Samsung has revealed its new flagship S22 smartphone range at its Galaxy Unpacked event overnight ahead of their release in New Zealand on March 4.
As expected, the Korean technology giant is launching three models: The S22, the S22 Plus and the top of the range S22 Ultra.
The S22 starts at $1299 in New Zealand, the Plus at $1599 and the Ultra at $1999.
More storage space and RAM options are available for each device for additional cost.
All devices can be pre-ordered now ahead of their launch on Friday, March 4 in Aotearoa. The S22 and S22 Plus are being released a week earlier in other parts of the world.
For the first time the Ultra will combine the functionality of the Note series with the camera and performance of the S series, including an S Pen which slides into the body of the phone.
"At Samsung, we constantly push ourselves to raise the bar on our most premium devices," TM Roh, president and head of Samsung Electronics' mobile experience business said.
"Galaxy S22 Ultra takes the beloved functionality of the Galaxy Note and the most celebrated aspects of the S series and merges them for a truly unique mobile experience."
The S Pen has been updated to have 70 percent lower latency, providing a more realistic writing experience on the screen, the company said.
In New Zealand, the S22 range will be powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor instead of Samsung's new Exynos chip, which will be used in some overseas markets.
The 6.8-inch dynamic AMOLED 2X screen on the Ultra offers adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz, with a touch sampling rate of 240Hz (240fps) in game mode.
The S22 and S22 Plus offer nearly identical screen specifications to the Ultra, albeit slightly smaller. The Plus measures in at 6.6-inches and the S22 is 6.1-inches in size.
The displays on the Plus and Ultra models can achieve peak brightness of up to 1750 nits, with 1300 nits for the Galaxy S22, which should mean the screens are easily visible in bright conditions outside.
The cameras have similar specifications to last year's S21 range although the company claims they'll deliver better performance, particularly at night. On the Ultra that's provided by the company's largest ever 2.4um pixel sensor.
There are four cameras on the rear of the Ultra: A 108 MP wide camera, a 12 MP ultra-wide camera, a 10 MP telephoto camera offering 3x optical zoom and another 10 MP telephoto camera offering 10x optical zoom.
Both the standard and S22 Plus models feature a 12 MP ultra-wide camera, 50 MP wide camera and 10 MP telephoto camera offering 3x optical zoom on the rear, along with a 10 MP front camera.
Unlike many other smartphones, there is no noticeable camera bump on the back of the S22 Ultra - the lenses are raised slightly from the back but otherwise the rear is completely flat.
A large 5000 mAh battery should keep the Ultra powered all the way through a work day and longer, and it's capable of super-fast charging at 45W wired and 15W wirelessly.
The S22 and S22 Plus have 3700 mAh and 4500 mAh batteries respectively and both offer 15W wireless charging. The Plus will offer 45W wired charging but the standard model only offers 25W.
The Ultra is available in four colours: Phantom black, phantom white, green and burgundy, and there's a pink gold version instead of burgundy for other models.
As per that last few years, no charger is included in the box, with just a USB-C cable and SIM ejector provided.
All devices will launch running the latest Android 12 software with Samsung's One UI 4.1.
Oppo, one of Samsung's biggest competitors in New Zealand's Android phone market, is expected to announce the launch of its new flagship Find X5 Pro later this month, with leaks apparently confirming its specifications.
Meanwhile Apple is expected to unveil its new iPhone SE in early March. The lower cost model is released at a different time to its flagship devices, which are revealed during an event in September.
Specifications and prices of the new Samsung Galaxy S22 range in Aotearoa:
S22
- 128GB storage, 8GB RAM - $1299
- 256GB storage, 8GB RAM - $1399
Available to pre-order now, officially launched on March 4, 2022.
S22+
- 128GB storage, 8GB RAM - $1599
- 256GB storage, 8GB RAM - $1699
Available to pre-order now, officially launched on March 4, 2022.
S22 Ultra
- 128GB storage, 8GB RAM - $1999
- 256GB storage, 12GB RAM - $2099
- 512GB storage, 12GB RAM - $2399
Available to pre-order now, officially launched on March 4, 2022.
