Samsung Galaxy S22 vs S21 Ultra

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.1-inch Samsung Galaxy S22 (with Exynos 2200) that was released on February 9, 2022, against the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, 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
  • 37% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (925K versus 676K)
  • The phone is 1-year and 1-month newer
  • Weighs 60 grams less
  • Better grip in hands – the body is 5 mm narrower
  • 11% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1621 and 1462 points
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
  • The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom
  • Has a 0.7 inch larger screen size
  • Comes with 1300 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 3700 mAh
  • Delivers 18% higher peak brightness (1025 against 865 nits)
  • 21% higher pixel density (515 vs 425 PPI)

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S22 and S21 Ultra 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
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Choose the importance of each parameter to more accurately identify the smartphone that best meets your particular needs.
Adjust priorities
Feature
Priority (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery Life:
The higher the priority, the more it will affect the final NanoReview score.

Value for money

You can enter your local prices of these phones (in USD or other currency) and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money.
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Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.1 inches 6.8 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 1440 x 3200 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 20:9
PPI 425 ppi 515 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes Yes
Max rated brightness 780 nits 1500 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1300 nits -
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Plus Gorilla Glass Victus
Screen-to-body ratio 87.4% 89.8%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 99.3% -
PWM 239 Hz -
Response time 10 ms -
Contrast ∞ Infinity -
Peak brightness test (auto)
865 nits
1025 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 146 mm (5.75 inches) 165.1 mm (6.5 inches)
Width 70.6 mm (2.78 inches) 75.6 mm (2.98 inches)
Thickness 7.6 mm (0.3 inches) 8.9 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 167 g (5.89 oz) 227 g (8.01 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber -
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Gray, Blue, Green, Pink, Purple, Yellow Black, Silver, Gray, Blue
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio
87.4%
89.8%

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy S22 and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 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)
Galaxy S22 +11%
1621
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
Galaxy S22 +37%
925145
CPU 307260 142297
GPU 267241 240988
Memory 160658 151927
UX 183358 140705
Total score 925145 676754
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Galaxy S22 +25%
6533
Max surface temperature 38 °C 40.8 °C
Stability 60% 69%
Graphics test 39 FPS 31 FPS
Graphics score 6533 5221
PCMark 3.0
Web score 10239 -
Video editing 7179 -
Photo editing 27256 -
Data manipulation 10601 -
Writing score 15034 -
Sources: 3DMark [3], [4]

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 12, 16 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR5
Memory clock - 2750 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 128, 256 GB 128, 256, 512 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 30.2 GB 26.4 GB

Battery

Capacity 3700 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 25 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 (63% in 30 min) Yes (54% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:03 hr 1:11 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing - 10:13 hr
Watching video - 15:32 hr
Gaming - 05:26 hr
Standby - 98 hr
General battery life

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 50 megapixels 108 megapixels
Image resolution 8160 x 6120 12000 x 9000
Zoom Optical, 3x Optical, 10x
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 3 (50 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP) 4 (108 MP + 10 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 50 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Focal length: 24 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.56", Samsung GN5 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
- 108 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 0.8 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.33", Samsung S5KHM3 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS)
- Laser autofocus
- Optical stabilization
Telephoto lens - 10 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Focal length: 70 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.94", Sony IMX772 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
- 10 MP
- Aperture: f/4.9
- Focal length: 240 mm
- Pixel size: 1.22 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.65", Samsung S5K3J1 (ISOCELL 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 IMX713 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- 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 from DxOMark Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 10 megapixels 40 megapixels
Image resolution 3872 x 2592 7864 x 5200
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm 26 mm
Pixel size 1.22 microns 0.7 microns
Sensor type CMOS ISOCELL CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.24" 1/2.65"
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 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 6E (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 5.2
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
89.5 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced February 2022 January 2021
Release date March 2022 February 2021
SAR (head) - 0.71 W/kg
SAR (body) - 1.58 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

If the performance, gaming, and design are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy S22. But if the camera is more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
199 (35.4%)
363 (64.6%)
Total votes: 562

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