It’s that Samsung time of yr once more when an Unpacked occasion pronounces new Galaxy S flagship telephones to be the most recent iPhone-fighters. In reality, it’s one other yr of Samsung triplets: the brand new fashions are the Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22 Plus, and Galaxy S22 Ultra. This time, they convey alongside Note-like performance with the S-Pen — and the S22 Ultra even comes with one. But how do these stack as much as final yr’s S21 line? Is it a worthwhile improve? Should you sit this one out or hop on the S22 practice and get that preorder in? Let’s break down the brand new Galaxy S22 lineup vs. its predecessor, the S21 line.

Galaxy S22 vs. Galaxy S21

What a distinction a yr makes — or doesn’t. In reality, you possibly can consider this as an incremental yr. The Samsung Galaxy S22 lineup appears an entire lot just like the S21 line — the designs haven’t been absolutely revised however refined.

As talked about earlier than, the Galaxy S21, S21 Plus, and S21 Ultra all got here out simply over one yr in the past. The S21 represented the baseline (smallest) mannequin within the line, with a 6.2-inch OLED show, a Snapdragon 888 processor, 8GB of RAM, an in-display ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, triple-camera array (12MP vast, 12MP ultrawide, 64MP telephoto), 8K video recording, wi-fi charging, and IP68-rated safety, all beginning at $799. The S21 Plus had all of that with a bigger 6.7-inch show and greater battery for $999. The top-end S21 Ultra was the crème de la crème, with a barely greater 6.8-inch show, a whopping 108MP major rear digital camera, a 40MP front-facing digital camera — and an equally whopping beginning value of $1,199. It additionally had help for the S-Pen, which was a tease of what’s to come back.

Grid View

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  Left to proper: Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, S22 Plus, and S22.
  
  
  Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
  
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  Left to proper: Samsung Galaxy S21, S21 Plus, and S22 Ultra.
  
  
  Photo by Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge
  

Fast ahead to yesterday’s Unpacked occasion, and now we have the Galaxy S22, S22 Plus, and S22 Ultra. Sound acquainted? It’s the identical strategy as soon as once more, with the bottom S22 now sporting the most recent Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 CPU (which is a smaller 4nm processor), barely smaller 6.1-inch display screen, and revised cameras (now 50MP for major wide-angle, 10MP within the telephoto, and as soon as once more 12MP ultra-wide) for $799. The S22 Plus now sports activities a 6.6-inch show, whereas most different specs match the S22, save for the addition of Wi-Fi 6E, for $999. Noticing some developments right here?

Lastly, The Galaxy S22 Ultra has a 6.8-inch display screen similar to the S21 Ultra, although now its 120Hz show can go all the way in which all the way down to 1Hz for saving battery energy when that ultra-fast velocity isn’t wanted — like a nonetheless image. Speaking of pictures, the S22 Ultra has the identical digital camera specs as final yr’s Ultra, although Samsung is touting new claims of improved low-light efficiency as a theme throughout the road.

The different massive theme with the complete S22 lineup is S-Pen compatibility. You can use it with any of them, although the S22 Ultra is the one one that features it and integrates it into the chassis just like the Note line it goals to interchange.

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

But maintain up, there’s yet one more cellphone that we can not neglect. Just final month, the S21 line obtained its curtain name launch with the Galaxy S21 FE (quick for Fan Edition). This one is designed to be the lower-cost choice with out stepping all the way down to the extra modest Galaxy A fashions. It doesn’t make many sacrifices — matching the S21 in most specs however downgrading the RAM and telephoto digital camera whereas clocking in at a 6.4-inch display screen measurement that sits between the S21 and S21 Plus. Its value of $699 places it inside $100 of the outgoing S21 and new S22, so it could solely be price contemplating should you discover it on any upcoming offers.

OK, in order that’s so much to unpack (sorry). If you’re chasing the most recent and biggest, you could take into account your most popular taste and measurement of the Galaxy S22 lineup, however whenever you take a look at the specs aspect by aspect, you see how this yr appears to have principally modest adjustments. However, there could also be so much to like in these new telephones should you research the methods of the Samsung S-Pen and have been feeling a Note-sized gap in your coronary heart. We’ll make sure to give you our take as soon as we get to totally overview these new Galaxies.