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00:00Trying to scratch the screens
00:03Hey guys, I'm Tom the tech chap and right now there are so many great phones to choose from but over the last couple of months
00:10I've been using
00:11Which one is it this one the s22 ultra using it in you know
00:16The real world including testing both snapdragon and Exynos versions also comparing it to other flagships
00:22Seeing what changes that big March update made and also considering whether the cheaper s22 plus is actually a better option
00:29So it all comes down to one simple question. Should you actually buy this and also is it better than the competition?
00:36I guess that's two questions
00:37But also if you have already bought one of these yourself
00:39Then let me know what you make of it the good and the bad share your experiences in the comments now
00:44There's always a ton of hype around a new flagship Samsung phone
00:47But I'll tell you what
00:48I haven't come across a more feature packed phone from the s-pen to supporting Wi-Fi 6 e having dual
00:55Telephoto lenses which gives us frankly the best zoom on any phone also the fantastic expert raw mode
01:01Which nowhere near enough people are using
01:03We also get solid battery life that really only falls short of the iPhone 13 pro max
01:09Plus we have the brightest screen on any phone
01:11I've tested which now the Sun has finally reappeared after its six-month hibernation here in the UK makes it easier to use outdoors
01:19So by combining the best of the note series
01:22This is the note 20 ultra and the f-series. This is the s21 ultra. Imagine these guys had a baby
01:27I'm not quite sure the logistics of that, but it brings us to this
01:31Yes, 22 ultra which is effectively the note 22 ultra, but you know without micro SD card support
01:36But still for me, this is the best all-round
01:39Flagship Android phone that you can buy but it's not perfect
01:43It is very expensive and there's a few things about it that do kind of annoy me
01:47For example, as I'm sure you guys know the s22 series comes with either an Exynos 2200 or a snapdragon 8 gen 1 chip
01:54So a couple of days ago
01:56I did my big comparison video and found that the snapdragon was a good 10% faster particularly in games
02:02Where it also had better support and more graphics options available versus the Exynos
02:07Okay, this is future Tom jumping in for a second because Call of Duty has actually been updated to support more graphics options
02:14So that is now on par with the Qualcomm version, which I'm using to film this on but pub G still hasn't so generally games
02:21Are still better optimized or at least more quickly optimized for the Qualcomm version
02:25Now the good news is that I did find battery life to be pretty much the same between them
02:30Although I know other people have had different experiences particularly with the Exynos where it seems we're having a bit of a chip lottery
02:36perhaps
02:37But there is still a noticeable difference when it comes to the camera definitely have a watch of the full video
02:42But my takeaway overall is that the snapdragon version is still superior
02:47Maybe not as significantly as in the past, but it's the one I'm gonna use going forward
02:51It is frustrating to be honest
02:53No one should have a inferior or even a superior version of this if we're paying the same amount of money
02:58Most people 95% of people won't really notice the difference
03:01but if you are paying
03:031150 pounds for this and you are buying the ultra because presumably you're a bit of an enthusiast and you want all these you know bells
03:09And whistles then it may make you consider buying something like the Oppo Find X5 Pro or the OnePlus 10 Pro or the Xiaomi 12 Pro
03:16Because with these wherever you are, you are guaranteed a Qualcomm snapdragon chip credit to Samsung for giving Qualcomm some strong competition
03:24but it shouldn't be at our cost and
03:26Speaking of the competition, let's talk about price because as I mentioned this will cost you
03:311150 pounds here in the UK, which is an awful lot of money
03:35And for that we only get 8 gigs of RAM and 128 storage, which is pretty stingy
03:40considering for a hundred pounds less you get 12 gigs of RAM and
03:44256 gigs of storage on the Find X5 Pro and even the iPhone 13 Pro Max is a hundred pounds cheaper
03:51Now we do have RAM plus where you can assign up to 8 gigabytes of storage to help boost the RAM
03:56Which does mitigate it a little bit and realistically this isn't something most of us could really tell the difference between
04:02But storage is an issue especially as this doesn't support micro SD cards
04:06So I would probably recommend paying the extra hundred to get 256 which also bumps the RAM up to 12 gigabytes
04:12Although to be fair Samsung does give us more options than most phones offering up to 1 terabyte of storage if your name is Mr.
04:19Moneybags and also, of course, we didn't get a charger in the box either
04:22So if you want to take advantage of that faster 45 watt charging then you'll have to pay Samsung 45 pounds for the privilege
04:29Samsung do offer some pretty decent trade-in schemes, which are definitely worth looking at
04:33But given what the competition is offering for similar or less money
04:37I feel like they could do better especially with the likes of Xiaomi eating away at their market share
04:43Now since the s22 ultra supports Wi-Fi 6e
04:46Let me introduce you to today's sponsor Netgear's new flagship Orbi the world's first
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04:57Best of the best mesh system and with their new 6e router and satellites
05:02Which come in a pack of three by the way in either white or this very stealthy new black color
05:07For devices like this that support 6e they can now access the new 6 gigahertz spectrum
05:13Which is far less congested than 5 gigahertz and so can help you get the fastest up to gigabit plus speeds
05:19So I use the Orbi router or router for my American friends and together with the two satellites
05:24You can eliminate any dead zones in your home. In fact, it can cover up to a whopping
05:297,500 square feet which I can tell you is several times bigger than my house and right now
05:34I don't even come close to maxing out what this can do
05:37So if like me you want the absolute best Wi-Fi performance for gaming streaming and browsing
05:43Definitely check out the new flagship Orbi and I'll leave a link in the description below if you want to check it out
05:49However, one thing that the iPhones and Oppo's and one pluses and real me's and Xiaomi's of the world don't offer is
05:56Bixby
05:57Okay. No, not really the S Pen. This I think is what really makes the S22 stand out
06:03This really is the note 22 ultra in both design with those squared off corners and that embedded S Pen
06:09Which by the way has the fastest response time of any S Pen compatible device
06:13And while I must admit I don't use it that often
06:16maybe a few times a week being able to use the S Pen as a remote trigger for the camera or
06:21Signing the odd document or capturing GIFs like a video screenshot
06:25It does come in handy
06:26And if you are any kind of serious doodler drawer or designer in apps like sketchbook
06:32You can see just how much more precision you get with a pen over your chubby finger
06:37So you either thinking yes, I love it. I need this in my life or
06:41Yeah, probably not gonna use it that much in which case I would seriously consider saving a couple hundred quid and going with the S
06:4722 plus instead
06:49So this is 950 and this is 1150 here in the UK 200 quid more and for that you do get a bigger
06:56High-resolution screen the S Pen better cameras both front and back plus that extra 10 times telephoto lens
07:02So yeah, you are getting a fair bit more for your money with this
07:05but if you're not bothered about the high-resolution or having the best camera and the longest zoom and also perhaps you prefer a
07:12Slightly smaller more comfortable phone because we have these rounded corners and it is 0.2 inches smaller
07:18So it's a lot more comfortable to use and you're not really fast on the S Pen
07:21Then I think for most of my friends looking for a new Samsung phone or even a you know
07:25High-end Android I would suggest the S 22 plus
07:28Having said that as unwieldy as the S 22 ultra can be especially with a case that big
07:346.8 inch quad HD screen is absolutely glorious and with the ridiculous
07:401750 net brightness including that nifty new extra brightness mode as well as pretty good speakers HDR 10 plus support
07:47Everything from gaming movies binge watching tech chap YouTube videos
07:51It all looks fantastic and actually even multitasking with split screen apps is a comfortable experience
07:57And I like this labs feature that removes the notification bar and gives you a proper full screen
08:02When you are using two apps side-by-side
08:05In fact as someone who bought a Galaxy Z Fold 3 myself, and I do love the fold don't get me wrong
08:10I would pick this every time what I would like though
08:13If Samsung are watching is a dynamic or auto switching resolution option
08:18We have it for the frame rate and other phones like the Find X5 Pro give us this auto switch resolution option
08:23It would be useful to adjust the resolution based on my battery life and usage pattern
08:28So I don't have to manually think about it one minor gripe
08:31I have come across though is that the bottom firing speaker is
08:35Notably louder and fuller versus the top one which doubles as the speaker grill
08:40So sometimes the sound can well sound a little bit one-sided and I think the iPhone speakers are still a touch better
08:46I also mentioned the glass Gorilla Glass Victus Plus on both the front and the back which is the only phone right now to
08:53Have that but as you can see from my X-NOS version here if I bring it up to the light
08:57I have already scratched it quite badly probably from camera lenses in my pocket or maybe my keys
09:03I know my friend Daniel over at zone of tech had a similar issue
09:07Unfortunately, I haven't yet scratched my burgundy one, which I love this color, by the way
09:11But I would definitely recommend putting a case on it. Not just for that. But if I actually demonstrate on a table I
09:19Guess quite annoying the sticky LT lenses make it quite one-sided
09:24So by putting a case on it, not only do you prevent those horrible scratches and it's a bit more comfortable to hold
09:30No more movement
09:32Let's talk about this camera because I am pretty blown away by it
09:36even more so actually after the recent March update the edge detection of
09:40Individual hairs in portrait mode the ability to go from this to this. Thanks to the extra zoom lens
09:47Realistically anything up to 30 times actually looks quite good
09:50And I find myself using it way more than I expected and I even found that versus last year's s21 ultra that zoom shots
09:57Looked less processed and that three times optical zoom in particular gives you a great focal length for portrait shots
10:04So having that ultra wide which doubles as a macro together with the main and the dual telephoto lenses just gives you so much
10:12Versatility and in fact over the last few weeks
10:14I've made in-depth camera comparisons with the Oppo finite 5 Pro and the iPhone 13 Pro Max
10:19And while I must admit I do still carry an iPhone 13 with me mainly for video
10:23You just can't beat its stabilization and smoothness of transitions between lenses
10:28I do think that as an overall package the s22 ultra has the best camera setup on any phone
10:39And also one of the most underrated features of the s22 ultra is this the raw expert photo app and you download it from the
10:47Galaxy App Store, but expert raw is essentially the pro pro mode
10:51It gives you all the usual options for tinkering with the camera settings
10:54But also like Apple's pro raw mode on the iPhone
10:57It also shoots multi-frame raw photos and with a little bit of editing in Lightroom or Snapseed
11:03You can end up with some stunningly detailed shots with impressive dynamic range
11:07So it's definitely worth having a play with if you are a keen photographer
11:11But then again the regular camera app and all of its modes from single take to portrait video and director's view
11:18Even just as a simple point-and-shoot. This does a great job
11:25And in my experience it is a noticeable step up even compared to last year's s21 ultra
11:31One area I was a bit disappointed by though is low-light video
11:35It was surprisingly noisy and shaky not really what I expected
11:38The good news is this has got better. The March update has made quite a big difference
11:43Although as I say, I still think the iPhone is king when it comes to video
11:46And also there are some quite significant differences between the snapdragon and Exynos models
11:51Particularly in very low light and actually this is one of the areas
11:55I think the Exynos does be the snapdragon with more effective noise reduction
11:59But still updates have made a difference and video is now much better than it was when we reviewed this a few weeks ago
12:06Actually that March update did also fix one of my issues around Bluetooth connectivity
12:11I know my friend SuperSaf also experienced this and my Bluetooth headphones would often drop out not since the March update
12:17So that does seem to have been fixed and they also addressed some performance issues where it would only run at full speed in
12:23Benchmarking apps and not games and also importantly Samsung do promise four years of Android updates with this
12:30But what about battery life?
12:31Well, I can tell you from my experience mainly of using the Exynos version
12:35I've only switched to this about a week ago
12:37But I'm getting about seven hours of screen on time and by the end of a regular day
12:42I have about 35% left at 11 p.m
12:45So with a bit of rationing a day and a half is definitely achievable. And as I say in my comparison
12:50I didn't really see much difference between the two versions of the phone, which is good
12:54So it is still up there with the best of them, but not quite reaching the heights of the iPhone
12:58Although I do wish charging could be a bit faster even with the 45 watt charger
13:03Which actually doesn't make that much difference even over the 25 watt
13:06It'll top up to about 67% in half an hour, which is fine
13:10But it is falling behind a lot of the Android competition
13:13also
13:13bear in mind that like all phones your experience may vary plus you can expect your battery to improve with time as it learns your
13:20usage patterns
13:22Now as you can see, I do have quite a few phones here
13:25So I am planning to create a big flagship phone battery rundown test very soon
13:30So make sure you subscribe and stay tuned now
13:33I have mentioned the iPhone a few times because right now I do carry both of these with me
13:38I have SIM cards in both and I use them for different things
13:42Usually I do wear an Apple watch and also I mostly work off this a MacBook Pro 16
13:47so I really do appreciate the Apple ecosystem and also the video the
13:52Stabilization and the incredible battery life in this so those are all big pulls towards the iPhone
13:57But at the same time Samsung also has a pretty decent
14:01Ecosystem with their galaxy watches and excellent galaxy buds to their tablets like the new s8 plus but not only that
14:08I think this is a much more functional phone and not just because of the s-pen but being able to have you know apps
14:13side-by-side split-screen multitasking
14:16Which I cannot believe we still don't have on the big iPhone or any iPhone really and also if you do like to use your
14:21Phone as a bit of a hub then you've got decks which does work. Well, even if it is quite a niche feature
14:27So one isn't better than the other it all comes down to what you want and what other tech you use
14:32but certainly in terms of
14:34Versatility and if you are perhaps a more enthusiast phone user then the s22 ultra is probably a better choice
14:41So let's wrap up and while I do maintain that this is the best Android flagship phone you can buy
14:47It's not for everyone. It is big
14:49It is expensive and if you don't need the s-pen then you can get well better specs for less money
14:54If you look elsewhere and the whole snapdragon vs. Exynos thing is annoying
14:58But this is a galaxy note and there's nothing else out there that can do everything this can and so if you can afford it
15:05Then yeah, I highly recommend it. It is an incredible phone and I'm having a really good time with it
15:10But what do you make of the s22 ultra have you bought one or are you playing to let me know in the comments below?
15:16Thank you so much for watching guys, and I'll catch you next time right here on the tech chat