My Samsung Galaxy Ultra 22 is a beast. This is a long-term use review.
It was launched in India in February 2022. I bought this device in mid-March that year which means its more than 20 months and time is ripe for a long-term use review.
The phone came bundled with Galaxy Smart Watch 4 for Rupees 1, 08, 000/- for a configuration of 12 GB RAM and 256 GB of internal memory. I chose the 12 GB RAM variant because it was less likely to heat up compared to the 8 GB variant. And that is how it turned out. I use this phone extensively for various activities and it never heated up despite the extensive usage. Even the battery management was good and it was never completely out of juice even at the end of the day.
I am a die-hard Note fan having used various editions of Samsung Note. I was a little peeved when rumours were rife that Samsung was doing away with the Note series for good. But the amalgamation of the ‘S’ and ‘Note’ series into one came as a blessing to me. I got the best of both worlds in one device. I use the Samsung pen/stylus a lot and the Samsung S22 Ultra has placed power and practicality in my hands.
I do not know about other peoples’ experiences, but the Ultra has never lagged or hanged while performing complex tasks. Neither did it get heated while multitasking. But the Ultra is not an Ultra without its superefficient cameras. The low-light pictures are unbelievable. Any camera can take good enough pictures in normal light. The problem lies in taking pictures in low light, and the S22 Ultra excels at it.
The other feature I like is 100X digital zoom. You can watch or take photos of birds perched or animals resting far away without disturbing their habitat. Though the pictures are a little grainy, but that’s what you would expect from a digital zoom. You can take selfies with the stylus acting as a remote or keep the phone away from you to click photos with the stylus or pen in case of need.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC is a welcome chipset in the Indian market as Samsung has dispensed with its own chipset Exynos SoCs for the present.
The S22 Ultra is a fantastic device and is future-proof. It will serve you without a glitch for many years. With 5G and WIFI 6E in its innards, you will never be obsolete unless the lure of the future editions of the S22 does not spoil you for choice and you have loads of money to throw away. Also, you will get updates for 4 years that will keep you up to date with future versions of Android.
You don’t come across in the market phones that have everything you could have asked for in a reasonable form factor.
The screen is gorgeous with a WQHD+ display that scintillates with a brightness that exceeds 1200 nits which helps you easily read the screen in bright sunlight. Dolby Atmos stereo comes embedded in the device. Battery life is adequate for your normal daily needs but excessive gaming can drain the battery life quickly.
Despite the S23 launch, the S22 still seems to be a better option as there are not many competition-bashing improvements in its successor and if the grapevine is anything to go by, the S24 is not coming with any earth-shattering improvements. My experience teaches me to wait until all the yearly updates of Android are received and then go for a new edition of the phone. This way you will not lose much in terms of either software or hardware improvements.
Brief specs of S22 Ultra:
Ram: 12 GB
Internal memory: 256 GB
2X AMOLED WQHD+
Refresh Rate: 120Hz Touch rate 240Hz
Operating system: Android 12
Camera Array: Main Wide-angle 108 MP, Ultra Wide-angle 12 MP, Telephoto lens 10 MP, Telephoto lens 10 MP, Selfie 40 MP
Battery: 5000 mAh with wired and wireless charging in addition there is a facility for reverse charging.
Water Resistance: IP68
Connectivity: 5G / LTE / WIFI 6E / WIFI 6 / Bluetooth 5.2 / NFC
In short, you have a winner in your hand.
Of course, there will be detractors, but then which phone doesn’t have and that is the beauty of criticism it forces the manufacturers to improve their products. In the same vein, we should also praise a product if it has good features and performs well.
mbfarookh