Samsung has been struggling with Exynos chipsets over the past few years. Exynos variants of its high-end phones have shown slower performance and lower battery efficiency. People had hoped that Samsung would not have any such issues in 2022, thanks to Samsung's partnership with AMD. However, the situation didn't change.
Tests have consistently shown that the AMD Xclipse 920 GPU inside the Exynos 2200 chipset is not as powerful as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1's GPU. Thankfully, Samsung released the Exynos variants of the Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+, and the Galaxy S22 Ultra in fewer markets compared to previous Galaxy S phones. In markets like India, fans were happy to see the Snapdragon versions of the Galaxy S22 series. However, even Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 versions are not free from performance issues.
I've been using the Snapdragon Galaxy S22+ over the past few weeks, and I've noticed weird slowdowns and stutters. The UI stutters considerably while going to the home screen or opening some apps that use the Android WebView feature. It is also jarring to use the Google Play Store on the Galaxy S22+. However, the Play Store issue may not be entirely Samsung's fault, as even non-Samsung Android phones struggle with the app.
In apps like Twitter, where other phones perform without any problem, the Galaxy S22+ stutters a lot and even slows down a bit from time to time. This issue is also present on my colleague's Snapdragon Galaxy S22 Ultra, although he faces no other issues, so it does seem like there's some randomness to how these issues present themselves.
Despite multiple software updates, the Galaxy S22+ doesn't perform up to its potential
It is understandable if the phone does not perform up to its potential in the first month of the launch. However, even after multiple updates (my phone is running the May 2022 update), my Galaxy S22+ sees performance issues from time to time. Turning GOS (Game Optimization Service) on or off doesn't seem to make any difference to the phone's day-to-day performance.
In comparison, my Galaxy S21 Ultra with the Exynos 2100 runs buttery smooth despite using a less powerful chip. So it looks like it's not the chipset's fault but Samsung's software optimization. I've also used non-Samsung phones with last year's or lower-end chipsets, and they offer a smoother and more fluid experience than the Galaxy S22+.
And then there are other issues like lousy audio quality while gaming, call dropping, audio-video sync delays, and flickering on the home screen, mostly limited to the Exynos variant in many cases. To me, these are more significant problems than the whole GOS scandal. Samsung needs to do a lot of work with the Galaxy S22's software and optimization in the coming months.
How is your Galaxy S22 treating you? Let us know in the comments section below.
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