Update: The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra's cameras are arguably going to be its most exciting feature.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 will aim to hold onto Samsung's spot near the top of our our best Android phones list, with the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra in particular sounding like the phone to get based on current rumors. Another new leak about the S22 Ultra gives us a new reason to anticipate that particular model.
According to Samsung leaker Zaryab Khan, the Galaxy S22 Ultra will be getting a major S Pen upgrade, one that could beat the Apple Pencil on the 2021 iPad Pro. As spotted by XDA-Developers, Khan posted a new video that gives some potential insight on what Samsung has in store when the S22 lineup launches in the early part of this year.
Khan claims that the S22 Ultra's S Pen will have unprecedentedly low latency at a mere 2.8ms. For context, the excellent Apple Pencil has a reported latency of 9ms. Compared to the 9ms latency also found on the Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra, that's a major generational improvement for the S22 Ultra.
Beyond latency, Khan also reports that 12-bit HDR photography would be coming to the Galaxy S22 Ultra. This will allow for vibrant colors when images are displayed on a proper HDR 12 display.
To push the colors that HDR 12 requires, it often needs a well-lit display. Considering the S22 Ultra is also tipped to have an absurdly bright screen at 1,750 nits, it makes sense that Samsung could pair these two features together. Khan also predicts that the S22 Plus will get a super bright display as well, which was reported by SamMobile in December.
According to Khan, these AMOLED screens will supposedly offer 100% of the CDI-P3 color gamut.
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Given that the Galaxy S22 Ultra will likely stick with the 108MP camera found on last year's Galaxy S21 Ultra, combining it with HDR 12 photography could mean massive imaging improvements. The iPhone 13 Pro, by comparison, which features 10-bit photo capture, could give Samsung a major edge in the smartphone camera war. Heck, Samsung may finally overtake Apple on our best camera phones list.
Either way, these are a lot of rumors to unpack. But if these rumors do turn out to be accurate, then we're looking at a solid piece of kit from Samsung. At the moment, the Galaxy S22 line is rumored to be revealed sometime in February.
Imad is currently Senior Google and Internet Culture reporter for CNET, but until recently was News Editor at Tom's Guide. Hailing from Texas, Imad started his journalism career in 2013 and has amassed bylines with the New York Times, the Washington Post, ESPN, Wired and Men's Health Magazine, among others. Outside of work, you can find him sitting blankly in front of a Word document trying desperately to write the first pages of a new book.