Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra — I’m way more excited for this than the S Pen

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra — I'm way more excited for this than the Due south Pen

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra renders colors with S Pen

(Epitome credit: LetsGoDigital / Giuseppe Spinelli)

Every bit the hype train inexorably gathers footstep around the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and its upcoming reveal, it's not surprising that its rumored South Pen is getting a lot of attending. That's because when the tipped built-in stylus and blockier rectangular pattern are taken into consideration, the Galaxy S22 Ultra is basically a spiritual successor to the seemingly expressionless Galaxy Note line.

The Note was i of the first so-chosen phablets, offering an expansive screen and capabilities that almost bridged the gap between smartphones and tablets. And the S Pen was a vital part of the Annotation serial. It not only made life easier for people who like to brand handwritten notes or sketch digital art, but it as well enabled precision navigation that was simply improve for beingness productive on the move than one's fleshy fingers. Rumored improved latency for the S Pen in the Milky way S22 Ultra would be the icing on the productivity cake.

But as excited as I am to run into a new form of Note phone, information technology'southward the Galaxy S22 Ultra's rumored camera array that has really got my attention.

Galaxy S22 Ultra: Compelling camera capabilities

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra in red — (Image credit: Concept Creator | Let'southward Become Digital)

Samsung phones have long delivered impressive phone photography, sometimes beating equivalent iPhones in the eyes of some. In my Samsung Galaxy S21 review, I was suitably impressed by the trio of rear cameras that the rather gorgeous phone sported.

But despite this, for several generations of Milky way phones, I've felt Samsung has been stuck in third place, behind the latest iPhones and Pixel phones.

Google'due south phones have long been photography kings, just really getting a major challenge when the iPhone 11 range came along with Apple'southward Semantic rendering (think extra fancy computational photography). Only the Google Pixel 6 Pro delivers some stunning shots, often beating my new everyday phone, the iPhone 13 Pro. Apple's latest phone delivers first-class photos in a very consistent fashion beyond all iii of its cameras. So it's no surprise the iPhone thirteen Pro tops our best camera phones list.

Comparatively, the Galaxy S21 arguably lags a little behind, with some over-saturation, less practiced night time shots, and over processing of faces in portrait shots. And going by our Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra review, it's a like situation. The telephone is the zooming rex, but its other photography results can't quite reach those of the iPhone xiii Pro Max and Pixel six Pro. Obviously, there's a degree of subjectivity in this, and the flexibility of the S21 Ultra's four rear cameras are groovy. But for my money, I'd accomplish for the iPhone 13 or Pixel 6 Pro.

That could all change with the Milky way S22 Ultra. On paper, it's rumored rear photographic camera specs are basically the same equally its predecessor's; a 108MP primary camera, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP telephoto with a 3x zoom and a 10MP telephoto camera with a 10x zoom. These snappers are supported by a laser auto-focus sensor. But the improvements are tipped to come in for course of improved sensors rather than boosted megapixel counts, and that could be a big deal.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra'southward cameras were a large pace up form the somewhat lackluster Galaxy S20 Ultra's photography performance. So with new sensors I'g expecting the Galaxy S22 Ultra to deliver a notable step up in pure photo quality. And with the aforementioned rivalry from Apple tree and Google phones, Samsung actually volition need to up its game if it wants to command a hefty $1,299 for the base Milky way S22 Ultra.

This could be achieved with dramatically improved computational photography. The Galaxy S22 Ultra will supposedly get an AI enhancement mode for the 108MP camera. Specifics for that are thin, merely it's expected to deliver more detail and brightness in shots; Samsung hasn't exactly struggled with this in the by, but 1 could fence that in that location's telescopic of more than texture in shadow and highlights course Milky way phones. 1 expanse where Samsung is hoping to make ground is in low-light photography, as it's teasing a new "dark-breaking" photographic camera for the Ultra.

In that location's likewise the rumored Super Clear Lens; ironically, what this is hasn't been made articulate. Simply information technology's been posited that it volition help reduce glare and reflections in photos. As someone who loves to snap photos of landscapes lit by an exuberant sun or drenched in the burnt hues of a setting celestial torso, I notice the iPhone 13 Pro has a good for you appetite for lens flare. So if the Milky way S22 Ultra tin can zip this, it would definitely accept my attention.

The complete phone photography package

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra front and back with S Pen — (Image credit: Evan Blass)

Overall, from generation-to-generation of Galaxy phones, Samsung has made rather notable camera improvements, arguably more so than its rivals. With the option for the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or Exynos 2200 chips, I'd expect the Galaxy S22 Ultra will have more AI processing power to play with than its predecessor. And thus it could have the scope to actually lean hard on refined computational photography. In short, I expect to be impressed.

And at present nosotros tin can loop the South Pen back into the chat. If it gets a suite of improved capabilities over the stylus seen in the Samsung Galaxy Annotation twenty Ultra, then we could exist looking at a perfect partner for the Milky way S22 Ultra's potential photography chops.

Not only can the Southward Pen be used for controlling the photographic camera remotely, it makes editing photos on a phone so much easier. So improved photography, amend control via the S Pen, and a Note-like design that I experience is the all-time for getting stuff washed on a phone — if we don't count the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 and its first-class productivity chops — and Samsung may just have a phone that's the complete package for mobile photography. That could pull me abroad from the Pixel vi Pro and iPhone 13 Pro.

With the Galaxy S22 range looking set for a February nine launch, in that location's not long to wait before we see if these rumors come to fruition. if so, the Galaxy S22 Ultra may not only accept a shot at beingness the phone photography champion, just also earn a top spot on our all-time phones listing.

Roland Moore-Colyer is U.K. Editor at Tom's Guide with a focus on news, features and opinion articles. He oftentimes writes almost gaming, phones, laptops and other bits of hardware; he's also got an interest in cars. When not at his desk Roland can be found wandering around London, often with a look of marvel on his confront.