The Galaxy S22 will almost certainly arrive at Galaxy Unpacked next week and while we always appreciate a good launch event, we have a pretty clear picture of what to expect from Samsung’s next flagship phone series.
Leaked renders and specs have detailed what we will get from the Galaxy S22 series and Note fans, in particular, will want to pay attention to possible changes to the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
Here’s a look at all of the latest details that we have gathered on the Galaxy S22, including the expected release date, pricing, design, specs and more.
Samsung Galaxy S22 availability
While rumors about the release date were spread across a few months, Samsung’s announced Galaxy Unpacked 2022 event on February 9 at 10 a.m. Eastern is a lock for the Galaxy S22.
The only question left from there is when the phone will be available. Pre-orders for the Galaxy S22 are available already but expect at least a week’s wait following the announcement for the phones to ship.
Samsung Galaxy S22 price
There have been no credible rumors on the pricing for the Galaxy S22 yet, but we can make some educated guesses based on past releases. The Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Plus are basically a lock for $799 and $999 price points after the company dropped the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21 Plus to those prices last year, a $200 drop from their predecessors.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra is the wildcard in the deck, with rumors that we’ll get to later suggesting it will adopt more Galaxy Note features, including a built-in S Pen, which may drive the price of that phone up at least slightly. The Galaxy S21 Ultra was $1,199 at launch; we wouldn’t be surprised to see it take over the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra price of $1,299 or split the difference at $1,249.
Samsung Galaxy S22 design
Let’s stick to the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Plus first; those phones are rumored to stick closely to the design of their Galaxy S21 counterparts. The Contour Cut Camera housing and overall look of the phone should remain virtually unchanged. The most significant potential change could be an overall size reduction for both phones with the Galaxy S21 moving to 6.1-inches and the Galaxy S21 Plus dropping to 6.6-inches, this would be a 0.1-inch trim for both.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra is another matter entirely with a massive design leak from @OnLeaks and Ice Universe detailing a variety of alterations that would leave the Galaxy S22 Ultra as the heir apparent to the Note throne. Later leaks from Jon Prosser showed a similar design for the Galaxy S22 Ultra, so once again confidence in this new design is high.
The biggest change is the integration of a silo for the S Pen. While the Galaxy S21 Ultra and now the Galaxy Z Fold 3 both support the S Pen, rumors have suggested that uptake of the S Pen on the non-Note devices has been underwhelming. The phone would pick up some additional Note DNA with the flat top and bottom and more rounded edges of the Note.
The rear camera housing is also a departure from the other Galaxy S22 models, although the current leaks have shown three distinct designs. All three get away from the Counter Cut Camera housing. One is a single collection of four cameras, another shows it split into a triple and a separate double camera array that presumably also houses the laser auto-focus.
Finally, the alleged prototype photos from Prosser show the same camera arrangement, but no housing around the lenses at all. He attributes this to the increased thickness of the phone, but it would be a shocking departure as they still aren’t flush with the body of the phone.
Samsung Galaxy S22 specs
The Galaxy S22 models should be powered by the Snapdragon 898 in most areas. However, there is also speculation that this may be the debut of the Samsung and AMD Exynos 2200 chip with RDNA 2. Either way, don’t hold out hope for this to pull ahead of Apple’s A15 Bionic, but it may at least surpass the A14 Bionic and the Samsung and AMD partnership could have some unique capabilities.
A potentially disappointing spec change may be reduced battery sizes for the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Plus, with leaker @FrontTron claiming those phones will offer 3,800mAh and 4,600mAh batteries, a 200mAh drop from each of their predecessors. Since last year’s models didn’t offer stellar battery life, that would be a bit concerning unless there have been considerable advancements in the processor or display energy efficiency. The Galaxy S22 Ultra again bucks the trend in this rumor and reportedly will stick to a 5,000mAh battery.
S22 (Rainbow)R=Base, G=Plus, B=UltraDisplay (https://t.co/D3piZX1AkS)R: 6.06″ LTPSG: 6.55″ LTPSB: 6.81″ LTPOCameraNo UPC in S22 SeriesR/G: 50(w)+12(t)+12(uw)B: 108(w)+12(t)+12(t)+12(uw)+https://t.co/4oglV6drjhBattery (estimate)R: 3800G: 4600B: 5000(1/2)August 15, 2021
Samsung Galaxy S22 cameras
While the cameras on the back of the phone usually grab all of the attention, the potential move to an under-display front-facing camera was the highlight of many early camera rumors for the Galaxy S22 models. However, those have been mostly squelched now with a traditional hole-punch likely for at least another year.
As for the rear camera array, the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Plus are rumored to feature 50MP primary wide-angle sensors, while the telephoto and ultra-wide will both drop to 12MP. The Galaxy S22 Ultra should once again feature a 108MP primary wide-angle, with a 12MP ultra-wide and a pair of 10MP telephoto lenses again at 3x and 10x with laser auto-focus as the final camera hardware component.
While no one is challenging Samsung on the megapixel front, the competition is getting steeper with both the iPhone 13 and soon the Pixel 6, so if Samsung remains relatively stagnant on its cameras, as these rumors would suggest, that might be a problem for them in this cycle.
Samsung Galaxy S22 outlook
That covers everything that we know so far about the Galaxy S22 lineup, but the rumor mill never rests so we expect the Galaxy S22 rumors to be hitting fast and furious through until launch.
Based on what we have so far, it would seem like a pretty tepid update for the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Plus. The Galaxy S22 Ultra on the other hand is going through a massive transformation to become the Galaxy Note perhaps in everything but name.
If you want to stay on top of the latest with the Galaxy S22, you can bookmark this page as we will keep it updated right up until the phone launches.
