The smallest member of the Samsung Galaxy S22 family may be the best small standard Android phone.
The Galaxy S22 is Samsung’s latest version of its « flagship phone » with the latest processor, screen, and camera. With a 6.1-inch display, it’s the smallest member of a family that also includes the 6.6-inch Galaxy S22+ and the 6.8-inch Galaxy S22 Ultra. Where I found the improvements in the S22 Ultra to be significant (including adding in Note functionality), the regular S22 seems like more of an incremental change from last year’s Galaxy S21, something that’s been true of most of the flagship phones we’ve seen lately. It appears the year-to-year improvements in phone features have slowed, as all the moderate to high-end phones already have very nice screens, fast processors, and decent cameras. The only real exceptions are foldable phones like the Galaxy Z Fold3 and Flip3. In this market, the S22 is a solid entry, even if it lacks some of the bells and whistles of the highest-end models. Measuring 5.75 by 2.78 by 0.29 inches (HWD) and weighing 5.93 ounces, it’s a bit smaller than last year’s Galaxy S21. (For comparison, it’s about the same size as the regular iPhone 13; the iPhone 13 mini is notably smaller and lighter). The Galaxy S22 has rounded edges, and comes in a variety of colors, and some would consider it a bit more stylish than the more rectangular S22 Ultra. I found it fit well in my hand and was easy to carry. It has a 6.1-inch 2340 x 1080-pixel AMOLED display in what Samsung calls its « Infinity-O » display (which effectively means tiny bezels but a little hole on top for the front-facing camera.) It offers an adaptive display rate, up to 120 Hz for smoother scrolling, along with adaptive brightness. I thought the screen looked excellent, even in bright sunlight. The back of the phone has a vertical bump on the left-hand edge containing the three cameras, like last year’s model. The camera system is good, though not a big step up from last year’s, with a 50-megapixel main camera,12-megapixel ultrawide camera, and 10-megapixel 3X zoom camera.
