I received my Galaxy S22 Ultra a week ago and like everyone else, I am excited for it but at the same time can’t help feeling that this is a mere Galaxy Note 20 Ultra refresh, but after using for a week, the Galaxy S22 Ultra more than just that and is a definite upgrade from its predecessor, here are five things that I love about it after switching over from my Galaxy Z Fold3.

Faster and More Efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Processor

The Galaxy S22 Ultra has gotten a lot faster and more responsive compared to its predecessor, although my unit is the base storage configuration that comes with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, the phone hasn’t struggled to keep up with app switches and performance has been rather consistent.

On top of that, the 4nm process of the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s processor makes it more efficient when the phone is on standby, it merely drained 1.77% of battery per hour as I measured it during sleeping hours, which is a huge improvement over its predecessor and one thing that you no longer need to worry of having to charge the phone in the morning.

Z-Axis linear haptics motor

The Galaxy S22 Ultra now uses a Z-Axis linear motor haptics engine, though it isn’t quite as strong as an X-Axis linear motor, I like that it offers a really nice subtle vibration as I’m typing as it gives a really nice soft feedback, even ringtones and notifications can be configured to vibrate according to the rhythm, its a subtle improvement that one will hardly notice on paper but will love once you start using it.

45W Fast Charging lowers battery anxiety

Although the Galaxy S22 Ultra is still behind several other phones when it comes to charging speeds, bring back the 45W fast charging that was present back on the Note 10 Plus is definitely a saving grace, as I don’t usually keep a consistent phone charging schedule, a faster charging speed is extremely important for me as I can get back from 10% to 80% with a mere 40 minute charge, the phone will continue to trickle charge at 25W once it hits the 80% battery mark, and you should expect it to be fully charged in an hour if you aren’t doing anything on it while charging.

Built in S Pen

Ah, the S Pen, the one accessory I love but hate to purchase separately on the S21 Ultra is finally back on the S22 Ultra with the silo storage we all love, but what I really love this time is the improved input latency of this new S-Pen as I can annotate my PDF documents better as if it is on an actual piece of paper, Air Gestures has also improved from the Note 20 Ultra’s where it responds to my gestures in the camera app more accurately.

Cameras that I will never look back

I am glad that Samsung has brought over the same camera setup from the Galaxy S21 Ultra, and it is one thing that I have missed when I switched to the Galaxy Z Fold3, while I’m not suggesting the latter has bad cameras, the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s cameras are a lot better in terms of image quality, it produces good dynamic range, low noise levels and clear details, while having a dedicated 10X periscope lens is just so convenient when I want to get closer to my subjects from a distance, this is a perfect camera system that I couldn’t have asked for more on a flagship smartphone.

Galaxy S22 Ultra Camera Samples

I will be testing out the Galaxy S22 Ultra more and be concluding my review, so definitely stay tuned for that.