Galaxy S22s hold prices but offer better cameras, chips

Tech

Published: 10 Feb. 2022, 00:00

Galaxy S22s hold prices but offer better cameras, chips

Roh Tae-moon, president and head of Samsung Electronics' smartphone business, holds Galaxy S22 series phones during an Unpacked launch event on Thursday. [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

Samsung Electronics introduced three Galaxy S22 models at the same price as the S21 series.

A major focus of the new series, announced during a virtual Unpacked event on Thursday, is camera enhancement for night-time shooting and an upgrade in processors that promises faster graphics data transmission.

Samsung wants to attract high-end users to its flagship phones and lure them away from Apple's iPhone.

The standard 6.1-inch Galaxy S22 will retail for 999,900 won ($835.57) and the 6.6-inch Galaxy S22 Plus at 1.19 million won. The 6.8-inch Galaxy S22 Ultra, which comes with a built-in case for a stylus, will be priced at 1.45 million won for the lowest storage option.

The S22 series will feature advanced AI-powered photo editing software and image sensors that are 23 percent bigger than their predecessors' for better nighttime photography.
“Our smartphone cameras have transformed the way we create, share, and communicate,” said Roh Tae-moon, President and Head of Samsung Electronics’ MX (Mobile eXperience) Business.

“Through photos and videos, we express ourselves and connect with the people we care about. That’s why we focused on designing our latest S series devices with groundbreaking camera capabilities that work day and night, powered by our best mobile performance yet.”

The Ultra has a quad-camera setup at the rear including a 108-megapixel wide-angle main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera with autofocus and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera, along with a 40-megapixel selfie camera in the front.

The S22 and S22 Plus will be fitted with a triple-camera setup at the rear including a 50-megapixel main camera, 12-megapixel ultrawide camera with autofocus and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera, and a 10-megapixel lens in the front.

Galaxy S22 series [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

There are four color options: pink, green, white and black.

Another selling point is application processors that are manufactured with the 4 nanometer process.
Galaxy S22 devices will be powered by either Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or the Samsung Electronics Exynos 2200. The company declined to say which markets will get which chipsets.

In an apparent response to disappointing reviews of the graphics processing performance of the preceding models, Samsung highlighted Exynos 2200’s graphics processing unit (GPU), which was jointly developed with U.S. chipmaker AMD.

Since both the Snapdragon and Exynos processors will be manufactured by Samsung Electronics, the computing performance of the S22 will become a key test of the company’s capability to make high-performing chips.

Competing mobile chipsets – Apple’s bionic chips used in iPhones and Mediatek’s Dimensity 9000 – are fabricated by TSMC, the Taiwan-based chip manufacturer holding a dominant market share of the foundry business, or contract chipmaking.

All three will offer internal storage of 256 gigabytes while the Ultra will also offer a 512 gigabyte option.

The S22 and S22 Plus will have an aluminum frame, as used in Samsung's latest foldable models, and all three devices are covered with a tough glass named Corning Gorilla Glass Victus.

Orders will start in Korea from Feb. 14 through 21, with launches in other markets starting Feb. 25.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]