As nearly the full Samsung Galaxy S22 range picture has come into focus over the past few weeks, I've seen a lot of frustrated and negative reports.
These have centred around missing features not delivered by the Galaxy S22 phones, such as the reported lack of under panel cameras, or what appears to be small negative changes to certain specs like battery capacity.
I've also seen analysis pieces declaiming that Samsung's approach with the S22 is completely off-piste and confusing, with the concept that the S22 Ultra is going come with full S Pen digital stylus functionality and act like the successor to the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra somehow beyond reason.
To me, though, I couldn't disagree more with any of this. Not only do I find the S22 range's reported structure common sense, but I'm also excited for it and for what the phones are going to deliver. Here's why.
The new Samsung Galaxy S22 range makes perfect sense
The Samsung Galaxy S22 range is reportedly going to include three handsets: the Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+ and Galaxy S22 Ultra.
The Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22+ are rumored to be coming as straight successors to the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21+, while the Galaxy S22 Ultra is thought to be getting a marked redesign as it is morphing into a Galaxy Note successor, which as a range was put out to pasture last year.
This means the Galaxy S22 range will include two traditional Galaxy S series handsets and one that is, so the rumors state, a mixture between an Galaxy S series flagship and a Galaxy Note phone, with an digital stylus cavity built in and supplied with an S Pen.
So, what the S22 selection of handsets will deliver is both the Galaxy S series and Galaxy Note series in one smartphone range. Now, someone tell me again why this is bad thing?
Seriously, why wouldn't consumers want more choice going forward? Right now we have no Galaxy Note phone, with the Samsung Galaxy Note 21 never seeing the light of day, and while the Galaxy S21 Ultra does support S Pen functionality, it doesn't come with an S Pen and you can't store one in it.
Samsung has completed the streamlining here of its two ranges and is now offering both phone experiences in one range. Where's the problem?
And the Samsung Galaxy S22 phones are going to deliver in terms of performance
Yes, I get it, we'd all love it if a phone maker would hurry up and deliver a phone with an under display panel selfie camera, as it would mean would be finally able to wave goodbye to holes in screens, notches and janky pop-up mechanisms.
Yes, I too would have loved for the S22 range to deliver an under panel camera, but it's hardly the end of the world, and especially when the phones look set to come with such a strong all-round, quality camera offering.
The much talked of battery capacity reduction also, while certainly not ideal, doesn't seem to me like the deal breaker many reports are making it out to be, and especially not when the Galaxy S22 range is reported as coming equipped with the same energy saving screen tech that debuted on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3.
The dimensions of the S22 phones are also smaller than last year, meaning slightly less screen to power, and the phones will also benefit from optimisations delivered by Android 12, too. Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if battery life on the Galaxy S22 remains the same as last year.
Oh, and in terms of charging, it's already been confirmed that 45W fast charging is returning, too.
Also, have you seen the core specs that the Galaxy S22 series is slated to come with? Qualcomm Snapdragon 895 / Exynos 2200 system-on-chips, a GPU powered by AMD's advanced RDNA 2 architecture, buckets of RAM and storage needs to suit every user – I really don't see a problem there at all.
Yes, the Samsung Galaxy S22 range isn't going to beat the iPhone 13's A15 Bionic in benchmark tests, but guess what? It doesn't need to. All these processors deliver more than enough power to crush any mobile application or game available today, and performance in UI will be buttery smooth, too.
All of the Galaxy S22 phones are going to deliver top-shelf user experiences.
And the Samsung Galaxy S22 range is likely going to be cheaper, too
Oh yeah, and this is kind of important. The Samsung Galaxy S22 is also likely to be cheaper than its predecessor.
There's very strong rumors indicating that both the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22+ won't cost quite as much as the S21 handsets, and that means that all that performance is going to be delivered without gouging wallets.
The S22 Ultra will likely not follow this reduction, as it has to account for the price increase associated with including an S Pen, but I still wouldn't be surprised if it retailed for the same price as the S21 Ultra in the end.
In conclusion, then, the Galaxy S22 range looks like the one-stop-shop for Samsung phone fans that's both going to deliver the upgraded Galaxy S series experience users want, while also reintroducing a premium Galaxy Note offering, too.
And I for one can't wait. Roll on January 2022 (or maybe even December 2021!).
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