Test Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Without the slightest false note 

Unsurprisingly, the new Galaxy S22 Ultra has followed the trend initiated for some time Apple – namely not to offer a default charger. Likewise, there are no more wired headphones. There is a relatively small new box with the smartphone, a USB-C to USB-C cable and user notes for a first handling.

Test of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: the smartphone without compromise

The ultra galaxy s22 is absolutely excellent to everything. A decisive factor for users who do not want to compromise.

Published on 08/16/2022 at 12:09 pm & updated on 07/06/2023 at 2:57 p.m

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is not just the 2022 update for the best Galaxy S. It is also the assimilation of the last Galaxy Note. The public, and especially fans of the Galaxy Note, was impatiently awaiting this important update, which represents an opportunity of several billion euros for Samsung. Has the South Korean electronics giant achieve its objectives ? How much does the S22 ultra performed ? We will discover this during this test which examines all the essential aspects of this high -end Android smartphone.

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Test Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Without the slightest false note ?

Samsung has formalized a new generation of premium smartphones, including an ultra galaxy s22 that takes over. We are happy to lend all the superlatives, but what about ? Our S22 Ultra test in 2023.

Samsung had launched the Galaxy S21 earlier than usual because of the pandemic. But in 2022, as shown in the launch of the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the manufacturer seemed determined to turn the page of this period to return to a more classic launching calendar, with announcements just before the MWC 2022 in Barcelona.

We were able to discover the new generation of Galaxy S22. Among them, the Galaxy S22 ultra undoubtedly was the model that has been talked about the most. And this is not surprising: Samsung has decided to merge the ranges of Note and Galaxy smartphones. And on the s22 generation, we have an ultra model for the first time that adopts the more angular look and the features (included integrated S-PEN) of the Note models.

The device also benefits from an Exynos 2200 chip completely unique which allows Samsung to offer for the first owe a “real” GPU AMD. The model was dreaming before its release, but is it really the smartphone that the most geek of our readers expected, without “false note” ? We offer you a complete product test to allow you to know if the Galaxy S22 Ultra is still worth it in 2023. First, in the form of a YouTube video, then in written form with a summary of our impressions.

Galaxy S22 Ultra 8/128 GB at the best price basic price: € 1,259

What is the technical sheet of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra ?

Before entering the Galaxy S22 Ultra test, here is the technical sheet of this new model. As you can see, the characteristics suggest one of the most efficient smartphones (under Android) on the market. Faced with Apple, Oppo, OnePlus and other Xiaomi, Samsung wants to show that he is always able to innovate.

– Automatic HDR photo
– Night Mode
– 10x optical zoom
– Space Zoom 100x (digital)

– 8K video capture at 24fps
– 33MP 8K snap photo
– Ultrahd video capture at 60fps on all sensors
– Slow down up to 960fps in 1080p
– Optical video stabilization up to 4K
– Digital video stabilization in 8K
– Super stabilized 1080p super stabilized video cam
– Night Hyperlapse

– Single Shot mode
Photo (Ai Best Moment, Ultra Wide Shot, Live Focus, Ai Filter, Smart Crop)
Video (Forward and backward videos, original video)

Unsurprisingly, the new Galaxy S22 Ultra has followed the trend initiated for some time Apple – namely not to offer a default charger. Likewise, there are no more wired headphones. There is a relatively small new box with the smartphone, a USB-C to USB-C cable and user notes for a first handling.

What is the more “note” design of the S22 Ultra ?

From an aesthetic point of view, the ultra galaxy s22 looks like the galaxy note 20 ultra. Samsung has chosen to clearly distinguish the design from this model from that, more classic, from S22 and S22+.

On the Galaxy S22 Ultra, we find a more linear and angular design – as if Samsung addressed technophiles more than to the general public (which seems logical in itself). The finish is particularly neat with a frosted glass back of the most beautiful effect, especially on this black version that we were able to test.

Samsung has chosen to integrate photo sensors in the back, without “putting them away” in a design artifice. So there is no visually distinct photo block, which gives this impression of having a thinner smartphone, even if it is not necessarily true when you look at the numbers.

In all cases, this choice allows the Samsung Galaxy S22 ultra to offer a very distinctive design of its competitors, and unique in the range – and in this time when the offer is particularly large but also uniform, it is not necessarily harm to distinguish yourself from others. All allows you to have a sober and elegant final product, perfect for us technophiles.

Finally, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra offers an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor manufactured by Qualcomm. This allows a quick unlocking that did not disappoint us. On the other hand, we noted a bug that occurs only when using a video wallpaper. Indeed, with this type of wallpaper, there was as parasites when displaying and unlocking at the time of our test. No doubt a software bug. The fact remains that he was there.

Finally, the switch and/or standby button is found on the right edge, below the volume buttons, which leaves the left slice of the completely virgin smartphone.

S22 ultra and speakers screen

Samsung offers the best screens on the market on smartphones. The Dynamic AMOLED 2X slab of the Galaxy S22 Ultra is one of the most successful on the market – if not the best. With a definition of 1,440p, the screen is super fine at the display level, the blacks are very deep and the colors well contrasting.

Again, Samsungg is doing with the honors, the colorimetry is mastered, the viewing angles are good and we had no visibility problems in full sun. What happiness for this test of the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra offers a screen with a variable refresh rate 1-120Hz and the 1440p definition. For those who have not followed everything, the main interest of a 120 Hz screen is the overall fluidity: with 30 or 60 Hz a remanery effect makes the scrolls less fluid, more artificial. Have a refresh rate greater than 90 Hz strengthens the realism of the animations. Which inevitably gives a feeling of freshness to use on a new smartphone like this. From the scrolling of the Timelines pages, by passing Twitter or Instagram, you will immediately notice the difference.

On the audio part, Samsung offers stereo speakers and with Dolby Atmos: everything can, in theory, simulate 360 ​​° sound. Obviously, we are talking about speakers and uses that result from it, you will not be able to feed a movie theater either. The speakers are quite standard in itself and do not deliver a home cinema sound. But the rendering remains convincing even if you start viewing a film on the Netflix application. Finally, not surprisingly, the Galaxy S22 Ultra does not offer a 3.5mm jack port, like many of its predecessors now.

Is S Pen as well integrated and functional as on the note ?

The management of S Pen was one of the big news of the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, it is also there on the new Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. And while it was an option last year, it was delivered by default with the new model and has its own storage like the Galaxy Note. Of course, the S22 Ultra is always compatible with any S Pen and we were able to confirm it during our test.

Because the S PEN comes from that of the Galaxy Note, it can thus serve as a remote control for your presentations, your photo gallery or your multimedia applications. That’s not all since we find the trigger function for taking photos. The S PEN is identical to the material level that that of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra: it incorporates a 6 -axis accelerometer, which allows Samsung to offer the Air actions, functions that we activate by making small gestures with S Pen.

We also find the functions as Live message (capture of handwriting in the form of gif) or Screen off Memo which allows you to take notes without having to unlock the smartphone. The Samsung Notes application continues to evolve with the recognition of characters but also a function allowing to straighten the text to facilitate reading.

We can also annotate PDFS and that does not stop there since we can export them to other formats, including Microsoft Office compatible files. And you also have the possibility of synchronizing Samsung Notes with Microsoft OneNote for example.

Suddenly, what has changed on this ultra galaxy s22 ? Not much on the hardware side but for the software part, Samsung worked with Wacom on a draft prediction technology, which reduces latency to only 2.8 ms. In use, it is fluid and everything seems natural, even better than on previous models.

We have always been big fans of the Galaxy Note and clearly the S Pen is well integrated and it is practical. You have to use S Pen for a while to realize all of its practical capacities. Now, if you are not a user of S Pen, you can always leave it in its storage like 90 % of Galaxy Note users in reality ..

One UI, performance and autonomy of the ultra S22

On the Android side, we find Android 12 with the ONEUI 4 overlay.1 (beginning 2023, he is entitled to the ONEUI 5 update which integrates Android 13) that we always find pleasant and complete.

While in 2022, Samsung had fell back into its flaws by adding too many functions, which had the consequence of overloading the user interface, version 4.1, returns to the right path. And even allows yourself to use Google apps a little more as messages for example.

It may seem trivial for some but it is a big step forward for the mass adoption of the RCS format that Apple is still refused and always to implement … In any case, the experience is close to Android Stock with a few small Homemade additions. The contribution of the 120 Hz is always appreciable on a daily basis. With all the options to the maximum, we have not noted an impact on general autonomy when testing this Galaxy S22 Ultra. Good news therefore.

On the performance side, the Galaxy S22 Ultra in its Europe version offers the new Exynos 2200 SOC, the graphic part of which has been developed with AMD. Still no Qualcomm for Europe, the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is reserved for Galaxy S22 in the United States and Korea. We were able to compare it to the first smartphones equipped with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and we will be cash !

If exynos remains a premium SOC with relatively high benchmarks, it remains behind compared to the latest Qualcomm SOC (and even more compared to Apple A15 Bionic). Do not make us say what we have not said: the exynos 2200 is powerful and swift, it will be more than enough for all our needs.

In our ultra S22 test, we have not seen any real benefits on the graphic part with AMD. We were able to try recent games like Wild Rifts, Call of Duty Mobile or Rocket League Side, there is nothing to say but it is not “more beautiful” and the iOS version is clearly again and Always more beautiful, despite the arrival of the AMD GPU.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra offers a 5,000 mAh battery and we expected many. We prefer to say it right away: the S22 Ultra can have a full and loaded day but we cannot draw autonomy on a second day of use. In addition, we had this impression of having the same autonomy, whether the smartphone is in versatile use or that it is left in standby.

Photo and video

Samsung has resumed a winning formula and we find the photo block of the Galaxy S21 Ultra. Thus, there is a main sensor of 108 Mp with non-binning technology which makes it possible to merge 9 pixels into 1 and therefore have photos at output of 12.4 mp. Except that this year, technology has evolved and we end up with larger photosites, which means more information and therefore more light somewhere.

Suddenly, unsurprisingly, there are also two tele-photos, a first classic with a 3X optical zoom and a second with a 10x periscopic zoom-as well as an ultra-wide-angle sensor of 12 Mp. On the front, we have a selfie module with a 40 Mp sensor and therefore the quad-binning technology which makes it possible to merge 4 pixels into 1 and therefore give out of the 10 MP selfies.

We also discover all the software functions of the Galaxy S as a better AI for the recognition of the scenes, a better detection of the closed eyes or the HDR mode, the Live Focus, and the essential Night mode which now works with the ultra-wide-angle sensor.

Samsung returns with mode Single Take But without highlighting it – since the functionality is only one option among many others. For those who do not know it, this mode allows in one click to take no less than 5 styles of photos (Ai Best Moment, Ultra Wide Shot, Live Focus, Ai Filter, Smart Crop) and 4 styles of videos up to 10 seconds (Forward And Backward Video, Forward Video, Backward Video, Original video)). In a single catch, we end up with different types of content automatically drawn from an instant around trigger – which can therefore be very quickly shared on social networks.

Between phase detection autofocus and laser autofocus, no need to remember that the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is really fast for the development of subjects and/or monitoring of subject subject. We will always have to pay attention to the sharpness area with these larger sensors even if in return, we have a bokeh natural more pleasant.

But suddenly, if the photo block is the same, what has changed ? If the material part is the same, it is above all the software part that has evolved with a lot of optimizations at the level of algorithms. According to Samsung, it is especially in a situation of low light that the S22 Ultra shines compared to its predecessors (and its competitors). And for once, it must be recognized that Samsung has worked well.

If day photos were already well mastered overall because we are in the presence of a premium smartphone, it is especially in the low light conditions that we discover the progress of the Korean manufacturer. The quality has leap forward and it’s really impressive. This is even seen on cameras known to be less comfortable, we are talking about tele-photos for example. Take for example Wall-E photo: we were almost in a darkness without light and that’s the result in all automatic, it’s impressive ! Even Portrait mode has made progress with better cutting.

But that does not stop in the photo because all these developments are also seen on the video. During our test of the Galaxy S22 Ultra, stabilization was always mastered and it is only in the low light conditions that we discover more aggressive smoothing. What remains impressive on a smartphone.

Better than words, concrete examples:

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra benefits from a 6.8 -inch Dynamic Amoled (1 to 120 Hz) qHD+ slab and hiding a fingerprint reader with ultrasonic fingerprints. It is equipped with the Exynos 2200 chip, 8 to 12 GB of RAM, storage from 128 GB to 1 TB and a 5000 mAh battery now compatible with fast load at 45 W.

Technical sheet / Characteristics

Dimensions	163.3 x 77.9 x 8.9 mm
Weight	228 g
Screen diagonal	6.8 inches
Screen definition	1440 x 3088 px
Resolution	500 ppi
Share of the screen on the surface	90.18 %
Mobile chip	Exynos 2200
Processor	Cortex -X2 – 3 GHz
Number of hearts	8
Integrated GPU (IGPU)	Xclipse 920
RAM (RAM)	12 GB
Internal memory	1 to
Memory card	No
Battery capacity	5000 mAh
Video capture	8k
Operating system (OS)	Android
OS version tested	12
Connection	USB-C
Fingerprint sensor	Yes
Wi-Fi type	Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax
Bluetooth type	5.2
NFC	Yes
4G (LTE)	Yes
5g	Yes
esim	Yes
Dual-Sim	Yes
SIM card format	Nano
Type of sealing	IP68
Gyroscope	Yes
Removable battery	No
Induction load	Yes
Shockproof	No
Jack plug	No
Rear photo module 1	108 Mpx, Grand Angle, f/1.8
Rear photo module 2	12 Mpx, Ultra Grand Angle, F/2.2
Rear photo module 3	10 Mpx, telephoto, f/2.4
Rear photo module 4	10 Mpx, telephoto, f/4.9
Photo module before 1	40 Mpx, Grand Angle, f/2.2
Repairability	8.2/10

See more characteristics

Test summary

Notation history

• Previous note

Fleuron among the flagships, the Galaxy S22 Ultra is a horseman alone in the new series of Samsung. If it shares most of its characteristics with the Galaxy S22 and S22+, it is also noted thanks to the integration of a stylus.

Writing note

User note (8)

User reviews (8)

All user reviews (8)

Very disappointed below expectations for such a expensive phone

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360 days of use

To avoid

August 18, 2023 I wonder how much they paid you to put such a good product so bad. The worst processor that I was able to test, it succeeded in the impossible by bugging the Deezer application which however does not really ask for a lot of RAM, the planting, turns in the void. Forced to restart the phone each time to throw music. The phone heats up quickly and empties its battery in less than a day after just 6 months of use. Yet I use 3 daily applications, YouTube, Deezer and Soundcloud. Nothing more and the phone heats up as if I had launched GTA 6 the camera is good and that’s about it. Updates that make my phone bug a little more every day is normal ? Thank you the planned obsolescence, at this price it is really abused, it is the last Samsung that I buy. Read the full review