The Galaxy S22 flagship series is likely to be announced in January 2022, one year after the Galaxy S21 lineup’s debut. Or perhaps it will go on sale this year, as some rumors claim. Regardless, the Galaxy S22 trio remains shrouded in mystery, at least for the time being, though various leaks and rumors in recent months may have already shed a bit of light on the upcoming series.
Nothing has been officially confirmed thus far, but rumors keep coming in and chances are at least some of them are correct. So without further ado, below you will find everything we know — or think we know — about the Galaxy S22 series. Keep in mind that the list is not final and will be updated as more details surface.
Galaxy S22 series display specs
Earlier rumors indicate that the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22+ will have slightly smaller displays than the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21+, respectively. The same rumors suggest that the Galaxy S21 Ultra will retain a 6.8-inch display diagonal and be the only model from the trio to benefit from an LTPO backplane.
The Galaxy S22 display is rumored to measure 6.06-to-6.1 inches, while the Galaxy S22+ is said to have a panel that measures anywhere between 6.5 and 6.6 inches. Resolution and refresh rate details are unknown, but it’s almost a given that all three flagship models will boast 120Hz refresh rate capabilities.
Galaxy S22 series camera specs
The Galaxy S22 series might be Samsung’s first to adopt sensor-shift camera technology similar to the iPhone 12 Pro Max. This technology stabilizes the camera’s sensor instead of the lens, which leads to improved image quality and better stabilization.
In addition to this, the Galaxy S22 could be the company’s first flagship series to feature cameras that were developed with the help of Japanese optics manufacturer Olympus, though the exact purpose of this alleged collaboration — if it exists in the firs place — is unclear.
Other reports suggest that the Galaxy S22 series won’t be equipped with a ToF sensor, as Samsung believes that this technology doesn’t have enough use cases yet. Furthermore, UDC (Under-Display Camera) technology debuted with the Galaxy Z Fold 3 in August, but it’s unlikely for the Galaxy S22 series to utilize it.
The base Galaxy S22 model and the Galaxy S22+ are rumored to feature a 10MP telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom and a 50MP main camera. And although the camera setup probably won’t see massive upgrades in some areas, it could boast one major improvement through continuous zoom capabilities. There are speculations that the Galaxy S22 Ultra model will feature a 200MP camera — possibly the ISOCELL HP1 unveiled in September.
Update 1: The Galaxy S22 Ultra was later rumored to feature a 108MP camera similar to its predecessor.
Update 2: Early unofficial renders indicate that the Galaxy S22 series will have a standard Infinity-O selfie camera cutout. In addition, Olympus reportedly denied its rumored involvement with the Galaxy S22 series.
Galaxy S22 series hardware specs
Samsung’s upcoming flagship series is expected to be released with an Exynos chipset in some markets and a solution provided by Qualcomm in others.
On one hand there’s the unannounced Snapdragon 898 chipset, said to feature a Cortex X2 CPU core, three Cortex A710 cores, and three Cortex A510 cores.
On the Exynos side of things, the upcoming Exynos 2200 SoC could become the first chipset developed by Samsung to boast AMD graphics, the latter of which would greatly improve graphics performance.
This chipset is built by Samsung Foundry on a 5nm process and is said to be fit for both smartphones and laptops.
In terms of batteries, there are clues hinting at the Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+, and Galaxy S22 Ultra having 3,800mAh, 4,500mAh, and 5,000mAh batteries, respectively. And of course, all three phones should support fast charging and wireless charging.
Update 1: The Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S22 was benchmarked online and it didn’t perform as well as the Exynos model in preliminary tests.
Update 2: Separate reports indicate that the Galaxy S22 series will employ smaller batteries than the ongoing flagship models. The Galaxy S22 and S22+ will reportedly have 3,700mAh and 4,500mAh batteries, respectively.
Update 3: The Galaxy S22 Ultra is likely powered by a 5,000mAh battery, this time with 45W fast-charging.
Samsung may reshuffle some Exynos and Qualcomm markets
Interestingly enough, Samsung is rumored to bring Qualcomm to Exynos markets and vice versa for the first time in the Galaxy S history. The Galaxy S22 lineup could launch with the Snapdragon 898 in India, while Verizon Wireless may want to bring the Exynos 2200 model to the USA.
Galaxy S22 series design
We’re not sure where Samsung will push the design of its Galaxy S lineup next, and this is in large part because it’s too early to tell. Samsung doesn’t seem to have decided on all the design aspects of the Galaxy S22 series, but more details are bound to leak eventually. Fan renders exist, though they are based largely on speculation.
For now, there’s one rumor suggesting that Samsung is thinking about employing polycarbonate for the back panels of both the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22+ while reserving Gorilla Glass for the Galaxy S22 Ultra. This could lead to lower production costs and launch prices for the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22+.
This is a developing story that will be updated with new bits of information, leaks, and rumors as they emerge, so make sure you bookmark it and check back regularly if you want to stay up to date with the Galaxy S22 series.
Update 1: The first unofficial renders based on leaked information emerged. They reveal a Galaxy S22 Ultra model with a dedicated S Pen slot, squarer corners, and an arguably outdated camera housing design.
Update 2: Similar renders depicting the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22+ have emerged as well. According to these images, they use the camera housing design language as the Galaxy S21 series.
Update 3: Photos of third-party cases for the Galaxy S22 series emerged, confirming many design details that were seen in the aforementioned renders.
Galaxy S22 Ultra series naming
Every bit of recent evidence indicates that the Galaxy S22 Ultra will have a dedicated S Pen slot just like a Galaxy Note flagship. Because of this, some reports said the phone will be renamed and hit the shelves as the Galaxy Note 22 Ultra. But according to new bits of information, this isn’t the case, and the flagship will go on sale bearing the “Galaxy S22 Ultra” moniker.
