- This is the brand new Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra,
in name at least,
but in look, feel, and function,
it's really a Galaxy Note
that's now sitting on top of the S22 lineup.
It's got the same squared off corners as a Note,
the same S Pen silo,
the same pretty much everything.
It's a Note,
and it looks every bit like an evolution of the Note 20
from two years ago.
But Samsung is sticking with the Ultra brand
instead of calling this say the S22 Note edition.
Okay then.
(bouncy music)
Here's the deal.
Samsung tells us that it used the Note
is more of an overarching experience nowadays
more than a singular device.
That makes some sense when you consider
that the S Pen works with the Z Fold 3
and some of Samsung's tablets and laptops.
Even so, I think it was a dumb decision.
The Note brand is iconic
and has more cache with consumers than the Ultra.
But, oh, well,
here we are.
But if you are one of those loyal Note fans
and you've been waiting for a new model with modern specs,
the S22 Ultra doesn't disappoint.
It's got a gorgeous 6.8-inch 1440p display
with 120 hertz max refresh rate.
Just like the rest of the lineup,
the screen is brighter than ever before
with a peak brightness of 1,750 knits.
Samsung says there's a new vision booster algorithm
that adapts the color and contrast to ensure everything
on screen stays visible even in direct sunlight.
And now the display can drop all the way down to one hertz
when there are static items on screen to save battery.
Inside the S22 Ultra is Qualcomm's latest
Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor,
its first 4-nanometer chip,
up to one terabyte of storage,
and up to 12 gigabytes of RAM,
a 5,000 milliamp hour battery with 45 watt fast charging,
reverse wireless charging, Wi-Fi 6E,
and every flavor of 5G.
No matter whether it's called a Note or Ultra,
this thing is still a specs beast.
And it's also IP68 dust and water resistant like always.
Those top tier specs extend to the camera system too.
Before we go any further,
I wanna give a shout-out to the discontinued S21 Ultra,
which had one of the coolest looking camera designs ever.
That black model was so damn sleek.
But since Samsung has switched over
to a Note influence style this year,
the novel wraparound camera module is gone.
Now, there's a bunch of different lenses sticking out,
which looks fine if a bit boring.
For the main camera,
Samsung's using 108 megapixel f/2.2 sensor
that's larger than the S21 Ultra's.
It's still pixel binning all that data down
into 12 megapixel files.
The telephoto camera still offers 10 times optical zoom
and the gimmicky 100 times space zoom
that's more of a stunt than anything else.
There is a secondary telephoto lens
with three times optical zoom
and a faster f/2.4 aperture for your portrait shots as well.
Samsung's big focus this year is making
everything look great no matter your photo skill level.
The S22 Ultra and other S22s have a new auto-framing feature
for video that can detect up to 10 people in the scene,
keep everyone in the shot with the right focus.
Samsung's super steady stabilization was already impressive,
but that's also getting better this year as well.
You can shoot 4K video up to 60 frames per second
or 8K and up to 24 frames per second.
As for stills and night mode shots,
Samsung says it's making a lot of AI improvements
to increase detail, reduce noise,
and optimize the shot based on what's in the scene.
But maybe the biggest upgrade this year is for portraits.
Samsung claims that it can now separate individual strands
of hair on your subject and blur out the background.
Now, hair and things like glasses are usually tricky
for phone cameras.
So if the S22 can deliver on those big words,
that'd be a huge deal.
Portrait modes also now accurate for pets as well.
As for software,
the S22 Ultra runs Android 12,
so you've got more control over privacy
and things like your camera and microphone than ever before.
There are a few new tricks here and there
like the option to share your screen in Google Duo
but not in Teams or Zoom,
which is kind of a bummer.
And then there's the S Pen.
Samsung says its handwriting latency is now dropped
all the way down to 2.8 milliseconds.
To achieve that,
Samsung is using AI to predict
which direction you move the S Pen next
for handwriting and drawing.
That little difference really felt great in the short time
that I had to test out the new S Pen.
So that's the new Galaxy S22 Note Ultra.
It's coming in late February
for a steep starting price of $1,200.
And look, this is a phone for people
who want a productivity powerhouse
but maybe aren't ready for foldables just yet
like the Z Fold 3.
It's the best of Samsung
in a traditional dependable form factor.
And the S Pen feels fundamentally more useful and important
when you've got a place to put it.
The Note is dead
but also very much back at the same time.
And I think a lot
of people are gonna be very happy about that.
So if the phones weren't enough,
Samsung also introduced a new Tab S8 Ultra
that has a notch on the screen.
Check out the verge.com for our full impressions of that.