#Everything We Know so Far – Review Geek

If you thought the Galaxy S21 launch was a big deal, just wait until you see the Galaxy S22. We still have a few months before Samsung launches its Galaxy S22-series phones, but leaks and rumors paint an interesting picture for the future of Samsung. Here’s everything we know about the Samsung Galaxy S22—including some info on that ray-tracing AMD GPU.

Broad Details: Release Date, Models, and Pricing

We expect the company to follow this same basic recipe with the Galaxy S22 release, though there may be a few small changes to shake things up. For instance, last year’s Galaxy S21 was announced in January, a month earlier than expected. Samsung could revert back to its traditional launch schedule for the Galaxy S22, though it could debut the device as early as January 2022. (Front Page Tech suggests that Galaxy S22 pre-orders will begin in February 2022.)

Despite the washy release date, the Galaxy S22 lineup is set in stone. Leaks and rumors state that Samsung will begin manufacturing a base-model Galaxy S22, a larger Galaxy S22+, and a powerful Galaxy S22 Ultra in December. The two smaller models of S22 may come in Black, Green, Pink Gold, and White colorways, while the S22 Ultra could ditch the Pink Gold color option for Dark Red.

As for how much these phones will cost, we don’t know. A price increase is always on the table, though Samsung actually launched last year’s S21-series phones for $200 less than its S20 devices. Given the circumstance, we expect the Galaxy S22 series to start at $800, just like last year’s models.

The Design: A Familiar Look and … a New Look

While we don’t have any images of the base-model Galaxy S22 or S22+, a set of leaked Galaxy S22 Ultra photos practically confirms the design for all three phones. Not because they all share the same design, though—they actually look very different.

The leaked Galaxy S22 Ultra images show a phone with a Galaxy Note-like design. It ditches the camera hump, it has those nice squared-off corners, and it even has an S-Pen slot. And because these images look identical to mockups made by LetsGoDigital, there’s a good chance that the outlet’s base-model S22 and S22+ renders are also accurate.

Unlike the S22 Ultra, the base-model Galaxy S22 and S22+ sport a very familiar design, with big camera humps and plastic shells. They don’t have S-Pen slots, and oddly enough, they have totally flat screens. (Some people dispute these claims and say that the base-model S22 and S22+ will ditch the camera bump.)

According to leaker FrontTron, the standard Galaxy S22 will feature a 6.01-inch screen, while the S22+ gets a 6.55-inch display. These screens are about 0.2 inches smaller than what we got last year, likely because the Galaxy S22 lineup isn’t using curved glass.

Leaks suggest that the Galaxy S22 Ultra will feature a 6.81-inch screen, which is technically bigger than last year’s 6.8-inch display. Samsung will use curved glass for the Galaxy S22 Ultra display, likely to help it stand out from the cheaper models. It should also pack a WQHD+ resolution and, like last year, a 120Hz refresh rate.

Spec Talk: The First AMD-Powered Phone?

As with previous releases, we expect Samsung to use the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon and custom-made Exynos processors in its Galaxy S22-series phones. Some regions will get the latest Snapdragon 895 chip (which should launch in December), while others will get the new Exynos 2200 chip.

These processors ensure that Galaxy S22 will be the most powerful Android smartphone to date (on paper, at least). But that’s not all—the Galaxy S22 may be the first phone to use an AMD RDNA2 GPU, the same chip used in the Xbox Series X and PS5.

Samsung and AMD partnered to develop smartphone graphics hardware back in 2019, and it seems that the companies are finally taking this affair seriously. Given the AMD RDNA2 GPU’s ray-tracing capabilities, the S22-series may mark a huge milestone for mobile gaming.

The Cameras: A Big Upgrade From Last Year?

Information the Galaxy S22-series camera lineup is a bit shaky. Several leaks and rumors suggest a huge upgrade from last year, though it’s difficult to verify these claims, especially since the S21’s cameras weren’t a major improvement over its predecessor’s.

So here’s what we’ve heard. Samsung will continue using a 10-megapixel selfie camera in the S22 and S22+. These devices will also keep the old 12MP ultra-wide lens, though their telephoto lens may gain 3X optical zoom capabilities. Also, Samsung could upgrade the S22 and S22+’s main lens with a 50MP Samsung ISOCell GN5 sensor.

And while the S22 Ultra will retain the same camera array as last year (40MP selfie lens, 108MP main lens, 12MP ultra-wide, and two 10MP telephoto cameras), it may produce substantially better photos than the S21 Ultra.

While the S21 Ultra technically has the same 108MP main lens as the S22 Ultra, it uses pixel binning to turn these high-res photos into 12MP images (you can turn pixel binning off with a high-res mode, though). Leaks suggest that Samsung will use an improved version of the HM3 108MP sensor in its S22 Ultra release, introduce a new “enhanced detail mode” for high-res shots, and tone down the pixel binning to dramatically improve photo quality.

Other Features: Super Fast Charging, Or Maybe Not?

Samsung tends to crush the competition when it comes to charging speed, but last year’s S21 lineup charged at a top speed of just 25 watts. In fact, the S21 Ultra charges slower than its predecessor, the S20 Ultra (probably to improve long-term battery health).

That said, we really don’t know how fast the S22-series devices will charge. Some leaks suggest that Samsung is experimenting with 65-watt Fast Charging, while others state that Samsung is sticking to the basics here.

Here’s the most reliable leak we’ve seen—Ice Universe says that the S22 Ultra will charge at 45-watts, the same speed we got with the S20 Ultra nearly two years ago. If this rumor is correct, then Samsung will probably stick with 25-watt charging in the S22 and S22+ to help differentiate its products.

We expect Samsung to announce its Galaxy S22 lineup in January or February of 2022, but until the company schedules an event, all we can do is speculate. And that’s something you should keep in mind when reading any leaks or rumors—they’re nearly impossible to confirm.

Still, we’ll continue to update this article with any new information we find on the Galaxy S22 lineup. Bookmark this page or join our free newsletter to keep up with the latest Galaxy S22 leaks and rumors.