Samsung’s latest 5G smartphone “Galaxy S22” series top model “Galaxy S22 Ultra” was released in Japan in April this year.
The “Galaxy S22 Ultra” is the only stylus pen in the S22 series that is compatible with the “S pen”, and the design has been improved so that the S pen can be stored inside the main body. In addition, the rear camera, which consists of four cameras, is said to have the highest level of camera performance in history for Galaxy smartphones.
This time, I was able to borrow the actual “Galaxy S22 Ultra” from the manufacturer, so I checked the design, usability, and the camera performance of interest. I hope it will be helpful to those who are paying attention to the top model of the Galaxy S22 series.
Design / specifications
This time I borrowed the Galaxy S22 Ultra Phantom Black. The “Galaxy S21 Ultra” released last year also had a color with the same name, but this time the texture of the back has changed, so it feels like the color is closer to gray than black. There is.
The body design has changed slightly from the previous model. While the previous model had rounded sides, the Galaxy S22 Ultra has four sides that are right-angled, creating a smarter atmosphere.
The screen size is 6.8 inches, which is the same as the previous model, but the main body size is slightly smaller in height and wider in width. The weight has increased by 1g, but it can be said that it is within the margin of error, so it seems that you do not need to worry too much.
| Galaxy S21 Ultra | Galaxy S22 Ultra | |
|---|---|---|
| height | 165mm | 163.3mm |
| width | 76mm | 77.9mm |
| thickness | 8.9mm | 8.9mm |
| weight | 228g | 229g |
When you actually hold it in your hand, it feels like a slightly larger smartphone. For the author with a small hand, the operation with one hand was a little difficult, so I almost held it with both hands.
If you are looking for a smartphone that can be operated with one hand by a person with a small hand, it will be a lower model, but the “Galaxy S22” may be recommended. If you’re curious, check out the Galaxy S22’s review.
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The screen is equipped with an organic EL display that supports a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. Considering battery life, the refresh rate is not always 120Hz, but is automatically adjusted between 1 and 120Hz according to the content.
When I actually touch the screen, when there is movement on the screen such as when scrolling, the screen moves smoothly and feels good. The high refresh rate has the advantage that the eyes are less tired and the content is easier to see.
By the way, although it is a small part, the screen edge is rounded and it is designed to bite into the side of the main body slightly. This is an Ultra-only design on the Galaxy S22 series, and the Galaxy S22 / S22 + has a flat side with no edges.
A quad camera and LED flash are mounted on the back. In the previous model, the entire camera unit popped out, but in the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the camera unit is completely integrated with the back, and only the camera lens is designed to pop out. Thanks to this design, it has been reborn with a smarter impression.
The back is made of metallic material, giving it a luxurious feel. However, fingerprints are easily attached, so if you use it without a case, clean it with a soft cloth on a regular basis.
The camera configuration is wide-angle + ultra-wide-angle + telephoto + telephoto, and two telephoto cameras are installed. The number of pixels is 108MP for wide-angle cameras, 12MP for ultra-wide-angle cameras, and 10MP for both telephoto cameras. One of the telephoto cameras is capable of 3x optical zoom and the other is capable of 10x optical zoom. I would like to introduce the detailed camera performance in detail later using actual photographs.
On the bottom of the main unit, there is a USB Type-C port for charging and communication, a SIM slot, and a user’s long-awaited S pen storage space. In the previous model, if you wanted to carry the S pen, you had to store it in a special case, but finally with the Galaxy S22 Ultra, you can store it directly in the main body, greatly improving convenience.
The main unit can be charged not only by wire but also by wireless. The charging output is up to 45W for wired and up to 15W for wireless charging, and reverse wireless charging “Wireless Power Share” that can charge other devices is also available.
The SIM slot is a single specification and supports nanoSIM. Since it does not support eSIM, mobile communication will be used with a physical SIM card. When switching to the Galaxy S22 Ultra by changing the model, those who used eSIM with the previous model should switch to the physical SIM card in advance.
By the way, the SIM slot is for SIM cards only and does not support external storage such as microSD. The built-in storage is a lot of 256GB, but if you think that the capacity is not enough, consider using cloud storage together.
The waterproof standard corresponds to IPX5 / IPX8, and the dustproof standard corresponds to IP6X. You can continue to use it with confidence without worrying about breakdowns even in harsh environments.
In addition, Galaxy S22 is compatible with “Osaifu-Keitai”. Mobile Suica, PASMO, etc. can be used.
Built-in SoC performance
The Galaxy S22 Ultra is equipped with “Snapdragon 8 Gen 1” as a built-in SoC. The processing performance is improved by more than 20% compared to the previous model, the GPU performance is improved by about 30%, and the machine learning is also improved by about twice.
I tried to measure the benchmark score using the benchmark application to see how much performance it actually has. The AnTuTu benchmark and Geekbench 5 are used for the measurement.
The above is the result of the AnTuTu benchmark. The overall score was 933026.
The above is the benchmark result of Geekbench 5. The single score is 1235 and the multi-core score is 3543. The OpenCL score, which indicates graphic performance, was 5936.
Like the Galaxy S22, it is equipped with the latest “Snapdragon 8 Gen 1”, so it is one of the most high-performance Android smartphones sold in Japan.
In addition, the Galaxy S22 Ultra has the largest RAM capacity in the S22 series (S22: 8GB / S22 Ultra: 12GB). Even if you switch between multiple apps, you should be able to use them comfortably without getting confused.
In addition, the performance of the camera is also improving due to the improvement of the performance of the SoC. Specifically, the noise reduction process by AI has made it possible to take clear and beautiful pictures even in the dark, and it has become possible to distinguish the subject and the background more clearly in portraits. For details, I would like to introduce it in the camera section.
Camera performance
The Galaxy S22 Ultra is equipped with a high-performance rear camera, so it is a big feature that you can take pictures of quality that you can not think that you took with a smartphone.
The rear camera has a quad (4 eyes) configuration of wide-angle + ultra-wide-angle + telephoto 1 + telephoto 2, and the number of pixels is 108MP, 12MP, 10MP, 10MP in order. It is the only one in the Galaxy S22 series that has a quad camera.
| Galaxy S22 | Galaxy S22 Ultra | |
|---|---|---|
| Rear camera |
Trinocular camera Wide angle look far |
4-eye camera Wide angle Telescope 1 Telescope 2 |
Compared to the Galaxy S22, the main wide-angle camera has more than double the number of pixels of 108MP, and it is also equipped with two telephoto cameras with different zoom magnifications. Due to these differences, you can take more beautiful and versatile pictures than the Galaxy S22.
This time, I took a picture of Odaiba with Galaxy S22 Ultra, so I would like to introduce it as an example.
The above is a picture taken with the main wide-angle camera. The Galaxy S22 was also able to take pretty beautiful pictures, but since the Galaxy S22 Ultra is still the top model, I think it can take more beautiful pictures.
At this time, I was taking pictures in the bright sunshine, but the outline of each object was clear and the color was very close to what I actually saw.
Of course, you can feel the strength of the sunlight from the place where the sun is shining (such as the legs of the chair in front), so it seems that you can clearly remember the scene at the time when you took a picture at your travel destination.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra is available in two modes: pixel binning, which uses multiple pixels as one pixel, and a mode, which uses all pixels to take high-definition pictures. The standard setting is pixel binning, so you need to change the setting if you want to take higher-definition photos. However, the file size of one photo will be large, so be careful about the amount of storage remaining.
Next, I experimented with the zoom function of the telephoto camera. The above was taken with a wide-angle camera without zooming.
The above is an optical 3x zoom.
And the above is the optical 10x zoom. All of them were taken from the same place with the same angle of view, but the buildings behind the Rainbow Bridge (near Shiodome Station) are clearly visible. You can also see the letters “CONRAD” in Conrad Tokyo in the center of the image. Of course, this character could not be confirmed with the naked eye of the author.
I also tried 100x digital zoom. The image quality is quite rough, but it seems that it can be used for purposes such as checking the state of takeoff and landing aircraft flying far away at the airport.
By the way, when it comes to high-magnification zoom of smartphones, it is quite difficult to shoot due to severe camera shake, but the Galaxy S22 Ultra has a lot of image stabilization, and even with 100x zoom, I was able to shoot the target place firmly.
The scene changes to a night photo. The above is a night view taken in the night mode of a wide-angle camera. The distant Rainbow Bridge, skyscrapers, and the illuminated Statue of Liberty looked much brighter than I actually saw.
The above is a night view taken with a telephoto camera with a 3x optical zoom. The image quality is a little rough, but it is quite bright. If it is a telephoto shot at night and the quality is so high, it will be within the practical range.
After all, the camera performance of the Galaxy S22 Ultra is quite high, and it will leave wonderful pictures in any scene, from casual everyday life to special experiences at travel destinations.
With the evolution of AI functions, cameras have become much easier to use, and noise is less likely to enter. If you often take pictures with your smartphone, the Galaxy S22 Ultra should make a lot of sense.
summary
After actually using the Galaxy S22 Ultra, I found that the performance was suitable for the top model of the S22 series.
I especially liked the high performance of the camera. Whenever I touch the actual Galaxy S series, I am always amazed at the high performance of the camera. Recently, thanks to the improvement of AI function, it has become possible to improve the quality of photos and take interesting pictures, and it is very fun to take pictures.
The Galaxy S22 is also sold in Japan, but if you want a big screen, high camera performance, or if you want to use the S Pen, we recommend choosing the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
Also, since the Galaxy S22 Ultra can store the S pen in the main body, you can now carry it without having to buy a special case. It can be said that it is the best model for those who are thinking of switching from the Galaxy Note series that can store the S pen in the main body.
Galaxy S22 Ultra can be purchased from docomo and au in Japan. There are two colors, Burgundy and Phantom Black.
Galaxy is a trademark or registered trademark of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
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