Samsung Galaxy S22 launch date just tipped by leaker

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Evidence mounts of an early February unveiling for the Galaxy S22

a Galaxy s22 concept graphic based on new rumors about the phone's design
(Image credit: Super Roader/YouTube)

Edit - December 22: A new rumor claims the reveal date of the S22 has been delayed slightly. Click the link above to learn more.

It's beginning to look a lot like we'll be seeing the Samsung Galaxy S22 lineup in early February, as yet another leaker has listed a date for Samsung's upcoming smartphone launch.

The latest person to weigh in on Samsung's Galaxy S22 launch plans is Ice Universe, a leaker with a pretty good track record on smartphone info, particularly as it pertains to Samsung. In a tweet, the leaker suggests a February 8 debut date could be possible for the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Presumably, the rest of the S22 lineup would appear at that time as well.

The Ice Universe tweet doesn't read like a full-throated prediction of a February 8 launch event for the S22 family. Rather, in context, it appears to be suggesting that the Galaxy S22 will be showing up fairly late compared to other phones powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, which was announced just last week.

Nevertheless, that February 8 date didn't appear out of thin air. It echoes the forecast of another leaker, Jon Prosser, who has predicted that the S22 would make its debut at that time.

Certainly, the consensus among Samsung watchers is that the new flagship phone will appear at some point in February, amid rumors that Samsung is using January to roll out the Galaxy S21 FE. Another rumor claims that the Galaxy S22 launch could be tied to next year's Mobile World Congress, which gets underway in late February, but that would push back the S22 launch even further behind other Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 devices, which are already making their debut this month.

Samsung's prior track record is no help when it comes to pinpointing a date for the Galaxy S22's arrival. In recent years, the launch of the Galaxy S flagship has zigged and zagged across the calendar, depending on Samsung's whim for introducing its first big handset of the year. 

The Galaxy S21, for example, appeared at a Jan. 14 event this year, as Samsung looked to give smartphone sales a jump by launching the phone earlier than usual. Previously, the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S10 were introduced at events on Feb. 11 and Feb. 20 in their respective launch years.

Samsung Galaxy S22: Rumored launch date vs previous

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Row 0 - Cell 0 Event dateLaunch date
Galaxy S22Feb. 8, 2022 (rumored)Feb. 25, 2022 (rumored)
Galaxy S21Jan. 14, 2021Jan. 29, 2021
Galaxy S20Feb. 11, 2020March 6, 2020
Galaxy S10Feb. 20, 2019March 8, 20219

We can look at Samsung's past behavior to get an idea of when the Galaxy S22 will actually ship. In past years, the Galaxy S phone has wound up on store shelves between two and three weeks after its launch event. That would put the Galaxy S22 on track to ship in the last week of February, assuming that the Feb. 8 launch date proves to be true.

The Galaxy S22 is expected to feature three phones — a standard S22, along with an S22 Plus (or Pro) and S22 Ultra. While the S22 and S22 Plus are expected to look a lot like their S21 equivalents, the S22 Ultra could end up looking a lot like the Galaxy Note phablet. The S22 Ultra could also include an S Pen after Samsung added stylus support to the S21 Ultra this year.

Samsung could upgrade the main and telephoto lenses on the S22 and S22 Plus, while the S22 Ultra will rely on improved sensors and better computational photography, according to rumors.

Hopefully, the Samsung Galaxy S22 will include these five upgrades we're really after; time will tell sooner than later. 

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Philip Michaels
Philip Michaels

Philip Michaels is a Managing Editor at Tom's Guide. He's been covering personal technology since 1999 and was in the building when Steve Jobs showed off the iPhone for the first time. He's been evaluating smartphones since that first iPhone debuted in 2007, and he's been following phone carriers and smartphone plans since 2015. He has strong opinions about Apple, the Oakland Athletics, old movies and proper butchery techniques. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.