Samsung Galaxy S22+ Review: The Sleeper Hit Of Samsung’s 2022 S-Series Lineup

The middle child of the Galaxy S22 Series from Samsung shouldn’t be ignored. It may lack the ‘wow’ factor of its bigger and more expensive sibling, but the Galaxy S22+ isn’t a slouch. I’m going to go out on a limb and call the Galaxy S22+ as the default Android smartphone for most.

I’ve been using the Galaxy S22+ and Galaxy S22 Ultra from Samsung for many a week now and I can say with confidence that these are the most premium (even if not the most decked out) Android smartphones available on the market today.

If money isn’t an issue and you’re sold on Android (as opposed to Apple’s iPhone’s that run on iOS), and want to blindly buy a smartphone that’ll easily last you the next couple of years, then the Galaxy S22 Series is your best bet.

Visually similar, strikingly different

At first glance, the Galaxy S22+ is very similar to its predecessor with the same cornered camera bump and the shiny metal frame. But, like it’s older sibling this year, the camera module has been separated from the frame (it does retain the cornered camera bump) and the back glass isn’t curved.

The Galaxy S22+ features a 6.6-inch display, as compared to the Galaxy S21+’s 6.7-inch display. It’s only noticeable when using them side-by-side in-hand, but the downsizing is very welcome.

There is a curvature to the frame, which is still made of metal, but it’s also flatter than before. I wish I had gotten to test out the ‘Green’ colour as ‘Phatnom Black’, and to an extent ‘Phantom White’ is something we’ve seen way too much in the past.

It may not seem so at first but the Galaxy S22+ has a much better in-hand feel than any Galaxy S Series smartphone I’ve tried out before. It’s safe, and to some extent boring, but that doesn’t negate just how solid of a device this is.

The metal back of the Galaxy S22+ is smooth and not at all slippery. It’s comfortable to hold and doesn’t attract many smudges. The reflective aluminium material that Samsung used on the edges gives the smartphone a surprisingly grippy feel.

What stands out for the Galaxy S22+, like all of Samsung’s smartphones, is its display. One of the best things about the Galaxy S22+ is that the display is flat. Having a flat glass means there are less reflections (useful for when you’re out and about in the bright sunshine) and for most people, more comfortable to use. Peak brightness has also improved vis-a-vis last year from 1,300 nits to 1,7500 nits and that’s extremely noticeable when using the smartphone outdoors.

The one downside is that - when using with a case - the smartphone can pickup and hold on to dust. One has to clean the smartphone display a few more times a day than one would ideally like.

The panel itself is top-notch. It’s may be a 1080p display but the colours are sharp and vivid with deep blacks. There’s the 120Hz refresh rate to make doomscrolling feel smooth as ever.

Phenominal speed and many years of upgrades

Let’s dive in to what’s really important to each and every consumer out there; how does this phone perform on a day-to-day basis.

Thanks to the switch to Snapdragon from Samsung’s own Exynos chips, the Galaxy S22+ feels snappier than ever. Most of the issues related to the S22 Series have come from the Exynos variant. It’s not to say that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip inside the Galaxy S22+ is perfect, but it’s far better.

On a day-to-day basis, apps open quickly, transitions are smooth and game can be played lag-free. Compared to the Galaxy S22 Ultra, performance was almost indistinguishable. The Galaxy S22+ may have 4GB less RAM but it’s still quite the performance champ.

A large part of this is due to Samsung having one of the best forks of Android in the industry. Samsung’s One UI 4.1 (based on Android 12) comes out-of-the-box on the Galaxy S22+ and it’s a snappy and intuitive UI. Add to that the fact that the Galaxy S22+ will get four years of major Android updates (and fives years for security patches) and you have a winner. A phone with long-term support like that of the Galaxy S22 Series has never been seen before on the Android side.

Strictly average battery life

Just before the Galaxy S22+ was to launch, I had high hopes that Samsung would go the extra mile. Alas, the company didn’t. The Galaxy S22+ comes with a 4,500mAh battery, which is 300mAh less than its predecessor. Maybe Samsung banked on the power efficiency of the new Snapdragon chips or not.

When I got the smartphone and unboxed it, I had a bad feeling about it. I knew I’d be able to get through a day with my medium-to-heavy usage pattern but with just how much screen-on-time (SoT) was the question. For a flagship smartphone one expects a minimum of five and a half hours, if not much more.

With texting, calling, an hour of gaming and YouTube videos, some research using Chrome, and clicking photos, I was able to only get 5 hours of SoT. That’s a disappointment in my books.

A shiny new sensor

The Galaxy S22+ has got a major upgrade with respect to its camera. It’s been a long time coming and I’m happy to report that the new 50-megapixel primary sensor, with a larger physical sensor, it absolutely fantastic. One can capture more details and produce a much more natural bokeh.

In reality, I’ve been more than delighted with the camera. When there is plenty of light in the daytime, it can produce some pretty spectacular photos. Details stand out as compared to previous editions of Galaxy S smartphones.

Of course, it lags behind the “Ultra” model, but that is to be expected. There’s also no 10x telephoto lense that is seen on the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

Let me back up a little. The Galaxy S22+ features a triple camera setup: a 50-megapixel main, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide lense and a 10-megapixel 3x telephoto lense. There’s a 10-megapixel selfie-shooter on the front.

The triple-camera delivers a consistent performance for the most part. Details are sharp, colours are vivid and edge detection is spot on. Where the camera lacks is in its low-light performance. The main camera excels in low-light but the ultra-wide and telephoto lenses take a step back. They aren’t able to produce the details and reduce the noise that is necessary for a low-light shot to come out well.

The telephoto lense is backed by optical image stabilization (OIS) and hence shots of sitant objects come out well. Nothing like the zoomed in shots of the Galaxy S22 Ultra though.

Selfies from the camera come out clean and sharp while videos have good clarity even if a little inconsistent as opposed to videos from Apple’s iPhone smartphones.

Is the Galaxy S22+ the value flagship for everyone?

The Galaxy S22+ from Samsung has something for everyone. It starts at a much more digestible price of Rs 84,999 (as compared to the Galaxy S22’s pricing of Rs 1,09,999).

It’s a premium smartphone that lacks the ‘wow’ of the Galaxy S22 Ultra. The display is excellent, performance is snappy, cameras are reliable, and it’s a nicer phone to hold than most of its rivals. It’s also more durable and long-lasting (thanks to the promised four years of Android upgrade) than most other smartphones on the market.

For what it’s worth, I think the Galaxy S22+ is the sleeper hit of the Samsung’s S Series line-up for 2022.

If you’re rocking the Galaxy S21+ from last year or any high-end smartphone from 2021, then there is absolutely no reason to go out and purchase the Galaxy S22+. If you’ve got an older phone and want to upgrade, especially without doing much research, then just go ahead and blindly buy the Galaxy S22+. You will not be disappointed.

Just remember one thing: Samsung’s smartphones are routinely discounted, and there are always offers to be had. Go ahead and purchase the smartphone, just not at its MRP.