Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra — here’s why it could be the best Galaxy Note ever

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra — here's why it could be the best Galaxy Annotation ever

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra concept with S Pen red color

(Image credit: Futurity)

I've written earlier that the death of the Samsung Galaxy Notation line has left me a little distressing as I loved the kitchen sink tech feel of the almost-likewise-big phones. They were the ultimate expression of Samsung's smartphone efforts and I loved them for it.

But with the Samsung Galaxy Note S21 killed off, and the Galaxy Z Fold 3 seemingly taking its place as the do-everything telephone, it'southward the end of the road for the Note line. Well kinda.

From an increasing corporeality of rumors and alleged leaks, information technology's looking very much like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra will be a adjacent-gen Note in all but name.

Images of what'due south claimed to exist a case for the Ultra model shows off a pattern that sports the sharper edges and gentler curved brandish of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra rather than the more than rounded look of the Milky way S21 Ultra. And there are rumors of a built in Southward Pen holder, something the Galaxy S21 Ultra lacked.

Samsung Galaxy S22 screen protector sizes — (Paradigm credit: Ice Universe / Twitter)

That's all very proficient news for a Milky way Note fan, and information technology as well makes sense.

The past ii generations of Ultra phones in the Galaxy S series have been encroaching upon the Note line'due south territory, only lacking that sharper design and Southward Pen holder but rocking very similar specs. And as the Notation line got diluted with a standard model and Plus/Ultra handsets, it started to feel like it was lacking the whole 'this is the one Samsung phone to rule them all' that Notes used to be, at least in my eyes.

Just with all the signs pointing towards the Galaxy S22 Ultra beingness the spiritual successor to the Note, I feel Samsung could exist getting back on rails to nowadays a single phone that aims to crush all Android rivals and tempt people away from the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Information technology could likewise exist the best Notation that e'er/never was.

An unofficial render of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, showing the phone's front, back and S Pen in white on a white background — (Image credit: Technizo Concept/LetsGoDigital)

We're expecting the Galaxy S22 line up to come with additional cameras, a new chipset — likely the Snapdragon viii Gen ane in the U.S. — with the Ultra model getting the all-time upgrades, such as an improved 108MP master camera. All practiced then far.

Still what's defenseless my eye is the feeling that the Milky way S22 Ultra will not simply ape the Note'southward design, but alloy it in with the hardware styling and experience we've seen with Milky way Due south-line phones.

For example, rather than having a whacking corking big rectangular or pill-shaped camera module, the Galaxy S22 Ultra is tapped to get a 'P-shaped' rear camera assortment, which could come across a suite of five sensors sitting almost flush with the telephone's back and removing a photographic camera 'bump.' To me that has the whiff of an evolution on the Contour Cut pattern nosotros saw in the Galaxy S21 phones, which non only looked good simply was a lot more ergonomic than a standard rear camera module.

I also feel that having a Note-like Galaxy S22 Ultra launching early on in the year, also gives Samsung the telescopic to iterate on the software side, improving camera performance and features over a longer period, as well equally giving people the best phone it tin make some half dozen month earlier. That's a compelling prospect for me, and could exist the reason I might end up swapping from my already beloved Google Pixel 6 Pro.

Speaking of improvements, I reckon that by not having a Note-style phone for more than 18 months, Samsung tin fully dedicate its resources and attention on making the Galaxy S22 Ultra i of the best large phones possible.

I expect that blending the Notation and Galaxy South-line Dna volition upshot in an overall more refined telephone design. And on the software side, lessons learned from split screen multitasking on the Galaxy Z Fold 3 could be brought over to the Ultra's predicted vi.81-inch display.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra renders — (Image credit: LetsGoDigital / Giuseppe Spinelli)

Obviously, ane expects phones to better from generation to generation, but I'm getting the singled-out impression that the Galaxy S22 Ultra could actually be the Notation telephone I've been waiting for. Later all the previous Notes were very good but far from perfect; the camera system didn't quite win me over.

I surface area that has got me specially excited almost the Galaxy S22 Ultra is its potential to have an new Exynos chip with AMD RDNA two based graphics; the same graphics compages found in the PS5 and Xbox Serial X. Now I stress potential hither, as it's at present looking more likely that the Galaxy S22 line will use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 rather than a chip created in partnership with AMD.

But if the rumored Exynos 2200 does sport AMD graphics and makes its way into the Galaxy S22 Ultra, then we could exist looking at a phone that delivers proper console-quality gaming rather than a facsimile of it. I've already written how the Galaxy S22 Ultra could be a course of Xbox gaming phone, given the AMD partnership and Samsung's close relationship with Microsoft. And this idea further fuels the thought that the Milky way S22 Ultra will be the ultra Note phone.

Of grade, all we have at the moment are rumors and hearsay, albeit some rather compelling ones. But with the Milky way S22 range set to launch early 2022, likely effectually Mobile World Congress time, I've not got long to expect before I run across if these rumors come to fruition or wither on the vine.

Roland Moore-Colyer is U.Chiliad. Editor at Tom'south Guide with a focus on news, features and opinion articles. He often writes about gaming, phones, laptops and other bits of hardware; he's also got an interest in cars. When not at his desk Roland can be found wandering effectually London, oftentimes with a look of curiosity on his face.