Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G (Green, 12GB, 256GB Storage) with No Cost EMI/Additional Exchange Offers

I bought the Phantom Black 512 GB variant of S22 Ultra. I pre-booked the device along with the Watch 4 offer. My net cost after all discounts and offers for the combo was Rs. 1.14 lakhs.

RATINGS: OVERALL 9/10

Camera: 10/10 (the best photography on a smartphone; for videos however, iPhone 13 Pro would be best though).
Software: 9/10
Display: 10/10
Battery Life: 6/10
Charging speed: 7/10
Sound and Haptics: 7/10
Performance: 9/10
Features: 9/10
Call quality: 8/10
Heating: 8/10 (the phone runs warm most of the time; this could be because of Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor)
Ultrasonic Fingerprint Scanner: 10/10 (it is impressively fast and accurate)
Face Unlock: 9/10 (it is superfast in well lit environments, but doesn’t work in dark environments)

Here’s my review after almost a year of use:

CONS

1. This is a 2 handed phone. It is big and you’ll be uncomfortable using it with one hand. I wish the phone was slightly narrower and came with a grippy sandstone case.

2. No pre-installed screen protector. I don’t think you’ll find a perfectly fitting screen protector either due to the curved edges.

3. Battery life is just okay. I get about 4 to 5 hours SOT on a full charge.

4. Charging speed is bad. I bought the Samsung 45W Travel adapter and it takes about 1.5 hours to fully charge the device. This is pretty slow compared to what we see with OnePlus/ Xiaomi/ Oppo/ Vivo phones.

5. No charger or earphones in the box. Only the phone and a Charging cable (tpye C to type C) is provided.

6. Phantom White in 512 GB is not available in India (only 256 GB is available). I wanted it, but had to settle with the Black option. Some reviewers say that the Black variant gets scratched easily for some reason, so keep that in mind.

7. OneUI doesn’t use Material You theme of Android 12 in it’s full glory. Some people may like it, some would prefer the stock Android feel as seen on Pixel and Motorola devices. It’s not bad though, but just not a refreshing change. So putting it in CONS section.

8. Status bar icons are not too customizable. However, if you install GoodLock modules, they can be customised.

9. Curved Display: This has no practical use. They only look good on marketing materials. When you are actually using the phone, there is absolutely no benefit. On the contrary, content gets bent at the edges and not great especially when watching videos or photos.

PROS

1. The best camera on a smartphone for photography. For videos however, iPhone 13 Pro is best. I bought this phone primarily for 2 reasons: the cameras, and the S-Pen which comes with it’s own housing.

2. S-Pen: Only phone with the pen feature.

3. The best Display on a smartphone. I have kept the default FHD+ resolution (120 Hz adaptive refresh rate) just because there is hardly any difference you’ll notice between FHD+ and WQHD+ on a small screen, and also because there is hardly any content that is of such high resolution. So I switched back to the default setting to prolong battery life.

4. Feature rich software: This has both plus and minus points. Minus because more and more features means more chance of bugs and device slowing down due to bloatware. It also consumes battery. On the positive side, you can do a lot of things, although much of it is fancy, non-essential stuff.

5. One handed use option (software feature) is very nice.

6. Switching between light and dark themes is very smooth along with adaptive pallette selection.

7. Phone has built-in call recording feature (atleast in India) without the stupid voice announcement. As of 2022-2023, Samsung, iQOO and Vivo phones are the only phones that provide this feature. All other phones come with Google Dialer with the stupid voice announcement. On OnePlus phones, user can install ODialer (from Google Play Store) to enable automatic silent call recording.

8. Performance is very good.

9. This is the first time that Samsung has brought the Snapdragon chip model to India. Based on reviews, it is better than the Exynos variant just as in previous years.

10. Both Face Unlock and under display ultrasonic Fingerprint scanner are SUPERFAST. Although in dark environments, face unlock struggles to unlock the phone. Using the Fingerprint is better in dark environments.

I got two cases: Spigen Thin Fit and Caseology Parallex (a Spigen sub-brand). They fit perfectly, without adding bulk to the device.

I haven’t found a screen protector yet that would fit perfectly without bubbles at the edges.

So that sums up my experience with the phone over 10 months of use. Hope this helps you with your choice of smartphone.

EDIT: I had pre-booked the device on the 5th of March and it was delivered to me on the 17th of March, even though deliveries began on the 12th itself. My complaint is w.r.t the fact that the exact same variant was available with 1 day delivery to my pincode starting from the 12th. So anyone who ordered between 11th to 15th would have received their delivery within a day, earlier than me. This is unfair because seller has to service orders on a first-come-first-served basis. I can’t accept someone ordering upto 10 days after me to get his order before me.

But I will keep this in mind next time I want to pre-book on Amazon. When I enquired about it, customer service told me that I got it at a discount. That’s a terrible explanation because there was no indication of that when I pre-booked the device. The offline stores were offering pretty much the same deal. Had I gone with an offline purchase, i would have got it much earlier for the same price, plus I need not have worried about the product getting damaged during transit. I mean I can inspect the box and make a decision before purchase at an offline store. The box I received had a few minor damages, although everything inside was fine.

Expect delays in deliveries if you pre-book an item on Amazon, even if the item is in stock and available for delivery to your pincode by the same seller.