Samsung Galaxy S22, S22+, and S22 Ultra hands-on review

Camera samples

It's past ideal picture-taking time where we are, and not being able to go outside the venue means low-light shooting scenarios are also limited. Still we grabbed a few quick snaps with the Galaxy S22, the S22 Ultra, and a Galaxy S21 we had on hand.

Main camera comparison: Galaxy S22 • Galaxy S22 Utlra • Galaxy S21 Ultra

Ultrawide camera comparison: Galaxy S22 • Galaxy S22 Utlra • Galaxy S21 Ultra

Telephoto camera comparison, 3x: Galaxy S22 • Galaxy S22 Utlra • Galaxy S21 Ultra

Selfie camera comparison: Galaxy S22 • Galaxy S22 Utlra • Galaxy S21 Ultra

We won't be analyzing these too closely just yet, but we figured we'd just slap them here for you to marvel at.

Early verdict

As Samsung's top-tier trio for 2022 (foldables excluded), the Galaxy S22s are by definition going to be great smartphones. The extent to which they excel in this or that area (or fall slightly short) will remain a mystery for a couple more weeks until review units start arriving, but a few things are clear already.

For starters, the Galaxy S22 is leaning more towards being marketed as a true compact flagship, thanks to its smaller size than last year and the build to match the other two. On the flipside, the smaller battery capacity could be its most serious con.

The Galaxy S22+ makes a simple trade-off then, offering longer runtimes and larger screen area at the expense of taking up more space in your pocket (though it will 'help' by freeing up an extra €/$200 worth of its contents).

Another €/$200 on top will get you the Galaxy S22 Ultra and it's trying to be everything to everyone. Whether you look at it as an S21 Ultra successor, or the reincarnation of the Note lineup in all but name, it's packed to the brim with hardware. We'd like to think that Note loyalists will like it for it's Note-ness, while S-series fans will appreciate that not a lot was compromised for the sake of the stylus. We'll see how it all plays out in the coming weeks.