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On the surface, Samsung’s latest S22+ simply looks like another incremental upgrade with a familiar face, but is there more to this middle-child of a Galaxy S phone than the expected annual hardware updates and design revisions?
While the ‘S’ branding within Samsung’s Galaxy naming convention has always been tied to the company’s flagship Android phones, the ‘+’ suffix is a relatively recent addition to the lineage whose function continues to change over time.
The most obvious difference between the S22 and the S22+ – as is true of previous generations – is the larger size that the Plus model sports; not to mention the extra benefits that its additional volume brings. Moving from the standard to the Plus not only means a bigger screen but a larger battery too.
With the extension of an Ultra-branded entry within each year’s Galaxy S line, the Plus model also serves as something of a melting pot; melding the more modest hardware of the base S phone with touches of the more premium and advanced features that would otherwise be exclusive to the Ultra.
As such, while the Galaxy S22+ may not look like the most exciting entry in this year’s flagship Samsung line-up, it’s arguably the phone with the broadest appeal, in terms of size, features and performance.
DESIGN
While 2020’s Galaxy S20 line-up was a little bland to look at, last year’s S21 series brought more defined and distinctive hardware to the table (helped by the use of an eye-catching ‘Phantom Violet’ finish as the range’s signature colourway). The S22 and S22+ firmly adapt the familiar footprint left by 2021’s Galaxy S phones, including their recognizable ‘contour cut’ camera bump.
Apple’s return to slab-sided industrial design (initially with 2020’s iPhone 12 series) seems to have rubbed off on its competition too; resulting in devices like Vivo’s V23 and Oppo’s latest Reno 7 series. The Galaxy S22+ (and S22) lands somewhere between the forms of the more rounded S21 line
