Support NeoGAF

[Deputy Moonman]

My wife and I have been enjoying our Google Pixel phones since 2018. She has the Pixel 3 and I have a Pixel 3 XL. The pictures with the Pixel cameras are amazing even in 2022. Anyway, my phone is still going strong and the battery still has good life, mainly because I don't recharge it unless the charge is actually low. My wife's phone not so much, but she recharges her phone every night regardless of the charge. That means it's time to start thinking about getting a new phone. We're android users, no iPhones are not an option. The Pixel 6 Pro seems alright but I'm more interested in the S22 Ultra. (Not interested in waiting until October for the Google Pixel 7) My wife would have to stick to the regular S22 as she doesn't like hauling around a large phone.

Does anyone on gaf have/use an S22 Ultra or a non iPhone that they really like? I'd love to get some thoughts or recommendations. It doesn't have to be an S22. The S21 from our carrier is the exact same price as the S22 or I'd consider getting last year's model instead.

 

[Paulxo87]

i own a s21 ultra. great phone. incredible camera. battery life is stellar. I'm sure the s22 is better in every way. Go for it.

 

[ParaSeoul]

Samsungs are great but I heard the battery life on their newer ones are dismal. I have an S21 and the battery life is eh.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

i own a s21 ultra. great phone. incredible camera. battery life is stellar. I'm sure the s22 is better in every way. Go for it.

Samsungs are great but I heard the battery life on their newer ones are dismal. I have an S21 and the battery life is eh.

I've heard similar reports about the S21 battery life being better than the S22. But not for everyone. I believe the screen is brighter and the processor is doing a little more work on the S22, which would account for why the battery goes down quicker.

 

[chromhound]

Never buy a phone from OnePlus. Pure junk. Samsung, Xiaomi or Google

 

[Ownage]

Get a 21 Ultra dual sim unlocked. They're going for $1,100 new on eBay from trusted sellers. Way, way better phone with better battery life than a 22 Ultra. 256gb HD is a good choice for size.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

Get a 21 Ultra dual sim unlocked. They're going for $1,100 new on eBay from trusted sellers. Way, way better phone with better battery life than a 22 Ultra. 256gb HD is a good choice for size.

I'd definitely get a better deal but easier to do the yearly contract through a carrier so as not to let the wallet take such a nasty hit. I'm planning on getting 2 phones, which would hurt lol.

 

[Jayjayhd34]

I have the s22 ultra. Its an amazing phone, the camera is top notch. I don't know where the battery complaints come from as I woke up this mourning at 8:30 now 17:11 and the phone is on 68% that's connected samsung watch 4 so Bluetooth on all the time.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

Thanks for the replies, everyone! If the missus doesn't mind sacrificing the camera quality for the smaller S22, I think we'll go ahead and pull the trigger. i gotta wait for her to wake up first lol.

 

[It's all in the wrist]

I have the S22 ultra. Traded in my S21 Ultra +$75 for the S22 Ultra (Samsung trade in deals are absurd). The cameras are better, the battery life is on par.

Anyway, I'm a fan of Samsung and the Pixel, but Samsung keeps me on board with their excellent trade in deals. All of the hardware on the Samsung is best in class for Android, from the build to the cameras and screen. There's also yearly releases of new tablets and watches and buds that work well together. Then there's the s pen, which is nice to have. You won't be disappointed.

 

[RJMacready73]

My 22 ultra is a class phone tbf, as others have said excellent camera which is a must for me with two young kids and a penchant for photoing their entire lives plus I love the S pen, also it connects to my LG via Dex and everything other gadget and battery easily gets through a day connected to my galaxy watch

 

[Fugitive Sex]

Why does she charge her phone like that? Mental. Tell her to stop.

 

[DeafTourette]

Never buy a phone from OnePlus. Pure junk. Samsung, Xiaomi or Google

I have a OnePlus 9 Pro and it's pretty great! Charges to 100 from 0 in under an hour and works great! I haven't had any issues since updating to Android 12.

The camera is pretty stellar.

 

[Mobilemofo]

I have the s22 ultra, and have had the s21 ultra, and most Samsung's before it. The battery on my s22 ultra lasts over a day currently, with fairly heavy usage. The differences with the cameras are software based. They are improved however. Especially at 30x zoom. The photos are very usable. It has one new sensor Vs the s21 ultra. It's wide angle is an updated version. The SPen works wonderfully, being able to take pics with it is a real boon. Also excellent for notes and for me, editing, via Dex, on my TV. Superb. I recommend it.

 

[///PATRIOT]

My 22 ultra is a class phone tbf, as others have said excellent camera which is a must for me with two young kids and a penchant for photoing their entire lives plus I love the S pen, also it connects to my LG via Dex and everything other gadget and battery easily gets through a day connected to my galaxy watch

Have you tried the pixel camera? How does it compare?

 

[PuppetMaster]

I have a S22 Ultra. The cameras are the highlight for me. The periscope 10x optical zoom is awesome. I use it often. 30x digital zoom is not bad. But the 100x max digital zoom is pretty useless outside of very special cases. For example, I took a picture of the moon at 100x zoom just handheld, and it blew me away! It looked incredible.

I thought it was pretty heavy when I first got it. But I am used to it now after a few months. Now when I pick up other phones they feel too tiny.

I thought I would use the pen more but I rarely take it out recently. It is a fun thing to play with though.

Battery life is very good compared to my other phones. No complaints there.

 

[FatallyYours]

If possible, try to get wife into charging in short bursts rather than one long charge over night. I know it's easier said than done. Best battery health care is to charge upto around 80% then use until about 20%, and any small charge inbetween that range to keep you going

I'm pretty sure most samsungs have this option in battery options anyway to force phone to stop charging at about 80%

Yup, just checked. "More battery settings" on mine, should be standard tho maybe differently named

Batteries are way better in general than they used to be, but still have a lifespan of a certain amount of cycles, charging for the sake of it to 100% and letting it run down to 0% is worse than charging from 20% to 50% multiple times (only slightly realistically, but over 2 or 3 years for contract handsets, really adds up down the line)

Anyway, battery rant over, you can't go wrong with any of the top few tiers of samsung handsets, lots of choices for different users and different requirements

Also, deffo try using a different launcher to samsungs own, I found Sammy's default used more battery than the launcher I'm using now (nova7/nova launcher)

 

[squallheart]

I have the s22 ultra and miss my s21. This phone is so damn laggy compared to the old one, gets hot fast and if u try to multi window it's like browsing in stop motion. The camera is meh so far since I haven't fully tested. I'm planning on switching brands and don't know how samsung dropped the ball.

 

[Hawking Radiation]

I have S21 Ultra and my partner has S22 Ultra. Both are great phones. Battery life is really good. Cameras are stellar.

My partner's S22 Ultra has better image quality at higher magnification than my S21 Ultra. In some cases we were able to read text at 50+ zoom whereas on my camera the text was a little hard to read so there's definitely improvements on an already great camera in the S21 Ultra.
And we've tested photos of both phones at different zoom lengths, lighting conditions etc. The S22 Ultra is a noticeable upgrade on the S21 Ultra.

But they are both amazing phones. You can't go wrong with either one.

 

[Hawking Radiation]

I have the s22 ultra and miss my s21. This phone is so damn laggy compared to the old one, gets hot fast and if u try to multi window it's like browsing in stop motion. The camera is meh so far since I haven't fully tested. I'm planning on switching brands and don't know how samsung dropped the ball.

Lol, what?!
I'm not a Samsung cheerleader so can only speak from experience of using both phones since launch and what you're saying is definitely not what I've experienced with either phone.

 

[PuppetMaster]

I have the s22 ultra and miss my s21. This phone is so damn laggy compared to the old one, gets hot fast and if u try to multi window it's like browsing in stop motion. The camera is meh so far since I haven't fully tested. I'm planning on switching brands and don't know how samsung dropped the ball.

That is not normal. There is something wrong with your copy.

 

[Facism]

might be worth knowing where impressions are coming from, afaik the s22 uses different processors depending on the territory it released in. Snapdragon vs whatever mickey-mouse shyte they put in the EU versions.

 

[squallheart]

That is not normal. There is something wrong with your copy.

I've read a lot of users having same issues it is something to do with optimization hence the constant updates release. It's improved it but for me this phone is a big step down from s21.

 

[Hawking Radiation]

I've read a lot of users having same issues it is something to do with optimization hence the constant updates release. It's improved it but for me this phone is a big step down from s21.

Complete and utter bullshit.

 

[Fbh]

Man, I miss when you could just go to the store, get a new battery for $20 and replace it in 10 seconds.

 

[Hawking Radiation]

Man, I miss when you could just go to the store, get a new battery for $20 and replace it in 10 seconds.

I'm happy we've moved away from that tbh.

Phones are more structurally solid nowadays without the removable back cover. Also there's less risk of accidentally damaging the internals with the cover removed when replacing the battery (accidental spillages etc.)

 

[Azurro]

I have one, it's an amazing phone. Excellent screen, great photos, great performance and it's fun to use the pen. Oh, and the 120 Hz screen makes using it super smooth.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I love it but prefer the flatter screen and less edge on the s21 Ultra.

I'm satisfied but felt like other than a 120hz screen, I personally made a lateral move.

If you're coming from less than a 21 I would consider it even more though. Hell, even a Note 10+ is still solid.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

If possible, try to get wife into charging in short bursts rather than one long charge over night. I know it's easier said than done. Best battery health care is to charge upto around 80% then use until about 20%, and any small charge inbetween that range to keep you going

I'm pretty sure most samsungs have this option in battery options anyway to force phone to stop charging at about 80%

Yup, just checked. "More battery settings" on mine, should be standard tho maybe differently named

Batteries are way better in general than they used to be, but still have a lifespan of a certain amount of cycles, charging for the sake of it to 100% and letting it run down to 0% is worse than charging from 20% to 50% multiple times (only slightly realistically, but over 2 or 3 years for contract handsets, really adds up down the line)

Anyway, battery rant over, you can't go wrong with any of the top few tiers of samsung handsets, lots of choices for different users and different requirements

Also, deffo try using a different launcher to samsungs own, I found Sammy's default used more battery than the launcher I'm using now (nova7/nova launcher)

This in itself is a really interesting topic to me. I never let my phone get down to zero charge but is charging up to 100% really discouraged? It's the first I've heard of the 20% and 80% thresholds for charging. I feel like my phone is doing really well for being 4 years old now. Oh and I am familiar with the Nova launcher. My previous phone was a Note 3 and I downloaded the Nova launcher at the recommendation of a friend. Anyway, all good info. Thanks!

 

[FatallyYours]

This in itself is a really interesting topic to me. I never let my phone get down to zero charge but is charging up to 100% really discouraged? It's the first I've heard of the 20% and 80% thresholds for charging. I feel like my phone is doing really well for being 4 years old now. Oh and I am familiar with the Nova launcher. My previous phone was a Note 3 and I downloaded the Nova launcher at the recommendation of a friend. Anyway, all good info. Thanks!

It's not discouraged, as the handset makers want you to buy a new phone every 2 years they want you to have a run down battery or a cracked screen, the 2 most common factors for changing phone in the real world. You having a 4 year old phone is brilliant and shows you take care of your handset more than the average person, but handset makers are losing money on you. So if you're happy with your battery health now, you're doing the right things in general anyway

Charging to 100% is fine typically, as long as you disconnect from the charger ASAP, its just easier to track taking it off charge around the 80% mark or have your phone specifically stop charging at that time. Gives you a buffer zone of sorts. But the battery "memory" takes into account that you've hit 100% and waits for the next 0% for it to count as a cycle, or that your phone is at 100% for a while for whatever reason. Just like laptop batteries, they learn (not as) quickly that they like to be connected constantly to a power supply. The 20/80% numbers keep your phone charged and battery in good health

That being said, at least to begin with, you wouldn't notice any negative battery health in the first year if all you did was 100% to 0%, you'd be able to claim on insurance or warranty (standard is 1yr and only covers very specific things usualy, hence insurance options or extended warranties) for faulty battery, it would start to show in 2nd year onwards, they are sneaky like that. By 2nd year its very very easy for handset maker, insurance provider or shop where you originally bought from to just say "its fair usage after this amount of time" and its then upto you if you want to prove that the battery is dud by going through hoops

Battery will typically charge quicker (it's capacity has shrunk so reaches 100% faster) and be used much quicker than it used to once at 100%

There's all sorts of little hidden away settings to turn off (or on) to help improve battery life, but they obviously depend on if you really use them or not. There's 2 specifically I turn off right away, wifi scanning and Bluetooth scanning (sometimes called device scanning). And disabling or uninstalling as much bloatware as possible helps. And closing down apps in the background! Especially ones constantly updating like Facebook, weather or news apps

Anyway, I'm creating a wall of text here that is reeeealy boring to most people lol as much as I'd go on and on about it

My honest opinion, take on everyone's feedback, but remember everyone is different and uses their handsets for different things. Your 1 best bet is looking at your past history with handsets and how it holds up 2/3/4 years down the line. If you find yourself wanting/needing a new phone after 18 months to 2 years, it's either a fashion accessory, you have lots of disposable income, or you've mistreated the phone. If you can make a phone last 4 years, any phone you get with the same care and usage will be fine in your hands

Tldr; batteries are made poorly on purpose but you can look after them by turning off things and unistalling rubbish and not leaving them on charge

 

[DGrayson]

We get new phones from our work every 2 years. I take pretty good care of my phones then I usually sell the used phones for a couple hundred on Facebook Marketplace or something.

I have had (all Samsungs)

S5
S7
S9
S20
S22 (just got this one earlier this week).

I prefer a smaller phone so I dont like plus or Ultra models.

I loved the 5 as you could replace the battery. S7 had a great form factor, loved that one. S9 I didnt like that much. S20 was probably my favorite phone so far, was very thin and sleek. S22 is good so far but the screen is not as tall and its a bit bulkier.

But I would generally recommend Samsung phones.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Buying Samsung devices should make you nervous

https://www.wral.com/spontaneous-co...e-destroyed-garner-home/20247986/?version=amp

 

[LectureMaster]

I upgraded to S22 Ultra just last week, from OnePlus 7 pro.

The user experience isn't much different at all, given that Oxygen OS is much cleaner and closer to stock android while Samsung's UI is a bit more bloated, but not a big deal breaker or anything.

The true upgrade feeling comes from the camera, I'd say S22 Ultra's camera is very strong. Good lens + AI algorithm give very desirable photos, the color might be a bit too vibrant, but really good for social media posting or any casual photo sharing. The high x100 Zoom is not just stunt, it can be useful and informative at some occasions. Here are some photos I took:

The Samsung is offering great trade-in values for the phone right now, I did some Ebay trick and sold my old phone and ended up paying around 700 bucks for the 256GB version, I think it's worth my bucks.

I could answer more if you have specific questions.

 

[Phunkydiabetic]

My wife and I have been enjoying our Google Pixel phones since 2018. She has the Pixel 3 and I have a Pixel 3 XL. The pictures with the Pixel cameras are amazing even in 2022. Anyway, my phone is still going strong and the battery still has good life, mainly because I don't recharge it unless the charge is actually low. My wife's phone not so much, but she recharges her phone every night regardless of the charge. That means it's time to start thinking about getting a new phone. We're android users, no iPhones are not an option. The Pixel 6 Pro seems alright but I'm more interested in the S22 Ultra. (Not interested in waiting until October for the Google Pixel 7) My wife would have to stick to the regular S22 as she doesn't like hauling around a large phone.

Does anyone on gaf have/use an S22 Ultra or a non iPhone that they really like? I'd love to get some thoughts or recommendations. It doesn't have to be an S22. The S21 from our carrier is the exact same price as the S22 or I'd consider getting last year's model instead.

I was Nexus/Pixel all the way, after the Pixel 2xl I got irritated with Google charging premium prices for a bare bones phone with a shitty screen and weak hardware. I went to a Samsung S10+, then onto an S21 Ultra.

Both phones have made me never think about a Google phone again tbh. Especially the S21 Ultra, an absolute beast of a phone.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

I'm feeling a lot more confident in getting an S22 Ultra. Again, thanks for all the help. My first smart phone was a Note 2 and my family made jokes about it constantly. At the time large phones were not common, so it did look a bit hilarious. Then I got a Note 3 and eventually the Google Pixel 3XL.

Buying Samsung devices should make you nervous

https://www.wral.com/spontaneous-co...e-destroyed-garner-home/20247986/?version=amp

I feel like this is potential issue with any phone these days, but extremely rare. The only other choice is to not use a smart phone at all.

 

[Days like these...]

Haven't had a galaxy since the s3 if the camera is important to you go with a Vivo, Xiaomi or Huawei. Samsung's cameras suck.

 

[SirKicksalot]

The Samsung FE phones are cheaper and you can use a cheap active stylus (this is mine).

 

[LaughingStock]

My S22 ultra arrived yesterday. So far so good. Upgraded from a note 9.
I did a lot of browsing, spotify and youtube today and It still has 46% battery (charged in the morning, it's 8pm now). AoD, bluetooth, GPS, WiFi, all on.
I'm not in the USA though. I don't know if it's different from the american version.