• 

  Samsung Galaxy S22

  Small but mighty

  Samsung's smallest S22 is the cheapest and lightest, but it's no slouch in the performance or camera department. If you want a small phone, this is your best bet.

  $700 at Samsung

• 

  Samsung Galaxy S22+

  Perfectly balanced

  The Galaxy S22+ is the perfect middle ground between the larger Ultra and the smaller S22. It features a bigger and brighter display than the S22, but it's easier to handle than the S22 Ultra's phablet-sized screen.

  $1000 at Amazon

• 

  Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

  The everything phone

  If you want a phone that does everything, the S22 Ultra is it. With four cameras, a built-in S Pen, and battery life for days, this is the best big phone around.

  $1200 at Amazon

The days of Samsung releasing just one flagship phone a year are gone. With the introduction of the Galaxy S6 Edge, the company moved to releasing multiple variations of its flagships. The S8 series saw the arrival of the "Plus" model, while the S10 series saw the lineup expand to three phones. These days, Samsung has stuck to three standard models: a basic S-series device, a larger "Plus" sibling, and an "Ultra" model, pushing boundaries in both size and power. This year we saw the Samsung Galaxy S23s launch, taking over their predecessor S22 siblings.

The S22 family had the company's most exciting phones around last year, and they're still great options if you don't need the absolute newest hardware. Not only do the Galaxy S22 and S22+ provide solid upgrades over their previous models, but the S22 Ultra effectively brought the Note back to life in everything but name. All three make for some of the best Android phones you can buy today, but unless you've got cash burning a hole in your pocket, you can pick only one. If you're unsure which of the S22 trio is right for you, there are some essential key differences to take into account.

Let's begin with a quick look at the specs for each Samsung Galaxy S22 model:

Just one look at that table makes something incredibly obvious: the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is the best of the lot in terms of specs. It has the biggest display, the most versatile camera setup, and the largest battery capacity, making it good enough to be considered one of the best 5G phones from the previous generation.

In our Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra review, we called it "the most refined piece of mobile hardware you can buy running Android today." The S23 Ultra has, of course, taken over this role since the review was written, but the S22 Ultra is still an awesome phone. That said, it's not for everyone. If you prefer a smaller screen, don't care about the S Pen, or just want to save some money, the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22+ are solid alternatives.

Build quality

Compared to other high-end flagships, the Galaxy S22 series sports as premium a build as you'd expect. They feature an Armor Aluminum chassis, which Samsung claims is its strongest frame ever used, along with Gorilla Glass Victus+ panels at the front and rear. All three phones feature IP68 certification, stereo speakers, and in-display ultrasonic fingerprint sensors. Compared to Google's Pixel series, these devices feel like true flagships built to compete with the iPhone.

The Galaxy S22 and S22+ rock similar designs, with flat edges and displays and a camera bump that blends seamlessly into the chassis. However, the Ultra feels more like a Note than an S series phone, with rounded sides, a curved display wrapping into the frame, and flat top and bottom edges. It is also noticeably thicker, allowing the camera bump to blend into the body, though the lenses do protrude a small amount. One look at the Galaxy S22 Ultra alongside the Note20 Ultra paints a clear picture of its origin.

Display

The dimensions differ significantly between the three phones. If you're a fan of small screens, the Galaxy S22 is the way to go; its 6.1-inch display is practically tiny compared to modern smartphones while still retaining a maximum brightness of 1,300 nits. The Galaxy S22+ sits in the middle of the pack, with a 6.6-inch panel with an increased max brightness of 1,750 nits. In his Galaxy S22+ review, Daniel Bader remarked that he was "constantly taken by the vividness and clarity of color and text." Both phones are slightly smaller than their 2021 predecessors, reducing screen size and battery capacity.

The Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22+ both feature flat LTPS-based panels at a 1080p resolution, with a 48-120Hz adaptive refresh rate and 240Hz touch sampling rates in Game Mode.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra is in a league of its own. Its massive 6.8-inch QHD+ (1440p) AMOLED panel is the only screen with curved edges while matching the S22+'s 1,750 nits of brightness. Samsung reserves the more power-efficient LTPO for its S22 Ultra's 6.8-inch screen that dynamically adjusts the refresh rate from 1 to 120Hz.

It also supports the S Pen stylus, now offering a reduced latency of only 2.8ms, down from 9ms on the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. While the S Pen isn't a must-have accessory for everyone, having it built into the chassis makes it a dream for taking notes and sketching while on the move. Aspiring journalists, this one's for you.

As you'd probably expect, different screen sizes also mean different physical dimensions across the board. The Galaxy S22 is a compact flagship, a dying breed in the Android world, while the S22+ is ideal for users looking for a device with a big screen but something that's still somewhat usable with one hand in most scenarios. The 6.8-inch Galaxy S22 Ultra is for power users who know what they want: the biggest possible display on a device. This phone forces you to use it with two hands in most cases.

The entire S22 lineup features in-display ultrasonic fingerprint scanners. This is the second-gen sensor that Samsung first debuted with the Galaxy S21, and, as noted in our reviews, it offers better performance than its predecessor. The security feature has continued on with the Galaxy S23 phones.

Chipset

All three phones in the lineup share the same internals. Depending on where you live, they ship with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or Samsung's Exynos 2200 chipset. Both are fabricated on the 4nm process and are 2022's flagship chips, offering notably superior GPU and AI/ML performance compared to last-gen offerings. The Ultra, however, features an upgraded cooling solution comprising a new "Gel-TIM" thermal paste that can supposedly transfer heat up to 3.5x more efficiently than previous generations, though we saw little difference in heat output in our testing. Add in the larger chassis, and the largest S22 should offer the best sustained performance in the lineup.

Unfortunately, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 isn't a perfect chip — it runs hot and can throttle quickly, issues that were fixed with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 mid-cycle. At the time, only Samsung's 2022 foldables used Qualcomm's newest chips, and all three Galaxy S22 phones remained on the older silicon. The Galaxy S23 phones have since moved on to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chips, but the S22 phones will still perform well.

The entire series ships with 8GB base RAM, but the 256GB+ storage variants of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra are equipped with 12GB RAM. The phones differ in their storage configurations, with the S22 and S22+ topping out at 256GB storage while the Ultra goes all the way up to 1TB. None of the models feature a dedicated microSD card slot, so you'll have to buy a model with enough storage to compensate for the omission.

Camera

The Galaxy S22 Ultra has the best and the most versatile camera setup in the lineup. It features a quad-camera setup consisting of a 108MP main camera and two 10MP telephoto lenses with 3x and 10x optical zoom. The regular and Plus models only feature a 50MP primary camera and a telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. The 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide lens remains the common point between the three phones.

If you want the best camera experience, the S22 Ultra is what you should go for. That's not to say the other two models are bad — the 50MP sensor will serve you just fine — but what you'll primarily miss on the non-Ultra models is the 10x optical zoom capability. All three phones sport the same camera features like 8K video recording, an improved Portrait mode, Pro mode for additional control over various camera aspects, and more. Check out our Galaxy S22 Ultra camera samples to get an idea of what its shooters can do.

The S22 and S22+ feature 10MP selfie shooters. A 40MP camera peeks out from the Galaxy S22 Ultra's 6.8-inch, hole punch display; Pixel-binning and built-in autofocus make it a great choice for selfies and video calls.

Battery life and charging

The Galaxy S22 has the smallest battery in the lineup, with a 3,700mAh battery and 25W fast charging speed. The Galaxy S22+ ships with a 4,500mAh battery, while the Galaxy S22 Ultra has a massive 5,000mAh cell. Both phones also feature faster 45W wired charging speeds. The regular S22 and the Plus model feature smaller batteries than their predecessors.

Our review found that the Ultra could last through a day with around six hours of screen time. That's not bad, but there are phones with better battery life. Battery drain tests show that the S21 Ultra and the iPhone 13 Pro Max are notably more efficient than the S22 Ultra, but your mileage will vary based on your usage.

The entire range also supports 15W wireless charging and 4.5W reverse wireless charging. Samsung only bundles a USB-C cable with the phones, so you'll have to purchase the charger separately, irrespective of which phone you buy.

Price and accessories

Unsurprisingly, Samsung's smallest model is also its cheapest, with the Galaxy S22 starting at about $700, more than a year after its launch. Next in line is the S22+, with a price tag of about $800 and deeper discounts often available. The Galaxy S22 Ultra starts at about $900, with frequent discounts as well. These phones are getting harder to find now that the S23 series has launched, but the upside is that you'll often find them on sale.

The S22 Ultra is expensive, and unless you have a specific need for the S Pen or the big display, the S22+ will serve you just fine. The regular S22 is also an awesome phone, but its battery life could fall short of your expectations if you push it hard. In our Galaxy S22 review, Commerce Editor Luke Filipowicz mentioned, "If subpar battery life doesn't scare you, it's a no-brainer purchase." Note that Samsung phones are almost always available with attractive bundles or offers, so you should save a bit of money with the best Galaxy S22 deals and trade-in values.

We've also rounded up the best cases for the Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+, and Galaxy S22 Ultra. Given that these phones are made of glass, we recommend picking up a case for protection.

Which Galaxy S22 phone should you buy?

The standard Galaxy S22 is a great option for anyone who needs a compact flagship from the previous generation. It costs the least out of the S22 series, especially now that we're seeing some deep discounts following the Galaxy S23 series release, and it's the easiest to handle thanks to its smaller size. It has the same CPU as the other models, though its battery life likely won't keep up for those who are always looking at their screen.

If you're looking for a slightly larger display that can still be handled with one hand, the Galaxy S22+ should be your first choice. It has some awesome cameras (though not as good as the Ultra model), a larger display, and a larger battery with 45W fast charging capabilities. It's a great compromise between the relatively tiny S22 and the massive S22 Ultra, and you can often find it for hundreds of dollars less than the list price now that the S23 series has launched.

The largest of the three phones, the Galaxy S22 Ultra, makes an argument with its massive 6.8-inch display, 5,000mAh battery with 45W fast charging, 108MP rear camera and 40MP front camera, and S Pen inclusion. It's the right choice for power users and for photographers who only carry a phone, and it should land the most battery life of the bunch. It's the most expensive of the three phones, though recent discounts have knocked it down past the price you would have paid for the S22 last year.