A diary of the first 12 whirlwind hours with Samsung’s new Galaxy S series – Note hybrid
Smartphones are pocket-friendly computers that have far more features and depth than the communications equipment your grandparents favored. One day isn’t enough time for a full assessment of the big, powerful Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G Android 12 smartphone. But first impressions count. Here’s a diary of my early journey full of fun discoveries, tiny disappointments, and eye-popping capabilities. 10:30 AM ET: It’s here! My Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G has arrived in a shockingly svelte black box. 10:32 AM ET: Unboxed! Gosh, there’s so little packaging in here. We have the cardboard box and the glued-in frame that holds the phone in place. Under the phone is a slim cardboard box that holds the USB-C Cable. Another cardboard band holds the cable in neat loops. That’s it. There are no earphones (wired or unwired), and no charging brick. The phone itself has two ultra-thin pieces of plastic protecting the Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ on the front and back of the phone. I kind of love this minimalist approach. We don’t need reams of tiny paper manuals we’ll never read. Most of us probably already have our own favorite wireless earbuds, so I don’t really miss those, either. As for the missing charging brick, I’m torn. As a tech reviewer, I have boxes of these things, but average consumers? They might be frustrated at its omission. 10:45 AM ET: Setup is unremarkable. It’s a combination of adding your Google credentials – I have two sets – and logging back into Samsung’s own account system and accepting various permissions. What I like about Samsung’s OneUI 4 is that the overall system feels increasingly like pure Android. Even so, I am looking forward to checking out Samsung Pay. I can’t seem to log into my corporate Wi-Fi (an us problem, not a Samsung one). The good news is that this S22 Ultra already has a T-Mobile 5G SIM inside. The signal at my desk is pretty darn good. 11:00 AM ET: So many security choices, including Pin, Face Recognition, Fingerprints, Pattern, Password. Always interesting to me how Samsung really doesn’t recommend Face Recognition for maximum security. I start by registering my face. The set-up asks me to take off my glasses, and I immediately feel naked. 11:02 AM ET: The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra feels cool, slick, and substantial in my hand. I love how shiny it is and appreciate the satin back that does a decent job of hiding fingerprints. The black is killer. Noticing how its 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display dwarfs my 6.1-inch iPhone 13 Pro. Later, I’ll compare it to the more comparable 6.7-inch iPhone 13 Pro Max. It’s a weighty bugger but turns out to be slightly lighter than the iPhone 13 Pro Max. The S22 Ultra is so slippery – the long-curved edges don’t help with grippiness. I really wish I had a case. 11:56 AM ET: I always like to get a full charge before testing. So, I plug the phone into a USB-C cable. It’s currently at about 86%. Wishing I had a 45W fast-charging brick. 12:38 PM ET: Fully charged! 12:47 PM ET: Realized I almost forgot that the S Pen now lives inside the Galaxy S22 Ultra (granted, it looks so much like a Galaxy Note device). Press the butt end of the pen until it clicks and then pops partially out. I removed the S Pen and held it. It’s quite thin and light. My hand almost feels too large to use it. I got distracted and left the S-Pen out, sitting next to the phone. The Galaxy S22 Ultra noticed and displayed a message asking if I had inadvertently left the pen behind. That’s a nice little feature. 12:49 PM ET: Does the phone’s back feel a little warm? I swear I detect a bit of warmth on the back of the phone.
