The best camera phone in 2022
The latest Galaxy flagship’s four-camera system is top-notch, featuring wide, ultra-wide, telephoto and super-zoom sensors. The first of these boasts a 108MP sensor, with an f/1.8 aperture, Dual Pixel AF, and an 85-degree field of view. The 12MP ultra-wide camera features an f/2.2 aperture and a 120-degree field of view. There’s also one 10MP telephoto with an equivalent three times zoom (f/2.4) and another 10MP telephoto with a 10 times zoom (f/4.9). And that’s not to mention the selfie camera, with its 40MP resolution, f/2.2 aperture and 8K video capture at 24fps.
It inherits the Galaxy Note’s most distinct qualities, such as the S Pen stylus that you can store inside the phone. Plus, it has the same characteristics that the Note and Ultra shared in the past, like a giant screen and a more sophisticated camera.
More broadly, this is a large, stylish and powerful smartphone. Its 6.8-inch AMOLED screen is to die for, with smooth motion, vivid colors, impressive brightness, and 500 pixels per inch resolution.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra, like its predecessor, is the largest phone in Samsung’s Galaxy S lineup. It has a 6.8-inch screen like the Galaxy S21 Ultra, while the Galaxy S22 Plus has a 6.6-inch display. The standard Galaxy S22’s screen measures 6.1 inches, making it about the same size as an iPhone 13. The new Ultra is also slightly wider than last year’s phone, which can make it a little challenging to use with one hand. It’s around the same width as Apple’s iPhone 13 Pro Max, although the Samsung’s screen is a hair larger.
The S Pen stylus is brilliant, and gives you the kind of productivity you previously only got with a Galaxy Note. There’s a powerful 5,000 mAh battery to keep it going for hours, and the design and look of the phone is simple but, to our eyes, very stylish.
OPTICAL ZOOM
This photo was taken with the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s camera in a room with all of the lights turned off.
The S22 Ultra has up to a 10x optical zoom, giving it a big edge over rivals when taking photos from a distance. The Pixel 6 Pro, by comparison, has a 4x optical zoom, while the iPhone 13 Pro can zoom in optically up to 3x. The Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus also have a 3x optical zoom.
The Samsung also has more to offer when it comes to digital zoom, considering it can zoom in at 100x. The Pixel 6 Pro maxes out at 20x, while the iPhone 13 Pro can zoom up to 15x digitally and the S22 Plus has up to a 30x digital zoom. That being said, the 100x zoom isn’t usually very useful since it’s not very crisp and can be difficult to focus.
In terms of general camera performance, Samsung also says the Galaxy S22 lineup is capable of processing four times as much data. I noticed this most in Portrait Mode photos, which had better contrast than the S21 Ultra’s images.
Expert Raw for pro photographers
Samsung also has an app called Expert Raw for pro photographers who want to capture more data and have more control over elements like ISO, shutter speed and white balance. But that app isn’t exclusive to the Galaxy S22 Ultra, so anyone looking to take advantage of that extra control could still use it on the cheaper S22 phones.
As for video improvements, Samsung says the new phones should be better at framing multiple people, up to 10 people in a shot, and adjusting the zoom level accordingly. I briefly tried this when taking a video of my husband during the workday, and the camera zoomed in to frame him once it detected him as the subject. I imagine this could be useful for capturing moments like surprise parties or sporting events.
All told, the S22 Ultra is the Galaxy Note upgrade we never got last year. It doesn’t push things forward in a major way compared with last year’s Ultra, so it’s only worth upgrading if you have a phone that’s at least two years old. But since Samsung isn’t raising the price, I’m alright with that.
