The Samsung Galaxy S21 is one of the best Android phones you can buy right now. But that doesn’t stop us from looking towards the future and the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S22.
The Galaxy series has long been the king of Android phones and while it’s not always been the best phone around, it certainly has been one of the biggest sellers.
With the S21 series having been on shelves for a few months our eyes are now turning to what Samsung could have in store for us next.
With no Note device expected this year, and the S21 FE rumoured to be delayed, let’s see what we know about the Galaxy S22
Release date
Samsung typically announces and releases its flagship S series during the early months of the year. In previous years this has been in February or March, however in 2021 this was moved up to January.
Little is known about Samsung’s plans for the release of the Galaxy S22 as of yet, but it wouldn’t surprise us to see a similar schedule to the one used for the Galaxy S21.
As we hear more rumours and learn of further leaks pointing to the likely release date of the Galaxy S22 we’ll update this page.
As with the release date, we’re completely in the dark about pricing for the S22 series. If Samsung sticks close to the price of the S21, then expect it to start at £769/$799 then rise to $999/£949 for the larger Plus model and finish at $1149/$1199 for the true flagship Ultra model.
Of course the S21 remains an an excellent device, and you can see some of the best prices for that below.
Camera
Argulably the biggest hints about what Samsung has in store for the Galaxy S22 revolve around the camera.
One leaker has suggested the Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus will ship with a main 50MP sensor, backed up with a 12MP ultrawide and a 12MP 3x telephoto. This is quite different to the setup used by the S21, which has fewer megapixels on the main camera (12MP) but a lot more on the telephoto (64MP).
This leak also suggests the main camera will be a completely new sensor, so we could be in for a massive step forward in terms of imaging quality. Remember, more megapixels doesn’t mean better pictures, so hopefully, there’s enough going on in the background to make the most of the pixels.
Of course, it’s worth taking this leak with a hefty portion of salt. Heck, it even says so much in the tweet…
We’ve also heard that the Galaxy S22 won’t come with a ToF (time of flight) sensor – a sensor Samsung used on some S20 series models, but not on the S21.
Considering Samsung ditched this sensor for the Galaxy S21, it’s hardly a surprise it might not come back for the S22 and we can’t really say we’ve missed it. This could always change if further functionality was added.
While we’re still early on in the lifecycle of Galaxy S22 rumours it does seem like the camera will be a focus. The camera on the S21 is great, however, it wasn’t a huge leap forward compared to the S20 and it does fall below the best iPhones.
Screen and design
What kind of design and display specs will be found on the Galaxy S22 will really depend on how Samsung plans to view this phone.
With the Galaxy S21, the materials were shifted from metal to plastic and the curvature on the screen was ditched. This gave it a far more mid-range look and feel, rather than the high-end Galaxy S21 Ultra.
If Samsung goes in a similar route with the Galaxy S22, expect the plastic body and flat screen to stay.
At least the S21 and S21 Plus both had quality displays, even if the resolution was stuck at 1080p. They both had 120Hz panels and used the excellent AMOLED panels from Samsung. We’d love to see that resolution boosted back up to 1440p, even just for the Plus model.
One leaker has suggested that the S22 would, in fact, have a smaller 6.06-inch display than the 6.2-inch version on the S21. The same leaks also comments that only the high-end Ultra model would have the LTPO tech required for an adaptive refresh screen. This could possibly be a downgrade for the S22 series.
LTPO displays, and adpative refresh rate tech, allows the screen to ramp down that 120Hz refresh rate when the benefit isn’t very obvious. Missing this out could mean we get potentially worse battery life.
Specs and Performance
We’d expect Samsung to outfit the Galaxy S22 series with the top processor available whenever it is released. This is likely to be the successor to the Snapdragon 888 in the States and whatever Samsung has in line for the Exynos line elsewhere.
There has even been a rumour that Samsung will itself produce the Snapdragon 895 (or whatever it’s called) for Qualcomm.
Trusted Take
The rumours so far are fairly slim for the next-gen Samsung Galaxy device and very little is really standing out. Of course, there is plenty of time to go until a likely release so expect this to change. We’ll be updating this page with more new information as we could it.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.