This Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra review looks back at a genuinely unusual flagship. When Samsung launched the Galaxy S22 Ultra in early 2022, it finally committed to something it had teased for years: folding the beloved Note line directly into the S series. The result looked and behaved unlike anything else in Samsung’s lineup, a slab-sided flagship with a real S Pen tucked inside its body. Years on, in 2026, it remains one of the most distinctive Android phones ever made, and a surprisingly smart used pick.
The Note lives on, in an S phone
Every other Galaxy S phone of its era leaned into soft, rounded corners. The S22 Ultra went the other way. Its boxy, squared-off frame and flat top and bottom edges were inherited straight from the Galaxy Note, and that was entirely the point. Samsung had quietly retired the Note name, and rather than let its most loyal power users drift away, it built the Note experience into the Ultra.
The clearest sign of that inheritance is the built-in S Pen silo. Unlike the S21 Ultra, which supported a stylus you had to carry separately, the S22 Ultra houses the pen inside the chassis, exactly like a Note. Pull it out and you get quick notes, precise markup, screen-off memos, and Air Actions gestures. For anyone who takes handwritten notes, signs documents, or sketches, that integration still feels genuinely useful today, and no mainstream rival matches it.
A display that still holds up
Every Galaxy S22 Ultra review comes back to the screen, and the roughly 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED panel remains a highlight in 2026. It is a QHD+ display with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, gently curved edges, and the brightness and color depth that made Samsung screens famous. Video, reading, and inking with the S Pen all feel premium. Even next to newer generations, the screen is rarely the reason to upgrade, which is high praise for hardware this old.
Cameras built to show off
Samsung positioned the camera system as the Ultra’s marquee attraction, and much of it still delivers. It is anchored by a 108MP main sensor and joined by an ultrawide and two telephoto lenses, including a 10x optical periscope zoom. That long reach is the star: framing distant subjects with real optical detail is something most phones, even current ones, simply cannot do.
In our experience testing it for this Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra review, the phone produces punchy, contrast-rich images in Samsung’s signature style. Colors lean vivid rather than strictly natural, and low-light shots benefit from aggressive processing. It is not flawless. The periscope needs good light to shine, and the heavy processing is a matter of taste. But as a versatile point-and-shoot flagship, it holds its own.
- Display: ~6.8-inch curved QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz adaptive
- Chipset: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or Exynos 2200, depending on region
- Main camera: 108MP, with a 10x optical periscope telephoto
- S Pen: Built into the body, Note-style
- Battery: 5000mAh with 45W wired charging support
- Software: One UI over Android, with a long update history
The honest part: heat and throttling
No honest Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra review can skip the elephant in the room. Depending on your region, the S22 Ultra shipped with either the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or the Exynos 2200, and that whole chip generation became known for running hot. Under sustained load, such as long gaming sessions, extended camera use, or heavy multitasking, these phones tend to warm up and throttle their performance to stay cool.
In everyday use, most people will not notice. Scrolling, messaging, streaming, and light photography feel smooth. But push it hard for a while and you can feel the thermals kick in as peak performance backs off. In our view this is the S22 Ultra’s clearest weakness, and the main reason we frame it as a value pick rather than a raw performance champion in 2026. It is worth going in with realistic expectations rather than being surprised later.
Battery and daily life
The 5000mAh battery generally carries the phone through a full day of moderate use, though the big, bright display and demanding chip mean heavy users may reach for a charger by evening. Charging tops out at 45W wired, which is respectable if not class-leading. As with any older device, real-world endurance now depends heavily on battery health, so a used unit’s condition matters more than the spec sheet.
Keeping it current with the stock ROM
Part of what makes the S22 Ultra a sensible used buy is Samsung’s long software support, which kept One UI feeling fresh well beyond launch. If you pick one up secondhand, want to wipe a hand-me-down cleanly, or need to recover from a botched update, you can reinstall the correct official firmware for your exact model and region. Our team maintains a large, searchable library of stock ROMs at ZipFirmware so you can return the device to a clean, up-to-date state.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra review verdict: should you buy one in 2026?
The S22 Ultra is no longer the phone to beat, and the newer Galaxy generation that arrived in early 2026 moves the flagship story forward. But that is exactly what makes this one interesting. As a used or budget flagship, it offers a genuinely premium screen, a versatile camera with real zoom, and the built-in S Pen that no competitor replicates.
Our take at the end of this Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra review: if you loved the Note and want that experience without paying today’s flagship prices, the S22 Ultra is one of the smartest picks around, as long as you accept the thermal quirks of its generation. It is capable, distinctive, and still unmistakably itself, a smartphone that really was unlike any other.
ZipFirmware
We maintain the ZipFirmware archive of official Samsung stock ROMs. Every guide here is written from the same files you download.
