ITP Techblog

Samsung launched its flagship Galaxy S22 smartphone range this morning, continuing the theme of incremental evolution that has become the signature of a maturing smartphone market.

The Galaxy S22, S22 Plus and S22 Ultra arrive with a cosmetic upgrade reminiscent of the older iPhone's flat sides and bevelled edges, with new camera features and a throwback to the cult favourite, the Galaxy Note, which lives on in the form of the S22 Ultra.

Samsung is the largest Android phone maker in the world and claimed 21% of the global smartphone market in the third quarter of 2021.

Three new Android-based tablets also hit the market, the Galaxy Tab S8, S8 Plus, and S8 Ultra. The flagship smartphones share most of the key specifications, such as processing power (Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1), memory (8GB as standard) storage (128GB as standard) with battery capacity and screen size the main factors separating them. 

Samsung's Galaxy S22 Ultra with S-Pen 

The S22 has a 6.1 inch display, the S22's screen is 6.6 inches and the S22 Ultra sports a 6.8 inch screen. Samsung's cameras have advanced considerably in recent years and remain an important part of the value proposition here. The S22 and S22 Plus share the same three rear-facing camera set-up,  12 MP (megapixel) ultra-wide camera, a 50MP wide camera, and a 10MP telephoto camera, the latter of which allows for 3x optical zoom. The S22 Ultra includes a fourth camera on the rear, a 10 megapixel 10x optical zoom camera, great for zooming in on far-away objects.

There are a few photo and video enhancements and artificial intelligence-powered features to make life easier, but by and large this is a minor refresh to keep abreast with the latest technology upgrades. The only difference of note, so to speak, is in the S22 Ultra, which includes a bay for a stylus pen, a defining attribute of the aforementioned Galaxy Note. 

That phone was beloved by business users who enjoyed being able to use the S Pen to scribble notes on the Note's screen. Samsung introduce a pen for the S21 Ultra last year as an add-on, but the addition of the bay to store it within the phone on the S22 Ultra will give that feature much more appeal.

For more wow-factor, you'll need to wait until later in the year for the updates of the Flip and Fold foldable phones that Samsung has led the foldables market with.

Pricing:

S22

128GB storage, 8GB RAM - $1299

256GB storage, 8GB RAM - $1399

S22+

128GB storage, 8GB RAM - $1599

256GB storage, 8GB RAM - $1699

S22 Ultra

128GB storage, 8GB RAM - $1999

256GB storage, 12GB RAM - $2099

512GB storage, 12GB RAM - $2399

Pre-orders available now (Samsung.com/nz) and launching on Friday the 4th March 2022.