Having watched the Galaxy unpacked event last week and also watching many of the early video reviews online, there are lots of incremental changes that have been made with the S22 Ultra.
A few of the improvements that interest me are with the camera improvements, a better performance from the new processor, the new reported improvements in the heat management, along with the note style s-pen silo. I have not been a fan of the Galaxy note shape in the past, but it is growing on me.
However, last year i bought the pre-order of the S21 ultra... the top end model with the 512GB / 16GB options was quite an investment at £1329 retail price. After the initial few months of instability and minor issues, I have grown to really like this phone, and right now it works pretty much without fault.
I am a person that likes to own the latest tech, and it is a hard decision for me to have decided NOT to part with my S21U and upgrade ! With my current phone already being a top spec I believe the improvements probably don't justify my trade in and replacement for the newest and greatest S22U.
Here is my own list of why i likely won't be upgrading:
- The S21U comes with 16GB of RAM... it seems the S22U has been lowered to 12GB. This is seriously not a problem and last years model did not have a need for 16GB RAM option... even my full gaming PC has only 16GB ! I honestly think 16GB was a tad overkill last year ! However the S22 has not improved on my current phone memory.
- In a year, I haven't even got close to using all of my 512GB memory on my device ... and a 1TB option in the S22U is likely never going to be needed for my use (although I expect for some users it will be useful and used significantly more.
- The camera of the S21U in my opinion has got better and better. It started off a little unstable, but after a few months all aspects have been improved... the only downside being low light which has been well documented (and it is still better than most phones in these dark situations). I expect the S22U camera to be a lot more amazing, but this is not enough to justify my upgrade costs.
- I have never owned a Note series phone and with the S21U last year, i decided to buy the S pen and case. I have started to use the S-Pen for many noteworthy tasks and I find it useful, especially for editing photos and videos etc...writing notes during a business meeting etc... and I also like the larger size of the pen that is used with the S21U... with the note S-pen always feeling a little small to my hands.
- The WQHD+ screen and design of the S21U is already gorgeous... and whilst I think the S22U looks fantastic (i would have definitely gone for green
) again i don't think it is enough to change from my already great phone. - Lastly, a sweetener last year was the Buds Pro. These are awesome... I use them all the time for calls, video and music... sometimes with one bud for a quick phone call ...sometimes with two for music etc. They also do a good job of noise cancelling in the office and I can just use these seamlessly. The fact I already have a pair of these awesome buds means that to be given a free pair of the same gift just doesn't seem worthwhile.
So I am going to stick with my S21U...for the meantime at least If you have the same dilemma, let me know your justifications of why you are sticking with your current phone ?
For those that don't already own an S21U from last year and can benefit the buds pro promotion, this phone would be an amazing purchase.
Kind Regards
Smiley
@Rajsahab Before my S21U i also had an S10 plus... and that was also a great phone in its time. The upgrade to the S21 ultra last year was a massive jump in it's performance and photography.
I am sure if you upgrade from the S10 to the S22 ultra you will not regret it.
This whole debate between Qualcomm Snapdragon and Samsung Exynos is a conversation that happens during every year release. Don't always believe that the information in reviews and youtube is entirely accurate !
For info, a lot of this is based upon benchmarks that are not often representative of normal usage. For my S21U last year, it was reported the Snapdragon 888 was massively better than the Exynos 2100...but in reality you would have to be constantly performing benchmarks before you even noticed any difference. Both models have turned out to be great.
Just be aware that for the first month or two it may need some bug fixes and optimisation by Samsung in their software updates.
smiley
@GoanGeek Yeah agreed. I believe the S22 is now an amalgamation of both the "S series" and "Note series" into one package, and this will probably remain now for future generations. I guess if you really hate the design of the note it could be a bit of a future show stopper !
I also expect this gives Samsung the capacity and scope in their research and design to explore the foldables market more... i think it is likely that the August unpacked event will now become the regular foldables release slot, rather than the note.
p.s. I also have a full size pair of NC headphones... I went with the Sony XM4s... and like your Bose 700, they are amazing. I use the buds for convenience when walking, and when I don't want a full size covering my ears... and also the Sony XM4s for a better quality of sound and longer plays.
One thing about the buds (and applies to all buds for that matter), if you wear them too long or too often in your ears, I find can cause some irritation. Fine for a few hours here and there... but all day every day is too much !
Smiley
