I love the smallest Galaxy S22 model. If you read our review of that phone, you know that already. I was full of praise for the base Galaxy S22, as it's got so much going for it despite being one of the most compact flagships from Samsung in the last few years (the Galaxy S10e was smaller, but Samsung sacrificed some important features for that, like a zoom camera).
That said, my main device is the Galaxy S22 Ultra, mainly thanks to its amazingly versatile camera system. The Galaxy S22 has been sitting in my drawer for some time, but recently, it's been calling out to me like no other Samsung phone has in recent memory, and I think I might just be ready to ditch the S22 Ultra and its powerful cameras (by that I mean its two telephoto lenses), considerably better battery life, and larger display.
It's kind of hard to explain why, though I have a few thoughts. First, there's the fact that all Galaxy S22 models launched in my country are powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip instead of the Exynos 2200, and since I'm not a serious mobile gamer, the latest Snapdragon chip has treated me well on both the base Galaxy S22 and the Ultra model.
Then there's the fact that the S22 is so compact. I've always loved large phones, but that love has been waning in recent years as Samsung's smaller flagships have gotten better and better. Well, that, or I'm getting old and just prefer a device that I can easily use one-handed. Either way, the Galaxy S22 feels great to use, or rather, the Galaxy S22 Ultra feels too bulky and big thanks to its Note-like design and that's what got me thinking it's time for a change.
Another important factor is that the Galaxy S22 has an excellent camera system. Samsung finally upgraded the main camera on its non-Ultra flagships from a 12MP one – the S22 and S22+ come with a 50MP primary shooter that produces better photos, especially at night.
Samsung's also finally snuck in an optical zoom camera, meaning you get real zoom at 3x magnification instead of a digitally cropped result from a higher-resolution picture. Sure, there's no 10x optical lens on the S22 or S22+, but as I said above, I think I'm ready to ditch the versatility that brings me in exchange for the experience of using the base Galaxy S22 model.
Will I actually make the switch, however? Well, that remains to be seen, although I think I'm dangerously close to doing so. And if you have the chance, I'd say give the regular Galaxy S22 a try. It might just win you over and make you fall in love, as it's the closest Samsung has come to making a perfect compact flagship phone.
