Samsung S22 Ultra Review: Lots of Upgrades and a Downgrade
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The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is a revamped Galaxy Note with a faster built-in S Pen, many camera improvements, faster charging and a brighter display. It’s a great phone overall, but it is pretty expensive and battery life could have been further improved.
This article is updated for the Australian market regularly to include price changes and product updates.
Samsung S22 Ultra: $1,919 at Amazon.com.au →
Performance updates but less RAM
The new Samsung S22 Ultra offers an S Pen built-in, but with Samsung looking to top the list of best phones, this flagship has a lot more going for it.
First of all, the S Pen is more responsive because Samsung made it 70% faster with less lag. The display is also the brightest and most colorful of anything Samsung has released so far, and it’s capable of fast charging at 45W.
Samsung, on the other hand, is asking a lot ($1,919) for a phone with less RAM than the previous model.
Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra comes in black, white, green, but also has a burgundy option.
PRO: Ultra Performance
- Faster S Pen built in – Samsung has improved the S Pen by 70% as it has dropped its latency from 9 milliseconds down to 2.8. Moreover, you don’t have to buy a special case to store the pen as it has a build in holder on the phone itself.
- Cameras offer better low light performance – Samsung says it’s calling the experience “Nightography” because of the much-improved low-light imaging capabilities. The S22 does better than the S21 in low light, but not by a lot.
PRO: Bright Display
- As before, you get a dynamic refresh rate of 120Hz, which makes scrolling smoother during hands-on time. It also has his 240Hz touch polling rate that gamers will appreciate.
However, there are two notable display upgrades here. First, the screen has a peak brightness of 1,750 nits, possibly the brightest we’ve seen so far. Another display perk is the new Vision Booster feature, which lets you easily adjust screen brightness on-the-fly throughout the day. This means that you can use the S22 Ultra outdoors without any problems, even in very strong sunlight.
CON: RAM & Battery Life
- Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra features 8GB of RAM compared to its previous model (Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra) which offered 12 GB
- 5,000 mAH battery – Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra’s battery lasts for approximately 10 hours compared to the 11 hours and 25 minutes of its previous model, and 12 hours of its competitor iPhone 13 Pro MAX.
CON: Pricey
- Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is more expensive by $100-300 difference compared to its competitors.
Where to buy the Samsung S22 Ultra in Australia
Is the Galaxy S22 Ultra expensive price worth it? This is no easy call.
The S22’s Ultra offers a brighter screen and a faster chip while the S Pen is faster and smoother than before, but some people might not appreciate this advantage. In some cases, Google’s Pixel 6 Pro camera quality is better. Then there’s the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max. It’s faster than the S22 Ultra, its battery lasts longer on full charge, and has better photo quality (except for low-light shots).
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► $1,919 at Amazon.com.au – free 2-day delivery for Prime members
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