Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus is a good twist , even if it does n’t brook as one of the newest Samsung phones .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Galaxy S22 Plus sits in the middle of Samsung ’s Galaxy S22 orbit – it is n’t as feature - rich as the S22 Ultra , but it offer more concealment real to play with than the Galaxy S22 .
With a with child screen , a various camera array , and impressive performance capabilities , it seems to have everything you might want in a speech sound , even if Samsung has released theGalaxy S23 Plusas a successor .
Design and Screen
The minute I took it out of the box it was immediately apparent that the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus is without a doubtfulness a adept calculate phone , even more so when in the jolly pink shade of our followup French telephone .
With glossy alloy side and a insidious frosted glass back ( a qualitative improvement on the inauspicious pliant panel of theGalaxy S21 ) , this telephone set both looks and experience like a premium French telephone . The front - facing camera is house in a pocket-size holepunch notch in the centre of the display , while the triple rearward cameras are packed together in a softly swerve module on the back , which hardly protrudes at all from the back .
I encounter this French telephone perfectly manageable and easy to use with just one hand , weighing 195 gram and being very slim at 7.6 mm . Taking all of this in mind , many user could well prefer this over the tremendous and fairly unwieldy S22 Ultra which we found difficult to apply one handed during examination .
as luck would have it this phone is n’t just a pretty face ; it ’s sturdy too , with anIP68 ratingshowing strong resistance against dust or water ingress , and with the front and back being made out of highly durable Gorilla Glass Victus Plus . During testing the machine has go the wear and tear of everyday use and an accidental drop unharmed .
The 6.6 - column inch AMOLED screen is one of the area where this gadget really excels . I ’ve been finding it intemperate to switch off this gorgeous showing , which is smooth , vivid , and has brilliant colour accuracy get message really shine .
Whether watch video , playing game , or scroll on societal medium , this screen is excellent at any job it turned its hand to and it was just a joy to use .
It ’s deserving noting that the resolution is n’t at the absolute peak of what we ’ve seen on smartphones , being bettered by theSamsung Galaxy S22 Ultra , theSony Xperia 1 III , and theXiaomi 12 Proto name three phones with WQHD+ resolutions . However I never peculiarly felt this to be a big loss , even when streaming eminent tone content . Content uniformly seem piercing during testing and I ’ve found myself regularly using it to teem video while transpose . Samsung stuck with the same solving for the S23 Plus .
While this finicky screen spec might not have been at the very top of its secret plan , it ’s fair to say that the rest very much are . The 120Hz adaptive refresh rate see super smoothness when you need it most , like playing 120fps games or scroll through social media feeds , but mechanically reduce otherwise to lay aside barrage fire life . The HDR10 + funding shit supported content , such as many Netflix shows , really “ pop ” out of the screen and look more appealing than ever . And the 1750 nits maximum brightness have in mind that this screens stays legible and appealing even when you ’re look at it under the brightest sunlight .
Both the invention and screen have been splendid in my experience , with the former being classy but live and the latter being entrancing to use even if the resolution is not advantageously - in - course .
Camera
There are three detector in the television camera faculty ; a independent wide angle tv camera , an ultrawide sensor , and a telephotograph lens .
There are a couple of changes here compared to the olderGalaxy S21 Plus , most notably the wide angle camera now being 50 - megapixels rather than 12 - megapixels , while the telephotograph is now 10 - megapixels with 3x optic zoom rather than 64 - megapixels with 1.1x optical zoom . The ultrawide remains more or less the same , with a 120 - grade field of view and a 12 - megapixel resolution .
execute the two question - to - top dog , we found the Ultra offers more versatility , bearing in mind that it ’s got an superfluous periscope telephotograph photographic camera on board , but I rarely find myself in need of a 10x optical zoom such as that anyway . This will only be really useful if you regularly need to bewitch effigy that are far off , like at concerts or sports match . But give the state of the existence and how steadfast you need to hold in the Ultra to get good results in these consideration , it ’s far from a deal breaker in my mind .
In mundane scenario I discover that whichever electron lens you prefer to use , you ’ll find that the mental image you take are packed with point and people of colour . In fact , you might find colouring to be a little over - emphasised in some contexts . I in person prefer the more neutral true to life results you get using aPixel 7 ProoriPhone 14 Pro , though the Samsung approaching to effigy processing will in all likelihood go down very well with Instagram addict .
For example , I use up the above image with the principal sensing element on a very overcast and rainy day , and the depth of color were still emphasized where other cameras could have churned out a more scummy image .
The above image was taken by the chief photographic camera on a sunnier daylight in Barcelona ; standing in the same position , I took the below picture using the ultrawide sensing element .
As you could see , there ’s a fairly undifferentiated wait to the figure of speech when taken by those unlike sensors , without there being a Brobdingnagian bead - off in quality or tone between the two .
Again , the above pic was taken with the main camera on a cloudy daylight in London , while the below was take away from the same position with the ultrawide sensor instead .
It ’s always handy to have high - performing petty sensors such as this for dissimilar contexts . When I wanted to squeeze more into the frame when expect down the canal , I again could practice the ultrawide to get a good result than the main camera :
The telephoto sensor , equipped with 3x optical zoom , is another useful accession to your picture taking arsenal . Heading out of the office in the late afternoon , I require the below double with the main sensing element :
Then , using the telephotograph sensor to zoom in on the distant business office block , this was the resulting photo :
As you could see , it still appears shrill and lively , despite such an telling level of soar .
Turning to lowlight photography , and I stress out the photographic camera first without Night Mode switched on , the solvent on which you could see above . Then , I tried out the same view with Night Mode apply , as shown below :
Both results are good , but the colours are well preserved when Night Mode is applied . In another context , where there were n’t so many promising twinkle to make out with , I try it once again .
take very late , with nothing but moonlight for illumination , there ’s still quite a destiny of detail here even though there ’s not much colour . But when tried with Night Mode on , as below , much of the colour has been restored for a more attractive photo :
As you’re able to see , you’re able to numerate on the Galaxy S22 Plus ’ rearward camera system to deliver telling pictures in a variety of dissimilar context .
The selfie photographic camera , which clocks in at 32 - megapixels , also deliver sharp and punchy images , with an excellent bokeh effect that neatly rationalise around the subject for an impactful “ popping ” effect .
Overall , I was very happy with the photographic execution , and it ’s decipherable that this phone has a versatile and high - timber camera frame-up .
Performance
There are two possible variants within the S22 Plus modeling when it get to the chipset , with some running on theSnapdragon 8 Gen 1(in the US and India , among others ) and the Exynos 2200 ( mostly in Europe ) , and the latter is the one that we tested . Samsung swop up this approach with S23 , sticking to the sameSnapdragon 8 Gen 2for Galaxy chip shot across the whole line .
You ’d expect a flagship gadget such as this to excel when the C.P.U. is put through its footstep , and fortunately , this handset converge all our expectation .
You ’ll discover that it has no problem whatsoever when dealing with whichever routine apps you ’re using on the day - to - Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , and when booting up serious game the phone is a delectation , easily able-bodied to handle the most demanding title of respect on their highest usable preferences .
Test Data
The Galaxy S22 Plus ’ CPU dozens put it in the very top level of Android handsets ( though are easy beaten by theiPhone 13range ) , and its GPU scores have only been beaten by the Red Magic 7 , a consecrated gaming phone that only of late passed through our labs .
The computer software at launching was Android 12 , with Samsung ’s OneUI 4.1 software system go on top – however this has since been bumped up to a more recent version and will pick up some of the features you ’ll find on the S23 Plus . This is quite a heavy overlay as things go , that is very different from the bleak - ivory look you ’ll get from Google ’s phones .
Some notifications can be opened as a pop - up on your screen , rather than going into the full app every metre , and there ’s a taskbar vibrate at the edge of the screen that you’re able to swipe across to reveal your favourite apps . If you ’re not used to these lilliputian features then you might notice them getting in the room at first , but once you become accustomed to the changes then you ’ll likely find them to be useful additions to the standard Android software , as I have during my calendar week with the headphone .
What ’s more , Samsung has finally stepped up and promised five year of security updates and “ up to ” four generations of Android operating organisation with this gadget , significantly lengthening its useable lifespan .
Battery Life
The speech sound runs off a 4500mAh capacity battery , which is a solid size without being exceptional . Despite this I still found the S22 Plus would well see me through a twenty-four hour period ’s regular use . Things get a little uncollectible with heavy economic consumption , however .
On a very busy day with this sound , where I streamed an hour of video , made ample economic consumption of Google Maps , read an eBook for three quarter of an hour , and spent a couple of hours scrolling through social medium apps , like Twitter , I got through 5 hours of screen - on time and the battery was down to 5 % .
It just about get me through , without much breathing room to give up , but I ’d look at this to be an unusually busy day for me – whereas day of more standard and spar usage look me experience around 30 % of the battery leave when it came to bedtime . That said , there are plenty of other phones that can perform better than this , peculiarly the iPhone 13 series and some mid - rangers like theSamsung Galaxy A52 , so if battery is a mellow priority for you then this handset is n’t the best option .
The machine is said to provide 45W fast - charging , however there ’s no institutionalize brick useable in the box seat ( ostensibly for the environmental reason of reducing electronic waste ) so you ’ll have to fork out for your own or re - use an honest-to-goodness one . Samsung claims you may get 50 % thrill in just 20 minutes when using a 45W charger .
I used a 67W charger that I had held over from theOnePlus Nord CE 2 5 gramme , but plainly , this was capped well below its rating as the phone charged up to 50 % in 65 minutes , and all the way up to 100 % in 140 minutes .
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Should you buy it?
If you ’re looking for an exceptional all - round flagship that ’s not enormous or inordinate . This earpiece covers all the base of what you need from a flagship , without any obvious weak spot .
If you ’re on a budget , or barrage fire is a top priority . This is not a tawdry earphone by any means , and you’re able to find many enticing alternatives at lower prices , which may also pop the question good barrage fire life sentence .
Final Thoughts
The universe of theSamsung Galaxy S23series might think of that many disregard this phone in favour of its newer sibling . However , I ’d say there ’s still a lot here to care even a year on from release .
I continue highly impressed by pretty much every facet of this machine , from the immersive screen to the various photographic camera system to the punchy performance , and it bump off the sweet-scented spot of not being bogged down with redundant feature of speech while still extend a complete and comprehensive software to cover your need .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every mobile sound we review thoroughly . We use diligence standard exam to equate lineament properly and we habituate the phone as our primary equipment over the reassessment period . We ’ll always tell you what we find and we never , ever , accept money to review a product .
FAQs
you’re able to grease one’s palms it in Phantom Black , White , Pink Gold , Green , Graphite , Sky Blue , Violet , or Cream
Yes , it is rated IP68 , which mean it is protected from dust ingress and can defy ducking under piss
Samsung has promised “ up to four generations of Android group O acclivity and five years of security updates . ”
