Samsung unveils premium Galaxy S22 smartphones: the details
Samsung is prepping for a stellar year, unveiling three premium Galaxy S22 phones and three Tab S8 tablets.
It’s almost 13 years since Samsung released its first Galaxy S smartphone. Nowadays phones offer more features than most users need, but Samsung still hopes to implement ideas that will excite consumers afresh.
The new Galaxy S22 range comprises three models: the 6.1-inch S22, 6.6-inch S22+ and 6.8-inch S22 Ultra. They are available for pre-order from today starting at $1249, $1549 and $1849 for handsets with 8GB of memory and 128GB of storage. The top spec model has 12GB of memory and 1TB storage. Handsets will be in shops from March 4
The Korean manufacturer also unveiled three Galaxy Tab S8 tablet computers with 11, 12.4 and 14.6 inch displays.
Samsung’s new phones are among the first with a Qualcomm chip shrunk to just four billionths of a metre, or four nanometres. The rule is, the smaller the phone’s processor, the faster it operates and the less power it consumes. We’ll see when we test them.
The S22 has flat faces and curved edges, with Armor aluminium frames and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus which Corning says survives drops onto hard surfaces from up to two metres and improves scratch resistance.
The high end S22 Ultra heralds the return of Samsung’s S Pen stylus, last seen on the discontinued Galaxy Note range. You could use an S Pen with the S21 Ultra, but the phone didn’t come with an inbuilt one. With the S22 Ultra, the S Pen fits snugly into a slot within the Ultra body as it did with the Note.
The S22 range also offers 15W wireless charging and wireless power-share, where the phone can charge other compatible devices.
The Ultra model comprises a 12 megapixel ultrawide lens, 108MP wide lens and two 10 MP telephoto lenses. The 108MP lens provides extra detail in shots and Samsung says it has larger pixels for improved lower light performance. Samsung calls it “nightography”.
One of the telephoto lenses provides increased optical zoom. The Ultra offers 1, 3 and 10 times optical zoom, and digital zoom beyond that to 100 times.
Digital zoom on phones isn’t good when compared to a camera’s zoom capability, but Samsung’s is among the best for zooming digitally.
The remaining camera improvements are from software and machine learning performed using the phone’s neural processing unit (NPU).
The ability of phones to recognise objects and make improvements in photos has gone gangbusters in recent years – objects such as clouds, grass, bricks, trees, streams and people’s skin can be recognised and rendered with more texture.
Samsung says the Ultra uses AI to improve autofocus, brighten images, sharpen detail, reduce noise, improve colour tones and minimise vibration and movements in low light.
When taking portrait shots, the phone produces an AI stereo depth map that better delineates a subject from background. It claims even a single strand of hair won’t be misapplied to the blurred background.
Samsung, like other phone vendors, uses the term AI loosely. Is the phone really learning as it goes, or executing sophisticated algorithms that were developed using machine learning?
Other features include an auto frame mode where the phone will recognise up to five people in a group shot and will automatically frame the shot around them. You can also track one person and the group shot will be composed around them.
Samsung has tackled flicker in images caused by fluorescent lights at 50 or 60 hertz being out of sync with video recording speed. You can adjust the video frame rate to overcome this.
Like the competing iPhone 13 premium models, the Ultra snaps RAW photos using Samsung’s Expert RAW app. The app gives users access to shooting controls and interfaces with editing programs such as Adobe Lightroom.
Other features include Wi-Fi 6 and the new Wi-Fi 6e capability which will add 6GHz to 2.4 and 5GHz frequencies to your home Wi-Fi. Use of 6GHz still requires regulatory approval in Australia.
The Ultra is available in black, white, green and burgundy. Samsung is offering limited edition colours if you pre-order through its e-store.
The Ultra is a sophisticated and capable phone; the question is whether you can make use of all its features.
Galaxy S22 and S22+
You don’t get the big 108MP wide lens on the two base models, the Galaxy S22 and S22+, but they are still capable handsets.
Their AMOLED displays offer 120 frames per second screen refresh rates, double the standard rate on phones to support fast gaming and scrolling.
The screen adapts to prevailing lighting conditions and Samsung promises you will see the screen clearly even in direct sunlight.
Photos on the S22 and S22+ are composed using a combination of a 12MP ultra-wide lens, 10MP telephoto lens and 50MP wide camera. There is a 10MP front snapper.
As with the Ultra, the base models have a fast four nanometre processor, and you have the option of handsets with 8GB of memory and 128 or 256 GB of storage.
Phones offer up to 45 watt fast wired charging, wireless charging and Samsung’s wireless PowerShare feature which lets you charge compatible devices by laying them on the phone.
These phones come in four colours: black, white, green and pink gold.
One UI 4.1 operating system
Samsung produces its own variant of Google’s Android operating system and the S22 range will feature One UI 4.1 which adds new privacy controls and customisation features.
For example, a green dot will appear when the mic and camera are active. Pressing the dot will activate a quick panel where you can change these settings.
A revision to the Google Duo video feature will let friends watch the same show together from across the internet.
Samsung DeX lets a user project the phone’s apps onto a monitor and use those apps in a PC-like environment. Link to Windows lets users operate their Galaxy phone on a connected Windows device. Users can make calls and send text messages from a PC.
