Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus second opinion review: A great compromise

The Samsung Galaxy Plus mannequin is in a considerably awkward place every year: not as feature-packed because the Extremely mannequin however not as low-cost because the vanilla mannequin. This appears to be the case in gross sales too, as preliminary home gross sales of the Galaxy S21 sequence confirmed that the S21 Plus was the least fashionable mannequin out of the three S21 telephones. A part of the reason being that the Plus mannequin hasn’t all the time utterly justified its greater price ticket over the bottom Galaxy flagship, though it tends to be an incredible cellphone by itself deserves.

Does Samsung fall into this similar entice in 2022? We’ve already topped the cellphone with our Editor’s Alternative award so we already comprehend it’s an incredible cellphone. However I needed to see for myself what actually makes the cellphone tick as the center entry within the Galaxy S22 sequence. Learn on for our Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus assessment second opinion.

Our verdict: Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus assessment

If it ain’t broke, don’t repair it

There may not be any vital modifications right here, however Samsung’s Galaxy S flagships are nonetheless top-class in 2022 with regards to design. For one, we’re glad to see Samsung sustaining its now trademark contour lower digital camera housing seen on the S21 sequence, with the digital camera bump aligning with the cellphone’s sturdy aluminum body.

The Galaxy S22 Plus additionally maintains its predecessor’s glass again (full with Gorilla Glass Victus Plus), and also you’ll be completely satisfied to know that the matte rear cowl is fairly resilient with regards to fingerprint grease. I nonetheless choose plastic backs for sturdiness causes, however that’s an article for an additional time.

Try: The very best Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus instances

Our assessment unit is the fairly neat Inexperienced variant, though the cellphone can be accessible in choices like Phantom Black, Phantom White, Pink Gold, and several other on-line unique colours (a few of which restore the Galaxy S21 Plus’ two-tone aesthetic). One neat contact is that the inexperienced colorway extends to the aluminum body as effectively.

Whereas I like the concept of extra compact smartphones, the Galaxy S22 Plus is a superb measurement. It’s considerably shorter than the likes of the Galaxy S22 Extremely however slightly bigger than the Galaxy S21 FE. In truth, Samsung truly decreased its measurement barely over the S21 Plus. This all makes for a cellphone that’s simpler to make use of one-handed than another flagships in the marketplace.

Different notable design-related options embrace an IP68 score, a pair of pleasantly loud stereo audio system, the same old quantity and energy buttons, and the anticipated USB-C connectivity. The continued lack of a microSD slot will likely be a disappointment for a lot of, particularly contemplating the highest storage mannequin caps out at 256GB. That’s a bummer on this period of paid Google Photographs storage and large recreation sizes.

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus display will look largely acquainted to S21 Plus homeowners when trying on the spec sheet. Which means you’ve received an FHD+ 120Hz flat OLED display right here, albeit with a 19.5:9 facet ratio versus the Galaxy S21 Plus’ 20:9 panel.

There are a few different tweaks, although, resembling a slight measurement lower from 6.7-inches to six.6-inches and the addition of more durable Gorilla Glass Victus Plus safety. We’d clearly nonetheless advocate slapping a case on the cellphone that protects the show, however the improved protecting glass ought to give slightly extra peace of thoughts within the occasion of a drop.

As for the display high quality, it does the job effectively sufficient, though the default auto-brightness might’ve been slightly higher. However, blacks look inky black, as you’d anticipate from an OLED display, making for a extra nice studying expertise at evening. I additionally had no downside utilizing the display in direct daylight, so that you gained’t be squinting when taking out of doors snaps or when you’re utilizing GPS navigation. The cellphone is ready to a vivid shade profile out of the field, however you may tune this or change it to the pure profile.

Samsung can be providing an adaptive refresh charge right here, ramping all the way down to 48Hz on the Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus when wanted. The cellphone experiences dropping all the way down to 24Hz when viewing photos and different comparable duties, however the firm is utilizing software program tweaks for this and the display technically solely helps a minimal of 48Hz. In any other case, these hoping for a relentless/pressured 120Hz mode is likely to be disillusioned — it’s an adaptive 120Hz or 60Hz-only affair right here. That is an comprehensible transfer to preserve juice, however the choice would’ve been welcome.

I’m additionally glad to report that the S22 Plus in-display fingerprint sensor is de facto quick and correct. It’s positively higher than the older ultrasonic sensors like these discovered on the Galaxy Notice 20 Extremely. I’d, nevertheless, prefer to see lift-to-wake being enabled by default for a seamless unlocking expertise.

Let’s discuss Exynos

Samsung has outfitted the Galaxy S22 sequence with both a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor (Africa, India, Korea, US) or the Exynos 2200 chipset (UK and remainder of Europe). We’ve already in contrast the 2 processors in a benchmark showdown, which I encourage you to learn for a full breakdown of the variations. The TL;DR model is that we discovered that the Snapdragon variant pulled forward for GPU benchmarks, however that each processors noticed large drops when it got here to sustained efficiency.

What does this imply for on a regular basis utilization although? Effectively, in day-to-day use, our Exynos-equipped Galaxy S22 Plus provided a easy expertise when it got here to internet searching, launching apps, and multitasking. Efficiency was additionally speedy sufficient when utilizing the Digital camera app, resembling switching between modes or taking 8K video, though I seen that the app can get slowed down after taking a number of full-resolution 50MP burst pictures. The latter is comprehensible given the decision and processing concerned, and it solely takes about two seconds earlier than the processing icon disappears and you may shoot once more.

Video games are a a lot stiffer check for smartphones although, particularly in gentle of the GOS throttling saga. However titles like World of Warships Blitz, Name of Obligation Cell, and PUBG Cell ran easily on the Galaxy S22 Plus. We had been additionally capable of crank up the graphics and/or body charge in these video games. Genshin Affect was a more durable job, although, working easily for probably the most half however with the occasional jankiness. I’ve positively seen extra fluid efficiency on different handsets. There’s additionally little headroom for growing graphical constancy right here, and emulator followers may run into some efficiency and compatibility points with the Exynos mannequin (we had a number of points with the AetherSX2 PS2 emulator which wouldn’t play ball with the OpenGL renderer).

As for endurance, Samsung has decreased the dimensions of the battery on this 12 months’s mannequin from 4,800mAh to 4,500mAh. That may begin ringing some alarm bells, however I positively had no issues with battery life right here. The Galaxy S22 Plus was routinely capable of ship a day and a half of on a regular basis utilization — Telegram, music, internet searching, Reddit, some video games — when set to an adaptive refresh charge.

One comparatively heavy day of utilization noticed me utilizing the cellphone through the workday for movies on YouTube or YouTube Music in addition to a podcast within the night through the audio system. I continued the subsequent day with virtually two hours of YouTube playback, the cellphone conking out at round 9:30 AM (from round 7 AM). That made for a complete of just about eight hours of screen-on time (seen above) — not dangerous in any respect.

You’re additionally getting 45W charging on the Plus variant for the primary time, although Samsung isn’t offering a charger within the field. You’ll particularly want a USB Energy Supply PPS charger for the easiest speeds, so try our information for one of the best choices.

The Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus share the identical rear digital camera system, particularly a 50MP major lens, a 12MP ultrawide digital camera, and a 10MP 3x telephoto shooter. The principle and telephoto cameras are marked upgrades in idea over predecessors, however what about in apply?

The 50MP major shooter does a comparatively nice job through the day, as photographs have a pleasing quantity of saturation with out going overboard. The principle shooter captures an excellent stage of resolvable element, whereas the dynamic vary is pleasantly vast too. The one main draw back to the principle digital camera is that the shallow depth of area means you may’t get as near topics as you’d like in comparison with 12MP snappers. However this is a matter that different 50MP telephones should take care of as effectively given the sensor measurement.

See additionally: The very best digital camera telephones

Samsung’s major digital camera additionally typically does an incredible job at evening. The usual mode is darkish however retains noise in verify, whereas the evening mode right here does an excellent job of brightening the scene and lowering noise. It’s not all the time as clear as one thing just like the Vivo X70 Professional Plus which I reviewed not too way back, but it surely’s nonetheless nice when the solar goes down.

It’s additionally clear that the ultrawide digital camera is stable however wants some work. Colours aren’t all the time constant between it and the principle digital camera, with the ultrawide going for a extra saturated, overly-contrasty take a look at occasions. There’s additionally a notable step up in nook softness and noise (verify the noisy leaves within the picture of the bench above). Lastly, it lacks autofocus and subsequently a macro mode. It nonetheless does a ok job through the day, but it surely’s not best-in-class.

Moreover, the ultrawide digital camera disappoints at evening, with photos being darker and presenting extra noise than the principle digital camera. Fortunately, the evening mode tames this noise and produces a pleasing, vivid picture, though noise discount can smear away element in apparent locations.

In the meantime, the 10MP 3x telephoto digital camera is a welcome addition right here, marking the primary time for the reason that Galaxy S10 that Samsung truly included an actual telephoto digital camera on its middle-weight mannequin because the earlier two relied on hybrid zoom to transcend 1.1x optical zoom. Photos taken with the 3x optical digital camera provide a stable quantity of element and good dynamic vary. Colours aren’t all the time in keeping with the principle digital camera, however they’re shut sufficient. Change to 10x zoom and you may get usable photos for social media, however you’ll positively discover the watercolor impact, washed-out colours, and a basic lack of element. Evidently, 30x zoom pictures aren’t that nice.

Selfies are dealt with effectively for probably the most half through the 10MP digital camera. The cellphone captures loads of element whereas dynamic vary is nice right here, balancing my face and backlit scenes with out concern. In saying so, portrait mode is vulnerable to main depth errors once in a while, as you may see with my hair within the seaside picture additional up the web page.

Digital camera shootout: Samsung Galaxy S22 Extremely vs Galaxy S22 Plus

Very like the previous couple of generations of Galaxy flagships, the S22 Plus tops out at 8K/24fps recording but additionally gives 4K/60fps video as effectively. The corporate’s Tremendous Regular video mode is accessible right here as effectively, providing improved stabilization. Sadly, the mode nonetheless solely captures a most of 1080p/60fps, versus 4K/30fps. However that’s about par for the course for the remainder of the business. Video high quality is nice right here, as you’d anticipate from Samsung, though I a lot choose 4K/60fps or the Tremendous Regular choice over the extra juddery 8K mode.

You’ve additionally received quite a lot of different modes right here, such because the useful Single Take mode, hyperlapse, and Director’s View. Dive into the pre-installed picture editor and also you’ll additionally discover an Object Eraser that now gives reflection and shadow removing. I’d love a protracted publicity mode right here, however the cellphone nonetheless has one of many extra spectacular digital camera suites in the marketplace.

One UI to rule all of them

It’s laborious to argue that One UI isn’t among the finest third-party Android skins, providing a ton of options in addition to an aesthetic that isn’t as polarizing as others on the market.

The Galaxy S22 Plus specifically ships with One UI 4 atop Android 12, and it’s typically plain crusing right here. The pores and skin is performant for probably the most half, whereas Samsung additionally lastly consists of the Uncover display on the left-most house display by default now.

There are a few annoyances, nevertheless, resembling energy + quantity down being the default method to entry the facility menu. This may be modified, but it surely nonetheless feels clumsy. In any case, you now have two totally different actions for turning on and turning off the cellphone.

I did discover a bizarre bug that sees the display often turning off, though contact inputs are nonetheless detected. Hit the facility button and the display briefly activates earlier than turning off once more — you’ll have to hit the facility button a second time and unlock the cellphone to maintain the display on. Nonetheless, that is the one main bug I noticed throughout my time with the system, and it’s doubtless that that is associated to the pre-production software program on the check unit I used. We didn’t see some of these points on our retail Galaxy S22.

Samsung can be forward of even Google with regards to replace commitments, pledging 4 years of OS updates and 5 years of safety patches for the Galaxy S22 sequence. In the meantime, Google is ready to match the safety patch pledge however limits OS updates to 3 years. Effectively accomplished, Samsung.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus assessment second opinion: The decision

Samsung’s Plus telephones have been caught in a clumsy center floor for a few generations now, however the Galaxy S22 Plus definitely makes a powerful case for being the corporate’s greatest Plus providing so far. Between the prolonged endurance, up to date rear digital camera system, dedication to updates, and nice measurement, there’s actually rather a lot to love right here, and it matches up effectively to different $1,000 flagships.

In saying so, the usual Galaxy S22 ($799) is nearly an identical to the Plus variant save for the a lot smaller display and hobbled battery life. You’re nonetheless getting the identical succesful silicon, versatile cameras, slick display, and premium extras (IP68, wi-fi charging, glass again). Samsung does present some extras to the Plus within the type of 45W charging help (vs 25W charging on the S22), in addition to Wi-Fi 6E and UWB help, however you might want to resolve whether or not these extras are price spending $200 extra. Talking of spending extra, there’s all the time the elite choice: the Samsung Galaxy S22 Extremely ($1,199).

Don’t miss: The very best Samsung telephones

There’s additionally one other notable competitor within the Google Pixel 6 Professional ($899), coming in at $100 cheaper and bringing a sharper display, even larger battery, and a periscope zoom digital camera. However Samsung’s flagship has superior software program help and is way extra broadly accessible all over the world.

Lastly, we’ve received the iPhone 13 Professional ($999), sharing the identical price ticket, whereas additionally providing a 120Hz OLED display, wi-fi charging, IP68 score, and a versatile triple rear digital camera system. Apple’s cellphone does stand out because of a superior chipset on paper, a extra versatile ultrawide digital camera, and entry to an unique ecosystem. However Samsung’s cellphone additionally brings 8K recording and a bunch of different neat digital camera methods (e.g. Single Take, object erasing, and so on.).

However, those that worth a much bigger display and charging virtually each different day ought to positively hold the Galaxy S22 Plus in thoughts. It’s positively one of many extra well-rounded flagship telephones you may get.