The 9 February Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra was officially unveiled to the world, confirming the rumors of the previous months: the fusion of the S series and the Note series.
A move that initially destabilized users loyal to the Korean giant's “business” smartphone but which, in a cold mind, is extremely sensible. In short, why have two top of the range very similar to each other? The risk is to divide forces, resources and confuse consumers interested in a flagship a bit. Thus was born Galaxy S22 Ultra which combines the design of the Note series, the convenience of the S Pen and the photographic sector of the S series. The result? A smartphone ready for anything which will undoubtedly give competition a hard time.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra review
In August 2020, the last, unforgotten, Note was released. The 20.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, with its square lines, it is visibly inspired by the latest example of the Note series. S Pen included.
Yes, that's right, technically the Galaxy S21 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold 3 also support Samsung's stylus but in neither case is the pen integrated into the body of the device. For them, the Asian company has preferred to create a compatible pen that can be purchased separately and can be inserted in a special cover. An understandable but perhaps not too practical decision.
That's why things have changed with the S22 Ultra. For the better.
The convenience of the S Pen
La S Pen it may seem like an ancient instrument but it is still able to amaze you.
By the way - little easter egg - we tried using the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra stylus on the S21 and yes, it works.
But let's go back to the stylus. Samsung has worked a lot on it, taking advantage of the collaboration with Wacom for lower the latency, bringing it from 9 to 2,8 ms. In addition we find artificial intelligence, now capable of predict the stroke to make writing even more fluid and natural. Your eye may not perceive the differences, but your hand will.
What you will surely notice is there rubber finish, which makes it much more comfortable to hold than in the past.
The features, on the other hand, are more or less what we are used to, albeit with some enhancements. We can, for example, take the classic notes with the Notes app, which now also supports recognition of text and shapes. Galaxy S22 Ultra also allows you to fill in the search fields using handwriting: just have the Samsung keyboard set and activate the appropriate toggle in the menu.
As per tradition, you can then sign PDF documents, use the magnifying glass, take advantage of the writing on the screen, use the S Pen for translation, turn it into a remote control for remote photos and much more.
There really is it all: just experiment and familiarize yourself with the features.
The performances
To support these features and many more, we find the Exynos again, this time in version 2200. So we have Samsung's processor on a Samsung phone to support Samsung's features.
It seems unnecessary repetition but it is thanks to him that we have artificial intelligence that supports writing, which improves photos at night and allows you to make excellent videos in the dark.
And the performance? We found ourselves really well: does it all and does it great.
On the connectivity front, nothing is missing: WiFi 6E, 5G, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC e GPS.
On the other hand, what is absent is the memory expansion. You will have to rely on the integrated one which can be 128, 256, 512 GB or 1 TB.
We use it a lot, including apps, photos, videos and documents. At the moment we have occupied 80% of the space compared to the 128 GB available. Probably the right size for us would be 512 GB.
However, there are those who rely heavily on the cloud to not have everything locally, in which case a lower memory cut may be sufficient.
So which one to choose? In our opinion, to be on the safe side, you should go for the 256GB model, at least if you plan to use the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra for several years. If, on the other hand, you have a lot of games, a lot of photos and a lot of videos, perhaps it would be better to turn your gaze to the 512 GB variant.
Instead, it remains present dual SIM support, physical in both cases.
The software is Android 12 with One UI 4 which is always a guarantee: it is easy to use and beautiful to look at. In addition, Samsung guarantees 3-4 versions of system updates and 5 years of security patches.
Let's not forget the DeX function, which makes the S22 Ultra as comfortable as a computer.
To support all this a 5.000 mAh battery that brings you to the end of the day without difficulty and without sacrifices. But remember that you will have to give it time to adapt to your use: only in this way will the real autonomy of this top of the range emerge.
Design, display e audio
The latest super top of the range from Samsung has much sharper lines than its younger siblings and the Galaxy S21 Ultra. As we said above, it evidently takes its cue from Galaxy Note 20, with the camera lenses individually and not in block like on S22 and S22 +.
The dimensions are nice and generous and the weight as well but deep down we already knew it. After all, it is not very different from its predecessor.
We then il Vetro Gorilla Glass Foods Curve+ both on the front and on the back, with an excellent oleophobic treatment on both sides. The result is really great: zero scratches and very few fingerprints.
The display is also excellent, a Dynamic AMOLED gives 6,8” pollici, with QHD + resolution and OLED LTPO technology that allows the smartphone to adjust the refresh rate by passing from 1 to 120 Hz. The screen also supports HDR10 + and has a peak brightness of 1750 nits. This allows you to see the screen perfectly even in sunlight.
Then the color rendering is really very precise. Watching movies and TV series on this smartphone is truly a pleasure.
On the audio front, however, we have two speakers with a very high volume but the sound is not very clean. Perhaps slightly less convincing than the S21.
On the other hand, the audio on call is excellent. The ear capsule cannot be seen with the naked eye and, at any point on the top of the screen you will rest your ear, you will hear well.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra review: camera
Finally, we come to the camera. Before telling you how it behaves, let's summarize some features.
We have a 108 megapixel main sensor with optical stabilization and laser autofocus. The periscope telephoto lens instead is 10 megapixel with 10x optical zoom while the traditional one is always 10 megapixel but with 3x zoom.
We also have the 12-megapixel ultra-wide angle and 40-megapixel front camera.
The result? During the day the S22 Ultra performs great with sharp shots, rich in detail and characterized by excellent dynamic range.
We also liked the portrait mode, with an excellent ability to cut out the subject and make it stand out from the background, and I zoom it 10x, a real girl. In optimal light conditions you take home truly incredible magnifications.
And the videos? We can register UltraHD movies at 60 fps. The results are definitely convincing but watch out for stabilization: when you do quick maneuvers, it struggles a bit to “unhook” the scene, especially if you use the 10x. However, if you stand still or move slowly you will lead to chance very high quality video, even with zoom.
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Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra review: price and conclusions
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is on sale starting from € 1.279.
Surely there is still some flaw that will need to be fixed with software updates but, overall, it is really a mega top of the range that, at present, can only improve.
It does it all, it does it big - and big - and there is the S Pen which, in our opinion, in addition to being unique is also the real plus, especially for those who use the phone primarily for work.
Here we clarify: the user does not need this S22 Ultra. If you don't have specific needs, you wouldn't be taking advantage of all of its features. But if you are extremely demanding users, who work with the smartphone, who need quality photos and videos, then this is a product to consider.
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