I do not think consumers are voting with their feet. Samsung already got our money. However, if the S23 series has an unfavourable welcome, then we could say that consumers are voting with their feet. In my opinion, the number of phones in second hand outlets show how awful the S22 series has been.
Saying that the S22 series has had problems is an understatement. The problems started before the phone hit the shops. The pre-order system was absolute rubbish, (please replace rubbish with whichever adjective gives the proper semantic meaning of how you feel).
I pre-ordered two burgundy S22 Ultra 1TB plus a few accessories. My ordered was delayed three times. Customer service was continuously and consciously lying to us. The lack of clear information about the orders was unbelievable. To keep customers content, Samsung gave us a 50 pounds code to use on Samsung.com. It was a nice gesture, just to find out that it was to use in Samsung.CON. The code was a con, it was invalid when I tried to use it.
Of course, that was not the only con. Samsung was offering a pair of Galaxy Buds Pro, and a year subscription to Disney Plus. The Buds were relatively easy to claim, but the Pro stands for Proper rubbish. There is no way one can make them stay in the ears. The functionalities and sound are not bad, but do not expect to use it for long or doing any physical activity. They are designed to fall out of your ears.
At least we had a code for a year subscription to Disney Plus, which could be used until 11th of June 2023. Oh boy! Claiming the code was more difficult than going to Mars, but some of us were lucky to claim it. Phew! After so many hoops and loops, it was a relieve. Of course, you know what its coming, Samsung cancelled the codes. Customers must go back to the torturous systems of the Boost app to claim it again with a month validity. Samsung should rename it to Deflating App, because that it is how we are left when we use it.
Some members have excused Samsung by suggesting that it might be a Disney decision. Samsung already had checked and confirmed the validity of the claims. A simple customer orientated solution could have been sending a replacement code automatically to their users.
We eventually got our hands on the excellent piece of hardware with fantastic new camera capabilities using nightography. Indeed, it was fantastic because it was pure fantasy. The camera capabilities were good only on paper, the silver lining was that software could improve them. The phone came plagued with problems. I would not list them because there is not enough space or time for it, but to summarise it, the phone had problems even for receiving and making calls. It is understandable, an obscure functionality like making and receiving calls on phone is not used by many. I have been using Samsung phones before the Smart revolution and I still have a couple of Galaxy S2. I am a very light S22 Ultra user and the number of niggles and problems have been enough to put me off from Samsung. Imagine the heavy users.
In addition, we have the duality of SoC. Many users keep telling us that Exynos is good. The fact remains that Exynos has constantly underperformed when compare with its Snapdragon counterpart despite being more expensive (pound vs dollar). It could well be one of the reasons for so many bugs, keeping the two branches of the code and not investing enough in developing and maintaining it.
In the latest collaboration with AMD’s GPU was a total disaster. Users could not select high resolution on games. Samsung lack of imagination is abysmal. I do not understand why Samsung did not partnership with one of the game companies to create at least one game that could show the capabilities of a GPU. A GPU capable of ray tracing that was bringing desktop performance to the mobile arena.
Teething problems are understandable as long as they are minor and easily corrected. Samsung has dropped the ball in that front as well. It has released firmware that are causing more problems than they solve. Bricking the device in some cases, like Galaxy Watch 4.
They think that all can be solved by making fun of Apple by saying to iphone’s users not to expect that Apple would do epic phones. I think that Apple could say to Galaxy’s users not to expect that Samsung would make phones that work. Galaxy phones are as expensive or more than iphones.
Samsung has shown a constant disregard and contempt to its customers. It has shown a lack of honesty, integrity, quality, and quality control. Samsung’s reputation had suffered already. Let’s hope that it is not permanently.
