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Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Hands-on

Written By Louie Diangson
Published • February 9th, 2022
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Here it is guys! Samsung’s latest flagship smartphones are here, and leading the pack is the Galaxy S22 Ultra, sporting a large 6.8-inch display with 120Hz refresh rate, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, an S-Pen, and a 5,000mAh battery. Sounds interesting? Join us as we go hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.

UPDATE: Samsung reached out and clarified that the Galaxy S22 series coming to the Philippines will sport the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, and not the Snapdragon 895 as they have previously communicated with us. We have updated the article to reflect the info.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra, as the name suggests, is the successor of the Galaxy S21 Ultra unveiled last year. And one of the changes you’ll notice is in the design. Compared to its predecessor, or the new S22 and S22+, with their more youthful look, the S21 Ultra looks more refined or professional.

Even the choice of colors seems to be aimed at people with refined tastes — Phantom Black, Phantom White, Green, and Burgundy.

It’s boxier. The edges are less curved. While the top and bottom parts of the frame are flat. Like the Galaxy Note20 Ultra. We won’t be surprised if it can stand on its own.

Looking at it from the front, the device, again, quickly reminded us of the Galaxy Note20 Ultra. We’re looking at a large 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen with QHD+ resolution and sides that curve towards the edges. The fingerprint scanner is embedded here under the screen.

The bezels are really thin, and probably the thickest part is the chin. And that’s even thinner than the bezels in most smartphones. It’s so immersive that it makes you want to watch a hi-res movie on it, or scribble notes. We’ll get to that later.

Placed above the screen, in the hole punch, is the 40MP Dual Pixel selfie camera. Above it, in the bezel is the earpiece and secondary loudspeaker.

Going around the device. We have the power-lock and volume buttons on the right side. Given the tall frame, we’re glad that Samsung moved the buttons downwards near the middle. Although it can still be quite a reach, especially if you have small hands.

At the top, there’s the secondary microphone.

Then down below, we have the nano-SIM card tray, main microphone, USB-C port, loudspeaker, and the S-Pen slot with an S-Pen. Yes, the Galaxy S22 Ultra now has a built-in slot for the S-Pen. A thing that the Galaxy S21 Ultra doesn’t have.

At the back, we can see a more streamlined design. There’s no more protruding camera module and now looks like the cameras are just embedded in the back panel, although it still protrudes a bit. It looks cleaner and gives a more uniform look.

Speaking of the cameras, we’re looking at a 108 megapixel main, a 12 megapixel ultra-wide, a 10MP telephoto capable of 3x optical zoom, and another 10MP telephoto capable of 10x optical and 100x Space Zoom. Check out some of the initial samples below:

Let’s talk about build quality. The Galaxy S22 Ultra is as premium as ever and uses a combination of glass and metal. We’re talking about Gorilla Glass Victus+ and what Samsung calls an improved armor aluminum frame. It’s tough on dust and water too, thanks to the IP68-rated body.

It’s relatively thin at 8.9mm, but quite hefty at 227 grams, and a bit wide at 77.9 mm. Holding it feels like holding a Galaxy Note20 Ultra. It will definitely require you to use two hands to operate it comfortably. Expect it to feel larger once you slap a case on it.

Powering the Galaxy S22 Ultra is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, up to 12GB of RAM, up to 512GB of storage, 5,000mAh battery with 45W fast charging, wireless charging, and reverse wireless charging, and One UI 4 based on Android 12. For connectivity, there’s 5G, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, and NFC.

There’s a lot more to talk about with the Galaxy S22 Ultra, but we’ll save that discussion in our full review. So, watch out for that. In the meantime, if you have questions, let us know in the comments below.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra specs:
6.8-inch Edge QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display
120Hz Dynamic refresh rate
Gorilla Glass Victus+ (front)
Gorilla Glass Victus (back)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC
8GB, 12GB RAM
128GB, 256GB, 512GB storage
Quad-rear cameras:
• 108MP Phase Detection F1.8 (wide)
• 12MP Dual Pixel F2.2 (ultrawide)
• 10MP Dual Pixel F4.9 (10x tele, 100x Space Zoom)
• 10MP Dual Pixel F2.4 (3x tele)
40MP Dual Pixel F2.2 front camera
Dual-SIM
5G, 4G LTE
WiFi 6E
Bluetooth 5.2
NFC
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, Galileo
USB Type-C
Fingerprint scanner (in-display)
Face Unlock
AKG Stereo Speakers
IP68 water and dust resistance
S-Pen (9ms latency)
OneUI 4 (Android 12)
5,000mAh battery w/ 45W fast charging, wireless charging, reverse wireless charging
77.9 x 163.3 x 8.9mm
227g
Phantom Black, Phantom White, Green, Burgundy