It’s that time of the year again where we meet Samsung’s new flagship smartphones and tablets, the Galaxy S22 series and Galaxy Tab S8 series have been officially unveiled by Samsung at the Galaxy Unpacked 2022 virtual launch event.
As usual, the Galaxy S22 series comes in three models, namely the S22, S22+ and S22 Ultra, all will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor and their respective storage configurations, the S22 and S22+ comes with 8GB RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage, while the S22 Ultra comes with up to 12GB RAM and 1TB of storage.
For the first time ever, the Galaxy Tab S8 series will come in an Ultra variant on top of the usual Tab S8 and S8+ models, they are flagship tablets that’s also powered by the same chip found on the Galaxy S22 series. Among the three models, the Tab S8 Ultra is obviously the main highlight
Galaxy S22 and S22+ – familiar design, great hardware refinements
Although the S22 and S22+ has the same design language as their predecessors with a contour camera cutout, Samsung has blend in new colors such as Green and Pink Gold on top of the Phantom Black and Phantom White colors, the camera contour cutout now has the same color as the device, while the aluminum frame also has the same paint job that blends well with the phone’s color, this is a similar paint job that we have seen on recent devices like the S21 FE and Galaxy Z Flip3.
Display wise, the S22 and S22+ have 0.1-inch smaller display than their predecessors which makes them aesthetically better to hold, they are QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X displays with an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate that goes down to as low as 10Hz to conserve power when not using, Samsung also noted a 240Hz touch sampling rate that improves the gaming experience as well as Vision Booster to improve response times.
Due to this, the battery capacity of both phones are smaller than their predecessors, the S22 comes with a 3700mAh battery instead of 4000mAh, while the S22+ comes with a 4500mAh battery instead of 4800mAh, though this reduction shouldn’t affect battery life considering the smaller and more power efficient display.
One good thing to note is that the S22+ supports 45W fast wired charging that has been missing since the Note 20 Ultra, the regular S22 will only support 25W fast wired charging.
Camera wise, both S22 and S22+ shares the same triple camera system that comprises a 50MP main wide angle camera, a 10MP telephoto camera that does 3x optical zoom instead of hybrid zoom, and a 12MP ultra-wide camera, which I’m particularly glad that you no longer need to opt for the Ultra model for a better telephoto camera like you do last time, Samsung also claims that these cameras have improved ultra low light performance with 23% larger camera sensors over the Galaxy S21’s cameras and NPU.
Galaxy S22 Ultra – the definite upgrade for Note fans
For Galaxy Note fans, the Galaxy S22 Ultra should be your next upgrade, as it comes with a built-in S Pen just like the two year old Note 20 Ultra, the back even pays tribute to it with the exception of the removal of the thick camera bump, while it still impressively packs a 5000mAh battery and supports 45W wired fast charging.
Sporting a 6.8-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X 120Hz panel, the S22 Ultra features an even better adaptive refresh rate that goes down to 1Hz when not in use, this will no doubt help extend the battery life of the device even further than its predecessor, Samsung also says that it has improved the touch sampling rate and reduced latency for the S Pen input, the panel will also support the larger S-Pen Pro if you prefer that over the built-in one.
Camera wise, you are of course getting the better package here with a quad-camera system, it comprises a 108MP main wide camera that now features a super clear glass that takes clearer pictures at night without lens flare, two 10MP telephoto cameras that does 3x and 10x zoom and supports 100x space zoom, and a 12MP ultra-wide camera, these cameras have also improved ultra low light photo and video performance with the help of improved sensors and the NPU.
Galaxy Tab S8 Series – the fastest Android tablets you can buy
The Tab S8 and S8+ continues the success of its predecessors with a similar design language and a few hardware upgrades, offering things such as a 2K 120Hz display with the exception of the Tab S8+ having an Super AMOLED display, a quad-speaker system tuned by AKG that supports Dolby Atmos.
The dual camera system of the Tab S8 and S8+ are upgraded to 13MP main and 6MP ultrawide camera, while the front camera is bumped to 12MP from 8MP, the tablets support 45W fast charging and are expected to have 15 hours of continuous video playback time, and you can even use the tablets to reverse charge your phone over its USB-C port if you want to.
Weighing at 726g, the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is considerably light for its 14.6-inch screen size, which even with the keyboard cover attached, it weighs less than a kilogram and is lighter compared to the iPad Pro’s smart magic keyboard and laptops of the same size.
Although the display of the Tab S8 Ultra features a small notch which houses two 12MP cameras that does wide and 120-degree ultrawide angles, it isn’t as obtrusive as a MacBook Pro’s display notch and the cameras can be extremely useful for making group video calls.
The Galaxy Tab S8 series are the first tablets to support WiFi 6E which not only allows for faster file transfers, but also a smoother wireless display experience as it can extend and mirror your laptop’s screen, and even lets you connect to the Galaxy S22 Ultra to be used as a color palette that works with the Clip Studio Paint app.
Samsung has also noted that LumaFusion, a popular professional video editing app for tablets, is coming to the Galaxy Tab S8 series.
Galaxy S22 and S22+ Malaysia Pricing and Availability
The Galaxy S22 and S22+ will be available February 10th onwards at Samsung.com, carriers and retailers online at the following retail price:
- Galaxy S22+ 5G 256GB – RM4,299
- Galaxy S22+ 5G 128GB – RM4,099
- Galaxy S22 5G 256GB – RM3699
- Galaxy S22 5G 128GB – RM3499
The Galaxy S22 and S22+ is available in color options of Phantom Black, Phantom White, Green and Pink Gold.
Galaxy S22 Ultra Malaysia Pricing and Availability
The Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G will be available February 10th onwards Samsung.com, carriers and retailers online with the following storage configuration and retail price:
- Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G 12GB RAM+512GB Storage – RM5,899
- Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G 12GB RAM+256GB Storage – RM5,499
- Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G 8GB RAM+128GB Storage – RM5,099
The Galaxy S22 Ultra is available in color options of Phantom Black, Phantom White, Burgundy and Green for all storage variants.
Galaxy Tab S8 Series Malaysia Pricing and Availability
The Galaxy Tab S8 series will be available starting February 10th onwards. For a limited time till 3 March 2022, customers who preordered any of the Galaxy Tab S8 series will receive one S Pen and Book Cover Keyboard worth RM1,738, one year Microsoft 365 Personal subscription worth RM269, and one Neoprene Pouch worth RM149.
The Galaxy Tab S8 series are priced as below:
- Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra 12GB+256GB – RM5,899
- Galaxy Tab S8+ 8GB+256GB – RM4,599
- Galaxy Tab S8 8GB+256GB – RM3,299
