Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra first impressions: Time to take note – Times of India

Samsung Galaxy Note wasn’t just any smartphone, it was a statement for most users and a large number of them wouldn’t trade their ‘Note’ for any other device. With Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, Samsung seems to be aiming for the same.
The most premium of the Samsung Galaxy S22 range, Galaxy S22 Ultra boasts of powerful internals, especially the camera capabilities and the Note’s S Pen and not to forget the industrial rectangular symmetrical design.
Well, we can’t say that we didn’t see this coming. When Galaxy Note was launched, the differentiating factor was the bigger display, slightly better features and the S Pen support. But, eventually, smartphones display size started getting bigger and bigger and with every new Galaxy S Ultra and Note, the gap between or let’s say the differentiating factor between them was getting minimal and the S Pen largely remained the key highlight.
Samsung’s move here was inevitable and it was actually the right thing to do.

Now, let’s talk about the Galaxy S22 Ultra. We have already established that the smartphone now features a similar design as the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra — the more flat and rectangular design, the sharp corners and a dedicated slot for the S Pen. It’s all there on Galaxy S22 Ultra. But, Samsung has made some changes to the design. For instance, the bezels are slightly thicker, so the screen is less curved and it actually feels more comfortable to hold.
Next up is the back of the phone. The back panel is glass protected by Gorilla Glass Victus+ and has a matte finish to it which can keep the fingerprints and dust away quite well.
The back has also got the cameras, the Galaxy S line is known for. For starters, the big and bulky camera housing from Galaxy S21 Ultra is now gone and replaced by individual housing for each lens, which looks impressive and more premium.
The camera arrangement though is similar to the last year’s model and so are the sensors. It has got the same 108MP primary sensor, a 12MP ultra-wide sensor, a 10MP 10X telephoto and a 10MP 3X telephoto sensor.
But, that’s just on paper. In the real world, Samsung has made some changes to the camera algorithm and processing along with that there’s Super Clear Glass & Lens which according to the company is designed to reduce flares. We are yet to test the S22 Ultra’s cameras to their full potential. But, as far as camera improvements are concerned, the Galaxy S22 Ultra brings a ton of them such as improved Night mode or Nightography, as Samsung likes to call it. It not only brings improvement to low light shots but also captures bright and detailed videos at night. Apart from that, the portrait mode too seems to have received enhancements.
Let’s talk about another major improvement that Samsung has made with the Galaxy S22 Ultra and that’s the display. It’s a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with 120Hz refresh rate and it also comes with Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection. The deal breaker is the new reduced latency for S Pen. Samsung has managed to reduce the 9ms latency from previous Galaxy Note series phones to 2ms on the Galaxy S22 Ultra and the difference is something you’ll have to feel personally. But what we can say is that it feels as accurate as a regular pen and paper.
So, the Galaxy S22 Ultra now gets the industrial design, the first phone to come with a built-in S Pen, and offers the best possible camera setup. But, there’s more. The Galaxy S22 lineup is the first to launch with Snapdragon chipset in India.
Yes, Samsung’s latest Galaxy S22 series smartphones including the Galaxy S22 Ultra are powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset. The flagship SoC is based on a 4nm process and it comes with a total of eight cores clocked at up to 2.99GHz.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 brings several new features to the table including camera improvements, performance boost, support for newer and faster connectivity options and more. The Galaxy S22 Ultra undoubtedly performs like a beast. We also tried playing a couple of triple-A titles, ran multiple apps in the background and the smartphone didn’t even show a slight wrinkle on its forehead. Guess we will have to push this chip and the new Galaxy S22 Ultra a little harder to put it out of its comfort zone and we will do that in our signature style. Stay tuned for our full review.
From an initial perception, the Galaxy S22 Ultra brings the best of Galaxy S and Galaxy Note in one device. It has got the S Pen, the design we have always loved and the top-end internals that has been the trademark of every Galaxy S Ultra smartphone.