I love you, me too
The Samsung Galaxy S22 has been my daily companion for seven months. Seven months of passionate love, but also seven months of annoying frustrations. Here is my detailed review.
In February 2022, Samsung introduced a new armada of high-end smartphones, the Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22 Plus and Galaxy S22 Ultra. Three smartphones in different formats – if not contradicting the Ultra and its inspiration from the Note series – and sometimes belonging to the same family, with different strengths.
At the time, I gave the Galaxy S22 a score of 8/10 and found the consistency to be accurate. From its design to its grip, several aspects of the phone particularly appealed to me, including its display, software interface, and photography versatility.
Others did not satisfy me, starting with autonomy, relatively slow loading or the fluidity of certain program animations. Then I started” long-term trial – Compatible with several months of use on Frandroid. This allows you to check all points raised over a longer period of time, and even discover new ones.
So here’s my review after seven months with the Galaxy S22. A smartphone love that I’ve also learned to hate.
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Excellent design and management
” The Galaxy S22 is a little gem in the hand: compact, light and irresistible with a gorgeous finish “. Needless to say, my heart was won when I discovered and tamed the Galaxy S22 last February. So much so that it was awarded a 10/10 in the design department.
After seven months, I do not regret this rating. In terms of management, he has been one of my best companions over the past few years. Its small format is very practical for using it with one hand or keeping it in a small pocket, without fear of dropping it when climbing stairs or cycling – which I do a lot.
Its weight of 167 grams is also a significant strong point. The phone is almost forgotten when stored in pants, and above all, it does not cause any discomfort if you use it for a few tens of minutes while lying on the couch or bed.
Source: Anthony Wonner – Frandroid
Source: Anthony Wonner – Frandroid
Source: Anthony Wonner – Frandroid
External reviews about its appearance are also unanimous: the Galaxy S22 is not just beautiful, but magnificent. The visual effect it gave me at the beginning of our idyll has not changed for a moment over the months. It is still the phone that I devour with my eyes without the slightest bit of fatigue.
You still need to take care of it properly. During the first test I wrote that S22 “self-sufficient and unworthy of a body to admire in all its magnificence“. In the mind, why not. In fact, there were a lot of falls, and the back of the smartphone did not resist several falls.
The result of the races: even the Gorilla Glass Victus+ protector gave way to a shattered sphere. The aluminum edges have been damaged over time due to the many scratches on the screen. A word of advice if you’re interested in the S22: protect it. For the rest, in my opinion, it is flawless.
Very nice pictures, small bulb optic x3
If there’s one sensor I like to poke fun at in high-end smartphones, it’s the optical sensor, which offers x2, x3, x5 or even x10 zoom depending on the model. The Galaxy S22 has a 10-megapixel x3 telephoto lens that opens at f/2.4. Probably the sensor I used the most during testing.
Why? Because whether it’s a landscape, food or portrait with or without bokeh effect, I consider the most beautiful photos I take with a sensor. This optical x3 offers very good performance thanks to very well-maintained sharpness and saturated colors that are still the Samsung trademark.
The results are even better.
The 50-megapixel wide-angle (f/1.8), 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle (f/2.2) and 10-megapixel selfie sensors are nothing to be ashamed of and, depending on the situation, I was completely satisfied. they are. For scenes involving sunsets, I sometimes had to go back and forth several times to adjust the focus and exposure level to get the desired result.
Source: Galaxy S22 wide angle
Source: Galaxy S22 Selfie
Source: Galaxy S22 wide angle
Source: Galaxy S22 Ultra Wide Angle
Source: Galaxy S22 wide angle
Source: Galaxy S22 Selfie
Source: Galaxy S22 Ultra Wide Angle
Source: Galaxy S22 Ultra Wide Angle
Source: Galaxy S22 Selfie
Conclusion: if you are looking for good photos with a phone that is sometimes under 700 euros on some e-commerce sites, here you have a great candidate with versatile photography and retina-flattering images. In this little game, though, the Pixel 6 Pro clearly holds its own, but at a slightly more elitist price.
Software and performance, the good and the bad
The software part is powered by One UI 4, we don’t have many complaints in terms of functionality, practicality or overall appearance. On the other hand, some animations or transitions from one app to another lacked fluidity at times, especially during a multitasking session.
In general, a disappointment will remain in my throat: I expected a 100% comfortable experience even after seven months of use on a smartphone originally sold for 800 euros. This is not the case at all. Let’s be clear: most of the time everything was clear.
Where the Galaxy S22 fishes is at the processor level. The Exynos 2200 is really a thorn in the side, especially when it comes to heating. In the summer, my fingers were on the verge of burning when I used the phone to play music, look up directions on Google Maps, and reply to friends.
In general, the S22 sometimes started to heat up too quickly for classic tasks that were performed simultaneously. The Exynos 2200 SoC doesn’t really belong in such a setting: we sincerely hope that Samsung turns its attention to Snapdragon processors for the next-generation Galaxy S.
Not being a mobile player, I didn’t top the chip during the sessionFortnitefor example. But according to our February 2022 test, the Galaxy S22 clearly fell behind, especially in the graphics department.
You can’t throw everything in the trash. Here it is important to welcome Samsung’s software monitoring. About every month my phone gets a security patch, which is pretty sure about everything. At the end of September, I still hadn’t received the stable version of One UI 5 based on Android 13.On the contrarysome Oppo phones.
Autonomy and charging, this is a big no
So far, my review of the Galaxy S22 has been relatively positive. Until I solved the issue of phone autonomy and charging, two big black spots clouded my view of things. As we said in our original test, this model recorded one of the worst Aim scores in recent years.
On a day-to-day basis, the S22’s autonomy was a real challenge. There were many times when the energy bar was dangerously close to 20 or 15% when the evening just started. It’s simple: we had to adapt and adopt new reflexes by regularly going through the charging case at the end of the afternoon when going out in the evening.
The remaining 10% also tends to drain at lightning speed during use: I lost 2-3% of the battery in the space of 30 seconds. In short, it’s good to have a charger nearby to plug it in quickly in this situation.
Speaking of charging, it’s not time to have fun: in 2022 and what a shame for such a high-end smartphone to be limited to 25 W power, when most competitors go up to at least 33 W, if not 65 or 120 W. Samsung has nothing in the box not to mention the fact that it doesn’t provide a compatible charger.
But even with a compatible block, the time it takes to charge your phone seems too long. A fact that is even more damaging in terms of the hungry autonomy that S22 offers here. If the battery life is short, at least we expect to charge the phone in a short time. This is not clear.
To summarize: autonomy and slow charging of the Galaxy S22 are its two main weaknesses, which may stop some people and others from looking for more durable phones. You can’t imagine how nice and pleasant the Asus Zenfone 9, one of its competitors, gives me in this criterion.
What is the result after 7 months of use?
The overall assessment of the seven months spent with the Galaxy S22 remains generally positive, but it is marred by a crippling daily autonomy and a very low charging power to restart after a few minutes. These two points were particularly frustrating, if not annoying in the long run.
The Galaxy S22 also fails in terms of heat, which means that the processor – Exynos 2200 – does not meet our expectations. Fortunately, the phone’s excellent grip, slim design, gorgeous display, balanced software experience, and photographic versatility reassure us.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 was ultimately a beautiful love story with its ups and downs. An engraved love story, but I hope it will be even more beautiful with its successor: the Galaxy S23, which is expected in early 2023.
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