The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is the final nail in the Galaxy Note's coffin

(Image credit: EVleaks/Twitter)

published 6 January 2022

Another day, another leaked image of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. This one, from noted leaker EVLeaks on Twitter, is the clearest yet – and if it weren't for the extra camera lenses, you might think you're looking at the Samsung Galaxy Note 20.

And the resemblance to the Galaxy Note series isn't just skin deep. In fact, the latest specs I've seen for the S22 Ultra confirms to me that there isn't any point in Samsung resurrecting its currently cancelled technical leader.

Who needs a Galaxy Note now?

We know that the Samsung Galaxy Note 21 isn't going to happen – in August, Samsung's head of mobile communications confirmed that rumours of its cancellation were true – and while that doesn't mean there will be no more Notes ever, it does mean that for the foreseeable future the S22 Ultra will be Samsung's best Android phone.

A big part of the cancellation was because of the ongoing semiconductor shortage, which even Samsung isn't immune to. But looking at the rumoured/leaked/teased specs of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, I honestly can't see why a Note needs to exist at all. The latest Exynos? S22 Ultra. Best camera rig? S22 Ultra. Models up to 1TB? S22 Ultra.

I think that ultimately Samsung has made its own Note series redundant by folding it into the Galaxy S range. Its role was to be the biggest, baddest, most expensive and most impressive Samsung for the most demanding users – but that role is currently occupied by the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G. If you're buying a Samsung to show off, the best phones for that aren't flat: they fold.

Of course, the real dream is for Samsung to combine its S Pen digital stylus with its best folding phones, literally giving Android phone users the best of both worlds.

Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).