Hands on: Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra review

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Samsung's top of the line Galaxy S22 Ultra smartphone is here and it is categorically the most powerful Ultra to date. The headline-grabber is the built-in S Pen. This is the first time the stylus has been included on an S series device (housed in the casework, it pops out when pressed from the unit's underside), adopted from Samsung's now defunct Note series. However, the arrival of a 4nm processor is arguably the most important inclusion, since it represents the fastest CPU on a Galaxy device yet. 

As has become customary with Samsung's range-topping smartphone, camera upgrades are also high on the agenda. Here, the claim is Samsung's brightest and smoothest video and Nightography features (thanks to a two-times faster NPU which enables better night-time shots, even in very low light) and "completely different" snapper hardware. 

Having spent some time with Samsung's newest flagship phone, these are our initial thoughts... 

• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Samsung) for £79 upfront with Unlimited of data for only £38 per month from Three

The Galaxy S22 costs £769 / $799 (128GB) and £819 / $849 (256GB); the Galaxy S22+ is £949 (128GB) or £999 (256GB) and the S22 Ultra is £1149 / $1199 (128GB), £1249 (256GB) or £1329 (512GB). 

The Galaxy S22 phones will be available to pre-order on 9th February, and be released on 25th February.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra is 6.8-in of Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, all measured on the diagonal. That's the same measurement as that of the S21 Ultra – although the S22 Ultra is a far more angular beast than its older sibling. 

And it feels very good indeed in the palm. The casework is now made from more durable armour aluminium plus another exclusive, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+, on the front and back of the device. Samsung says this makes it 12 per cent stronger than its predecessor. It is available in Phantom Black, Phantom White and new, sophisticated Green and Burgundy hues, all of which look and feel lustrous and high-end.

The phone is powered by a 4nm processor, the fastest CPU of any Galaxy device, and fuelled by a battery that can go from 0-50 per cent charged in under 20 minutes. Do note, though, that this battery has the same 5000mAh rating as that found in the S21 Ultra. The operating speed of the S22 is, says Samsung, up to two times faster than in the S21.

The S Pen pops out when you press the tactile button on the far left of the underside of the unit, which is still remarkably thin and light given that it is now housing extra stylus hardware.

Elsewhere, the phone includes, for the first time ever, a material derived from fishing nets. These nets are transformed into polyamide resin pellets that can be used as an eco-friendly alternative to traditional plastic. We'd never have guessed at the watery origins of the material, such is the rock-solid feel of the device, which also carries an IP68 water- and dust-proof rating for both the S Pen and handset.

But that's not all: post-consumer materials such as CD cases and water bottles have also been used in small quantities in the phone's components (the inner part of the power and volume keys; the inner speaker module), and all of the S Series packaging has been reduced in volume by 19 per cent of package since the S21, or 51 per cent compared to the S20 – good to know.

Samsung's claim is 1750nits peak brightness on the S22 Ultra and S22 Plus – that makes them the brightest Galaxy smartphones to date, and we can tell you that, based on our short time with it, this display looks like it could be one of the most immersive and engaging yet to grace a phone, boasting possibly the broadest colour palette.

Galaxy S22 Ultra's S Pen experience boasts significant improvements over any S Pen that has gone before it too. The built-in S22 Ultra S Pen's hardware has been adapted to reduce the latency as you write on the S22 Ultra's screen, from 9ms to 2.8ms. And if that sounds like a huge improvement, it is. 

Writing feels exceptionally smooth and natural, helped by an upgrade to Wacom's handwriting component, which is itself enhanced by an AI-based coordinate prediction technology. Basically, this phone and S Pen combination is better at understanding your handwriting and can guess what you're trying to write or draw with greater intelligence. But if you want to get more technical, the new Wacom IC improves the speed of coordinates delivered from the S Pen to the S22 Ultra display, from 360 to 480 circuits per second – and the AI tech even boosts the latency reduction. 

There's also an advanced Handwriting to Text feature, boasting a higher recognition rate to transform your rushed scrawl into cleanly typed notes, and it now works in up to 88 languages, which is 12 more than usual. 

All in all, it's a joy to write with – and while it could be considered gimmicky, the S Pen inclusion is far from it here, opening myriad doors to make using your phone more productive, as well as being more fun. 

While we're on the subject of note-taking, there are also two major new features in Samsung Notes. The first is Quick Note, which lets you attach or link to content easily, in a pop-up note, when using apps including Samsung Internet, Messages and Gallery, thus reducing the number of steps (aka time and energy) when trying to share content. 

To optimise its multi-device usage experience (and keep you locked within Samsung's ecosystem), the second new feature is Collaboration View, which promises seamless syncing between Galaxy S22 Ultra and the brand new Tab S8 Series. Start sketching in Samsung Notes on your Tab S8, for example, connect to your Galaxy S22 Ultra and you'll be able to change your colour palette, pen width and settings on the smartphone, thus reserving the entire tablet screen for your creation. 

Crucially, the S22 Ultra should also prove more efficient, because Samsung now has an answer for the power consumption incurred by low latency browsing. The firm's intelligent software algorithm promises to actually analyse your power usage and make smart decisions about it. When gaming, for example, the AI can detect small time gaps where it can 'rest' the wi-fi radio and conserve energy (when hiding from the gun-toting bad guys, say). With this AI-based software optimisation, Samsung claims gamers can save an average chipset power consumption of 30 per cent, without sacrificing performance. Although we didn't have enough time with the S22 Ultra to fully test this claim, it's an impressive statement. 

As introduced with the S21 series, you're also getting Samsung's Knox Vault security to protect your data, and thanks to the adoption of ARM's new architecture (which brings improved security features to the OS such as Pointer Authentication [PAC] and Branch Target Identifiers [BTI]) the S22 Ultra should level up the fight against privacy breaches yet again.

Samsung claims the main camera hardware on the S22 Ultra is "completely different" and, having used it, we can well believe that. It includes the firm's new Adaptive Pixel Tech, allowing the capture of 108MP (Re-mosaic mode) and 12MP (Nona-binning mode) images at the same time to create a more detailed and brighter image. The dual telephoto lenses (both 10MP, one with 3x optical zoom and one with 10x) are also different and promise a crisper zoomed-in image, and the sensor is now re-engineered for optimal performance in low-lighting. 

It now has a "massive" 108MP sensor with pixels that are 1.23 times brighter than those of the S21 Ultra. This bigger, higher-resolution sensor, combined with Samsung's Multi-Frame Processing tech, blends multi-exposure frames for seriously levelled-up night photography and actually processes four times more data to sharpen your images. 

A quick glance at the back reveals a veritable smorgasbord of lenses. In layman's terms, only the 40MP front camera and the 12MP ultra-wide camera remain untouched from the older-generation S21 Ultra – but the way in which they're implemented is very different. 

We test it briefly against the S21 Ultra, taking a snap zoomed in at 23x on each, an increment Samsung tells us is one of the most oft-used across its fanbase. The S22 reveals an image that pops with greater crispness, breadth and depth of colour, even in natural light.

When snapping in low-light scenarios, the S22 Ultra also appears to rise into a class all of its own, capturing a cocktail bartender's flaring in ways most smartphones can only dream of. 

In terms of videography, (which apparently accounts for 80 per cent of all consumer internet traffic these days) the highest resolution frame rate is 8K@24fps (i.e. the same as the S21 Ultra) with 120Hz refresh rate, but Samsung has introduced plenty of new features here thanks to that new NPU. It has, for example, added support for AI-based Auto focus, Super Steady System and Super HDR in a bid to sharpen details and reduce noise and physical movement, especially in low light conditions. 

Samsung is clearly proud of it all too, claiming it is the firm's "best AI camera ever". 

The S22 Ultra is able to detect people within five metres and can track up to 10 people in order to automatically pan out or adjust, to keep them all in-frame. And, if you select one individual, your phone will track them, adjusting the zoom to always place them in the centre of a shot. 

We test all of this, even prancing around Samsung's HQ only to find the recorded footage has been massaged free of practically all lumps and bumps. When taking a group shot, the lens quickly pans in or out of its own volition, with little squares around each face, making sure every individual is in frame. Essentially, your big night out photo game just went up by at least two levels. 

The new Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra betters its older sibling in several key aspects, including snappier processing, improved photography (particularly at night) greater efficiency, a more eco-conscious design and of course the built-in S Pen – which is the best S Pen experience we've tested to date and the most akin to actually writing on a non-digital surface.

Of course, as a flagship device it comes with a hefty recommended retail price (although, with prices starting at £1149 / $1199 /approximately AU$1849, it's the same launch price as the S21 Ultra) if you can afford it, the added perks mean there's an awful lot to like. And having held it, the IP68-rated S22 Ultra (a rating which applies to the S Pen as well as the device itself) feels practically unbreakable too. 

Could Samsung's Galaxy S22 Ultra finally tempt iOS-lovers into the premium Android realm? We think it might. The superior user experience is aided by slick and helpful S Pen support which, when added to its especially vibrant display and finished off with remarkable photography features, presents the most compelling case yet for abandoning the Apple cart.

But, of course, we'll save our final judgement for the full review.

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