Welcome to the future. The Galaxy S22 is the entry-level device in Samsung’s flagship lineup for this year. Indeed, it lacks the larger screen on the S22 Plus and the premium (and cool) features of the S22 Ultra but there is a extreme danger on focusing on what the S22 doesn’t have.

Look at it this way: Opt for the S22 and you’ll get the same Snapdragon 8 Gen1 chipset that powers the flashier siblings, you get the same bright display and impressive camera than the S22 Plus. Whilst being £180 cheaper!

Design

Samsung experimented wth the polycarbonate back for the S21 whilst the newer S22 sports upgrades in materials. A new aluminimum band around the middle and glass back bolsters the durability. Although, PSA we don’t recommend throwing your new S22 at or onto any hard surfaces.

The design is the same as last year’s Galaxy S Flagshp. From the countour cut look for the rear camera array to the camera bump which blends into the device’s side. Colour wise you get Phantom Black, Phantom White, Green & Pink Gold – ordering direct from Samsung also let’s you choose graphite, cream, sky blue and violet.

Display

Samsung looked to improve display brightness across the board on the Galaxy S22 lineup. And while the Galaxy S22 Plus & S22 Ultra get the better end of the deal with a peak brightness of 1,750 nits, the S22’s 1,300-nit peak brightness is nothing to ignore.

SDR, we used a light meter to measure peak brightness at 672 nits, though with HDR turned on, that reading reached 1,152 nits. To put those numbers in context, the iPhone 13 hit 795 nits of brightness when we tested that display.

Camera

The Galaxy S22 features the same basic camera setup that Samsung used for the Galaxy S21, but with some notable improvements to the hardware.

The main camera now has a 50MP rating instead of the 12MP wide-angle shooter used in last year’s phone.

The sensor is 23% larger, too, to let in more light, as Samsung makes a push to improve camera performance in low light.

Overall

A phone that grows old with grace. Unlike so many of the competitors out there – the Samsung Galaxy S22 is a unique phone that Samsung can keep tweaking to get the best out of the unit. Eventually, they will need to perform a massive overhaul but for now – keep at it!