Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. S21 Ultra: Battle of the giant phones

Most years, it is arduous to not counsel the newest and largest. But this 12 months, that call is a bit more sophisticated to make, particularly when you already personal a Galaxy Note 20 Ultra or a Galaxy S21 Ultra. For the general public, the improve most definitely is not price the further cash you will have to put down.

Even for brand new consumers searching to improve from every other phone type, Samsung’s Galaxy S21 Ultra is solely this kind of just right price that it is arduous to not argue in its choose. From the large, gorgeous, and shiny display to the beautiful design that is a pleasure to carry, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is solely such a very good phone.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. S21 Ultra: Older doesn’t suggest outdated

Source: Android Central

When searching at the spec checklist underneath, it is beautiful simple to peer that, in some ways, the Galaxy S22 Ultra is not a large improve over the Galaxy S21 Ultra. Aside from the processor — which may also be as much as 25% sooner in sure eventualities — the relaxation of the package deal is not an enormous step up.

	Galaxy S22 Ultra	Galaxy S21 Ultra
Processor	Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or Exynos 2200	Snapdragon 888 or Exynos 2100
Display	6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display 3088×1440 120Hz refresh fee (1-120Hz) with 240Hz contact sampling	6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display 3200×1440 120Hz refresh fee (10-120Hz)
S Pen	Built-in	Add-on accent
S Pen latency	2.8ms	9ms
Memory	8/12GB	12/16GB
Storage	128/256/512GB or 1TB	128/256/512GB
microSD card slot	🚫	🚫
Rear Camera	108MP, ƒ/2.2, 0.8μm (primary) 12MP, ƒ/2.2, 1.4μm (120-degree ultra-wide) 10MP, ƒ/2.4, 1.0μm, 3x optical zoom (telephoto) 10MP, ƒ/4.9, 1.12μm, 10x optical zoom (telephoto 2)	108MP, ƒ/1.8, 0.8μm (primary) 12MP, ƒ/2.2, 1.4μm (ultra-wide) 10MP, ƒ/2.4, 1.22μm, 3x optical zoom (telephoto) 10MP, ƒ/4.9, 1.22μm, 10x optical zoom (telephoto 2)
Front Camera	40MP, ƒ/2.2, 80-degree wide-angle	40MP, ƒ/2.2, 0.7μm, 80-degree wide-angle
Battery	5,000mAh 45W Fast Charging 15W Wireless Charging 4.5W reverse-wireless charging	4,500mAh 25W Fast Charging 15W Fast Wireless Charging 2.0 4.5W reverse-wireless charging
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 6E sub-6 and mmWave 5G UWB	Wi-Fi 6E sub-6 and mmWave 5G UWB
3.5mm headphone jack	🚫	🚫
Updates	Up to Android 16 Security via 2027	Up to Android 15 Security via 2026
Dimensions	163.3 mm x 77.9 mm x 8.9 mm	165.1 mm x 75.6 mm x 8.9 mm
Weight	229g	227g
Protection	IP68 Gorilla Glass Victus+	IP68 Gorilla Glass Victus
Materials	Glass & steel	Glass & steel
Security	Ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint sensor	Ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint sensor
Colors	Phantom Black, Phantom White, Green, Pink Gold, Graphite, Sky Blue, Cream, Violet	Phantom Gray, Phantom White, Phantom Violet, Phantom Pink, Phantom Black, Phantom Silver, Phantom Navy, Phantom Brown

The show variations may also be noticeable in some eventualities — particularly the brightness, which tops out at 1,700 nits on the Galaxy S22 Ultra and 1,500 nits on the Galaxy S21 Ultra — however the talent for the show to drop to 1Hz when not anything on the display is transferring does not appear to have definitely affected battery existence as we anticipated it could.

The lower in battery existence is most definitely the greatest sadness when evaluating generations, as the Galaxy S21 Ultra handily beat the S22 Ultra in battery existence assessments throughout the board. In assessments carried out through our guardian corporate, Future Labs, the S21 Ultra lasted greater than an hour longer than the S22 Ultra. In real-world utilization, that can translate into a number of hours’ longer battery existence.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra handily beat the S22 Ultra in battery existence assessments throughout the board.

Samsung additionally downgraded the quantity of RAM in the Galaxy S22 Ultra to make sure it will hit the similar release worth level as the Galaxy S21 Ultra. At $1,200, the Galaxy S21 Ultra sported 12GB of RAM whilst the S22 Ultra handiest has 8GB of RAM.

Some customers won’t understand a lot of a distinction right here, however the S22 Ultra is an influence person’s phone via and thru. You need as a lot RAM as imaginable and Samsung is aware of it. Samsung even ran a promotion right through the S22 Ultra’s pre-order section that gave shoppers an automated improve totally free, making sure that the 8GB type did not make it into the palms of early adopters.

Part of the explanation why for that is that the S22 Ultra includes a extra tough processor that seems to be now not just about as power-efficient as earlier processor improve cycles. While this implies video games and different processing-intensive apps will run just a little higher when in comparison to the S21 Ultra, it additionally method you’ll be able to worsen battery existence as a result of of it.

Samsung has pledged 4 years of Android updates for each the Galaxy S22 Ultra and S21 Ultra.

But the Galaxy S21 Ultra is not any slouch in the case of efficiency. There’s little question that it might probably run anything else you wish to have it to, be it the newest Call of Duty Mobile replace or a are living circulation of your gaming consultation over 5G.

Samsung has additionally pledged 4 years of Android updates for each the Galaxy S22 Ultra and S21 Ultra. That method the Galaxy S22 Ultra gets up to date to Android 16, whilst the Galaxy S21 Ultra will see as much as Android 15. That method you’ll be able to be getting the newest and largest instrument options for future years, regardless of which phone you select.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. S21 Ultra: Notable additions

Source: Nick Sutrich / Android Central

If you set them side-by-side, the Galaxy S21 Ultra and Galaxy S22 Ultra obviously glance very other from each and every different. That’s as a result of Samsung applied the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra’s design for the Galaxy S22 Ultra with a purpose to have compatibility the S Pen inside of the phone.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy S21 Ultra looks as if a bigger model of a Galaxy S21 or S22 phone, albeit with a couple of extra digicam modules on the again.

Being ready to have an S Pen docked inside of is valuable for other people who beloved all the options of the Galaxy Note phones of the previous. Not handiest is it handy to have an S Pen safely stowed away to be used at the drop of a hat, but it surely method Samsung used to be ready to bake extra options into the S Pen as a result of it might probably price whilst docked inside of the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s frame.

Being ready to have an S Pen docked inside of is valuable for other people who beloved the the Galaxy Note phones of the previous.

So what are you able to do with an “energetic” S Pen? The price held inside of it permits the S22 Ultra’s S Pen to be operated as a far flung digicam shutter for the phone since it might probably connect with the S22 Ultra by the use of Bluetooth. You will have the S22 Ultra get started a brand new notice any time you eject the pen from its dock, or you’ll even draw gestures in mid-air to accomplish movements or quick-launch apps. It’s beautiful cool stuff, however now not everybody will to find those ideas helpful.

Instead, if you are anything else like me, you like a bigger S Pen. Sure, you’ll nonetheless purchase one of the higher S Pen fashions and apply it to a Galaxy S22 Ultra, however the presence of the S Pen inside of that phone method it took on the much less comfy Note 20 Ultra’s shape issue.

That shape issue has 90-degree attitude corners that simply do not really feel comfy when looking to cling the phone in a single hand. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S21 Ultra has curved edges and corners throughout, making it a much more comfy software to make use of on a daily basis.

Plus, some of the easiest Galaxy S21 Ultra instances have a place so that you can dock that massive, gorgeous pen proper inside of the case. This solves the drawback of the place to stay the pen with out it getting misplaced and it additionally method you’ve got a far higher, extra comfy S Pen to make use of. For me, the tradeoff of having a reasonably bulkier case will pay off, however you might imagine otherwise.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. S21 Ultra: Are you a zoomer or a roomer?

Source: Nick Sutrich / Android Central

With the Galaxy S22 Ultra, Samsung put all of its effort into ensuring the phone had the easiest zoom functions of any software on the marketplace. While the specifications do not seem to be wildly other from the Galaxy S21 — each phones characteristic a chief 108MP sensor and two telephoto cameras at 3x and 10x, respectively — Samsung upgraded all the digicam sensors in the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

If you do not to find your self repeatedly zooming in previous 20x, you’ll virtually veritably favor the glance of the footage taken through the Galaxy S21 Ultra.

The result’s a phone that may cleanly zoom into gadgets as much as 50x earlier than symbol high quality begins to drop. On the Galaxy S21 Ultra, you’ll understand a picture high quality drop someplace round the 20x zoom mark. Even nonetheless, photographs taken at the similar zoom stage will virtually at all times glance higher on the Galaxy S22 Ultra as a result of of a bunch of {hardware} and instrument adjustments Samsung made. But if you do not to find your self repeatedly zooming in previous 20x, you’ll virtually veritably favor the glance of the footage taken through the Galaxy S21 Ultra.

While this may exchange in a instrument replace down the street, the present glance of footage taken from the primary and ultra-wide cameras on the Galaxy S22 Ultra are decidedly softer-looking than the similar ones taken on a Galaxy S21 Ultra. Our personal Michael Fisher, aka Mr. Mobile, agreed in his review of the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

The low mild efficiency of the zoom cameras on the Galaxy S22 Ultra used to be additionally just a little disappointing in our assessments, as the phone has a tendency to have a troublesome time stabilizing the symbol when zoomed a ways in. The result’s a picture that is continuously blurry or missing element when in comparison to the similar symbol taken in vast sunlight.

If you might be any individual who extra incessantly reveals themselves simply taking footage of their environment, be it the other folks in the room with you or one thing identical, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is most definitely a greater select.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. S21 Ultra: Which must you purchase?

Source: Samsung

You may well be stunned through the selection right here, however it is arduous to argue with the worth. The Galaxy S21 Ultra may also be discovered for round part the worth of a Galaxy S22 Ultra and that would make or smash a purchase order for the general public presently. Sure, service offers will considerably scale back the worth of a Galaxy S22 Ultra, however it is great to get a phone for that worth with no need to signal a freelance or decide to bills over the following couple of years.

On the spec entrance, the Galaxy S22 Ultra is not a knock-down-drag-out improve over the S21 Ultra in anyway. Sure, it has got a sooner processer and a brighter show, however the S21 Ultra’s show used to be the brightest one on the marketplace previously. The Snapdragon 888 or Exynos 2100 inside of the S21 Ultra additionally is not a slouch in anyway and will nonetheless maintain anything else you throw at it.

Even the cameras are not the huge improve we idea they might be when Samsung introduced the S22 Ultra. Zoom functions are no doubt considerably advanced in some instances, however the primary and ultra-wide cameras produce softer, much less well-defined photographs than what the Galaxy S21 Ultra captures.

And finally, I no doubt favor the design of the Galaxy S21 Ultra over the boxier S22 Ultra. It’s a lot more comfy to make use of on a daily basis and does not have the ones sharp corners of the S22 Ultra, which in point of fact are not delightful to palm. The handiest trade-off is the S Pen, which is housed proper inside of the Galaxy S22 Ultra and can without a doubt make Galaxy Note lovers soar for pleasure.