Best Samsung Phones Of 2022

As the highest spec variant of Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G is the manufacturer’s best handset.

Costing the same as its predecessor, the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G, did at its launch, it’s not the cheapest smartphone out there but its spec put it far and above anything else the manufacturer offers and improves on the S21 Ultra 5G in a number of ways.

While the Galaxy S21 supported the Samsung S Pen stylus, the Galaxy S22 now integrates the accessory with a slot for stowing and charging it – much like Samsung’s Note range of smartphones.

The camera looks very similar to that of the S21 Ultra, but the lenses no longer protrude from the back of the device, which means it can be set down flat more easily than its predecessor could. The main camera again features a huge 108 Megapixel sensor, and Samsung has done some work on the software side of things to make night time photography sharper. Night mode can now also be applied to videos as well as stills.

Curiously, the 6.8″ AMOLED 2 display has a lower resolution than its predecessor, which in turn means it has fewer pixels per inch. It does, however, support HDR 10+ where the S21 Ultra only supported HDR 10.
The most expensive version of the phone has a maximum RAM of 12GB, which is less than its last-generation equivalent, which went up to 16GB.

In terms of storage, however, the new phone goes up to 1 Terabyte, which is almost double the S21’s maximum.

• Max RAM: 12GB
• Max storage capacity: 1TB
• Screen resolution: 1440 x 3088
• Screen PPI: 500
• Display refresh rate: 120Hz
• CPU speed: 2.9GHz
• Battery capacity: 5,000mAh
• Camera F-stop range: f1.8 – 4.9
• Max camera zoom: 100x

The new iteration of the middle child in Samsung’s flagship family, the Galaxy S22+ has received some upgrades on its predecessor, the Galaxy S21+.

Where the latter was backed with plastic, the new device has a Gorilla Glass Victus+ rear, which makes the device feel more premium without sacrificing too much in durability.

For some reason, Samsug saw fit to have off 0.1″ off the handset for the latest iteration, making it ever so slightly smaller, which can be a plus if you have smaller hands. The bezels have been shunk slightly though, giving over more space for the new AMOLED 2X screen, which Samsung markets as the best display it’s ever made. That said, it has less pixels per inch than the base Galaxy S22 because its resolution is same, despite being a larger display panel.

In terms of photography, it’s not quite up there with the S22 Ultra’s four-lens, 108MP main camera set up, but its 50MP main lens is still much higher resolution that what’s found in its Apple equivalent. The selfie camera on the front is also of a lower resolution than its bigger sibling, at 10MP rather than 40MP.

The handset comes with a more-than-sufficient 8GB of RAM and a choice of either 128GB or 256GB of storage.

• Max RAM: 8GB
• Max storage capacity: 256GB
• Screen resolution: 1080 x 2340
• Screen PPI: 393
• Display refresh rate: 120Hz
• CPU speed: 2.9GHz
• Battery capacity: 4,500mAh
• Camera F-stop range: f1.8-2.4
• Max camera zoom: 30x

If you want a Samsung handset with some of the latest and greatest technology, the S21 Ultra 5G is where it’s at.

It’s not quite Samsung’s most expensive model, but at £1,329 it’s a seriously pricey phone. For your money, you’ll get massive memory in the form of 16GB worth of RAM and 512GB of ROM. This means you’ll be able to handle more than even the most demanding applications without slow-down or stutter, and with more than half a terrabyte of storage you can download and capture media to your heart’s content.

The 6.8 inch display’s technology packs more pixels per inch than any other Samsung phone. At a resolution of 3200 x 1440, the phone has the closest thing to 4K you can get on a mobile and its 120Hz refresh rate should make everything look extra smooth.

It’s all powered by an octa-core processor capable of speeds up to 2.9GHz and a 5,000mAh battery that should see even heavy users through a full day between charges.

For the photographers, the S21 Ultra 5G features Samsung’s most advanced camera array yet with up to 100x zoom capability. The Ultra’s wide-angle lens clocks in at a massive 108MP, while its dual telephoto lenses come in at 10MP apiece. It also takes selfies at 40MP.

What’s more, you can shoot video in 8K resolution, which is more than most televisions on the market can output, take advantage of an impressive f-stop range for a great bokeh effect on portraits and use Samsung’s S Pen for handwritten input.

It might be expensive, but next to the latest iPhone, this is the cutting edge of smartphone technology – at least for the time being.

• Max RAM: 16GB
• Max storage capacity: 512GB
• Screen resolution: 3200 x 1440
• Screen PPI: 515
• Display refresh rate: 120Hz
• CPU speed: 2.9GHz
• Battery capacity: 5,000mAh
• Camera F-stop range: f1.8 – 4.9
• Max camera zoom: 100x

The S21+ 5G is the premium version of its S21 5G, and justifies its larger price tag with a larger screen and battery.

For £999 you get a 6.7″, full-HD (2400 x 1080 pixels) AMOLED screen that refreshes at 120Hz, keeping everything sharp, vibrant and smooth.

Its larger form factor allows for a battery with a larger, 4,800mAh capacity that will last longer between charges than the standard S21 when used like for like.

The handset houses the same powerful octa-core processor as its S21 siblings and clocks in at top speeds of 2.9GHz.

For taking pictures, the S21+ has a 12MP wide-angle lens on its rear, accompanied by a 64MP telephoto lens capable of 30x zoom and a 12MP ultra-wide-angle lens. If you love taking portrait photographs with that professional, blurred background look, the f1.8 lens will do the job nicely.

Like its S21 peers, the handset has 5G connectivity, an IP68 waterproof rating and can be charged wirelessly.

• Max RAM: 8GB
• Max storage capacity: 256GB
• Screen resolution: 2400 x 1080
• Screen PPI: 394
• Display refresh rate: 120Hz
• CPU speed: 2.9GHz
• Battery capacity: 4,800mAh
• Camera F-stop range: f1.8 – 2.2
• Max camera zoom: 30x

The entry-level Galaxy S22 offers a competitively priced upgrade to the Galaxy S21, but Samsung has perhaps made a number of sacrifices to keep its price down.

For example, The S22 has a smaller screen than the S21 with a slightly lower resolution, which means it does get a marginal boost in its number of pixels per inch.

Samsung has also downgraded the S22’s main camera resolution from 64MP to 50MP and shrunk its battery capacity from 4,000mAh to 3,700mAh.

One improvement over the S21 is that its adaptive AMOLED 2X display has a more flexible refresh rate, dropping as low as 10Hz for still images then back up to 120Hz for fast-moving images. The S21 could only drop to 48Hz, which should mean the new handset can better optimise battery use.

• Max RAM: 8GB
• Max storage capacity: 256GB
• Screen resolution: 2340 x 1080
• Screen PPI: 425
• Display refresh rate: 120Hz
• CPU speed: 2.9GHz
• Battery capacity: 3,700mAh
• Camera F-stop range: f1.8-2.4
• Max camera zoom: 30x

The Galaxy S21 is the base version of Samsung’s previous flagship phone, designed to go toe-to-toe with Apple’s iPhone 12. At £819 it’s cheaper than the iPhone 12 model with the same 256GB storage capacity (£949), but it’s still a significant outlay if you buy the handset without a contract.

It’s the smallest of the S21 family, featuring a 6.2″, full-HD AMOLED screen. Since it’s smaller than the S21+, however, it packs in more pixels per inch than its bigger brother, resulting in a sharper picture. Also, it benefits from the same 120Hz refresh rate for the smoothest possible animations.

The smaller form factor means less space for a battery, and so you get a 4,000mAh lithium ion battery which wont last quite as long as the s21+’s 4,800mAH cell or the S21 Ultra’s 5,000mAh one.

You still get the eight-core processor that tops out at 2.9GHz, though, plus the same camera array as the S21+ – specifically, a 64MP telephoto lens with 30x digital zoom, a 12MP wide-angle lens and a 12MP ultra-wide-angle lens. If you’ve never found smartphone battery life to be a problem, or you prefer a smaller handset, there’s money to be saved by choosing the S21 over the S21+.

• Max RAM: 8GB
• Max storage capacity: 256GB
• Screen resolution: 2400 x 1080
• Screen PPI: 421
• Display refresh rate: 120Hz
• CPU speed: 2.9GHz
• Battery capacity: 4,000mAh
• Camera F-stop range: f1.8 – 2.2
• Max camera zoom: 30x

A hybrid phone and tablet, the Galaxy Note Ultra 5G offers a huge 6.9″” display that wraps around the edges of the device. The Note’s almost 4K resolution (3088 x 1440 pixels) produces Samsung’s second-sharpest image based on its number of pixels per inch.
The phone is Samsung’s largest non-folding handset and is powered by a 4,500aMh battery. Its octa-core processor has top speeds of 2.73GHz.

In terms of photography, there are twin 12MP lenses and a huge 108MP lens on the back of the phone that allows for 50x zoom, plus a 10MP selfie camera on the front. Video recording goes as high as 8K, which is higher than most commercially available televisions can output, but means you can pull super-high resolution stills from the clips you shoot.

Unlike Samsung’s current flagship S21 range, the Note 20 Ultra 5G has expandable storage in the form of a micro SD slot. Being able to add another terrabyte of storage to the handset’s in-built 512GB of ROM could be useful if you’re going to be filming in memory-hogging 8K.

• Max RAM: 12GB
• Max storage capacity: 512GB
• Screen resolution: 3088 x 1440
• Screen PPI: 496
• Display refresh rate: 120Hz
• CPU speed: 2.73GHz
• Battery capacity: 4,500mAh
• Camera F-stop range: f1.8 – 2.2
• Max camera zoom: 50x

The new version of Samsung’s fully-fledged foldable phone improves on its predecessor for the same (admittedly high) price.

Like the Fold2 5G, the phone’s display is 6.2″” when closed and 7.6″” when unfolded, with minimal visible seams or folds. Samsung also claims to have improved the hinge mechanism to better repel dust and debris.

Unlike the Fold2 5G, however, the handset’s selfie camera is hidden behind its main display. The display has also been upgraded to feature a 120Hz refresh rate and include support for Samsung’s stylus, the S Pen.

Some specs still lag behind the company’s current flagship, the S21 Ultra, but the Fold3 5G still features 12GB of RAM, an octocore processor with a clock speed of 2.84GHz, a 4400mAh battery and an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance. Despite the improvements, the phone will still sell for the same as the Fold2 5G did at its launch – £1,599.

• Max RAM: 12GB
• Max storage capacity: 256GB
• Screen resolution: 2268 x 832/2208 x 1768
• Screen PPI: 374
• Display refresh rate: 120Hz
• CPU speed: 2.84GHz
• Battery capacity: 4400mAh
• Camera F-stop range: f1.8-2.4
• Max camera zoom: 10x

The new version of Samsung’s smart flip-phone improves on its predecessor at a lower price point, widening its appeal and helping to make fodable devices more mainstream.

Not only is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 more than £200 cheaper than the Flip2 was at its launch, its cover display is four times larger than the Flip 2’s, it has an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, has a more durable hinge and a display that refreshes at 120Hz – twice its predecessor’s 60Hz.

Elsewhere, the phone features 8GB of RAM, at least 128GB of storage, a 6.7″” AMOLED display and an octocore processor with a clock speed of 2.84GHz.

The 3,300mAh battery is lower than many modern smartphones, but the compromise facilitates its clamshell design and gives around 10 hours’ use from a single charge.

• Max RAM: 8GB
• Max storage capacity: 128GB
• Screen resolution: 2640 x 1080
• Screen PPI: 426
• Display refresh rate: 120Hz
• CPU speed: 2.84GHz
• Battery capacity: 3300mAh
• Camera F-stop range: f1.8-2.4
• Max camera zoom: 10x

The idea behind the Galaxy S20 ‘Fan Edition’ or FE is that the last generation S20 flagship was so popular Samsung decided to tweak and rerelease it. You can pick one up for around £500 which makes it a mid-range handset, given that the top devices are being sold at £1,000+, but it’s not a budget phone in its price or feature set.

It has a 6.5″” HD AMOLED display with the 120Hz refresh rate of its higher-spec counterparts, a 2.8GHz octa-core processor and 256GB of internal storage.

The mid-range phone has a mid-range camera set up in the form of twin 12MP cameras on the back (wide and ultra-wide) along with an 8MP telephoto lens capable of 30x zoom. On the front you get a 32MP selfie camera. The phone shoots video in up to 4K resolution.

If you compare it to Samsung’s latest flagship, the S21, you’re getting a larger display with the same resolution and refresh rate, the same RAM and storage and a larger battery. The front camera may be half as sharp, but its lenses have a greater f-stop range than its more expensive big brother. You also get the same processor clocking in at the same top speed.

All in all, the S20 FE is a great option or the cost-conscious mobile user – offering almost as much as the latest handset for more than £300 less.

• Max RAM: 8GB
• Max storage capacity: 256GB
• Screen resolution: 2400 x 1080
• Screen PPI: 407
• Display refresh rate: 120Hz
• CPU speed: 2.8GHz
• Battery capacity: 4,500mAh
• Camera F-stop range: f1.8-2.4
• Max camera zoom: 30x