Samsung’ Galaxy S22 series phones were some of the most anticipated devices a few months back and out of the three, the Galaxy S22+ seemed the most practical device to us and we recommended buying it without any hesitation on the basis of our review. A few months down the line, does the Galaxy S22+ still seem worth its value in front of the newcomers such as the Realme GT 2 Pro, OnePlus 10 Pro, and other flagships? Let’s have a look.
Wow Looks!
In terms of hardware and design, the Galaxy S22+ still looks minimal yet bold in the Matte black finish. While some of the newer launches such as the OnePlus 10 Pro or the Xiaomi 12 Pro have a funkier look than the Galaxy S22+, Samsung’s device still stands out of the crowd for not trying too hard in terms of design and keeping things simpler while being stylish.
The in-hand feel of the S22+ still feels as amazing as it did the first day. The flatter than usual sides really gives you a better grip. I do wish these sides weren’t given a glossy finish because after a day of use, they really start to get smudgy. The matte finish at the back couldn’t have been better, though. Yes, it is on the heavier side, but the Galaxy S22+ just feels about the right size – not too small as the Galaxy S22 and not too big as the S22 Ultra.
The buttons have a good feel to them when clicked and give out good feedback. The Haptics on the S22+ are still one of my most favorite features of this smartphone. The tight vibrations with a strong feel really lets you know that you have an incoming call even when the device is in your pocket. As for the stereo speakers, they get loud enough and are crisp with the audio but lack bass, which would have added much more to the experience. Overall, I feel this is a design I still can’t get enough of. It looks beautiful every day I look at it and feels as premium as it should, at such a price point.
Immersive Display, Smooth Software
The screen is with which you interact the most while using the smartphone and it is again one of those things I like about the device. The symmetrical bezels around the display always look amazing while the brightness and viewing angles are again very much flagship-like. The 120Hz smooth Refresh Rate can go down till 48Hz depending on the content being showed and I haven’t felt it stutter or lag even once during my usage.
While hardware is one of the best characteristics of this device, software, on the other hand, makes the experience even more enjoyable. One UI 4.1 based on Android 12 has been a joy to use on the Galaxy S22+. There have been no performance hiccups, even while multitasking or executing heavy tasks.
However, while gaming performance has improved over the course of past few months, the device still heats up more than usual while playing Apex Legends or Call of Duty Mobile with minor frame drops here and there. Also, I did face stutters when I started using the device for the first time three months back, but there haven’t been any since I received the first software update.
Read More: Samsung Galaxy S22+, Galaxy S22 Review: Dawn of the Galaxies
Talking about software updates, I have received a few of them so far, and things have gotten better with each one of them. Moroever, Samsung has been regular in delivering timely security patches each month. In fact, I received the May security patch on April 25th, which was quite a bit of a surprise considering I got the April and March security patches after almost a week into the month. This shows that Samsung is dedicated towards providing the promised experience to the user.
Samsung is the only brand giving 4 years of OS upgrades and 5 years of security patches and that is a major advantage the Galaxy S22+ has over its competitors.
Next, let’s talk about the feature loaded OneUI which doesn’t seem to disappoint on any occassion. It has all the smooth animations one would expect along with a load of customization features, especially when you install Samsung Good Lock. One thing I have liked the most which each power user would also admire is Bixby Routines.
Using that, Bixby automatically turns off the Wi-Fi and other stuff at the set time when I go to sleep. In the morning, all the notifications are ready and waiting for me as it turns on the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in the morning which in turn results in an automatic connection with my Galaxy Watch4.
The Galaxy Watch4 is another Samsung product I have loved using so far. With a significant price drop, Samsung made it one of the most value for money smartwatches in its price segment of under Rs 15,000. Pair that with a Galaxy S22+ and it is an unbeatable combo.
Decent Battery Life, Great Cameras
For those of you wondering how the battery life has aged, I would say that I haven’t noticed a major difference. It hasn’t gotten better but isn’t worse either. It can still easily last me a day with 30-20% left at night with moderate usage such as video streaming, some calls, social media browsing, and so on. But if you take it a notch above with navigation, or long gaming sessions, you can easily kill the battery within a day. This is typical flagship behavior but I have seen smartphones lasting longer and this could have been better.
Charging speeds have been decent with the device taking close to an hour to charge to full but again, this is not on par with the competition. I personally don’t mind the slower charging speeds on the S22+ but it can be a deal breaker for some people and faster charging would have been even better.
As for the cameras, we have already said how well the device performs in most lighting conditions and it still stands true after 3 months of use. The shutter lag does bothered me at some occassions where I wanted to point and shoot quickly and either the photo used to come out blurred or I had missed the shot.
Apart from that, there haven’t been any major improvements for the cameras, at least during my usage I didn’t see any. These cameras were great the first day I used the phone and they are still the same if not better. I did notice that Selfies in some scenarios have a really warm tone to them which I actually didn’t observe during the full review. But as I don’t take many selfies, that wasn’t a major issue to me.
