Samsung Galaxy S22 is a phone for those who like to use their smartphones in one hand. It’s not the newest Android device out there, but it offers great capabilities tucked into a compact and easily manageable package.
It also comes with four years of software updates, including security updates. That’s a lot of value for your money!
Camera
The Samsung Galaxy S22 offers solid camera performance that should satisfy most average mobile photography users. It is capable of shooting 4K video at 30 fps and can also capture low-light images by combining several short exposures to create a single high-resolution image.
The Galaxy S22’s main camera delivers good colour and image quality. It performs well in bright light and indoor conditions with an ideal dynamic range and nice colours. However, it struggles to properly capture highlights in high-contrast scenes with heavy clipping and blown-out areas. It also has trouble capturing fine details in challenging low-light settings.
On the bright side, the S22 is very fast to capture shots. This makes it a great choice for shooting videos of sports or events. It is also very quick at focusing and can capture stills in less than two seconds.
Another plus for the S22 is that it can capture images up to 10x with a digital zoom. It can also record video at up to 1080p at 60 fps.
In our DXOMARK camera benchmarks, the S22 performs above expectations. It does an excellent job of capturing high-resolution photos and produces sharp images in most situations. However, it falls behind its competitors when it comes to capturing fine details and capturing highlight detail in high-contrast scenes. Our Portrait mode test captures natural-looking bokeh but does exhibit some segmentation artefacts.
Display
The Samsung Galaxy S22 has a bright screen and a wide viewing angle, making it easy to read in sunlight. However, its colours can be a bit oversaturated in bright light. It has a good display for watching videos, browsing the web and editing photos. It also does well in our Touch tests, showing accurate corner response and a responsive touch area. Its performance in video games, on the other hand, was less impressive. We saw some video frame mismatches and unintended touch responses while playing games.
The Galaxy S22 has a Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a Vision Booster that improves contrast and colour saturation by analysing the histogram of each pixel on the screen and applying tone mapping. This helps make dark areas darker and colours richer, resulting in better contrast and more vibrant images.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 and its siblings have a circular cutout on the front of the display to house the selfie camera. They are rated IP68, meaning they can be submerged in 1.5 meters of freshwater for 30 minutes. This rating is only applicable when the phone is in its case, so it is not recommended for beach or pool use. The Galaxy S22 is a solid choice for a basic Android phone, with a flagship 4nm chipset, a powerful three-camera setup on the back and an excellent battery life that can last a day on a charge.
Performance
As you’d expect from a flagship-class smartphone, the Galaxy S22 has powerful hardware and great camera image and video quality. It runs Samsung’s One UI software on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in some markets), with up to 256GB of storage. That’s plenty for most people, but if you plan to use lots of apps and streaming media, consider the S22 Plus or S22 Ultra, which have more storage and a larger screen.
The S22’s display is small enough for leisurely one-handed typing, and it has a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate for smooth scrolling on supported content and HDR10+ support for extra-punchy colours. Samsung has also improved text supporting for the S Pen, making it faster and more accurate at recognizing handwriting and converting it into editable text.
Despite its small size, the S22 feels well-built and has sturdy protection against bumps and knocks thanks to Gorilla Glass Victus+ and an aluminium frame. However, like most current phones it doesn’t include a headphone jack, which may be an issue for some users. There’s also no microSD card slot for expanding the storage.
Battery
The Galaxy S22 features a large 5,000mAh battery that offers plenty of power for your busy day. Its fast-charging support allows for a quick top-up. It also supports wireless charging and reverse charging to keep you connected to your devices and content all day long.
On days of light use, the S22 can easily last a full day, requiring a recharge only once or twice before the 15% battery warning is triggered. But as you get into more demanding activities like gaming or streaming videos, the battery can drain quickly and require a top-up before the end of the day.
Samsung has improved the S22’s battery efficiency, but it still doesn’t come close to matching the incredible endurance of its S21 predecessor. The S22 is about 300mAh shorter than the S21 Ultra.
Luckily, Samsung continues to provide consistent software updates for this model, which helps maintain its performance level and extend its lifespan. You’ll get four years of Android updates and an additional year of security patches with this device, which is a great benefit compared to other flagships. Samsung’s software also includes built-in features to extend the Galaxy S22’s battery life by automatically lowering its brightness or activating other power-saving modes. You can find these settings in the quick settings menu or by tapping the power icon in the app drawer.
