SAMSUNG GALAXY S22+

 

SAMSUNG GALAXY S22+

SAMSUNG GALAXY S22+ SPECS

Operating System	Android 12
CPU	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
Dimensions	6.20 by 2.98 by 0.3 inches

ALL SPECS 

Samsung's Galaxy S22+ ($999.99) is a crowd-pleaser. It has reliable reception, a bright screen, solid cameras, and good battery life. None of this is surprising; Samsung's Galaxy phones are the default choices for most Android users in the US, and certainly for existing Samsung device owners who want to upgrade. The S22+ is the middle child of the S22 lineup—it doesn’t have an S Pen like the Galaxy S22 Ultra, and isn’t as compact as the S22. In other years, that could make it forgettable, but this time around the S22+ strikes the best balance between performance, value, and portability of the three. At the high end of the Android phone market in the US, the S22+ competes only with the $899 Google Pixel 6 Pro. Google’s flagship is more affordable and has better cameras, but the S22+ offers a stronger processor and cellular radio, earning it our Editors' Choice award.

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A Better Body and a Delightful Display

Samsung sells two versions of the S22+ in the US: each offers 8GB of RAM, but you can choose between 128GB ($999.99) or 256GB ($1,049.99) of storage. Pick carefully, because without a microSD card slot, that's all the space you get.

The design of last year's Galaxy S21+ was disappointing for a $1,000 phone. The back material felt cheap and plasticky, especially compared with the matte-metal texture of the Galaxy S21 Ultra. That's part of the reason why the S21 Ultra won our Editors' Choice award instead of the S21+.

The Galaxy S22+ (left) has a more durable and premium-feeling body than the Galaxy S21+ (center) or Galaxy S20+ (right) (Photo: Molly Flores)

Thankfully, the Galaxy S22+ feels much more premium. The back material has a silky matte feel and seems more resistant to scratches than the even-more-matte coating on the S22 Ultra. However, the phone is very slippery. It's on my desk right now, slowly, inexorably moving toward the edge; only the friction from the camera bump prevents it from sliding around like a hockey puck. Like all the other models in the current Galaxy lineup, the S22+ carries an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. And like the S22, the S22+ is available in black, green, pink, or white. I tested a pink S22+ and a green S22. The pink is a delicate pastel and the green is a sober dark-forest color.