When will Samsung’s S22 ultra be released in the UK?
Samsung is expected to announce the Galaxy S22 at its Unpacked event in early February, but leaks are already revealing plenty of juicy details about the brand’s range of premium flagship phones for 2022.
As usual, this handset is expected to actually be a family of three distinct models, each with a spec sheet and price tag fit for competing closely against the iPhone 13 and Google Pixel 6.
Samsung phones usually follow the evolution-not-revolution formula, shunning ground-breaking leaps in technology for minor improvements to the processors and camera units. As ever, the phones are expected to run the latest version of Google’s Android operating system, but with a visual overhaul to make the software look and feel distinctly Samsung.
Here’s everything we know so far about the upcoming Galaxy S22 Samsung smartphone family.
Read more:
Samsung Galaxy S22: Release date
Samsung hasn’t yet announced its next Unpacked product launch event, but when it does, we’ll know for sure when the next smartphone is due. Instead, we can take an educated guess based on Samsung’s previous schedule.
For the past few years, Samsung has revealed its latest Galaxy S phone family just ahead of the Mobile World Congress trade show, which usually takes place in Barcelona in February. But the last couple of years haven’t exactly stuck to the script, and for 2021 Samsung announced the S21 family earlier than usual, in mid-January.
Given the ongoing global chip shortage, it’s hard to say exactly when any tech products will be launched this year. For now, we suspect Samsung will aim for January or February, and we’ll know for sure once invitations to its next Unpacked event land in our inboxes.
Samsung Galaxy S22: Price
This one is also unknown for now, but we can do a fair amount of guesswork based on previous Samsung Galaxy phones.
Interestingly, Samsung cut its prices for the S21, with each of the three versions being cheaper than its S20 equivalent from the previous year. As such, the regular S21 began life at £769, the larger S21 was £949 and the flagship S21 ultra started at £1,149.
We’re expecting much of the same for the Galaxy S22 this year, although tech tipster TheGalox_ claimed on Twitter in November that there will be a small $50 to $100 (£37 to £74) price increase across the range. They also claimed the minimum storage option will double from 128GB to 256GB, helping to soften the blow of a price rise. It should be made clear that these are just rumours for now, though.
Samsung Galaxy S22: Specifications
Nothing has been confirmed by Samsung just yet, and likely won’t be until the S22 is fully revealed in the coming weeks. But, as ever, the online rumour mill is working overtime.
It is claimed the regular S22 will have a slightly smaller screen than the S21, down from 6.2in to 6.1in. This trend will continue with the S22 plus (down from 6.7in to 6.5in) and the S22 ultra (6.9in to 6.81in). The overall look of the S22 family is said to be unchanged, and the slightly smaller displays are unlikely to be noticed by most users.
As for the rear camera units, reliable leaker Ice Universe tweeted in November to say the S22 and S22 plus will have 50MP rear cameras, plus a 10M telephoto camera with 3X optical zoom, and a 12MP ultrawide camera. There will be a 10MP selfie camera on the front of both phones, the tech tipster said.
The Galaxy S22 is expected to be powered by a next-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon processor or Samsung’s own Exynos chip, depending on which market it is purchased in.
Samsung is due to announce its latest Exynos processor on 11 January. Interestingly, the chip is expected to feature a graphics processor based on the same AMD architecture used by the PS5 and Xbox series X. We’re not expecting console-grade gaming performance from the phone, of course, but it’s certainly something for mobile gamers to get excited about. On a similar note, a post briefly appearing on Samsung’s own Weibo account claimed the S22 will support ray tracing, which could make for exceptional gaming visuals.
As for memory, it is fair to assume the regular S22 and S22 plus (which tends to be identical, save for a larger display) will have 8GB of RAM, and the more powerful S22 ultra will have up to 12GB – or even 16GB if the latest leaks are to prove accurate. Given the iPhone 13 pro can be bought with up to 1TB of storage, we expect to see the same from the S22 ultra.
Samsung Galaxy S22: Features
It had previously been claimed that Samsung was working on a selfie camera hidden beneath the screen of the Galaxy S22, but that now seems unlikely. This is certainly a feature tech firms are interested in adopting for future smartphones, but isn’t one we expect to see on mainstream handsets just yet.
It is possible that Samsung could turn the S22 ultra into a replacement for the discontinued Galaxy note range, giving it support for the company’s S Pen stylus and potentially even incorporating the retired Note name. This is all theoretical for now, however.
Another feature of the S22 could be fast charging, with the latest rumours suggesting the S22 plus will have 45W charging, a significant step up from the 25W charging seen on the Galaxy S21. Faster wireless charging would also be welcome, but hasn’t been confirmed just yet.
Reverse wireless charging is expected to be included, where the S22 can fill the battery of another device, like a phone or earphones case, when placed on the rear of the Samsung handset.
How much RAM does the S22 ultra have?
Samsung hasn’t confirmed any specifications just yet, but it is expected to give the S22 ultra either 8GB or 12GB of RAM. A recent leak suggests the top-spec S22 ultra will offer 1TB of storage and a hefty 16GB of RAM.
Samsung Galaxy S22 ultra: Recent leaks
Some unconfirmed details about the Samsung Galaxy S22 ultra’s specifications have come to light, courtesy of Sammobile. The insider reports that the S22 ultra will come in a 1TB model plus 16GB of RAM, and will ship later this year.
That’s double the storage found in the largest capacity S21 ultra, and would put Samsung’s premium flagship device on a par with the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 pro max.
Will the S22 ultra have expandable storage?
MicroSD card slots are becoming increasingly rare on flagship smartphones, with manufacturers opting to increase internal storage (and charging plenty for it) instead of letting owners upgrade with a far cheaper SD card.
The Galaxy S21 didn’t have a microSD card slot and so far there is no reason to assume the S22 will be any different.
Is the Samsung Galaxy S22 dual SIM?
This often comes down to which market you live in, or where you buy your phone. Samsung made single- and dual-SIM versions of the S21 and a more recent S21 fan edition, but it isn’t known yet if it will do the same with the S22, nor if a dual-SIM model will be available in the UK at launch.
Does the S22 have a headphone jack?
We can’t answer this with absolute certainty, but it seems very unlikely. Samsung hasn’t included headphone jacks on its Galaxy S phones for a while now, as is the industry trend which also has seen Apple and others remove the port. Instead, S22 buyers will be able to use headphones that connect using Bluetooth or the phone’s USB-C charge port.
Is the Samsung Galaxy S21 ultra bigger than the S21 plus?
We have already said how the S22 ultra is expected to have a slightly smaller display than the S21 ultra. However, rumours so far claim the new phone will be larger than its predecessor. This means dimensions of 163.3 x 77.9 x 9.05mm, compared to 165.1 x 75.6 x 8.9mm for the S1 ultra.
