latest home game consoles, the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. Theoretically, this promises a nice graphics improvement over the Mali-G78 MP12 of the Exynos 2100.
In addition, Samsung has updated the application cores of its SoC: Cortex-X2 for the most powerful core, Cortex-A710 for the medium-powered cores, and Cortex-A510 for the most energy-saving cores. The operating frequencies of these cores are lower than the cores of the Exynos 2100. But the focus is clearly on optimization and not on increasing performance. This is evidenced by the thinness of the Exynos 2200: 4 nm.
So before launching the benchmarks on the Galaxy S22, we expected relatively similar CPU performance on the S21 and higher GPU performance. Is this the case? No. Even so, we have a good and a bad surprise. A good surprise comes from the CPUs. The overall performance of the Galaxy S22 is better than the Galaxy S21, as you can see above.
On AnTuTu, the smartphone exceeds 900,000 points, a first for a phone that has passed through the hands of the editors. This is a far cry from the Galaxy S21, which peaked at 630,000 points. The ROG Phone 5s Pro, the former record holder, does not exceed 850,000 points. So the difference is there. This is very good. With Geekbench, we also see an increase, but not as pronounced. The difference is only 5-10% in favor of the Exynos 2200. PC Mark is even more measured, since, according to him, the Galaxy S22 is worth a smartphone under Snapdragon 888, but not more.
What is the bad news? It's about the graphics performance. They are not as good as we had hoped. They are even worse than those of a Snapdragon 888 and they are quite close to those of an Exynos 2100. This is the case with the default settings or by activating the energy profiles that theoretically unlock the best performance. If you compare the numbers we got with 3D Mark on the S21 and on the S22, you'll notice that they are pretty close. Why? Because Samsung feared that the GPU would overheat, in our opinion. Rumors claimed, before the launch of the S22, that the Korean firm made the decision to throttle Eclipse 920.
And this seems to be confirmed with several clues. First with Genshin Impact, which chooses to position itself on the weak graphics with the S22 and not average as with the S21. The game estimates that the power is not greater than with a mid-range smartphone. Second clue: the stress tests of 3D Mark, which inform us that the stability of the platform is only 75%, while it was 95% with the S21. And the performance drops quite quickly.
On the other hand, the temperature is set at 41 °, while it rose to 46 ° with the S21. By the way, the smartphone almost never heats up, even when setting Genshin Impact to the highest graphics and 60 frames per second. You feel a slight heating sensation on the palm of the left hand (when the phone is in the horizontal position, the speaker to the right). But it is never annoying.
Is the performance good enough for everyday use? The answer is yes. Can we play with this smartphone? The answer is still yes. But can you play everything? No, unfortunately. Samsung's strategy here prevents the phone from expressing its full potential. So gamers will have to be careful.
BATTERY
Samsung's strategy for the S22 is therefore focused on keeping the internal temperature of the phone below a certain threshold. Does this have a positive impact on autonomy? Before answering this question, a quick reminder of the forces at work: the Galaxy S22 has a 3700 mAh battery. That is 300 mAh less than the Galaxy S21. That's a 10% drop, all the same. This is one of the consequences of the thinning of the phone.
This choice could be surprising at first. Indeed, with a brighter screen and an equally powerful processor, we could fear a drastic decrease in autonomy. However, there are two interesting elements. The first is the fineness of the Exynos 2200's engraving: 4nm, which promises a more controlled consumption and optimized performance. The second is Samsung's strategy we just saw: limit GPU performance to reduce excess heat (and power loss).
In standard use, you will have a very slight drop in battery life. The Galaxy S22 manages to last a full day in normal use, but not much more. And that's normal: the Exynos 2100 of the Galaxy S21 also didn't consume much power when it was only used for the Internet, social networks, messaging applications, and streaming content. As an example, the PC Mark benchmark informs us that the Galaxy S22 reaches 10 hours of continuous use to go from 80% to 20% of battery. That is a total theoretical continuous autonomy of 16 hours and a half. On the same test, the S21 reaches 10 hours and 38 minutes.
What about video games? This is where Samsung's strategy pays off. When the Galaxy S21 lost 10% of its battery during a 20-minute stress test, the Galaxy S22 only lost 6% of its battery. The gain is obviously considerable. The theoretical autonomy in-game then increases from 3 hours and 20 minutes to 5 hours and 30 minutes. Genshin Impact confirms these figures: with the default settings, the smartphone lasts 5 hours (5% loss of battery in 15 minutes) and 3 hours and 30 minutes with the highest settings (7% loss in 15 minutes).
Once the battery is completely discharged, let's take a look at how it goes to recharge it. While the Galaxy S22+ is finally 45-watt fast charging compatible, joining the Ultra models (S20 Ultra, Note 20 Ultra, S21 Ultra, and S22 Ultra), this is still not the case for the smallest of the bunch. It has to make do with a "fast" 25-watt charge in wired and 15-watt wireless charge with Qi and PMA equipment.
As we've seen before, the Galaxy S22 doesn't come with a charger that's compatible with that power. This is a double whammy. It will cost you about 30 euros at the official Samsung store. If you have a charger from another brand, make sure it is USB Type-C compatible since the cable provided by Samsung is not USB type-A compatible (otherwise, use another cable). Oppo, OnePlus, Vivo, and Realme chargers, for example, are USB type-A compatible...
If you don't have a compatible charger, you'll only get an "almost" fast charge at 15 watts. The charging speed is pretty easy to remember: one minute per percent. So you charge the S22's battery to 50% in 50 minutes and 100% in 100 minutes. That's not a very good score. If you buy a proper charger (25 watts or 45 watts), charging is much faster: it takes you just under an hour to fully charge the smartphone (and 23 minutes to reach 50 percent). That's better. But this experience doesn't quite measure up to the competition.
With One UI, the battery-related tools have expanded. There is now a feature that allows you to limit the maximum charge to 85% to extend the life. This is good news. You can also, as in 2021, disable fast charging, which tends to damage the battery. Finally, the smart charge is also present for night charges: this function allows you to limit the time during which the battery is charged to 100% and continues to be connected.
AUDIO
Now let's talk about audio. Released a few months after the repeal of the law requiring manufacturers to provide headphones with each smartphone, the Galaxy S22 is obviously devoid of this accessory. And that's a pity: the Galaxy S (and Galaxy Note) were accompanied until now by a pair of very good AKG headphones (much better than the iPhone EarPods). So Samsung makes the choice of the economy here, like Apple. It's pretty ugly.
Even if there are no earphones provided, nor 3.5 mm jack port (which was removed several years ago at Samsung, following once again the example of the Cupertino firm), the audio part of the Galaxy S22 is not interesting. We will talk about two elements here. The first is the dual speaker and the second is the Dolby Atmos equalizer.
Let's get into the details, starting with the speakers. The first one is located on the bottom edge and the second one is hidden in the phone earpiece. The experience offered is of good quality, thanks to the work of AKG that optimizes the sound that these two components provide. This is despite the fact that it is an asymmetrical configuration. Unfortunately, few brands opt for a symmetrical configuration.
The speakers are combined with a 32-bit Dolby Atmos compatible hi-fi amplifier. And who says Dolby Atmos, says expert equalizer. The latter is integrated into the interface, to be found in the Settings menu. The neophytes can take advantage of preset profiles according to the style of music or the style of content (game, song, or movie), while the others will have fun varying the frequencies according to their tastes.
One of the interesting features offered by Samsung, certainly thanks to the acquisition of AKG, is called Adapt Sound. It can fine-tune the equalizer settings according to the age of the listener. Each age group has its strengths and weaknesses in terms of listening. And some frequencies are better perceived by some. One UI, therefore, proposes to adapt the settings. Samsung goes even further by offering an analysis tool to customize even more finely. This is an excellent idea.
PHOTO
Let's go to the photo part of this test. The Galaxy S has lost its superbness in the last few years. Relegated to ungrateful places in the DxO Mark rankings, Samsung's models are losing ground to Apple, Xiaomi, Huawei, or Oppo in a highly strategic field. So much so that the firm has changed its strategy this year. A strategy that is closer to that of the Chinese opponents.
The main 12-megapixel sensor of the Galaxy S21, with its pixels of 1.8 microns, gives way to a 50-megapixel sensor even larger. Each pixel measures 1 micron. They are combined four by four to form a large 2-micron pixel that will capture even more light. Dual Pixel autofocus is built in. The lens changes from a focal length of 26 to 24 mm. So a wider angle. And the aperture remains at f/1.8. This lens is stabilized in a classic way.
The 64-megapixel sensor with hybrid zoom is removed. It is replaced by a much larger 10-megapixel sensor. It also includes a phase detection autofocus (but not Dual Pixel). It is associated with a real telephoto lens (focal length equivalent to 70 mm) with an optical stabilizer. This telephoto lens opens to f/2.4 (which is smaller than the old 64-megapixel sensor lens). The optical zoom ratio is 3x. And the digital zoom goes up to 30x.
The last module is the same as the Galaxy S21 (and S20): 12-megapixel sensor (1.4-micron pixel) with 120° ultra-wide-angle lens opening at f/2.2. On the front, we also find the selfie sensor of the two previous generations of Galaxy S: 10-megapixel sensor, Dual Pixel autofocus, lens opening at f/2.2. So you can see that Samsung totally reverses its strategy on the zoom and the main sensor. So let's have a look at the results.
Overall, the Galaxy S22 takes nice pictures, with nice work on the balance and on the sharpness. The details are numerous. Colorimetry is respected. And there is contrast. Whether in full sun or when conditions are less bright. The backlighting is good. And the shooting is quite fast, offering sharp results, even if the subjects are moving.
In the evening, the sensor will, unfortunately, lose quality. Especially in terms of grain, which will lose considerably inaccuracy. The night mode will be there to bring more control over the light, accentuate the contrasts, and reveal details in the shadows. But, once again, some grain will impose itself and the photo will lack sharpness. This is the small disappointment of the Galaxy S22. In some situations, the interest in the night mode will even be negligible.
Let's move on to the sensor with a telephoto lens. Having a real telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom is life-changing in this product. This is the great strength of the Galaxy S22 compared to its predecessor and the iPhone 13. This optical zoom takes good photos during the day, allowing you to get closer to a subject. The 20x digital zoom is still good enough to be usable. And it is a real success. The 30x zoom shows the limits of the sensor. But even with the latter, the result is much better than with other smartphones offering this ratio (or even a slightly lower ratio).
At night, the result is not as good, as with the main sensor. Textures are also less accurate here, with grainy details and a lack of brightness. Obviously, the digital zoom is not as good. The 10x ratio still allows you to distinguish the subject. But don't expect anything beyond that, even with night mode enabled.
Note that both the main sensor and the telephoto sensor are responsible for portraits (with a closer portrait with the 70mm lens). These are elegant, with good cropping and a nice bokeh effect. An effect that you can accentuate or soften afterward from the Gallery application.
The ultra-wide-angle sensor offers similar results to those of previous years ... and many competitors. A little less bright and a little less precise. During the day, this is not important, fortunately. Distortions are well managed. Too bad there is still no autofocus here to focus on subjects in the foreground. Some competitors offer this kind of equipment with ultra-wide-angle modules. It's about time it happened here too.
At night, the result is less qualitative, with a very clear loss in brightness and sharpness. The pictures are grainy and sometimes unusable. Without a stabilizer, this sensor offers photos often blurred when the night mode is activated. Too bad, because the latter often makes up for a large part of these concerns of luminosity.
Let's finish with the selfie sensor. It makes good self-portraits, day and night. The clipping is good with the portrait mode. The bokeh effects also. And the contrast is supported. There is very little processing on the skin of the face, offering a fairly natural result. At night, there is a slight loss of smoothness in the textures. Even the selfie sensor is a victim of this little problem that affects all night photos.
Finally, a word on video. The Galaxy S22 offers a good experience in this exercise, with contrasting, smooth, and bright photos. It shoots up to 8K at 24 frames per second or 4K at 60 frames per second. It has a "Super Stable" mode, a slow-motion mode (and super slow-motion at 960 frames per second), and a speed-up mode. And it can even add a soundtrack automatically!
You also have some fun modes like Single Take, which captures a video and can extract photos by adding filters, or "Director's View" which captures both the back and the front of the phone. A mode that we have already seen in some competitors, like Honor for example. A pro video mode is added to this to bring a little finesse in the settings for experts and informed users.
CONCLUSION
Despite the few flaws we found during this test, the Galaxy S22 is a good smartphone. It has a nice screen, a complete interface, a design that inspires confidence, and a good-quality photo trio. Overall, this little smartphone is largely comparable to the iPhone 13. It is sometimes above the latter... and sometimes a bit below.
The two main shortcomings of the Galaxy S22 are the power of the platform and the energy, both consumption, and charging. We expected a little better from the Exynos 2200, especially in terms of graphics, even if we understand the purpose of throttling: to reduce the risk of overheating and limit the decrease in autonomy. We're quite disappointed with the battery capacity, which is down this year, while charging continues to be a problem. It is slower than the competition. And the charger is no longer included, further degrading the experience.
We come back to our questions from the beginning of the test: is the Galaxy S22 a good smartphone? Yes. Is it better than the Galaxy S21? Not always, but it's worth it in all areas. Should you buy the Galaxy S22 if you have a Galaxy S20 or a Galaxy S21? Not necessarily, unless your current phone is no longer working properly. Sure, you might want to take advantage of the new optical zoom. But that's its only argument.
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