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Samsung’s most expensive nonfoldable phone is taking a lesson from the company’s past. The Galaxy S22 Ultra, alongside the and the effectively replaces the in Samsung’s lineup. The Galaxy S22 Ultra starts at $1,200 (£1,149, AU$1,849) and launches on Feb. 25, .
The Galaxy S22 Ultra is the first Samsung phone since the to not only incorporate S Pen support, like the Galaxy S21 Ultra and Z Fold 3, but also include a physical slot on the phone for stowing the stylus. S Pen fans who bought last year’s had to buy the stylus separately and opt for a specific phone case that could store it. Other upgrades to the phone are more iterative, including steps forward in the processor, camera and screen.
Samsung declined to comment on future products when asked if it would release new Galaxy Note phones in the future. But it did say the company is now thinking of the Galaxy Note as an «experience» more than a product line, and it plans to point Note fans toward the Galaxy S22 Ultra in future.
The Galaxy Note, which debuted , was an industry disrupter. It popularized bigger screens, and Samsung further distinguished the line with exclusive features that were missing from other Galaxy phones.
But the Note’s place has become less clear. In 2020, Samsung squeezed the Note lineup in between the . The Note line skipped 2021 entirely. Now, the Galaxy S22 Ultra represents what appears to be a much-needed merging of the Note and the Ultra.
A more Note-like experience on the Galaxy S22 Ultra
The Galaxy S22 Ultra looks like a full Galaxy Note replacement.
Richard Peterson/CNET
In addition to full support and a spot inside the phone to store it, Samsung also made some improvements to the way its stylus works. The latency is lower, and it can transcribe handwritten notes to text in 88 languages. In the brief time I had to try the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the S Pen felt fluid and responsive, although it’s hard to tell if it was any different than before.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra has also inherited the Note’s more streamlined design, which has sharper edges and a more angular look compared to the standard Galaxy S phones. This gives it the more «notebook» like shape that Note fans are likely familiar with, and it could be helpful for reading and reviewing documents. The regular , which Samsung also announced on Wednesday, have a more rounded aesthetic by comparison.
This makes the S22 Ultra feel indistinguishable from the , and it’s a visually striking design that works well on such a large phone. It also helps the Ultra stand out from the regular S22 and S22 Plus, as it should considering the gap in price. The S22 Ultra will be available in black, white, green and burgundy.
Samsung’s Galaxy Note and Galaxy S Ultra phones are known for their gigantic screens, and that’s no different this time around. The Galaxy S22 Ultra’s display measures 6.8 inches diagonally, , and it has a QHD Plus resolution. All three new Galaxy phones can also boost their screens’ refresh rate to 120Hz for smoother scrolling.
Samsung is also adding a feature it calls Vision Booster, which adjusts color and contrast based on your environment. This should make it easier to watch darker scenes in movies and TV shows. It’s available on all three Galaxy S22 models, but the company says the Ultra and Plus have Samsung’s brightest screens yet.
A similar camera with better night photography
The Galaxy S22 Ultra has a four-lens camera, mercedes mini van unlike the regular Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus.
Richard Peterson/CNET
The Galaxy S22 Ultra’s camera is similar to the one on the , at least on paper. There’s a quadruple-lens rear camera with a 108-megapixel main sensor, 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera and two 10-megapixel telephoto lenses. The field of view on the wide and telephoto lenses is slightly wider on the Galaxy S22 Ultra compared to its predecessor.
But Samsung claims there are other upgrades that should make the device and . The Galaxy S22 Ultra can detect up to 10 subjects and adjust the framing accordingly, even when new people enter the scene. That’s an increase compared to the previous generation, according to Samsung.
Samsung is also emphasizing the phone’s ability to take better photos and videos in the dark. All of Samsung’s new Galaxy S22 phones use a process called pixel binning, which combines multiple pixels into one larger pixel to improve brightness. This process on its own isn’t new to Samsung phones. But what’s different is the way the S22 lineup combines pixel binning with the resolution from the phone’s main camera sensor to improve both brightness and clarity, Samsung says.