The brand new Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos) is a phone of superlatives. The S22 Ultra is also the first S-series model to come with a built-in S-Pen, a feature that has previously been exclusive to the Note series. The primary camera also features an ultra-low reflection nano-coating, which is designed to reduce lens flare. In video mode, the S22 Ultra is capable of recording 8K footage at 24 frames per second or 4K resolution files at up to 60 fps. Primary: 108 MP 1/1.33″ sensor, 0.8μm pixels, 85-degree field of view, f/1.8-aperture lens, OIS, PDAF %s Outdoor Photos & videos shot in bright light conditions (≥1000 lux) BEST 160 Top score
%s Indoor Photos & videos shot in good lighting conditions (≥100lux) BEST 132 Top score %s Lowlight Photos & videos shot in low lighting conditions (<100 lux) BEST 149 Top score Good exposure and wide dynamic range in bright light and indoor video Good document scanning capabilities Cons Slow autofocus for photos in many lighting conditions Occasional local loss of detail in dark areas of HDR scenes Slight shadow clipping and unstable white balance in low light videos
Inconsistent sharpness between video frames when the camera is moving while recording, especially in low light The scores rely on objective tests for which the results are calculated directly by measurement software on our laboratory setups, and on perceptual tests in which a sophisticated set of metrics allow a panel of image experts to compare aspects of image quality that require human judgment.
The following section gathers key elements of DXOMARK’s exhaustive tests and analyses. With a DXOMARK Camera score of 132, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos) does not quite make it into the top flight in our smartphone camera ranking but performs overall well and delivers some improvements over its predecessor, the S21 Ultra, for example in video and zoom.
Our testers also observed strong ringing artifacts in all conditions, and a ghosting effect can often be seen when capturing high-contrast scenes. This S22 Ultra shot shows good subject exposure, a wide dynamic range, well preserved fine as well as low levels of luminance noise.
The ultra-wide camera produces similar results to the S21 Ultra in some ways but has been improved in low light, thanks to more effective noise reduction. At close range, the level of captured detail is a little lower, when compared with competitors such as the Huawei P50 Pro or Xiaomi Mi11 Ultra. In video mode, the S22 Ultra does well in bright light and under typical indoor conditions.
The autofocus works swiftly and smoothly, precisely tracking the subjects in a video scene. Our testers observed some shadow clipping and suboptimal white balance adaptation. Average and maximum scores for each price segment are computed based on the DXOMARK database of devices tested.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos), good close-up capabilities, but slight loss of detail at the center of the frame Apple iPhone 13 Pro, good close-up capabilities with nice detail at the center i About DXOMARK Camera Photo tests For scoring and analysis, DXOMARK engineers capture and evaluate more than 2,600 test images both in controlled lab environments and in outdoor, indoor and low-light natural scenes, using the camera’s default settings.
The photo protocol is designed to take into account the main use cases and is based on typical shooting scenarios, such as portraits, family, and landscape photography. The evaluation is performed by visually inspecting images against a reference of natural scenes, and by running objective measurements on images of charts captured in the lab under different lighting conditions from 1 to 1,000+ lux and color temperatures from 2,300K to 6,500K.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos) Photo scores vs Ultra-Premium The photo tests analyze image quality attributes such as exposure, color, texture, and noise in various light conditions. All these attributes have a significant impact on the final quality of the images captured with the tested device and can help to understand the camera’s main strengths and weaknesses.
the ability to render visible details in both bright and dark areas of the image. Repeatability is also important because it demonstrates the camera’s ability to provide the same rendering when shooting several images of the same scene.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra delivers a good target exposure in all conditions combined with a pretty wide dynamic range. The S22 Ultra and iPhone 13 Pro maintain good detail in both highlight and shadow areas of the frame. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos), good exposure, wide dynamic range Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (Exynos), good exposure, limited dynamic range Apple iPhone 13 Pro, good exposure, wide dynamic range, contrast issue at the bottom of the frame In some situations, the S22 Ultra overexposes the image, which results in strong highlight clipping.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos), overexposed subject, strong highlight clipping Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (Exynos), acceptable subject exposure Apple iPhone 13 Pro, good face exposure, warm color cast When measuring in the lab, target exposure is generally accurate, especially in low-light conditions where many other devices have a tendency to underexpose.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra generally produces a pleasantly warm white balance and vivid colors with accurate skin tones. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos), nice white balance and color Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (Exynos), nice white balance and color Apple iPhone 13 Pro, nice white balance and color
In low light, the S22 Ultra produces warm color casts with an orange hue. These types of color casts are both acceptable under our new Camera version 5 test protocol. In comparison, the S21 Ultra has a tendency to show a more unnatural pink cast which is penalized heavier in our evaluation. Focus accuracy is also evaluated in all the real-life images taken, from infinity to close-up objects and in low light to outdoor conditions.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra can be slow to capture the image, which means you might miss a decisive moment. The iPhone 13 Pro, on the other hand, uses a Zero Shutter Lag (ZSL) strategy, continuously buffering images even before the trigger is pressed, ensuring the capture of the right moment. Autofocus irregularity and speed: 100Lux Δ0EV TL84 Handheld This graph illustrates focus accuracy and speed and also zero shutter lag capability by showing the edge acutance versus the shooting time measured on the AFHDR setup on a series of pictures. In this test scene, the shot is always triggered when the model passes through the door frame.
When shooting with the S22 Ultra, the image is sometimes captured after the model has come through the door frame. For natural shots, particular attention is paid to the level of details in the bright and dark areas of the image. The iPhone 13 Pro remains slightly better, providing more natural rendering of fine details. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos), outdoor texture Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos), crop: local loss of detail Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (Exynos), outdoor texture Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (Exynos), crop: fairly good detail Apple iPhone 13 Pro, outdoor texture Apple iPhone 13 Pro, crop: fairly good detail
In lab measurements, the S22 Ultra shows fairly good acutance in most tested conditions. DXOMARK CHART (DMC) detail preservation score vs lux levels for tripod and handheld conditions This graph shows the evolution of the DMC detail preservation score with the level of lux, for two holding conditions.
For natural images, particular attention is paid to the noise on faces, landscapes, but also on dark areas and high dynamic range conditions. Visual noise evolution with illuminance levels in handheld condition This graph shows the evolution of visual noise metric with the level of lux in handheld condition. However, the iPhone 13 Pro still records lower noise levels in comparison. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos), flash-off Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos), crop: good detail, some noise Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (Exynos), flash-off Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (Exynos), crop: loss of fine detail, strong noise Apple iPhone 13 Pro, flash-off Apple iPhone 13 Pro, crop: very good detail, barely any noise i The artifacts evaluation looks at lens shading, chromatic aberrations, geometrical distortion, edges ringing, halos, ghosting, quantization, unexpected color hue shifts, among others type of possible unnatural effects on photos. The goal is to reproduce portrait photography comparable to one taken with a DLSR and a wide aperture.
Portrait image quality attributes (exposure, color, texture) are also taken into account. In bokeh mode, the three comparison devices use different equivalent focal lengths. We measured an equivalent focal length of 66mm for the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, which is fairly close to a typical portrait lens. The S22 Ultra delivers a natural-looking bokeh effect, with a nice blur gradient and good subject isolation from the background.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos), bokeh mode Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos), crop: nice bokeh shape, some segmentation artifacts on grid Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (Exynos), bokeh mode Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (Exynos), crop: lack of detail on subject, wider angle of view Apple iPhone 13 Pro, bokeh mode Apple iPhone 13 Pro, crop: nice bokeh shape, only a few segmentation artifacts on the grid Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos), preview: similar target exposure to capture but differences in dynamic range.
Target exposure on portraits, when in the preview image, is acceptable in all tested conditions. This graph shows measurements of the average lightness of the face in the preview of the camera app.
Measurements are done on the face of the realistic mannequin in our Portrait HDR setup and are shot in different lighting conditions. The evaluation is performed by visually inspecting the images against a reference of natural scenes, and by running objective measurements of chart mages captured in the lab under different conditions from 20 to 1000 lux and color temperatures from 2300K to 6500K. The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos) achieves a very good score for Zoom, which includes the tele and wide sub-scores. In this section, we take a closer look at how these sub-scores were achieved and compare zoom image quality against the competitors.
This is quite different to the Apple iPhone 13 Pro, which only uses a single 77mm tele module. This hardware, combined with software that has been improved over the S21 Ultra, allows the S22 Ultra to capture good image quality — better than the iPhone — across all tested zoom settings and for all the zoom ratio tested.
Low light pictures captured with the ultra-wide camera show good detail but also significant noise levels. This said, compared to the best in class (marked by the orange dotted line in the graph below), there is still some margin for improvement across all image quality attributes (texture, noise, and especially highlight retention). Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos), ultra-wide: accurate target exposure and white balance Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Exynos) ultra-wide: accurate target exposure and white balance Apple iPhone 13 Pro, ultra-wide: accurate target exposure and white balance The score is derived from a number of objective measurements in the lab and perceptual analysis of real-life images. The detail preservation graph below confirms the results we have seen above and the S22 Ultra’s good performance at very long tele and ultra-wide settings. The graph plots the DMC Texture AI metric for different zoom factors. At around 90mm, the Apple iPhone 13 Pro captures a similar level of detail to the Samsung but cannot match it at closer and longer ranges. Low light tele performance is slightly below the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max at 20 and 5 lux, though. 1000 lux DXOMARK CHART (DMC) detail preservation score per focal length This graph shows the evolution of the DMC detail preservation score with respect to the full-frame equivalent focal length for different light conditions.The x-axis represents the equivalent focal length measured for each corresponding shooting distance and the y-axis represents the maximum details preservation metric score: higher value means better quality.Large dots correspond to zoom ratio available in the user interface of the camera application. DXOMARK CHART (DMC) detail preservation score per focal length This graph shows the evolution of the DMC detail preservation score with respect to the full-frame equivalent focal length for different light conditions.The x-axis represents the equivalent focal length measured for each corresponding shooting distance and the y-axis represents the maximum details preservation metric score: higher value means better quality.Large dots correspond to zoom ratio available in the user interface of the camera application.
DXOMARK CHART (DMC) detail preservation score per focal length This graph shows the evolution of the DMC detail preservation score with respect to the full-frame equivalent focal length for different light conditions.The x-axis represents the equivalent focal length measured for each corresponding shooting distance and the y-axis represents the maximum details preservation metric score: higher value means better quality.Large dots correspond to zoom ratio available in the user interface of the camera application. DXOMARK CHART (DMC) detail preservation score per focal length This graph shows the evolution of the DMC detail preservation score with respect to the full-frame equivalent focal length for different light conditions.The x-axis represents the equivalent focal length measured for each corresponding shooting distance and the y-axis represents the maximum details preservation metric score: higher value means better quality.Large dots correspond to zoom ratio available in the user interface of the camera application.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos), long-range tele Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos), crop: good detail at center but fusion artifacts Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (Exynos), long-range tele Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (Exynos), crop: good detail at center but fusion artifacts Apple iPhone 13 Pro, long-range tele Apple iPhone 13 Pro, crop: lack of detail The S21 Ultra does the same in this scene, but the iPhone 13 Pro captures higher levels of detail.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos), medium-range tele Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos), crop: strong structured noise, low detail Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (Exynos), medium-range tele Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (Exynos), strong structured noise, low detail Apple iPhone 13 Pro, medium-range tele Apple iPhone 13 Pro, crop: good texture/noise trade-off i About DXOMARK Camera Video tests DXOMARK engineers capture and evaluate more than 2.5 hours of video in controlled lab environments and in natural low-light, indoor and outdoor scenes, using the camera’s default settings.
The evaluation consists of visually inspecting natural videos taken in various conditions and running objective measurements on videos of charts recorded in the lab under different conditions from 1 to 1000+ lux and color temperatures from 2,300K to 6,500K. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos) Video scores vs Ultra-Premium Video tests analyze the same image quality attributes as for still images, such as exposure, color, texture, or noise, in addition to temporal aspects such as speed, and smoothness and stability of exposure, white balance, and autofocus transitions.
i Exposure tests evaluate the brightness of the main subject and the dynamic range, eg.
the ability to render visible details in both bright and dark areas of the image. When recording, video target exposure is generally accurate with a wide dynamic range in most bright light and indoor scenes. In this outdoor portrait scene, both cameras do a good job in terms of target exposure and contrast in bright areas.
However, if we focus on the subject’s beard, the iPhone preserves better detail in the shadows. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos), good target exposure on face and wide dynamic range, especially in the highlights Apple iPhone 13 Pro, good target exposure on face and wide dynamic range in both highlights and shadows In low-light scenes, faces can be slightly underexposed, especially on dark skin tones. In this sample, target exposure on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is lower than on the iPhone 13 Pro, especially on the dark-skinned model. The iPhone’s auto exposure system performs in a more stable way in comparison. The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra renders skin tones nicely and delivers a pleasant white balance in video.
In this difficult low light scene, the Samsung always maintains the subject’s face in focus, without any autofocus breathing. Natural videos recordings are visually evaluated, with particular attention paid to the level of details in the bright and areas as well as in the dark.
Generally, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra delivers high levels of detail in video mode, but in this outdoor scene, we can see that the Apple iPhone 13 Pro does better. i Noise tests analyze various attributes of noise such as intensity, chromaticity, grain, structure, temporal aspects on real-life video recording as well as videos of charts taken in the lab. Natural videos are visually evaluated, with particular attention paid to the noise in the dark areas and high dynamic range conditions. Objective measurements are performed on the videos of charts recorded in various conditions from 1 to 1000 lux.
In most lighting conditions, noise levels are slightly higher compared to the iPhone 13 Pro. Natural videos are visually evaluated by paying particular attention to artifacts such as aliasing, quantization, blocking, and hue shift, among others. In S22 Ultra video clips, aliasing artifacts can be visible on areas of high-frequency detail. In this high-contrast lab scene, aliasing is more noticeable on the S22 Ultra than on the iPhone 13 Pro.
Samsung Galaxy S22 vs S22+ vs S22 Ultra
All functionality, features, specifications, GUI and other product information provided in this document including, but not limited to, the benefits, design, pricing, components, performance, availability, and capabilities of the product are subject to change without notice or obligation.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Specs
Specifications are top-notch including 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, 5000mAh battery, up to 12gigs of RAM, and 1TB of storage.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Snapdragon) Camera test
We’ve already tested the camera of the Exynos-powered international version of the Samsung flagship Galaxy S22 Ultra. In this review, we take a close look at the version that is marketed primarily in North America and China and uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset. Medium-range tele range is covered by a 3x lens with 10MP resolution. For longer distances a 10x periscope-style module is on board.
In video mode, the S22 Ultra is capable of recording 8K footage at 24 frames per second or 4K resolution files at up to 60 fps. Primary: 108 MP 1/1.33″ sensor, 0.8μm pixels, 24mm-equivalent, f/1.8-aperture lens, OIS, PDAF, Laser-AF Tele 2: 10MP 1/3.52″ sensor, 1.12μm pixels, 70mm equivalent, f/2.4-aperture lens, Dual Pixel AF, 3x optical zoom About DXOMARK Camera tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone camera reviews, DXOMARK engineers capture and evaluate over 3000 test images and more than 2.5 hours of video both in controlled lab environments and in natural indoor and outdoor scenes, using the camera’s default settings.
This article is designed to highlight the most important results of our testing. For more information about the DXOMARK Camera test protocol, click here.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Snapdragon) 135 camera 135 Preview Preview 71 91 Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max Best: Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max (91) 137
%s Outdoor Photos & videos shot in bright light conditions (≥1000 lux) BEST 160 Top score %s Indoor Photos & videos shot in good lighting conditions (≥100lux) BEST 132 Top score %s Lowlight Photos & videos shot in low lighting conditions (<100 lux) BEST 149 Top score
%s Friends & Family Portrait and group photo & videos
Please be aware that beyond this point, we have not modified the initial test results. While data and products remain fully comparable, you might encounter mentions and references to the previous scores.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max 154 3. Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max 146 13.
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max 141 18. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max 131 41. Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max 122 68. Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro 5G 102 116.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G 78 136. Xiaomi Redmi 12C 45 27th 27 Position in Ultra-Premium Ranking 1.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max 154 3. Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max 146 12.
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max 141 16. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max 131 35.
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max 122 53. Pros Accurate white balance and good detail Good exposure and wide dynamic range Nice color and good exposure in flash-off night shots Accurate subject isolation and blur gradient in bokeh mode Accurate exposure and wide dynamic range in bright light and indoor video
Nice color and skin tones in video Accurate face tracking in video
Effective video stabilization when walking while recording Cons Luminance noise in photo and video Strong texture instabilities in tele shots
Strong ringing and loss of fine detail in video White balance casts in bright light and indoor videos With a DXOMARK Camera score of 131 the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Snapdragon) achieves the same result as the Exynos-powered international model. Overall, the camera delivers a solid performance and some improvements over its predecessor the S21 Ultra, especially for zoom and video, but it isn’t up there with the very best in the Ultra-Premium segment.
This is particularly true for night photography and in terms of texture/noise trade-off.
This outdoor image shows good exposure on the subject and a wide dynamic range.
The white balance is neutral and the level of detail is high. When taking still images, the camera does overall well and shines, especially in the color category, thanks to accurate and pleasant color rendering.
Compared to the Exynos variant, luminance noise is less intrusive but still noticeable. Target exposure is usually good in all conditions and in this indoor scene, we can see that the Snapdragon device produces slightly better detail and lower noise levels than the Exynos version. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Snapdragon), indoor scene Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Snapdragon), crop: good texture and fairly low noise Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos), indoor scene Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos), crop: slight loss of detail, fine luminance noise Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max, indoor scene Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max, crop: slight loss of detail, fine luminance noise Pictures recorded on the ultra-wide camera show good detail at the center of the frame, but detail gets noticeably softer towards the edges.
Color rendering tends to be neutral, but noise is noticeable, even in bright outdoor light. Ultra-wide camera, 16mm Crop: good detail at the center of the frame but drop-off towards the edges When shooting at tele settings, the S22 Ultra (Snapdragon) suffers from resolution instabilities, especially at close-range settings when light gets dimmer. In comparison, the Exynos model and iPhone 13 Pro Max deliver a more consistent resolution across light levels and zoom factors.
Repeatability comparison at close range tele setting In video mode, the Snapdragon phone’s performance is close to the Exynos device, particularly the good exposure and wide dynamic range in bright light and indoors, as well as the good autofocus system.
This said, oversharpening results in strong ringing on high-contrast edges. This has a negative impact on detail rendering and is especially noticeable when videos are viewed on a large display.
Our testers also observed higher noise levels in low light, especially in lab conditions.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
He holds Galaxy S22 Ultra at different angles to show the phone, including close-up on the Rear Camera and the display. UrAvgConsumer pinches the display to zoom in on a photo he took with Galaxy S22 Ultra. She takes a photo of a bouquet of flowers on Galaxy S22 Ultra and zooms in on it to see the detail. Unbox Therapy shows the photo of the dog on the phone’s display. Performance Thao Huynh adjusts the brightness of the display, and pulls out the S Pen. The phone is seen with Galaxy written on the display as she inserts S Pen into its cradle.
UrAvgConsumer holds the phone at different angles as he browses and watches a video.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra review: notably unique
Features, screen size, and cost all increase in increments as you go up the chain, but you’re more or less getting the same phone in three different flavors. All three models include (in the US) Qualcomm’s latest, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, as well as IP68 weather sealing, and Gorilla Glass Victus Plus on the front and back. The Ultra and S22 Plus have OLED screens with higher 1,750 nits peak brightness, but all three have a top refresh rate of 120Hz. Only the Ultra uses an LTPO display, which allows the screen to change its refresh rate more than the other models, which in theory helps save battery life.
The Ultra stands apart with a boxier design lifted straight from the Galaxy Note and, of course, that built-in S Pen silo. And if you can’t live your life at these kinds of speeds, Samsung sells a case that will very neatly eliminate the valleys between lenses.
The rear camera array is one way you can immediately differentiate the Ultra from the S22 and S22 Plus, but it also stands apart with curved edges on the long sides of its screen, where the others have flat displays. It looks nice and makes the tiny bezels on the sides all but disappear, but I ran my stylus off the edge of the screen one too many times, expecting a flat surface where there wasn’t one.
The S22 Ultra supports 45W fast wired charging, but you’ll need to buy the $50 power brick separately.
I utilized this extensively during my review, and it usually charged the half-depleted battery back up to 100 percent in under two hours, which is fine for me. It’s hard to say if that’s accurate since it’s a matter of milliseconds, but either way, writing with the S Pen feels fluid, and recognition is speedy. You can use it to trace a shape and clip something out of an image, like a picture you took of your dishwasher model number (I can attest this is very handy).
There are Air Actions, too, in which you use the S Pen as a kind of remote control in certain apps without touching the screen, which work okay but don’t feel like they solve a real problem. I do think it’s for someone who likes to be able to scribble out a quick note without unlocking their phone or make a to-do list with a pen rather than a digital keyboard. Note fans will feel right at home, but unless you’re sure you can embrace the stylus life, you’re likely better off with a regular old stylus-free phone.
The Ultra’s powerful set of features and huge, bright screen make it a power-hungry device.
In my testing, it was a very rare occurrence to see the screen stutter as I scrolled, and in the cases where it did, I don’t think it was the phone’s fault (I’m looking at you, Twitter for Android). The phone does get noticeably warm with intensive tasks like gaming and using the Expert RAW app.
On days of lighter use with a lot of time on Wi-Fi, plenty of social media scrolling but not much video or gameplay, I got through with about 50 percent battery left by the evening. With screen brightness cranked up, the always-on display always (not sometimes) on, and about an hour of video play and gaming, I was down below the 20 percent mark by the end of the day.
That’s not exactly a torture test, so the power users who are certainly the Ultra’s target audience will probably have to keep an eye on battery life more than they’d like to. There are a few minor differences in the S22 Ultra’s camera hardware compared to last year’s — the telephoto lenses are just a little wider, for example — but it’s largely the same setup. It’s not perfect, but depth mapping does a better job of keeping fine detail sharp rather than blurring it into the background The phone is better able to identify small details on a subject like individual hairs and keep them sharp rather than blurring them into the background.
Portraits from the wide lens still aren’t totally convincing — even if the depth mapping is better, elements in the foreground are sharp where they shouldn’t be. Without night mode, a high-res image in these conditions looks quite bad, so the bar is sort of low to start with. But if you’re a photo geek who likes to tinker with post-processing, it’s a really nice tool to have on hand for the occasions that call for it.
One logistical note — there’s a shortcut in the Expert RAW app to take your photo directly into Lightroom for Samsung to edit it. Samsung will give you a two-month free trial of the app, but after that, you’ll need an Adobe license, which will run you a minimum of $120 for a year. Or, you know, just download Snapseed for free — Expert RAW gives you a standard DNG file you can take to any photo editing software that supports it.
But just when I feel like the company is scaling back its often in-your-face pre-downloads and ads, I get a push notification about a promotion for Samsung Credit if I buy an S22. Can I take a clear photo of the top of Seattle’s Smith Tower while standing several blocks away at street level?
Can I take a picture of my dishwasher’s model number, convert it to text, and paste it into Google as I search for a part that mysteriously vanished into thin air? For someone who does plan to make regular use of its powerful but rather niche features, the S22 Ultra will be a phone like no other on the market.
But if you can live with these shortcomings and navigate the sometimes steep learning curve of the S Pen life, then you’ll be well rewarded with a device that’s truly one of a kind.
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