(Pocket-lint) – Samsung’s Galaxy S21 range launched in January 2021, so we aren’t too far away from their successors arrival.
Though not much is yet official, there’s been plenty of speculation about the Galaxy S22 range, expected to be the Galaxy S22, S22+ and S22 Ultra.
We’ve covered off the Galaxy S22 Ultra in a separate feature, while here we are looking at everything we have heard so far about the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Plus models.
Release date and price
- 9 February 2022
- From €849 for the S22
- From €1049 for the S22+
Samsung has confirmed its next Galaxy Unpacked will take place on 9 Febraury 2022. The Samsung Galaxy S21, S21+ and S21 Ultra were revealed in January 2021, which was a couple of months earlier than the company’s typical timeline for its Galaxy S series launch.
In terms of price, the Galaxy S21 started at £769 in the UK and $799 in the US. The Galaxy S21+ started at £949 in the UK and $999 in the US. Rumours claim the S22 will start at €849 (around £730/$975), while the S22+ will start a €1049 (around £900/$1210).
Design
- ‘Glasstic’ on standard model
- Prominent camera housing
- S Pen support on S22 Ultra
The Samsung Galaxy S22 range is likely to share design traits, like the S21 range does. There will no doubt be some changes compared to the 2021 range, but it could be that they are smaller changes than those made between the S20 range and S21 range.
Rumours and renders suggest a slight modification but nothing substantial, with the camera housing continuing to wrap around the frame again for the S22 and S22+, but this time colour matched to the rear.
We’d expect premium handsets across the whole range, but it’s likely at least the standard S22 will opt for a plastic back rather than glass – AKA ‘Glasstic’ – as the S21 did. Waterproofing is expected on all S22 models though and USB Type-C charging.
We’d also expect a prominent camera housing on all models and a punch-hole front camera. Despite the Galaxy Z Fold 3 offering an under-display camera, it’s said the Galaxy S22 range won’t adopt it.
Display
- 6.1-inch/6.6-inch
- Full HD+ resolution
- 120Hz refresh rate
- Slimmer bezels?
The Samsung Galaxy S21 has a 6.2-inch display and the S21+ has a 6.7-inch display. Rumours suggest the Galaxy S22 and S22+ will drop in size, with the S22 offering a 6.1-inch screen and the S22+ a 6.6-inch screen. There are also claims of slimmer bezels and more rounded corners.
It’s said the standard S22 and the S22+ will offer Full HD+ resolutions, as well as flat displays, as was the case for the S21 and S21+.
Support for HDR10+ and a 120Hz refresh rate are also expected on all S22 models.
Hardware and specs
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and Exynos 2200 chipsets (regional differences)
- At least 8GB RAM
- No charger in box
It’s not currently clear what the Samsung Galaxy S22 and S22+ will offer in terms of hardware. It’s likely there will be a split between Qualcomm and Exynos chipsets, depending on the region, as has been the case now for a number of years. While Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon platform, 8 Gen 1, was officially revealed in December 2021, the next-gen Exynos 2200 chipset is what’s expected to be used in Korea’s regional handsets. This chip was revealed in January 2022.
In terms of other specs, it’s likely that the S22 will offer at least 8GB of RAM, like its predecessor, and come in a base model of at least 128GB of storage. The S21 range doesn’t have microSD support so we suspect it’s unlikely that the S22 range will reintroduce this. Based on rumours, the S22 and S22+ will come with 8GB RAM and in 128GB and 256GB storage options.
It’s a sure thing that all the S22 handsets will be 5G compatible based on those platform uses, and we’d expect the S22 to offer support for fast-charging and fast wireless charging too.
Samsung has confirmed that the wall charger will not come in the box though – a move Apple made for its iPhone 12 series and continued with for the iPhone 13 series – it’ll just be the cable on hand.
Rumours claim the Galaxy S22 will have a 3700mAh battery and support 25W fast charging, while the S22+ is said to have a 4500mAh battery and support 45W fast charging.
Camera
- No ToF sensor
- Triple rear camera
Rumours claim the triple rear camera on the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22+ will consist of a 50-megapixel main sensor, plus two 12-megapixel sensors for ultrawide and telephoto, with the telephoto camera capable of 3x zoom and 30X Space Zoom.
The front camera on both models is said to be 10-megapixels.
Samsung Galaxy S22 and S22+ rumours: Here’s everything we have heard so far
This is everything we have heard so far about the Samsung Galaxy S22 and S22+.
7 February 2022: Massive Samsung Galaxy S22 retailer leak reveals Nightography, Victus+ protection, prices and release dates
Amazon Australia listed the Samsung Galaxy S22 range on its site, detailing storage options, colour options and release date information.
7 February 2022: Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra leaks in wild, S22 Ultra packaging appears too
Lanzuk posted some images of the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra in the wild and the images feature the Galaxy S22 or Galaxy S22+ on the screen.
3 February 2022: Mega Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and S22 official case leak reveals plethora of options
A host of official Samsung cases leaked online, offering an indication as to what we can expect from the S22 devices, as well as the protection that will be offered.
2 February 2022: Samsung Galaxy S22 marketing images break cover, reveal key specs
MySmartPrice posted some pictures revealed by Evan Blass of the Samsung Galaxy S22 range, along with a number of key missing specifications.
26 January 2022: Best Samsung Galaxy S22 pictures leak yet – renders appear ahead of confirmed 9 February event
Samsung confirmed its Unpacked event would take place on 9 Febraury. Meanwhile, Evan Blass posted a number of press renders for the three devices, before removing them due to a copyright report.
25 January 2022: Samsung Galaxy S22 launch date and time leaks, not long now
Evan Blass tweeted an image of the Galaxy Unpacked invite suggesting it will take place on 9 February 2022 at 15:00, though the time zone of that time is not currently known.
24 January 2022: Samsung Galaxy S22 prices and storage options leak
Roland Quandt tweeted a European pricing list for the Samsung Galaxy S22 series, revealing what we can expect them to cost.
Whoever said S22 series was to be cheaper, didn’t think of Covid, parts shortages and inflation.
Actual official EURO prices:
S22 8/128GB = 849
S22 8/256GB = 899
S22+ 8/128GB = 1049
S22+ 8/256GB = 1099
S22 Ultra 8/128GB = 1249
S22 Ultra 12/256GB = 1349
S22 Ultra 12/512GB = 1449 pic.twitter.com/QRnfrhkzTz— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) January 22, 2022
18 January 2022: Samsung announces Exynos 2200 ahead of S22 launch, includes ray-tracing support
Samsung announced the Exynos 2200 chipset, thought to be the processor that will power some of the Galaxy S22 models.
17 January 2022: Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus renders show different colour options ahead of Unpacked
Leaker Ishan Agarwal and MySmartPrice published some renders of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus revealing the expected colourways.
11 January 2022: 8 February Unpacked confirmed
Korea’s DDaily confirms with Samsung that Unpacked will happen on 8 February, with handsets rumoured to be on sale as soon as 21 February.
10 January 2022: Samsung Galaxy S22 Unpacked launch event could be 8 February
According to a report, Samsung Galaxy Unpacked is due to take place on 8 February.
8 November 2021: Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra leak reveals built-in S Pen and release date
Jon Prosser of FrontPageTech claimed the Samsung Galaxy S22 range will be announced on 8 February 2022 and on sale 18 Febraury 2022.
22 October 2021: Samsung Galaxy S22 lineup tipped to feature separate versions with Exynos and Qualcomm chips – again
Tech reporter Max Weinbach suggests the upcoming Samsung S22 flagship phones will again include models which feature both Qualcomm and Exynos chips.
oh yeah s22, s22+, s22 ultra is gonna have an exynos 2200 and a snapdragon 898 version
found it a few weeks ago
— Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) October 22, 2021
18 October 2021: Samsung Galaxy S22 glass leak shows more rounded corners, slimmer bezel
An image of tempered glass panels allegedly to be used on the Samsung Galaxy S22 and S22+ leaked online showing rounder corners and slimmer bezels.
This is the first time we have seen the Tempered Glass Screen Protector of Galaxy S22 and S22 +. We can find that they are more rounded and slightly fatter than S21 series. pic.twitter.com/3BhneQsSTq
— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) October 15, 2021
27 September 2021: Samsung Galaxy S22 and S22+ leaks gives us a detailed look at the next flagship
Another set of renders were published by @OnLeaks, this time in conjuction with 91Mobiles and Zouton showing off the S22 and S22+.
17 September 2021: Samsung Galaxy S22 to feature smaller battery than S21?
GalaxyClub reported that the battery capacity of the Galaxy S22 series will be smaller than that of the Galaxy S21 series. Only the Galaxy S22 Ultra is reported to remain the same.
14 September 2021: Samsung Galaxy S22 won’t have an under-display camera says tipster
Leaker Ice Universe claimed on Twitter that Samsung will opt for a hole punch camera rather than an under display camera for the Galaxy S22 range.
It can be confirmed that the Galaxy S22 series still uses Hole, and still uses the same camera area design as the S21
— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) September 14, 2021
17 August 2021: Samsung Galaxy S22 series leak details camera, battery and display specs
Leaker Ice Universe revealed some details of what was expected to be coming to the Samsung Galaxy S22 range in terms of display, camera and battery specifications.
23 June 2021: Samsung Galaxy S22 camera specifications leaked
Twitter user FronTron claimed the Samsung Galaxy S22 will come with a triple rear camera consisting of a 50-megapixel main sensor, plus two 12-megapixel sensors for ultrawide and telephoto, with the telephoto cameracapable of 3X zoom. He said take the leak with a pinch of salt though.
16 June 2021: All three Samsung Galaxy S22 series phones to see reduction in size?
Twitter user @MauriQHD suggested that Samsung will downsize all three models in the Galaxy S22 family, compared to the S21 series. Meaning: the regular S22, S22 Plus and S22 Ultra will all have smaller screens than their predecessors.
27 April 2021: Samsung’s upcoming phones could launch with super-speedy 65W charging
A Samsung 65W fast charging adapter appeared on India’s BIS database which works similarly to FCC or TENAA. The charger suggests Samsung could be looking to offer 65W fast charging to future smartphones, like the S22.
19 April 2021: No ToF sensor on Samsung Galaxy S22
Sammobile reported that ET News claimed Samsung has chosen not to include a ToF sensor on the Galaxy S22 models.
12 April 2021: Is Samsung working on its own sensor shift phone camera?
Samsung is hoping to build sensor shift technology into its upcoming smartphone cameras according to report on Dutch site, Galaxy Club.
12 April 2021: A Samsung and Olympus collaboration could be on the cards
Reports are circulating that Samsung has been in discussions with Olympus over the possibility of collaborating on smartphone camera tech.
15 January 2021: No chargers in box for future models
In a Q&A report on Samsung’s Mobile Press page, Samsung confirmed it would not include chargers in the box for future devices.
15 October 2020: Samsung claimed to be working on new Exynos processors
Leaker Ice Universe claimed on Twitter that Samsung was working on new Exynos processors, including the 9855 and 9925 – the latter of which may be with AMD GPU.
Writing by Britta O’Boyle.