It has to be said that the price of flagship mobile phones is getting more and more expensive now. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra released this year all came to a price of nearly $1200. The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra’s various configurations are indeed powerful, but for some users who don’t want to spend nearly $1,200 on a budget, the $1,000 Samsung Galaxy S22+ is relatively a more acceptable price range.

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01/ Still not heavy, but the feel is slightly compromised

Since the S20 series, the front of Samsung‘s flagship mobile phones has always been shaped like a hole in the middle. This solution is also continued on the Samsung Galaxy S22+, and compared to the curved screen of the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the straight-screen film of the Galaxy S22+ is much more convenient, so there is no need to worry about reflections on the edges of the screen. This pink gold Galaxy S22+ should be very popular with girls, and the rear three cameras are still vertically arranged in the upper left corner. The Galaxy S22+’s design isn’t much different from the Galaxy S21+, either on the front or the back.

But it would be wrong to say that the design is exactly the same as the Galaxy S21+, the difference is mainly reflected in the middle frame area. When holding the phone, you can clearly feel that the middle frame area is a lot thicker. Although it is not as angular as the right-angle bezel of the iPhone 13 series, it still has a slight arc transition. However, the corners of the frame are still slightly cut, and I still prefer the arc transition of the Galaxy S21+ in terms of feel experience. However, the weight of the fuselage is still controlled within 200g, and the weight of 195g makes it not so heavy.

02/ The charging specifications have been upgraded, and the LPTO experience is excellent

The screen resolution of the phone is 2340*1080 and supports a high refresh rate of 120Hz. The reason why 2K and high refresh rate cannot have both is mainly because the mobile phone only has a built-in 4500mAh battery, and the battery capacity does not reach 5000mAh, so the battery life may not be able to support the 2K+120Hz refresh rate. Fortunately, the Galaxy S22+ and Galaxy S22 Ultra also support 45W charging, which can relieve users’ anxiety about battery life to a certain extent.

LPTO technology enables the mobile phone to run a high refresh rate of 120Hz when it needs a smooth experience, and switch to a low refresh rate in usage scenarios that do not require a high refresh rate to reduce power consumption and prolong the battery life of the mobile phone. Some phones can even drop to a 1Hz refresh rate, including the S22 Ultra. Although the Samsung Galaxy S22+ cannot achieve a variable refresh rate as low as 1Hz, it can actually run at a refresh rate as low as 24Hz when the UI is idle. Compared with the LPTO of 1Hz-120Hz, the actual experience will not have huge difference.

It is also worth mentioning that the Samsung Galaxy S22+, a map application such as Baidu Maps, can actually support a high refresh rate of 120Hz, which is one of the few mobile phones that can achieve a high refresh rate in navigation map applications. Friends who often have navigation needs should like this function very much. It is very smooth to zoom in and out to view the surrounding information on the map. In addition, the variable high refresh rate of some video apps has also been intelligently adapted. Keep the 60Hz refresh rate when watching videos, and switch to 120Hz high refresh rate when reading reviews. However, at present, the vertical video APP such as Tik Tok can only run at a refresh rate of 60Hz.

03/ Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has strong performance, and mobile game performance is mixed

The processor of the Samsung Galaxy S22+ is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. This SOC is indeed very controversial at present, but it is undeniable that it is currently the most powerful processor in the Android camp. The AnTuTu running score reached 940839 points, the single-core score of GeekBench 5 was 1228, the multi-core score was 3458, and the stability of 3D Mark’s Wild Life Extreme Stress under 20 rounds of stress test was only 61%. It can be said that the performance results are not bad, but the stability is really worrying.

A number of Android flagship phones with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 tested before can be said to be quite awkward in terms of game performance scheduling. On the latest system version of the Galaxy S22+, the performance of the CPU and GPU is no longer limited when the game is initially run, so the performance of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 on the Samsung Galaxy S22+ can be fully utilized. “Game For Peace” can keep the full frame running of 60 frames for 30 minutes in HDR high-definition quality mode. The maximum temperature on the front of the fuselage is 43.1 ℃, and the maximum temperature on the back is 44.5 ℃. It is a pity that the Galaxy S22+ has not yet adapted to the high frame rate mode of 90 frames.

But in the game “Genshin Impact”, the Samsung Galaxy S22+ equipped with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 still can’t control it very well. The continuous running time of 60 frames only lasted about 2 minutes after starting the game, and the frame rate of the 30-minute game was mainly stable in the range of 35 frames to 40 frames. The highest temperature on the front reaches 48.7°C, and the back also reaches 47.8°C, and the heating area is concentrated in the position where the fingers are mainly held when playing games, so hot hands are inevitable. If you want to play “Genshin Impact” on this phone, you still can’t fully open the picture quality and special effects. If you can’t tolerate the problem of hot hands, you still have to compromise on the frame rate or various picture effects.

04/ Triple-camera photography is equally dazzling, and computational photography has improved

In terms of cameras, although the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra will perform more dazzlingly, the performance of the Galaxy S22+ rear triple camera is still quite good. The specification configuration of the main camera has been upgraded from 12MP to 1/1.57″ 50MP. Although the default output is still 12MP with four-in-one pixel binning, the clarity and detail of the picture are excellent. Especially in low-light environments, the performance is better. Notably, the ultra-wide-angle secondary camera is still 12MP, which is roughly the same performance as the Galaxy S21+. The telephoto camera has dropped from 64MP to 10MP, supporting 3x optical zoom and 30x digital zoom.

It is worth mentioning that the rear three cameras of the Samsung Galaxy S22+ all support night scene mode. And it can be clearly seen that Samsung has begun to exert its strength in the image algorithm. Not only does the night scene shooting restore the details of the light box, but also the HDR effect will be automatically triggered when viewing on the album after the daily shooting is completed. If you want to obtain high dynamic range proofs, there is basically no need to adjust the highlight and shadow parameters in post.

And, when we want to use the Samsung Galaxy S22+’s telephoto camera to take distant shots, it also marks the area we’re focusing on in a box in one of the corners. In this way, the target will not be lost when using the telephoto to shoot a distant moving target. Although some competing products have added this feature, it has not yet become standard on flagship phones. I hope that more mobile phone manufacturers can follow up and take the telephoto shooting experience to a higher level.

The following is a sample shot of the Samsung S22+ rear main camera:

The following is a sample shot of the Samsung S22+ rear ultra-wide-angle sub-camera:

The following is a sample shot of the Samsung S22+ rear telephoto sub-camera:

3x optical zoom

30x digital zoom

The front camera of the phone is 10MP, and you can see its selfie performance through the following samples.

04/ ONE UI 4.1 is complete and mature, with no significant shortcomings

After the operating system is upgraded to ONE UI 4, the full-screen gesture operation of side and bottom swiping is directly added to the navigation bar settings. Users who are accustomed to using full-screen gestures finally don’t have to download GoodLuck to set up, and these new users can quickly get started with Samsung phones. Side screen panels and relatively few advertising pushes are also strengths of Samsung ONE UI. It can be said that at the moment of ONE UI 4.1, Samsung’s operating system basically has no obvious shortcomings.

05/ Summary

The Samsung Galaxy S22+ doesn’t shine like the Galaxy S22 Ultra, but it’s still a full-fledged smartphone that meets the everyday needs of many users in real-world applications. In particular, the high refresh rate flat screen experience is quite powerful, and the battery life is not inferior to today’s Android flagships. If you don’t have particularly high requirements for image functions, and you don’t want to hold a relatively heavy mobile phone, among the flagship mobile phones currently on sale, buying the Samsung Galaxy S22+ is an option worth considering.

• $800 – Check latest price on AliExpress, Amazon US, Amazon DE or other Amazon countries