Samsung had what is their biggest event of the year, unveiling this year’s version of the western world’s best selling Android phones, the Galaxy S Series.  There were also tablets, and a few smaller announcements.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra is a Note by Any Other Name

The flagship phone of the day is the Galaxy S22 Ultra.  This is the 3rd year of the “ultra” moniker for Samsung’s S series of phones, and this year, the phone is essentially a replacement to the Galaxy Note line.  In 2020 the Galaxy S20 Ultra and Note 20 Ultra were so similar that they felt redundant.  The Note 20 felt like an S20 Ultra with an S Pen, as there were no other big differentiations.  In 2021 there was no Galaxy Note, and now in 2022 the S22 Ultra picks up the design cues and the integrated S Pen.

The phone features all the high end specs you would expect, with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, 8 or 12GB of ram, and 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or an absurd 1TB of storage.  There is a 6.8” screen with a 1440p+ resolution, and more importantly can scale its refresh rate from 120Hz all the day down to 1Hz, saving battery life when there are static images on the screen.  The screen is the latest Gorillan Glass Victus+, which Samsung says is exclusive to their phones for now.  Powering all of that is a 5000mAH battery, which should provide excellent battery life.  When the battery does die, the phone features 45W fast charging, a feature that was found in Samsung phones in 2019, but was missing from the 2020 and 2021 lineups.

Camera wise there are 4 lenses, a 108MP main camera, 3x and 10x telephoto cameras, and an ultrawide.  Samsung touted the improved low light and photo processing capabilities, which should be better than the S21 line.  There is also expanded RAW image support for those who care about that.

The S22 Ultra aims to be the best Android phone in the west that doesn’t fold, and it sure looks the part. It is also priced the part.  In Canada the retail price of the S22 Ultra starts at $1510 for 128GB of storage and goes all the way up to $2210 for the 1TB model.

The Galaxy S22 and S22+ Bring Small Updates

The S22 Ultra may be the highest end phone, but the phones that sell in volume are the S22 and S22+ lines.  This year, the updates for the S22 are more evolutionary, with some curious changes.

On the outside, these phones are nearly identical to last year’s S21 counterparts.  The S22 is 6.1” while the S2+ is 6.6”.  The S22 features a glass back again this year, instead of the plastic back found on the S21.  Unfortunately, Samsung has actually made the batteries smaller this year, with the S22 featuring only 3700mAH compared to 4000 last year, the smallest in an S series phone in quite some time, and the S22+ is 4300mAH, down from 4500 last year.  The S22+ features 45W charging, while the S22 features 25W charging.

Otherwise the phones are largely identical, with the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128 or 256GB of storage.  There is a 50 megapixel main camera, along with 3x telephoto and wide angle cameras.

Aside from the battery downgrades, these are solid, if safe updates.  They will move a ton of units because of Samsun’s position in the market.

Galaxy Tab S8 Tablets Are Big. Literally.

I think there are reasons to get an Android tablet, and Samsung is really the only game in town now.  Hopefully that changes with Android 12L coming later this spring, but for now, we have Samsung’s Galaxy Tab lineup.

The Tab S8 Ultra is a product I do not understand.  This is a 14.8” tablet that starts at $1400.  That’s more expensive than the average laptop, and considering the unproven ecosystem of Android apps designed for tablet displays, a nearly 15” tablet running Android, especially one this expensive, is a hard sell.  For that price the display is 120Hz, and there is 12GB of ram and 256GB of storage.  Oh, and it has a notch.

The Tab S8 is an 11” tablet, while the Tab S8+ is a 12.4” tablet.  Both feature 8GB of RAM and either 128 or 256GB of storage.  They look like solid, if expensive Android tablets.  The S8 starts at $900 and the S8+ starts at $1150.  You really need to like Android on tablets to want these.

Samsung Outdoes Google on Android Updates

Last year, Samsung announced that it’s flagship phones in the Galaxy S, Note, and Z lines from 2020 on would receive 3 android version updates and 4 years of security updates.  At the time, that was slightly better than Google, which offered 3 years of updates on its phones.  With the launch of the Pixel 6 last year, Google announced 3 Android updates, and 5 years of security patches.

Now, Samsung has one upped Google again.  The company announced that the S21 and S22 lines, the Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3, as well as the Tab S8 lines will receive 4 Android version updates, and 5 years of security updates.  That means that the Galaxy S22 that launches on Android 12 today should see an update to Android 16 in 2026.  Many of Samsung’s mid range A series phones will continue to see 3 Android version updates.

Considering the increasing price of phones today, this is great news.  While not quite as long as Apple supports the iPhone, Samsung has set the new bar on Android.

Galaxy Watch 4 Updates

This was actually announced the night before, but the Galaxy Watch 4 is getting a new update that features expanded health tracking features and more watch faces. I actually already got the update on my watch, so it is rolling out now.  (Yes, I do still plan to review that watch).  Frustratingly, while Samsung and Google said that Google Assistant is eventually coming to the Galaxy Watch 4, it has only given the vague “in the coming months” timeline.

Wireless Charger Duo Update

I include this only because my review of the 2021 Wireless Charger Duo pad remains to this day the most trafficked thing I’ve written in the last 2 years, with continued traffic to it every week.  The 2022 version of the Wirelss Charger Duo offers a more squared off design, and the second charging pad that only worked for Galaxy Watches last year now works with any qi charging device.  Samsung’s promotional images show it charging earbuds, for instance.  That’s a nice improvement.

I’ll direct to https://www.androidcentral.com/ and https://www.theverge.com/ for more details and images of everything Samsung announced today.