Samsung Boosts Performance For Creators And Galaxy Note Fans With New S22 Ultra

Competition remains steep in the smartphone market, but Samsung’s relentless drive for innovation continues to produce advancements. It ushered in the era of foldable smartphones, and its cameras are some of the best in the industry. Today the company launched its new Galaxy S22 series smartphone lineup that includes the Galaxy S22 ($800), the Galaxy S22+ ($1,000) and the Galaxy S22 Ultra ($1,200).  

S Pen meets the Galaxy S22 Ultra

The big news is that Samsung took the opportunity to appease legacy Galaxy Note users and enhance the S22 Ultra line by adding Samsung’s iconic S Pen to the mix. For years Samsung’s strived to make the S Pen more than just a fancy expensive writing accessory. The S Pen acts as a presentation controller, camera remote and a creative instrument. In this iteration, Samsung says it made the display is 3 times more responsive to the S Pen than previous models using AI and hardware enhancements. The combination of the S Pen and the S22 Ultra’s impressive camera expands the definition of the ultra line.

It’s difficult to crank out smartphone innovations every six months, but Samsung demonstrated that it’s not impossible. Of course, Samsung shared numerous improvements in the S22 lineup that ranged from enhanced battery life to brighter screens and faster chips. However, what most consumers care about is the camera. 

A new 4nm processor and advances in artificial intelligence software drive many of Samsung’s latest camera innovations. The small super-fast processors allow Samsung to run enhanced AI models to deliver features that consumers care about, such as intelligent auto-framing software and a low light evening photography mode that Samsung calls Nightography. Auto-framing technology automatically keeps your image in focus during a call and allows you to zoom in or out to include new participants as they join you. 

What’s Nightography and how does it work?

Low light environments present challenges for smartphone cameras. Nightography combines hardware, material engineering and software to achieve crisper photos and videos with minimal flare, even in low light. It leverages a new 2.4-micrometer pixel sensor that allows the camera to take in more light. It couples this with an anti-reflective nano-coating on the glass and lens so more light can reach the sensor with fewer reflections. Night solution captures and processes multiple frames with each picture. It selects the frames with the least visual distortion (noise) and blur and combines the best frames to create the clearest photograph. It also works with portrait mode, telelens and the 10MP 3X optical zoom

Dual track image stabilization uses Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and Video Digital Image Stabilization (VDIS) to create a smooth video in low light. OIS compensates for motion by moving the camera lens in the opposite direction of the motion to balance out the impact of shakes. OIS hardware offers a 58% wider corrective angle than the S21. VDIS uses software to compensate for camera movements. Meanwhile, a faster processor allows VDIS to deliver a 4X improvement in motion sampling frequency. The auto frame rate feature improves the video brightness of an image by automatically adjusting the FPS rate to take in light based on changing light conditions. Samsung also offers a Super Night Solution that “synthesizes up to 12 frames with the best detail as you film” to create a better image when the frame rate drops below 24fps. 

Just in case low light photography and better framing weren’t enough for you, Samsung also shared that the S22 Ultra uses a 108MP sensor, AI and a Dual Tele Zoom system to provide a 100X zoom capability that it calls Space Zoom. 

The image and video processing sophistication in these smartphone cameras amazes me. While professional digital cameras are amazing, the Samsung S22 lineup offers the weight and general portability that allows everyone to capture great photos and videos at that perfect moment. It’s worth noting that Samsung kept the same price point as last year’s models. While a $1,200 smartphone isn’t cheap, it offers a top-of-the-line experience. As Andrew Hoyle of CNET wrote, “ It comes with a high price, but those of you looking for one of the best Android phones around should have this on your short list.” The only other item a buyer may want in a premium Android smartphone is foldability, and for that, you’d look to Samsung’s Z series. 

At some point, the S Series may reach the holy grail moment of making and serving its owner a cup of coffee. After all, there’s little else a premium smartphone can’t do today. Until then, anyone with a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra or any of the S22 lineup can capture that perfect evening scene or create amazing videos using their favorite apps such as Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.

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