Samsung is merely weeks away from the official debut of its Galaxy S22 series flagships, but in a traditional Samsung fashion, a ton of leaks covering the unreleased trio have already popped up online. The latest, which comes courtesy of leakster Yogesh Brar, unravels the Galaxy S22 trio in all its glossy glory for the first time. Brar told Digital Trends that the devices are most likely dummy units for case makers, which means they are supposedly an accurate depiction of the real thing.
The alleged live image of the Galaxy S22, its Plus variant, and the Galaxy S22 Ultra — also possibly known as the Galaxy Note 22 — shows the trio in both black and white trims. And thankfully, there’s no trace of a gaudy gradient finish to be seen here. The two phones will reportedly arrive in olive green and red color options. The glass back in a solid pearly white and deep black shades give the Galaxy S22 and S22+ a minimalist appeal, but that’s about it. The core design is virtually identical to their respective predecessors in the Galaxy S21 family, save for the two-tone camera island finish.
Here's something for Samsung fans.
Galaxy S22 is 🔥 pic.twitter.com/iRkddK3pML
— Yogesh Brar (@heyitsyogesh) December 13, 2021
As for the Galaxy S22 Ultra, it sports what appears to be a matte texture. The camera lens array has a very divisive layout, hovering between satisfyingly clean and extremely weird. However, the rest of the design language appears to have been lifted straight from the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra or the Galaxy Note 10 series. The sides slope alongside the vertical edges, forming a smooth curve and meeting the metallic frame, while the top and bottom edges are flat. The design screams Galaxy Note. And rightfully so, since the Galaxy S22 Ultra is supposed to replace the Galaxy Note in 2022. And to really send home the message, the phone will come armed with a S Pen slot, the biggest complaint about the S21 Ultra, as it could be equipped with a S Pen but had nowhere to keep it.
Come on, Samsung, you can do better!
The design is far from bad, but it is definitely lazy. Samsung appears to be firmly following in Apple’s footsteps of using the same fundamental design for at least two generations. Buyers forking out north of $800 will definitely feel a bit disappointed here, as almost every Android phone maker offers a fresh design language with each new flagship generation. And on top of it, the likes of the Google Pixel 6 and the iPhone 13 have already narrowed the breathing space for Samsung in the $700-800 price bracket, both in terms of sheer value and aesthetics.
While the stale design might be somewhat of a bummer for potential buyers, the internal hardware is anything but. Qualcomm’s latest-and-greatest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 will be at the heart of the Galaxy S22 series, and we might even get the next-gen Exynos chip with the highly-anticipated AMD graphics upgrade. The camera hardware is reportedly due for an upgrade as well, with a 50-megapixel sensor leading the charge. And if the leaks are anything to go by, we might finally get support for 45-watt fast charging as well.