As a long-time user of the Samsung Galaxy S series, I was quite excited to get my hands on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.
There wasn’t much to unpack in the box itself, where, tucked under the phone, there was a USB Type-C to USB Type-C cable.
Visually, though, there’s a lot to unpack about the phone. Unlike its predecessors, the S22 Ultra is the first in the Galaxy S series lineup that is equipped with a built-in S Pen, and the phone also looks like it belongs better in the Galaxy Note series family.
If you’ve used an S Pen on a Galaxy Note smartphone before, it’s a similar experience on the S22 Ultra. When removing the S Pen from the storage compartment, a pop-up menu lets you choose which S Pen compatible app you would like to use.
When taking down notes with the S Pen, the writing experience felt very smooth as it effortlessly glides across the screen. Also, compared to the previous S Pen experience on the S21 Ultra, Samsung managed to reduce the latency from 9ms to 2.8ms, giving more responsive writing and drawing experience.
As someone who fidgets a lot, I also like how the back of the S Pen has an actual click that’s similar to a real pen.
A quick look at its camera
Flipping the phone over, the camera quickly caught our eyes as it had a different design compared to the ones found on the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. Instead of a bump, each of the camera lenses is protected by elegant metal rims.
The S22 Ultra comes with a 108MP wide, 12MP ultra-wide, a 10MP telephoto with 3x zoom, and a 10MP telephoto with 10x zoom at the rear while the front has a single 40MP selfie camera.
The 100x Space Zoom remains, but there’s also a brand new feature called Nightography that lets you take clear and crisp pictures even in low light conditions. Now that’s a feature we’d really like to put to the test.
At around 229g, the phone weighs almost the same as the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. Both the phones are also very similar in size as well, with the S22 Ultra being slightly shorter and wider.
For those who prefer large screens, you’ll be pleased by its 6.8-inch 1440×3080 pixel display that’s great for those who like watching Netflix on their phone.
The screen felt buttery smooth and responsive because of the adaptive refresh rate that can go up to 120Hz for dynamic on-screen movement, or decrease it down to 1Hz when it is displaying static images to save battery. This feature isn’t new to the S Series, but it’s a nice one to keep.
Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ is on the back and on the screen, making it allegedly a lot more durable compared to previous models. However, for those who are clumsy like me, it’d still give us greater peace of mind to put on a proper case too.
While matte surfaces tend to attract oils from your fingers, which can be quite tough to clean, it’s still less of a fingerprint magnet compared to a phone with a glossy finish. Plus, the texture of the matte finish emphasises the premium status of the phone.
According to the phone’s spec sheet, it is also IP68 water and dust resistant, allowing the phone to be submerged up to 1.5 metres for up to 30 minutes.
So, if you want to take full advantage of the S22 Ultra’s large screen and its water resistance, you can go forth and enjoy watching Netflix while relaxing in the bathtub.
Other than the Burgundy colour that we have on hand, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is also available in Phantom White, Phantom Black, and Green.
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Overall, Samsung did not disappoint as the Galaxy Ultra S22 felt solid, responsive, and premium.
Also, with the addition of the built-in S Pen, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has a lot more tricks up its sleeves such as Air Actions, Quick Note, and more, all of which we look forward to testing in its own article soon.
That aside, we’ll also be doing a more comprehensive review of its performance and camera very soon, so stay tuned!
