Content

1. Video review
2. Equipment and design
3. Software
4. cameras
5. Performance and Benchmarks
6. conclusions

The formula of Samsung’s flagship line has not changed for the third year: the junior model, which is distinguished by its compact size, the Ultra version with all the latest technologies, and the intermediate “plus” version. Not as small as the S20/S21/S22, but not as expensive or fancy as the Ultra. It turns out that this is a kind of compromise model with the largest audience – or not?

S22+ – S22

	Specifications
	Samsung Galaxy S22+
Net	2G, 3G, 4G, 5G
Firmware	One UI 4.1 on Android 12
Screen	6.6″, 19.5:9, 2340 x 1080 pixels, 393ppi, 10-120Hz, 1750nits (peak), Dynamic AMOLED 2X, Gorilla Glass Victus
Chipset	Samsung Exynos 2200 , 4 nm CPU: 1 x X2 x 2.8GHz + 3 x A710 x 2.5GHz + 4 x A510 x 1.7GHz GPU: Samsung Xclipse 920
RAM	8 GB LPDDR5
ROM	128 GB UVS 3.1	256 GB UVS 3.1
SIM and memory card	Dual nanoSIM and eSIM
Camera	Triple Primary: 50 MP, 1/1.56″, 1 µm, f/1.8, Dual Pixel, OIS, 23 mm EGF, video recording 4320p@24fps / 2160p@60fps Wide angle: 12 MP, 1/2.55″, 1.4 µm, f/2.2, Dual Pixel, 13 mm EFR, video recording 2160p@60fps Telephoto: 10MP, 1/3.94″, 1µm, f/2.4, Dual Pixel, OIS, 70mm EGF, 2160p@60fps video recording
Selfie	Center hole, 10 MP, 1/3.24″, 1.22 µm, f/2.2, Dual Pixel, 25 mm EFR
Battery	4500 mAh
Charger	USB Type-C 3.2: 45W Qi, PMA: 15W Reverse wireless charging
Wireless interfaces	Wi-Fi Wi-Fi 6E Bluetooth 5.2 A-GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, Beidou UWB
NFC	There is
Biometrics	In-screen fingerprint scanner (ultrasonic)
Sound	stereo speakers
Waterproof	IP68
Dimensions and weight	157.4 x 75.8 x 7.64mm 196 g

Video review 

Equipment and design 

The Samsung Galaxy S22+ has supported the trend of protecting the planet from chargers – in a box made from recycled paper, there is only documentation, a SIM needle and a USB cable with Type-C at both ends. I sincerely don’t understand why manufacturers continue to put wiring in the kit, they are even more versatile than chargers, and everyone definitely has them. But I don’t think it’s the most important thing.

The smartphone has a lot of colors – eight. Standard white, black, dark green and pink are sold everywhere, and four more (gray with black accents, yellow with silver accents, blue with silver accents and purple with gold accents) are only on the official Samsung website. I note that white, dark green and pink versions exist only in the 8 + 256 GB modification, that is, in a regular 128 GB store you can only buy a black Galaxy S22 +.

S21+ – S22+

In terms of design, little has changed in the novelty. The camera module has become a little more compact and neater, the smartphone itself has become a little more compact and neater (-4 mm from the height due to the transition from 20:9 to 19.5:9 and symmetrical frames around the screen). I won’t say that this somehow affected ergonomics, but nevertheless, the Galaxy S22 + is quite comfortable. The only negative point may be the sharp transition between the ends and the flat back cover, reminiscent of the iPhone, but the use of a case will solve this problem. All buttons and other elements are located in convenient places, and overall dimensions are acceptable – this is still not a huge Ultra. Although it’s still not a compact smartphone, this is the prerogative of the Galaxy S22.

S22-S22+

Let’s talk about the screen and what it hides and does not hide. The front camera belongs to the second category – rumors about a UDC solution in the Galaxy S series have been circulating for more than two years, but remain rumors, and the front camera remains a hole in the screen. But, I must say, this hole is not much larger than the status bar icons, so it’s not annoying at all. But the fingerprint scanner is hidden under the display, and it is an ultrasonic sensor, which means that in terms of speed it is about the same as conventional button scanners. A light touch is enough, and the smartphone recognizes you. This is great.

S21+ – S22+

The screen itself is also cool – 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED 2X with a stunning peak brightness of 1750 nits. Indeed, if you turn the screen to maximum brightness with the high brightness option turned on, it shines so brightly that it is uncomfortable to look at it indoors. But in the summer it will be comfortable on the street under the sun, and auto-brightness will help you at home. Well, how will it help – the brightness will decrease, but the PWM will increase, it goes off scale with a dim glow. Moreover, the Koreans are also in no hurry to compensate for this with the help of a high flicker frequency. Hertsovka works almost everywhere; touch – 120 Hz in the interface and 250 Hz in games.

S21+ and S22+

Little things. There are stereo speakers, of course, but the top one is much inferior to the bottom one, so this is a typical “one and a half”. Vibro is good, but in terms of its software support, Samsung is still inferior to Xiaomi. You cannot insert a memory card, only two nano-SIMs are supported. There is no headphone jack, and this, unfortunately, has already become a tradition for Samsung flagships.

Software 

S22+ – S22

It probably doesn’t make sense to talk about One UI 4.1 and Android 12 for a long time. A functionally and graphically rich shell with its own recognizable visual style, which, however, fits well with the motley appearance of Android applications. And which, although Samsung does not officially emphasize it anywhere, goes well with the design of the smartphone. Problems with the speed of work, which Eugene complained about in the Galaxy S22 Ultra, I did not notice here – perhaps this is a consequence of a lower screen resolution. Or maybe updates.

cameras 

The Samsung Galaxy S22+ received a major overhaul of the cameras compared to its predecessor. Only the 12-megapixel wide (1/2.55″, 1.4 μm, EGF 13 mm) remained unchanged, which did not receive autofocus. The main camera finally received a Quad Bayer sensor (50 megapixels, 1/1, 56″, 1 micron, EGF 23 mm) – but in promotional materials, the manufacturer emphasizes highly transparent optics and more efficient OIS. Finally, a full-fledged telephoto lens appeared (10 MP, 1 / 3.94 “, 1 micron, EGF 70 mm => 3x zoom). Yes, this somewhat improved the quality of images at close approximation, but frames from 1.5-2-2 ,5x are now filmed on the main camera with digital zoom, and Samsung has lost this strong point.

Firstly, I really want to praise the optics: shots against the light and other scenarios where glass could potentially be blocked, the Samsung Galaxy S22 + works out gorgeously. Algorithms also help a lot – HDR looks much more natural than many other manufacturers. In other scenarios, in good light, the pictures also turn out great, and the quality varies little from camera to camera. In fact, the only weak point of the S22 + in daytime shooting is macro: not only is the wide area without autofocus not suitable for this scenario, but there is some kind of jamb in the main camera. In close-ups, it always focuses a little further on the subject, and it is out of focus. Perhaps this will be corrected with updates, but so far – an obvious problem.

But with night shooting, the situation is a little more complicated. Yes, in some examples I managed to feel the same Nightography that the Koreans boast about so much. Cool colors, great detail. But this is only on the main camera and only in half of the cases. The TV almost never shoots at night (digital zoom is used), the width lacks detail, and it confuses colors. The main camera also has problems with color reproduction, the pictures turn yellow or green. But if you’re lucky, the frame will be really cool.

S21+ and S22+

Video! All four cameras of the Samsung Galaxy S22+ can record 2160p@60fps video, but you can only switch between three of them during shooting: the main camera, the telephoto camera, and the front camera. And for some reason you can’t switch to wide (in 2160p @ 30fps – you can). There is also a 4320p@24fps video recording function, but this is not very relevant, and the phone is noticeably dull at this resolution. At 2160p@60fps, you get rich, detailed, and sound video. At night, the picture on the main camera is also good thanks to OIS, the other modules are much weaker.

And since we talked about the video on the front camera, then we need to talk about the photo on the front camera. Although there is nothing special to talk about – the frontalka is like a frontalka. Unless they brought autofocus, so you will always be clear, and not like a selfie from less expensive smartphones. By default, the front camera makes a crop, I don’t know why. I prefer pictures from the entire matrix, for this you need to switch in the interface, as it were, to width.

Performance and Benchmarks 

By tradition, in different countries, Samsung sells flagships with different processors, according to exactly the same tradition, the Russians got Exynos. The 2022 chip is called Exynos 2200, it’s a 4nm die with the following core layout: 1 x X2 + 3 x A710 + 4 x A510 (A710 and A510 are sequels to A78 and A55, respectively). The most intriguing aspect of the chipset is the Xclipse 920 graphics, developed in collaboration with AMD. It was expected to be a breakthrough, but it turned out just a good modern graphics. Worse than 8 Gen 1, but better than 888/870.

Samsung remains committed to a rather bizarre flagship phone processor tuning that prioritizes case temperature over processor performance. Indeed, very strong throttling is combined with the fact that the body of the Galaxy S22 + remains only slightly warm after a half-hour test. Why it was not easy to put here the Snapdragon 870 or some other chip of a similar level – it is not clear, the performance would have hardly suffered, and the cost could have been drastically reduced.

Samsung takes a similar approach in games, trying by hook or by crook to keep the smartphone from quickly discharging and heating up during gaming, and not squeezing the maximum out of it. There is even a feature in the game settings that allows you to lower the fps in games to 48 so that the battery drains more slowly – how did they even come up with this? Against the backdrop of mass criticism, the Koreans are gradually adding options that allow you to disable performance degradation, but they are all hidden deep in the menu and the average user is unlikely to guess that they exist. If you are interested, Eugene in the video talks in detail about all the settings, but I will pretend to be a fool and play with the default ones.

S21+ – S22+

For not the most demanding games like Standoff 2 or PUBG: New State, the smartphone fits well, even with maximum settings, the gameplay is extremely comfortable in them. ARK: Survival Evolved with “Epic” graphics is also running stably – but with consistently low fps. You get used to it pretty quickly, but still the flagships of other manufacturers offer the best gaming experience (although ARK does not start at all on many devices). Well, in Genshin Impact, the situation is quite sad, there, at the maximum graphics, the lags are stronger than on smartphones with Snapdragon 778G inside. And this is not the merit of iron (as we saw from the benchmarks, it is not bad), but the gaming optimization by Samsung.

The battery capacity is 4500 mAh, a step down from the 4800 mAh in the S21+. I used a phone with forced 120hz and auto brightness, I got around 6 hours of screen on a single charge in my scenarios (video, browsing, messengers, some camera, some games). A full day, from dawn to dusk, the smartphone will last under any circumstances (only if you don’t scoff at it at all), and more is not so important. Synthetics at maximum brightness: 16% for two hours of video, 15% for an hour in Genshin Impact.

S22 – S22+ – S22 Ultra

Another problem is that if you suddenly forget to put it on charge at night, there will be problems in the morning – the phone only supports 45-W charging, and that is only branded. And there is no block in the kit, so you will probably charge the phone with what you have to, and it will not be as fast as with Chinese smartphones. But there is Qi and PMA wireless charging up to 15W.

conclusions 

S22+ – S22

The Samsung Galaxy S22 is indeed a very balanced phone. Good, but not the most top-end cameras; good, but not the most top-end screen; good, but not the top stuffing; good, but not the top software. Therefore, if you want a good, but not the most top-end smartphone for 3-4-5 years of active use, which will receive updates and just work stably, the Galaxy S22+ is for you. But if you need a super camera phone, a gaming device or the most functional working machine, then take a closer look at other models. And, of course, I leave out the question of price, because now even the 128 GB version retails from 75,000 rubles, which makes the Korean flagship inaccessible to most buyers.

© Oleg Lazarev. mobile phone