Samsung Injects Excitement into Galaxy S22 Line with Note DNA (Plus Better Video and Software Support)

Introduction

Samsung established the Galaxy S line as the premier Android flagship smartphone a decade ago, and despite competition from pre-Entity List Huawei, it remains the standard others measure against. However, among enthusiasts and prosumers, the Galaxy Note line was the premier phone to get; from 2011 to 2018 or so, the Note offered the largest screens and batteries, the latest components and software, and included an S Pen for annotations, drawing, and note-taking. However, aside from the S Pen, all premium smartphones started to look a lot like the Galaxy Note, and Samsung has slowly been converging the two product lines and extending S Pen compatibility to the top of its S series bar phones and Z series foldables. Now, the process is complete: with an included S Pen and internal charging dock, the Galaxy S22 Ultra is effectively a Galaxy Note 22.

Critically, Samsung isn’t ignoring the regular and plus Galaxy S22 variants, with improved cameras, larger batteries, leaps in sustainability, and significant extensions to its software support. Samsung was also careful to avoid leaving any gaping pricing holes: the base Galaxy S flagship starts at $799.

Key Features

Smartphones are mature technology, so most phone updates are iterative. However, people use their phones more than ever before, so cumulative iterative updates are quite meaningful.

As you might expect from Samsung’s flagship, the Galaxy S22 family features faster and more efficient 4nm-process silicon, the latest Qualcomm X65 modem (in the U.S.), faster memory, bigger batteries with optional 45w charging, the latest WiFi standard (6e), and blazingly bright, variable refresh rate OLED displays that should have no visibility issues even in direct sunlight. The added brightness should make HDR10 and HDR10+ content really pop; Dolby Vision is the only missing element, but that’s a bigger omission on Samsung’s televisions than its phones. New “VisionBooster” technology raises the contrast onscreen to counteract extreme lighting environments; this should not only improve outdoor usage, but also make late night content consumption better.

Integrated S-Pen on the Galaxy S22 Ultra

Samsung last updated the Galaxy Note in 2020, so the Galaxy S22 Ultra is clearly aimed at plugging that gap. The Note line was popular for leading edge components, large screens, and the S Pen. Samsung has been providing plenty of smartphone innovation with its Galaxy Z line of foldables – including optional S Pen support on the Galaxy Z Fold 3. However, there are still people who want a bar phone with the latest specs and an S Pen, and Samsung is ready to give them one.

The only Note enthusiasts being left our are those who want an S Pen but don’t want the additional camera, display size, and girth (the Ultra is 1.3mm thicker) – or, more likely, don’t want to pay for it. There may be some enterprise buyers who will be priced out, but the Note traditionally topped Samsung’s price list. There was a $1000 Galaxy Note 20 base model, but specs-wise it was a huge step down from the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. That Note Ultra was actually $100 more expensive at launch than today’s Galaxy S22 Ultra. The Galaxy S22 Ultra is certainly not inexpensive, but it offers a lot of value.

Imaging

Basic still photography is so good at the premium smartphone level that the “best” camera often comes down to personal preference. Samsung is therefore focusing the bulk of its attention on areas that aren’t as settled: telephoto, night mode, and video.

The Galaxy S22 and S22+ share a 50 MP main camera, 3x optical zoom, and a 12 MP ultrawide; the specs on this camera array compare favorably to Apple’s $999 iPhone 13 Pro, and that is certainly no accident. The Galaxy S21 Ultra was the most versatile camera on the market all last year, and the Galaxy S22 Ultra builds on that with a 108 MP main sensor, both 3x and 10x optical periscope zoom lengths, and a 12 MP ultrawide. Samsung claims that these cameras take better pictures in low light, have reduced lens flare, and improved portrait modes – even for pets! Enthusiasts who want to edit photos afterwards can shoot in 16 bit Expert RAW across all lenses.

Even seasoned smartphone reviewers argue over which smartphone produces “the best” still and night mode photos, but for video recording, the verdict is unanimous: Apple has been the clear leader. Samsung is promising to close this gap with the Galaxy S22 with photo HDR (multiple exposures) in video, wider OIS, and Auto Framing that tracks up to ten subjects.

Techsponential will have review units of the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Ultra in shortly, and will update this report once we get hands on and see how good these new cameras are.

Sustainability

Consumers are increasingly conscious of the ecological footprint of their product choices, and Samsung is making significant progress. The eco-headline for the Galaxy S22 is that Samsung is using recycled fishing nets to build its new phones, which is, frankly, amazing. The truth isn’t quite so dramatic – reclaimed ocean-bound fishing net plastic makes up only 20% of a few parts – but Samsung’s overall investment in sustainable materials and packaging is significant and laudable.

In addition to the reclaimed fishing nets, Samsung is using recycled post-consumer material in some buttons and six of its cases. The Galaxy S22 packaging is constructed entirely from 100% recycled paper, and even the protective film on the phones is made from 100% recycled plastic.

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Of course, the most ecologically beneficial approach to buying smartphones is to use them for longer, and in this respect, Samsung has made an enormous improvement: it is promising to support the Galaxy S22 and several other recent Galaxy S and Z phones for at least four major OS updates and five years of security software updates. This is unprecedented among Android OEMs, and gives Samsung a significant competitive advantage as smartphones mature, consumers hold on to them longer, and then expect to use them for trade-ins or sell them on the secondary market. Samsung’s brand strength also plays into this: even Chinese rivals want to match this pledge, will consumers trust that these companies will be around and investing in products they sold half a decade earlier?

Software and Ecosystem

In addition to the extended software support and security updates, Samsung has other software and ecosystem updates to talk about. After trying and failing to build everything itself early in the Galaxy S timeline (remember Milk?) Samsung has chosen high profile partnerships with Google, Microsoft, Netflix, Disney+, Snapchat, and Spotify. Several of Microsoft’s productivity apps are preloaded, and direct sync to Office documents should be especially powerful when combined with the S Pen on the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Google Duo is being integrated into Samsung core apps with higher quality video settings and E2E encryption. Samsung’s own software overlay for Android, One UI 4, gets new features around privacy and security. As always, Samsung is touting its Knox security infrastructure, which is even more important now that Samsung is offering a digital wallet combining various digital IDs, keys, and payment options.

Outside the phone, Samsung is offering a second screen experience to some if its televisions; continuity to its PCs, extended continuity to its Android tablets, and personalized coaching on the Galaxy Watch4. Ahead of Unpacked, Samsung announced new fitness and sleep tracking features for the Galaxy Watch4 (available for download today). Samsung also reiterated that Google Assistant is coming, but did not provide a date.

Alongside the Galaxy S22 phones, Samsung also launched new Galaxy Tab S8 premium tablets; Techsponential will be covering these in a separate report.

U.S. Carrier Incentives

• AT&T is offering the most aggressive promotions because its trade-in requirements are essentially non-existent for prior Samsung Galaxy owners. With qualifying installment plans, AT&T subscribers (new or existing) get $800 off over three years with trade in of any Note, S or Z series phone in any condition from any year. That makes the base model Galaxy S22 free, and drops the Galaxy S22 Ultra down to $400. Pre-orders get a free upgrade to the next storage level, and Samsung accessories are 50% off when purchased alongside the phone. AT&T is also publishing enterprise business customer promotions; they can purchase the 128-GB Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra as low as $199.99 on a two-year plan.

• T-Mobile is slightly more generous than AT&T if you have the right high-value device to trade in, and also offers something for those not on its most expensive plans. New and existing customers can get the Galaxy S22 or the S22+ free (or up to $1000 off the Galaxy S22 Ultra) over time when trading in an eligible device on Magenta MAX or eligible Sprint plan. T-Mobile is also offering incentives on its less expensive service plans: up to $500 off when trading in an eligible device on any plan.

• Verizon is somewhat similar to T-Mobile, with $1,000 off, but only at the highest plan levels and with high-value trade-ins, and its most generous offers are for switchers or new lines. Existing subscribers on Unlimited plans can get up to $1,000 off with qualifying trade-ins. Switchers/new lines with trade-ins to Unlimited 5G plans get up to $1,000 off, plus up to $1,000 towards paying off old phones. Switchers without a trade-in can buy one Galaxy S22+ and get one free. Finally, pre-orders get a free upgrade to the next storage level.

Competition

Apple is a key rival everywhere. Chinese brands are becoming a threat in Europe and Asia, though they do most of their premium volume inside China, where Samsung is barely present. However, in core U.S. and Korean markets, Samsung has little direct Android competition. LG is gone. Google’s new Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are selling better than prior Pixels, but consumers don’t walk into stores asking for them, and carriers are not offering the same promotion and support at retail. Motorola’s premium phones are only really a factor at Verizon, OnePlus is still primarily at T-Mobile, but neither sell at Samsung’s volume levels. The only premium phones with active stylus capabilities are Samsung’s own Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Microsoft’s dual-screen Surface Duo 2; neither is really comparable to the Galaxy S22 Ultra (and Samsung would be delighted to lose sales of the S22 to the Z Fold).

As usual, Samsung is using Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC in the U.S. and its own Exynos in most other markets. Qualcomm has the edge on modem performance, especially in the spectrally complicated U.S., and the Exynos may have an edge in GPU if software is tailored to it. Apple’s A-series still leads all comers in performance per watt, but, realistically, consumers don’t choose phones based on benchmarks, and both of Samsung’s variations should perform well for any gaming or productivity task. Google’s Tensor – along with a Samsung modem – powers the Pixel 6. Down the road, this could provide competitive differentiation, but the Tensor does not outperform Qualcomm or Samsung chips today. Google has done a good job advertising the Magic Erase feature as a benefit of Tensor’s AI processing; Samsung actually had this feature first, so there are clearly areas where Samsung needs to tell a better story.

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