New Samsung Galaxy Embraces S Pen

This launch coverage was done without a hands-on experience. Look for a review posting soon.

Today Samsung launched its much-awaited S22 series smartphones with new hardware, processing power, sustainably conscious design and a few nifty AI shooting tricks to keep competitors on their toes. And my favourite mobile tool, the S Pen finds a permanent home in the S22 Ultra.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

The 6.1” screen Galaxy S22, 6.6” screen Galaxy S22+ and 6.8” screen Galaxy S22 Ultra available for pre-order today and in stores Feb 25 offer innovative AI technology for better photos in any light condition at twice the processing speed from the previous Galaxy S20 series and much more.

“Let me assure you mobile’s potential has just begun” said TM Roh President & Head MX Business, Samsung Electronics. “It’s a smartphone for a new generation of go-getters, change makers and creatives,” he said.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

The S22 Ultra is Samsung’s do-it-all smartphone starting at a paltry $1,649.99.  

Roh said Samsung was breaking the rules by bringing the S Pen to an S series phone for the first time. The mighty S Pen, a favourite for millions in more than a decade of Galaxy Note models, will play a leading roll in the top S22 Ultra flagship model. Last year Samsung launched the S21 Ultra with an optional S Pen purchase and no built-in storage slot. Users had the option of purchasing a case with included S Pen and storage slot. This year Samsung did the smart thing, bringing the S Pen, its most unique and valuable smartphone accessory, back to the fold in its flagship phone. Thank you, Samsung.

Here are the highlights:

• Gorilla Glass Vectus T Corning 6 front and rear
• The S Pen experience has been enhanced. Latency is drastically reduced from 9MS to 2.8ms for a smoother natural writing experience. Enhanced AI-based coordinate prediction technology predicts which way you will guide the pen on the new upgraded Wacom handwriting component. AI improves the reaction and prediction speed even faster with more accuracy. This includes a better recognition rate of 88 languages. You can link a URL from the onscreen browser to a popup Note for future reference and a collaboration feature enables seamleslys working with the new Tab 8 . For example, you can change the settings on your S-Pen on your S22 Ultra phone while writing or sketching on the larger Tab 8 screen.
• Although all series models have similar picture taking features, the Ultra has a larger 108MP 2.4um size pixel sensor with pixels 1.23 times larger than last years S21 for richer tones and better “nightography” as Samsung calls it.  
• There are five cameras onboard:

12MP Ultra-Wide Camera F2.2, FOV 120˚

108 MP Wide Camera Dual Pixel AF, F1.8, FOV 85˚

10MP Telephoto Camera 3x Optical Zoom, F2.4, FOV 36˚

10MP Telephoto Camera 10x Optical Zoom, F4.9, FOV 11˚

40MP Front Camera F2.2, FOV 80˚

• 4nm processor the fastest in a Galaxy device (on all models) for faster camera functions
• Fast charge to 50% battery capacity in 20 minutes on the 5,000 mAh battery
• AI based autofocus uses Samsung’s  new NPU (Neural Processing Unit) twice as fast as last years, recognizing image forms, in reducing low light noise and increasing colour quality and sharper images. In City Scape mode AI with NPU power processes scenes like a pro.
• New Nona-binning with the Ultra’s higher 108MP resolution combines pixels for better quality photos shot in poor lighting resulting in smaller size photos, still equivalent standard size but impressively better. This also helps steady videography shooting in poor light.
• High quality Raw format DNG photography capturing multiple frames for more shadow and highlight details will let you go even further with pro-quality pictures in challenging light. Samsung’s Expert Raw App downloadable on the Galaxy Store will let you edit these rich DNG photos on your phone like a DSLR file on Photoshop. When in Raw mode the camera also shoots a standard JPEG frame. You can also edit picture on your S22 Ultra phone synched with a new Tab 8 larger screen
• The Luma Fusion app available for download in the first half of this year at the Galaxy Store is a perfect video editor for your new pro-quality videos.

Features For the Three S22 Series

• There are four cameras onboard the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22+ :

2MP Ultra-Wide Camera F2.2, FOV 120˚

50 MP Wide Camera Dual Pixel AF, OIS, F1.8, FOV 85˚

10MP Telephoto Camera 3x Optical Zoom, OIS, F2.4, FOV 36˚

10MP Front Camera F2.2, FOV 80˚

• Automatically reduces the frame rate according to light conditions from 60 FPS down for smoother video
• Novice or Pro enhanced videography

• Certifiable EAL4+ phone security by using Samsung Knox Vault to store personal information and passwords twice as fast as last year in the phone’s system inaccessible from outsiders.  
• Auto framing that automatically zooms out to cover up to 10 people entering a scene or auto centers one person moving around in video shooting.  
• Two portrait modes has benn updated. AI Studio for soft focus and AI Stereo for depth of field control even picking single strands of hair against an out of focus Bokeh background. 

• Night Portrait Mode has similar features but in dark scenes
• Portrait Pet mode with a soft background focus with studio lighting effects
• Samsung’s intelligent power efficiency auto adjusting battery use depending on functions like allowing heavier power consumption for low latency on real time streaming video calls on the WiFi 6 or 6E 6 Ghz ban. When high latency is good enough for less demanding apps the power consumption on your battery automatically slows down.  When gaming the screen refresh rate jumps to 120Hz for smooth motion but slows down when done for up to 30% power savings.  
• Vision Booster at 1,750 NITS maximizes color space when viewing outside on bright days

Galaxy Tab S8 and S8+ and S8 Ultra series

The Galaxy Tab 8 is designed for a “video first” world. Today, video watching takes more than 80% of consumers time on tablets. They come in three screen sizes :

Galaxy Tab S8 11-inch, 2560×1600, (WQXGA) 276ppi LTPS TFT

Galaxy Tab S8+ 12.4-inch, 2800 x 1752, (WQXGA+) 266ppi Super AMOLED

Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra 14.6-inch, 2960 x 1848, (WQXGA+) 240ppi Super AMOLED

The Tab S8 Ultra flagship features:

• 14.6inch Super AMOLED screen
• 120Mz refresh screen, only 6.3 mm thin
• Weighs half that of a similar size laptop
• Armor Aluminum and far less prone to bending
• Magnetic S Pen also on the Tab 8+
• 12MP (Wide) + 12MP (Ultra-Wide) front camera
• Fingerprint On Display

All Tab S8 Series

• 15 hours of uninterrupted video playing
• S Pen
• 120 Hz screen refresh
• First 4nm processor on a tablet starting with 16GB RAM and up to 1TB storage.
• 45W charging to full power in less than 80 minutes
• 4 nm 64-bit Octa-Core Processor
• The Tab S8 can charge other phones via USB cable
• Rear 13MP AF + 6MP Ultra-Wide (Dual) + Flash
• Easy to multitask several windows on your screen
• 120 degree ultrawide front camera with crystal clear voice
• The S Pen also on the Tab 8+ has reduced lag time and can respond to hand wave gestures like taking pictures or running slide shows.
• 4K recording front and back
• Can create an online tutorial with dual screen photo of your talking face
• Quickshare for instantly transferring files between Tab 8 and phone.
• Supports Wi-Fi 6E with double the bandwidth from Wi-Fi 6
• Dex mode for synching Tab S8 from a Windows desktop PC or use your tablet monitor as a second screen for your windows PC…a touchscreen monitor work with your PC.
• LumaFusion available by mid year at the Galaxy Store will ofer professional quality video editing
• Both cameras and microphone show when they are in use and can be turned off altogether or for
• Fingerprint with Side Key for the Tab S8 and on display for the Tab S8+

• Protected by Samsung Knox Vault for keeping personal and private information like passwords securely in the Tab 8 system area.
• Like the S22 phone series the Tab 8 uses repurposed fishnet net plastic for plastic components and is packaged in certifiable renewable resources in the slimmest packaging yet.
• Wireless keyboard share allows you to use the Tab 8 with your phone

ECO Friendly

Samsung’s environmental efforts come to fruition this year with a drive to re-use discarded plastics like fishing nets harvested in huge quantities at sea and beaches. It re-purposes the nets transforming them to hard resin pellets. Parts of the the S22 series use this “new” plastic including the S Pen internal pen slot. Samsung plans to gather more than 50 tons of discarded plastic this year. This year the packaging for phones and tabs will feature eco-minded materials from renewable resources.