Samsung Galaxy A22 review

Competition

At the time of writing this review, the Galaxy A22 will set you back right around EUR 250. That's a bit of an unfortunate reality in itself since its official launch MSRP was around EUR 20 less back in June, but that's not an isolated occurrence. Like many other things, phones are hardly getting any cheaper these days.

In any case, EUR 250 also gets you a Galaxy A22 5G, as well as an A32 5G, but as we've established, those tend to sacrifice on some specs to facilitate 5G connectivity. There is the vanilla Galaxy A32, however, which we've been referencing throughout the review for a reason. It is honestly superior to the Galaxy A22 in quite a few ways, like - a brighter and higher resolution Super AMOLED display, with Gorilla Glass 5 protection on top, higher-res main and selfie cameras and a promise for longer-term software support. With all else essentially equal, including the price tags, it is hard to make a case for the Galaxy A22 in this context.

Samsung Galaxy A32 • Xiaomi Poco X3 Pro • Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 • Realme 8

When discussing value budget devices, the Poco X3 Pro just instantly springs to mind. Currently retailing under EUR 250, it remains a crazy good deal and sort of a unique anomaly. For that price tag, you get a 6.67-inch, 120Hz, HDR10, FullHD+ IPS display and a very potent Snapdragon 860 chipset - a killer value gaming combo. But the X3 Pro excels in other aspects as well with things like Gorilla Glass 6 protection and an IP53 rating, stereo speakers, a large 5,160 mAh battery with 33W charging and a 48MP, plus 8MP ultrawide, plus two 2MP main camera setup.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 is also within budget and ticks most of the same boxes. It cuts back in the chipset department with a Snapdragon 678 but makes up plenty of ground with its excellent 6.43-inch, Super AMOLED FullHD+ display.

Last but not least, not to be outdone by Xiaomi, Realme has a viable alternative of its own with the vanilla Realme 8. Some of its highlights include a 6.4-inch FullHD+ Super AMOLED display with official HDR10 support and a higher-res 64MP main camera on the back.

Verdict

Samsung has really been putting in the work when it comes to the current Galaxy A lineup. Pretty much every model from the family recently has been solid and generally competitive in one way or another. The same is mostly true for the Galaxy A22 as well.

The LTE Galaxy A22 is a well-put-together device, with a solid-performing AMOLED panel, complete with 90Hz refresh rate and straight-forward refresh rate handling (even if lower-res). The Galaxy A22 also manages great battery endurance from its 5,000 mAh battery, has a surprisingly feature-rich One UI 3.1 Core skin running on top of Android 11 and uses the decent, if unimpressive MediaTek Helio G80 chipset to its full potential.

It has its fair share of issues and deficiencies as well, though. The plastic body feels a bit hollow at the back, it lacks any formal ingress protection or a "brand name" designation for its protective display glass. There are also no light or proximity sensors onboard the A22; charging is pretty slow, and the single bottom-firing loudspeaker is unimpressive. The main camera's misbehaving autofocus drags the overall positive experience down. And that's on top of a few other smaller camera quirks.

Even with all of the negatives pointed out, though, the Galaxy A22 remains a solid device, particularly for its price. However, Samsung is its own worst enemy in this particular case since, as we pointed out, the Galaxy A32 is better than it in a few notable ways and yet costs the same in most markets. So unless you get a really good deal on the Galaxy A22 LTE, you'd probably be better off getting the A32 LTE instead. Both you and Samsung should be just as happy at the end of the day.

Pros

• Wonderful 90Hz Super AMOLED display and straight-forward refresh rate management.
• Excellent battery life.
• Feature-rich One UI 3.1 Core on top of Android 11.

Cons

• No light or proximity sensors.
• Underwhelming bottom-firing speaker sound.
• Underpowered chipset.
• Inconsistent autofocus on main camera. Pretty soft photos all around.
• No 4K video recording.