Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs S21 Plus

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Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs S21 Plus

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (with Exynos 2200) that was released on February 9, 2022, against the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus, which is powered by Exynos 2100 and came out 13 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
  • The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom
  • 46% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1224K versus 839K)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • 27% higher pixel density (500 vs 394 PPI)
  • Shows 9% longer battery life (33:09 vs 30:26 hours)
  • Delivers 43% higher peak brightness (1266 against 888 nits)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
  • Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 25W)
  • The phone is 1-year and 1-month newer
  • 20% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1720 and 1429 points
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
  • Weighs 28 grams less

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and S21 Plus crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation

Value for money

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.8 inches 6.7 inches
Resolution 1440 x 3088 pixels 1080 x 2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.3:9 20:9
PPI 500 ppi 394 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes No
Max rated brightness 830 nits 1300 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1750 nits -
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Plus Gorilla Glass Victus
Screen-to-body ratio 90.2% 88.3%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 98.2% 98.9%
PWM 120 Hz 240 Hz
Response time 1 ms 6.2 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)

Design and build

Height 163.3 mm (6.43 inches) 161.5 mm (6.36 inches)
Width 77.9 mm (3.07 inches) 75.6 mm (2.98 inches)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) 7.8 mm (0.31 inches)
Weight 228 g (8.04 oz) 200 g (7.05 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber -
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Gray, Blue, Green, Red Black, Silver, Gold, Red, Purple
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Samsung Exynos 2200 Samsung Exynos 2100
Max clock 2800 MHz 2840 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.82 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 3 cores at 2.52 GHz: Cortex-A710
- 1 core at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-X2
- 4 cores at 2.2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 3 cores at 2.81 GHz: Cortex-A78
- 1 core at 2.91 GHz: Cortex-X1
Lithography process 4 nanometers 5 nanometers
Graphics Samsung Xclipse 920 Mali-G78 MP14
GPU shading units 1920 896
GPU clock 810 MHz 854 MHz
FLOPS ~3110.4 GFLOPS ~1530.4 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
CPU 326900 244088
GPU 455673 269299
Memory 202244 159004
UX 230074 164833
Total score 1224098 839148
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 39.7 °C 41.5 °C
Stability 64% 67%
Graphics test 41 FPS 33 FPS
Graphics score 6872 5538
Web score 11002 -
Video editing 7130 -
Photo editing 28460 -
Data manipulation 10627 -
Writing score 15749 -

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8, 12 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR5
Memory clock - 2750 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 128, 256, 512, 1024 GB 128, 256 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 UFS 3.1
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)
ROM One UI 5.1 One UI 5.1
OS size 26.8 GB 27.2 GB

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 4800 mAh
Max charge power 45 W 25 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) Yes (15 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) Yes, (wireless)
Fast charging Yes (60% in 30 min) Yes (54% in 30 min)
Full charging time 0:59 hr 1:12 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 11:20 hr 09:17 hr
Watching video 14:43 hr 15:27 hr
Gaming 05:53 hr 05:07 hr
Standby 109 hr 101 hr
General battery life

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 108 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 12000 x 9000 4000 x 3000
Zoom Optical, 10x Optical, 1.1x
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording Up to 24FPS Up to 24FPS
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 960 FPS (720p) 960 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 120° 120°
Lenses 4 (108 MP + 10 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP) 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 108 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Focal length: 24 mm
- Pixel size: 0.8 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.33", Samsung S5KHM3 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS)
- Laser autofocus
- Optical stabilization
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 1.8 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.76", Sony IMX555 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
Telephoto lens - 10 MP
- Aperture: f/4.9
- Focal length: 230 mm
- Sensor: 1/3.52", Sony IMX574 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
- 64 MP
- Aperture: f/2.0
- Focal length: 28 mm
- Pixel size: 0.8 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.72", Samsung Bright S5KGW2 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
Ultra-wide lens - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Focal length: 13 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX563 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Focal length: 13 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX563 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra from DxOMark Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 40 megapixels 10 megapixels
Image resolution 7864 x 5200 3872 x 2592
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm 26 mm
Pixel size 0.7 microns 1.22 microns
Sensor type CMOS Exmor-RS CMOS
Sensor size 1/2.82" 1/3.24"
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS

DxOMark camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.2 5
Bluetooth features LE LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- USB-Host mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC * Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM * 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support * Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat * 20 24
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced February 2022 January 2021
Release date March 2022 February 2021
SAR (head) 1.05 W/kg 0.54 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.58 W/kg 1.33 W/kg
Sensors - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Not included -
* Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is definitely a better buy.

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