In the world of cell phones, can you do more with less? It was the question that I asked myself the most when moving the Galaxy S22+, released in early February. On the outside, it is practically identical to the S21+, last year’s model. Inside, there is a lot that is “lesser” or in common at the same time.
The Galaxy S22+’s screen is smaller than its brother’s, the battery is of a slightly lower capacity. On the other hand, RAM (which helps with performance) and storage have the same numbers.
From the outside, the Galaxy S22+ is an incremental upgrade compared to last year’s launch. However, with it in hand, it is possible to notice the good job that Samsung has done in considerably improving the cell phone’s cameras, with a good help of artificial intelligence, and with its more powerful processor.
As it is the top-of-the-line model of the brand, it is worth remembering that the S22+ is very expensive and its audience is the one who produces content in a professional way — in addition to the people who enjoy sporting a cell phone. It has, for example, interesting shooting modes for those who make videos for Instagram and enhanced night photos.
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Strengths
- Cameras and high-quality photo and video modes
- High definition screen has good brightness balance
- Processor guarantees great performance
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Negative points
- Gives a slight heating in the camera region in heavier games
- I expected more powerful battery
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Verdict
Galaxy S22+ is the best top of the line Android without a pen at the moment. It’s a nice phone for those who want to produce content thanks to the good set of cameras. If you are patient, you can find the phone at a lower price in a few months.
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The Galaxy S22+ maintains the sleek lines of the S21 line. The edges are rounded, and laterally it is not so big, which makes the phone a good grip.
The sides of the device are made of Armor Aluminum, the same metallic alloy that equips cell phones. Galaxy Flip. In addition to making the phone lighter, according to Samsung, it gives the device greater resistance (harder to scratch) and gives the phone a more premium look.
It doesn’t hurt to remember that Samsung also jumped on the bandwagon of selling a cell phone without the charger in the box — it only comes with the device and a cable USB-C.
—Galaxy S22 Plus USB-C input; phone does not have a conventional headphone jack
Image: Guilherme Tagiaroli/Tilt
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The company, however, sends an adapter to anyone who buys the phone and requests a unit via the official website — Samsung sends a 25 W one free of charge.
And it’s good to know that the S22+ can handle a more powerful 45 W, but you have to buy it separately (the higher the power of the adapter, the faster the recharge).
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The Galaxy S22+’s screen is slightly smaller than last year’s model (6.6 inches x 6.7 inches), but it has a higher brightness. Samsung says the phone can reach 1,750 nits (a measure of luminescence) versus 1,500 nits for its predecessor.
Numbers aside, we’re talking about a bright enough glow here that you won’t be messed up on a sunny day.
The company has also included what they call an “Intelligent Vision Booster,” a technology that automatically adjusts the screen to the light that falls on it. So, even in unfavorable conditions (such as strong sun), the phone adapts to show the best possible way what is being displayed on the screen.
The refresh rate is variable up to 120 Hz. If you’re playing, it goes to the last level, giving a greater sense of immersion (movements look more real on a faster screen). Now, if you’re just checking out photos from your photo gallery, the phone drops to a lower level (48 Hz) — the S22 Ultra goes down to 1 Hz, which brings even greater battery savings.
Under the screen, there is a competent biometric sensor. I don’t usually like this solution, but the Galaxy S22+ sensor is pretty fast and it worked fine, even with a slightly greasy finger.
—Biometrics sensor under the Galaxy S22 Plus screen
Image: Guilherme Tagiaroli/Tilt
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RAM memory is 8 GB and storage is 256 GB. The novelty here is the chip Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, from Qualcomm 4 nm (nanometers). Launched at the end of last year, this SoC (a chip that houses a 5G modem, CPU and GPU, graphics processing unit) is the most sophisticated today, and with the smallest architecture on the market.
Briefly, size (4 nm) refers to the size of transistors on a chip. The smaller, the more of them can be included, and the better the performance of this system, which impacts on better battery management, faster to process games and capture images with the camera.
For this reason, I think that one of the great assets of the S22+ is precisely the processor, because in one shot it improves cameras with artificial intelligence, helps in battery performance, in addition to providing good performance for games.
In my tests, I played Asphalt and FreeFire for at least 30 minutes straight each. There were no crashes or exaggerated heating — there was only a slight temperature rise near the cameras.
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—Galaxy S22 Plus camera interface
Image: Guilherme Tagiaroli/Tilt
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On paper, cameras are “inferior” compared to the S21+. The selfie one is 10 MP.
At the rear there are three: a 50 MP main (S21+ was 64 MP), a 10 MP telephoto (S21+ was 12 MP) and a 12 MP ultra-wide angle (on the S21+ it’s the same).
I would say the big change is in the main camera, which has a larger aperture f/1.8 versus f/2.0 (which allows it to capture more light), and the use of artificial intelligence.
I have not tested the Galaxy S21+, but it is possible to say that the S22+ camera set is quite competent.
The feature that caught my attention the most is the portrait video. Basically, the cell phone uses artificial intelligence to focus on the person’s face, and “blur” the live background. All this is done on the spot, there is no post-processing. It is a good choice for those who like to record videos for social networks.
Going to the rear cameras, they are pretty good. In photos on clear days, Samsung continues to present great results, with high contrast images and color variation. It is common that the company’s software sometimes exaggerates: photos on cloudy days, for example, tend to be more vivid.
—Rear of Galaxy S22 Plus in rosé color
Image: Guilherme Tagiaroli/Tilt
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The maximum zoom is 30x (hybrid), and it achieves good results in good lighting conditions. In a sequence, going from the furthest camera (the ultra-wide angle) to the maximum zoom, it was even possible to see details of the paint of a street sign
During the presentation, the company talked a lot about what it calls nightography. As usual, the cameras take good pictures in dimly lit environments, with a good level of detail in the foreground and with reduced noise.
It is common in this type of photography that some parts are “grainy” due to the lack of light, and the Galaxy S22+ manages to solve this with artificial intelligence most of the time.
The videos taken by the rear cameras are very interesting. Samsung has a very firm stabilization system, allowing images with few shakes without a tripod.
For professional users, the company has developed an app, available on the Galaxy Store, called Expert RAW. With it, you can control shutter speed, adjust focus, white balance
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In yet another item smaller than its predecessor, the S22+ has a 4,500 mAh battery against the S21+’s 4,800 mAh.
During use, I unplugged the S22+ at 9am with 100% and it reached 10% around 11pm. During the period I used social networks, watched videos on TikTok and YouTube, browsed in Chrome, made some calls and took pictures.
I expected more battery or at least the same as last year, but it was possible to use the phone on average for a whole day. Things got complicated when I left the screen brightness to maximum and made videos.
The tip is: if you know you’re going to use it a lot, it doesn’t hurt to have a charger close by.
Incidentally, the box of the device does not have the adapter for the socket. So, it was not possible to check the charging time with the official accessory. But with that capacity, a 25W one should take at least an hour, while a 45W one should get the job done in 40 minutes.
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—Galaxy S22 Plus has 6.6-inch screen
Image: Guilherme Tagiaroli/Tilt
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It’s the best Android smartphone available without a sharpie – an accessory present in its big brother, the Galaxy S22 Ultra. However, it has a hefty price tag, around R$7,000, as is customary in the high-end smartphone business.
I imagine that the high price of the cell phone also has to do with the Samsung “gifts”which offers wireless headphones or even Lollapalooza admission.
For me, the great highlight of the S22+ is precisely the new processor, which makes the phone with some lower specs than last year, have great performance. Perhaps it is the best option for those who like photos and videos in the Android world.
For those who want to use a camera as good as the Galaxy S22+, it is worth taking a look at the conventional Galaxy S22. Differently, it has a smaller screen and battery, and has a suggested price of R$ 6 thousand (or less, from your operator).
If you still want to stay among high-end devices and want to pay less, it’s worth taking a look at Galaxy S21 FElaunched this year, or until the Moto Edge 20 Pro, released last year. Both have good cameras, 5G connection and nice looks.
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