Samsung Galaxy A22 Full Review – Unboxing, Battery Life, Speakers & Design
Introduction:
The Galaxy A22 LTE is the LTE brother of the Galaxy A22 5G, which we previously evaluated. We first heard about the pair in June, but it wasn’t until recently that we assessed the LTE version.
The Samsung Galaxy A22 LTE is a cheap phone with a quick 90Hz AMOLED display, a versatile quad-camera configuration, and a large 5,000mAh battery. This is a good base, even if it isn’t entirely on par with some of its higher-numbered brothers.
Samsung has been heavily investing in its Galaxy A family of devices, especially since the launch of the “Awesome is for Everyone” campaign in March and the debut of the Galaxy A52, A52 5G, and A72, as well as the launching of the Galaxy A32 a few months before. The Galaxy A22 is a little lower on the food chain, but it still gets many “trickle-down” benefits from the Galaxy A name.
The A22 LTE doesn’t benefit from sharing essential specs with the Galaxy A32 LTE, especially considering they’re both around the same price.
When comparing the three phones side by side, it’s clear that the Galaxy A22 and Galaxy A32 are virtually trading blows feature for spec. Each of the three variants costs around EUR 250, which raises whether the Galaxy A22 deserves its spot in Samsung’s line-up.
Of course, when deciding between the A22 and the A32, it could all come down to a particular regional bargain you happen to run upon. A few points on their specification list may sway your personal preference one way or the other.
Compared to the Galaxy A22 5G, the decision on which phone is superior is luckily a lot clearer and easier to make. Samsung essentially followed the standard procedure of incorporating 5G into a model without raising the price. This comes at the expense of reducing the remainder of the phone’s specifications until the entire package – now with 5G – fits within the same budget. By no means a bad strategy, but if 5G is at the top of your priority list, it makes for an exciting option. Like everything else in life, you receive some and lose some.
We’ll have a clearer picture once we discover more about the Galaxy A22 LTE’s capabilities.
Unboxing:
Samsung has been using this sparse “sleeve” packaging for its more cheap models for a long now, and while it appears to work, we can’t say we are lovers. The top cardboard layer is too thin and flimsy, and nothing protects the phone that rests beneath it if it is pressed. However, it is arguably a more environmentally friendly method of packaging. Nonetheless, we feel that a better middle ground can be found.
Our product came with only a short white USB Type-A to Type-C cable and a wall charger as accessories. The latter is one of Samsung’s entry-level Adaptive Fast Charging devices, with a maximum output of 9V@1.67A. (15W). The USB cord is also data-wired, which we assume is useful. Nothing spectacular, but adequate for a low-cost tablet.
There are no extras in the box, such as a screen protector, a case, or earbuds. Samsung has made a significant investment in this sector and has never looked back. We understand. Even if all three bonus goods are included in the box, the user will only receive roughly $10 worth of extras. Competitors such as Xiaomi and Realme frequently add supplementary products that enhance the initial experience. Whether you care about this, Samsung isn’t quite as competitive in this area.
Design:
Samsung is currently working on a few different overall designs. The camera island structure and placement vary relatively a little, yet they all maintain a reasonably uniform overarching design language. We can’t quite put our finger on it, but contemporary Samsungs all have a “Samsung” look, despite their variations.
The Samsung Galaxy A22 is no different. It’s probably fair to argue that it draws “lower-end” design patterns from some of its cheaper brothers, particularly the square camera island if we had to group it with some of its siblings. In-person, though, the “higher-end” influences from smartphones like the Galaxy A52 and A72 are visible, most notably in the softly sloping borders surrounding the camera island, which let it blend in rather than stand out. It resembles the models mentioned above for more than the Galaxy A22 5G, which has sharper angles. This design is superior to the Galaxy A32’s lack of a camera island. That much is certain.
Curves and shapes can go a long way, but, understandably, Samsung couldn’t squeeze the A52 and A72’s silky softer velvety surface within the A22’s pricing range. Instead, we get an unabashedly plastic rear that feels solid enough but attracts a lot of fingerprints.
The fantastic colours were one item that cut. Again, smooth plastic doesn’t look as attractive as Samsung’s more premium finish, explaining why they don’t have the “Awesome” tag in their titles. Nonetheless, both the Mint and Violet colours on our review unit stand out in person and are eye-catching. If you don’t want to draw notice to yourself, the Black and While are inconspicuous and blend in with any environment.
Despite its curving design, the Galaxy A22 is not slippery, and it feels excellent and stable in hand.
The Galaxy A22’s front doesn’t have anything special to offer. The display bezels, especially the chin, are not as narrow as current flagship standards, but they are acceptable for a budget tablet.
The relatively deep selfie notch, or Infinity-U to use some of Samsung’s previous branding, is the same. On the other hand, its rounded contour blends in seamlessly with the rest of the design.
Quality of materials and construction
Almost all of the Galaxy A22 is constructed of plastic. Its construction is based on a slightly retro three-piece sandwich design, with a well-defined plastic back panel bending into a plastic middle frame. On the opposite side of the frame, a display assembly is mounted virtually on top, with a protective glass finish. We are relieved to learn that it is not made of plastic, although we would have loved a brand label for the type of glass utilised. The official Galaxy A22 specifications are sparse.
Plastic isn’t inherently evil, and it’s not even close to being as awful as metal or glass. It has its advantages, primarily when used on the phone, because it does not deform as quickly as the above two. This may be more prone to chips and scratches, although these may not show up as severely on completely coloured plastic, which appears to be what the Galaxy A22 is composed of. It also makes for a lighter structure. The A22 weighs 186 grams and measures 159.3 x 73.6 x 8.4 mm, which isn’t awful for a phone this size with a 5,000 mAh battery. It’s worth noting that this makes the Galaxy A22 thinner and lighter than the A22 5G, with a much closer footprint to the A32.
While the A22 is robust and has virtually no chassis movement, we have one slight concern regarding the back panel: it seems hollow when you tap on it. Of course, there’s also the problem that it attracts fingerprints. But we’ve seen a lot worse.
Controls:
The Galaxy A22 includes a standard side-mounted fingerprint reader and a power button when it comes to fingerprints. It is extremely fast and precise, always-on, and highly convenient to use in terms of location. However, we can see how the lack of an under-display device would deter some consumers, especially given the Galaxy A32 has one at a similar price range.
Although it lacks tactile feedback, the volume rocker is also highly convenient to use in terms of location. For our tastes, it’s overly stiff and mushy. It’s strange because Samsung usually has a strong track record in this area. It isn’t unusable, and it isn’t a deal-breaker.
On the left side of the Galaxy A22, there are no buttons. It’s just a SIM card tray. It’s a long one, with two nanoSIM card slots and a separate microSD card slot, so there’s no need to pick and choose.
On the top of the phone, there is only one hole for the auxiliary microphone.
With a 3.5mm audio jack, the bottom is a lot busier. The A22 features an FM radio receiver, but you’ll need to use headphones as an antenna.
Although the USB Type-C connector features a standard USB 2.0 connection, it also supports USB Host mode (OTG). The single bottom-firing speaker is next to it. There isn’t a single stereo system here, not even a hybrid.
There is no notification LED on the Galaxy A22, which is no surprise. The A22 also lacks a proper light sensor and proximity sensor. The A22 detects light via its face camera, which works well enough for automatic brightness adjustment but is far from ideal. The Samsung Galaxy A22 contains an “Ear Hover Vicinity Sensor (Protos)” for proximity. It’s a software-based virtual sensor that uses a gyroscope, touchscreen, and selfie camera data. Also, it’s not very good at what it’s supposed to do: turn off the display during phone calls. We’ve seen them deleted on other affordable phones, particularly those from Samsung and Xiaomi, but we don’t like the dependability tradeoff.
Super AMOLED panel with 90Hz HD+ at 90Hz
When it comes to the display, the Galaxy A22 is unusual. According to the manufacturer, it sports a 6.4-inch, 90Hz Super AMOLED panel with HDR compatibility and up to 600 nits of brightness. It has a resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels, which is low.
On one side, it’s nice to see OLED, which is severely lacking on the Galaxy A22 5G, and it’s even better to see it without compromising the quicker 90Hz refresh rate. The 5G variant, on the other hand, has a larger 6.6-inch display with a resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels. As previously stated, the Galaxy A22’s resolution is a flaw. It features a pixel density of roughly 274 PPI at HD+ and 6.4 inches diagonal. At this size, an FHD+ panel gives nowhere near the 400 PPI that an FHD+ board does, and you can see the difference in sharpness if you compare the A22 to the A22 5G or, better yet,,, the Galaxy A32. When viewed in isolation, the Galaxy A22 still appears to be razor-sharp.
However, when it comes to the Galaxy A32, we can’t overlook that its 6.4-inch Super AMOLED panel has a resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels. Plus, it retains a 90Hz refresh rate and provides exceptional brightness of over 800 nits, as we discovered throughout our testing. Despite its fantastic screen performance, Samsung failed to include any HDR support on the A32.
The Galaxy A22 is no exception. There is no mention of HDR support. At the very least, it has the highest possible Widevine L1 DRM, allowing full-resolution streaming from Netflix and other services.
The lack of HDR is a disappointment, but the Galaxy A22’s panel delivers excellent overall performance. The official brightness rating is 600 nits, and we were able to get quite near that in our testing. Not quite flagship-level, especially for a Samsung, but adequate for outdoor use. However, it should be emphasised that such a figure is only possible after auto max brightness is enabled. Unfortunately, because the Galaxy A22 lacks a hardware light sensor and depends on its face camera to estimate ambient light, this can be inconsistent and laggy. When taking the phone out of a pocket in bright sunlight, we observed that this was occasionally a problem. Max auto mode took a long time to activate, but 600 nits were more than enough once it did. We only wish Samsung had included a light sensor.
Auto-brightness:
We obtained just shy of 400 nits of brightness by maxing out the slider with auto-brightness set-off.
The Galaxy A22’s display excels not only in terms of brightness. It also performs admirably in terms of colour fidelity. The A22 offers two colour options, Vivid and Natural, keeping with Samsung’s recent trend. The former works with the DCI-P3 colour space and has colour temperature and advanced per-channel correction sliders.
The vivid mode comes close to being colour-accurate but falls short, which is likely on purpose. It retains the three primary channels, especially the reds, nicely increased to give that OLED “pop” that the human eye finds appealing. On the other hand, the natural mode closely adheres to the sRGB colour space and is even suitable for colour-sensitive work.
Handling a high refresh rate:
The Galaxy A22’s 90Hz refresh rate is handled basic and uncomplicatedly. Motion smoothness is divided into two modes in the display settings: Standard and High. Everything is locked at 60Hz in Standard, and everything is locked to 90Hz in High.
There are benefits and drawbacks to this, with the latter primarily relating to the possibility for battery drain in specific situations, such as watching the video.
On the other hand, everything else stays uncomplicated and straightforward if you are aware of how the logic is built up and remember to flip down to 60Hz for things like movie watching sessions.
The Blurbusters UFO test confirmed that both Chrome and the Samsung browser, which we tried, took full advantage of the display’s 90Hz refresh rate.
Samsung never promised that the refresh rate would transition automatically. Furthermore, implementing such logic incorrect has been known to cause troubles with using high refresh rate settings on other devices, particularly for gaming. We were able to get a substantially smoother (more excellent than 60fps) experience from pretty much every high-refresh-rate-supported game we played using this simple binary approach.
The only time the A22 automatically converted to 60Hz was when we used the camera app. This is expected, given that the camera viewfinder is one of the few Android UI components that need 60Hz to work correctly.
Battery Life:
As we previously stated, the Galaxy A32 and A22 have a lot in common, one of which is the chipset. In terms of battery life, the Galaxy A22 is somewhat predictable. It comes with the same 5,000 mAh battery as the Galaxy A22 5G and A32, among other devices. We also have a good idea of the MediaTek Helio G80 chipset’s expected performance and efficiency – a 12nm part.
The Galaxy A22 matches up well with its siblings in terms of actual endurance figures, clocking in at 121 hours. That’s a little more than the Galaxy A22 5G’s 118-hour runtime. On the other hand, that one features a Density 700 5G chipset. The Galaxy A22 also outperforms the Galaxy A32. Because the two phones have the same battery capacity and chipset, the Galaxy A22’s lower display resolution is at least essentially to blame for its higher overall battery numbers.
Since we’ve previously established that the Galaxy A22’s battery life is comparable to that of other Samsung phones, let’s see how it compares to some of its primary competitors in the same price range.
Charging Speed:
The Galaxy A22 uses the old Samsung standby of 15W Adaptive Fast Charging for charging (based on Quick Charge 2.0). In the box, you’ll find a charger that matches. Overall, not much to write home about. In reality, compared to its competition, the Galaxy A22 has one of the slowest charging rates. The A22 charges from flat to full in 2:20 hours, with the battery meter indicating 23 per cent after half an hour. At least you get faster charging than lower Galaxies like the A02s and A12, if it counts for anything, with 15W AFC on a 5,000 mAh battery and within the margin of error from similar devices like the A22 5G, A32, and A32 5G.
Speakers:
The Galaxy A22, like most other non-flagship Samsungs, has a single loudspeaker on the bottom of the phone. And, like most other non-flagship Samsungs, it’s not very loud – the A22, like the A32, received a ‘Below average’ grade for loudness in our seven-track test.
Even the Galaxy A32 managed a little louder 30.3 LUFS of output, while both the Galaxy A32 5G and A22 5G did noticeably better at 28.5 LUFS, making it the runt of the family. Overall, none of them is noteworthy. At the very least, it’s good enough to get an ‘Average’ rating.
All of these gadgets have a similar frequency response. That is to say, it isn’t imposing. The loudspeaker of the Galaxy A22 lacks any built-in equalisers or optimisers. Although it is just for headphones, Dolby Atmos is available in the audio options.
It’s worth mentioning that specific competitors, such as the Redmi Note 10 Pro and the Poco X3, have stereo speakers.
On top of Android 11, there’s One UI 3.1 Core, which keeps the majority of the functionality.
The software and ecosystem are the most critical aspects of a Samsung phone for many customers. It’s no secret that the software on Samsung devices is a big part of their attractiveness. Of course, it doesn’t appeal to everyone, but there’s a reason One UI is one of the most popular custom Android implementations out there and has been for a long time.
With the new Galaxy A family of smartphones, the Korean behemoth is dramatically upping its software game, keeping with its new “Awesome is for everyone” slogan. The Galaxy A22 is one among them.
However, feature parity only goes so far, and the descent from the A72 to the A22 has ultimately resulted in additional feature reduction. But it’s nothing serious, and the features that remain are incredible for a low-cost tablet.
On top of Android 11, the Galaxy A22 comes with something dubbed One UI 3.1 Core. There aren’t many differences between this version and previous versions of One UI, such as 3.0 and 2.5. The “Core” designation denotes a slightly reduced version, explaining several feature absences. We’ll try to mention a few minor details here and there.
Android OS Updates:
First, a quick reminder about software support: when the A72, A52, and A32 were released, Samsung made a significant promise to provide three major Android OS updates and four years of security updates. That appears to be the case for its high-end and mid-range models in the future.
Unfortunately, the Galaxy A32 and A32 5G are the list’s cutoff points, and the Galaxy A22 is set to receive two significant OS updates shortly. For some potential purchasers, this may be a reason to choose the A32, especially if they want to retain it for an extended period.
Let’s start at the top, with the lock screen. The dialer and camera shortcuts are now monochromatic by default. They used to match the colours of the various apps. Surprisingly, if you select other programs, they will retain their colours – this isn’t a first-party vs third-party distinction.
Thanks to a new well-being widget on the lock screen, you can now keep track of how much time you’ve spent on your phone without ever unlocking it.
The Galaxy A22 has an always-on display option that makes good use of the AMOLED display.
For most users, the side-mounted fingerprint reader will be the primary means of unlocking; however, it can be used instead of or in addition to it. It may be handier in some instances, but it is often less secure because it is based on the selfie camera.
On later One UI versions, the notification shade is a little different, as it now fills the full-screen bottom, even if there is just one notification card or none at all. Previously, a piece of the screen beneath the most recent notice was still viewable, although it had darkened.
While we’re here, the quick toggles can now be updated right from the + button at the end of the list instead of going into the menu.
Notification history is a valuable feature in Android 11. It’s not immediately accessible because it’s found in the Settings menu, but it’s there if you dismissed a notification too soon and can’t remember what it was about. Make sure it’s turned on because it’s turned off by default.
The typical fast panel and taskbar layout tweaks and toggles are present. Bubbles is a new way of handling notifications for instant chat apps in Android 11, and One UI 3 follows suit. This is in addition to Samsung’s Smart pop-up view, a comparable feature that was previously accessible. These options are found under the ‘Floating notifications’ section, where you can disable both of them and return to the old-school cards-only layout.
New Features:
The bubble is a new feature that expands the Conversations function. In the initial incoming message notice, you tap on an icon. It becomes a discussion, which you may then shrink to a bubble, or what was once known as a ‘chat head,’ which was Facebook Messenger’s default approach of handling talks.
One of One UI’s lesser-known proprietary features is the intelligent pop-up view. It’s similar to Bubbles, but it’s a bit different. It used to be that you could add the chat head feature to any application you wanted before Bubbles. The program opens in a floating window that you may maximise to fullscreen or minimise to an icon by tapping the hovering ‘head’ symbol.
The active music playback apps are stacked below the quick toggles and sliding to the side changes between them. Android 11’s enhanced multimedia controls have made their way onto One UI.
Before Android 11, One UI 2.5 included a Media panel that offered similar functionality for selecting an output device and using Samsung’s Music share feature. The volume control panel has also been updated, with the four sliders now being vertical rather than horizontal as in the previous One UIs.
Samsung’s Music Share:
Samsung’s Music Share is an example of a relatively advanced software function introduced as a flagship feature but is now delivering a lot of value to the mid-range. “The process allows you to play music through Bluetooth equipment connected to a friend’s Samsung phone, which the PR team has caught upon. It’s a perfect match for the new look.
Even though it was running the same One UI 3.1 Core as the Galaxy A22 5G when we evaluated it, Music Share was missing; perhaps it was backported with a future update and is now available on the vanilla A22.
The ability to pin apps to the top of the sheet with Share options is another native Android 11 improvement that Samsung includes in One UI 3. It’s one of those things that makes you wonder why it took us until v11 to get there. Things are much better now, but we’d like to be able to remove some of the options, too because that list could use some decluttering.
In this year’s release, another change made by Google is the handling of permissions, which Samsung has implemented in One UI 3. You will now see a new prompt for licenses every time an app requests it, allowing you to deny permission, allow it only while using the app, or only for this one time. If an app requires constant access to consent, you will also see a fourth option that takes you to a setting page where you can provide it.
Subcategories have been made more legible by utilising a dot separator and intervals. At the same time, recent searches are now shown as bubbles rather than a list. A new ability to search settings by hashtags – for thematically related topics found in different places in the menu – has been added.
There are two different layouts for the in-call screen to pick from, and you can also set a background image or video for that screen; however, it will be the same for all of your calls – you can’t have a separate one for each person.
There are also a few tweaks and layouts available for gestures and old-school button controls, including the really-old original style, with the back button on the right side, throughout One UI 3.1. Samsung’s excellent theme support and rich online selection are also present, as are the system navigation options, with a few tweaks and layouts available for gestures and old-school button controls, including the really-old original style, with the back button on the right side.
As previously stated, most of the features seen on the Galaxy A52 and A72 have been carried over to the Galaxy A22, including the Edge panels interface and Game launcher – the hub for all your games, which also includes choices for limiting distraction when gaming.
However, there are some omissions, such as no mention of Bixby in the UI. SmartThings is also missing out of the box, though there is a system-level integration within the Devices tab in the notification shade; all you need to do is download the SmartThings app to get it working.
Samsung Dex isn’t present, but it is absent from the entire Galaxy A lineup, which we understand – some things need to be flagship exclusives. You can get a lot of its functionality via the Link to Windows feature, which was developed in collaboration with Microsoft. You also don’t get Samsung’s Smart View display or content casting.
