Look past the Ultra, Samsung’s Galaxy S22 upgrades are surprisingly great

Based on their virtually identical aesthetics, you’d be forgiven for thinking not much has changed between 2021’s Samsung Galaxy S21 and the new Galaxy S22. But peel back the exterior, and you’ll find that Samsung has made some significant tweaks and improvements to what was already a very successful hardware formula.

The Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Plus sport some surprisingly extensive upgrades over their predecessors. Granted, there’s one notable downgrade (we’ll get to that) and the phones are overshadowed somewhat by the S22 Ultra, but these are well-balanced trade-offs that ensure Samsung’s non-Ultra flagships remain competitively priced.