What did the S22 Series accomplish?

dhruvtalksstech
Feb 18, 2023
5 min read

You may feel that this blog has been ill-timed and late by year. But I don't aim to actually review the S22 series but describe its implication, consequences, and effects on the future generations of Samsung phones. The S22 had a lot going for it. It was submerged in an ocean of hype and anticipation. There were a lot of rumors flooding Twitter, especially about the S22 Ultra, and people just wanted to know if they could get things right. I think it was so consequential this time because Samsung was starting to trail other Android brands that had established a stronger foothold in the market and had even surpassed Samsung as the no.1 premium/best-selling smartphone brand. To answer the question raised in the thumbnail, a lot !!!!

What was really peculiar is that actually Samsung downsized with this series. The S22+ and S22 reduced screen size by 0.1 inches. It is not noticeable and is definitely not a make-or-break deal but downsizing did not just apply to the screen. Even the battery capacity was reduced by about 3000mah for the S22. That is a tiny battery by Android standards. We may compare it to the iPhones and say that it is still about the same but we've got to remember that Apple has full control over the software and hardware and is thus able to produce a much more efficient smartphone. The same does not apply to Samsung as it takes its software from Google and then applies its own skin to it.

The next biggest change was in the software department. Samsung finally announced and promised that they would roll out 4 years of software updates with every new Samsung phone being released. I feel that this announcement did not get enough acclaim and was one of the biggest highlights of the event for me. It shows a change in the mindset of Samsung and you rest assured that other companies would follow suit. This is relevant to the industry as a whole because it is directly related to environmental conservation. I'll explain - the more software updates a phone gets, the more likely you are to hold onto that phone because it just lasts longer and feels new and fresh all the time. People don't upgrade as often and fewer phones sold just means fewer phones being dumped in the landfills of Africa.

Since Galaxies only get 4 years of software updates, they are also not the best for the environment which is apparent from the picture below. I would be ecstatic if Galaxies started offering 5-6 years of OS updates like Apple does. This would not only save the environment but also increase consumer engagement and force people to lock into the Android ecosystem. Learn something from Apple, guys!!!

This is a credible way to reduce carbon footprint instead of removing the charging brick from the box which is outrageous, to say the least. S22 Ultra was a also major departure from the S21 Ultra in terms of design language and inclination. People had been speculating for years that the S series and Note series would be merged. This is what exactly happened. 2022 marked the demise of the Note series and what we saw instead was an Ultra phone that had the design of a Note but the top-notch features and hardware that would typically be reserved for an S series flagship. It seems like Samsung wants to make buying options simpler and easier for customers to understand. This may also be because of a better sales target. I lot of people don't buy Notes when they release at the end of the year because they know that the S series flagship is going to come out just 2 months later and will obviously have a better chipset and technology.

The S22 series basically took everything that the S21 series did and improved on them and addressed the minor and major concerns that people had. A lot of enthusiasts in the Android world may have been a little disappointed because there was no breakthrough "Oh My God" features but rather a phone that was for all and was not a niche product. This in itself is a departure from older Android brand strategies where they focused only on hype and tried to make headlines by introducing a major feature and advertising it everywhere such as hyper-fast charging or ultra-smooth displays or gaming features.

Samsung is becoming mature in its approach. While the Chinese companies flogging the market are appealing more to the youngsters who have immense knowledge of the required features, Samsung is becoming more of a sensible choice for those who are responsible and want a quality product that is capable to handle tasks. They are also trying to be assertive and bold with the design language to distinguish themselves in the market and make them instantly recognizable like iPhones.

I hope that the S23 improves on the shortcomings of the S22 Ultra. Do not get me wrong - I believe that the S22 Ultra was a fantabulous phone. It is one of the few phone I ACTUALLY believe can go head-to-head to iPhones. But Android being Android, lacks in soft power. Like developing nations, the prospects of the S22 are promising and it is seeing huge improvements year-on-year but it is the finesse, the touch, the feel and the feeling of exclusivity that is very much missing while missing an Android phone. I had a hard time telling apart my A50 and the S22 Ultra apart from the screen and the slightly better back. Completely unrelated but I do want to blurt it out - those cameras are huge!!! Bigger than I thought they would be.

There are certain challenges and shortcomings that I feel Samsung is not addressing as it should. Their website is so confusing and it does not look kind for a company whose UI I love. The tabs and options are confusing, it's slow to respond, the text is not illustrative and colorful but bland and there are no fluidity just sudden page loads. Samsung phones are also getting a lot more expensive than they once were. The starting price of the flagship is only inching upwards and the Fold and Flip series are on another level. In order for these nascent segments to prosper, they need to compare in specs and price to conventional smartphones. Until then, only an enthusiast who is super passionate and rich would pour so much money into them.