Samsung Galaxy A22 Full Review – Typical Samsung Mid-ranger with Good Camera

Samsung is doing well with improved design, quality camera setup, and upgraded performance in their recent mid-range devices, Samsung is doing well. The premium A series devices and M series are doing good both in the number of sales and customer satisfaction. But the recently launched Samsung Galaxy A22 can achieve the same feat. With Helio G80 and 90Hz 720p AMOLED display at Rs.28,000/- should you consider this device. I have been using Samsung Galaxy A22 for more than 10 days now and this will be its full review from my side.

Built & Design –  Typical Samsung Mid-range

Like most Samsung mid-range devices, even the Galaxy A22 is treated with a plastic build. This makes the device quite lightweight even after housing a 5000mAh battery. I found the device to be handy and not so bulky. There’s no protection specified at the front, but during my usage, I didn’t encounter any scratches or scuffs in the display. Though the glossy back is quite a fingerprint magnet and requires regular cleaning. 

Display – High refresh but dips on the resolution

The Samsung Galaxy A22 packs a 6.4-inch 90Hz AMOLED display but the resolution maxes out at 720P (HD+). With a resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels and 274 PPI, the display is not very sharp. I enjoyed the 90Hz panel, it was quite snappy, and also the display colors were just like any other Samsung AMOLED. I used the device in the 90Hz mode all the time and the SoC was able to handle that. So, if you are switching from any other HD+ display, it would definitely be an upgrade for you but if you are someone who has already been habituated to a Full HD display, then you won’t enjoy the experience.  

Camera – 48 MP Primary with OIS

Samsung Galaxy A22 packs a quad-camera setup with 48MP f/1.8, the primary lens with PDAF & OIS. Along with that, we get an 8MP f/2.2 Ultra-wide camera with a 123˚ field of view and the last two are the maker’s favorite 2MP each depth and macro sensor. While at the front we get a 13MP f/2.2 shooter with a 1/3.1″ pixel size. 

Talking about the experience, it’s a typical Samsung camera with punchy colors and contrast. You can look at these samples we see, detailed shots with bright colors. Samsung provides a lot of features and options with its camera apps. With the Samsung A22 turning on the scene recognition. improves the dynamic range by a good margin. In the portrait shots, we get a decent separation between the background and the subject. We can expect much with a 2MP macro sensor and I also didn’t shoot much in the macro mode. It can give good results under ample lighting conditions. The OIS in the main camera also helps with the low-light images as it makes taking long-exposure shorts quite easy and you get images with low noise and shakiness.    

Video recording is where Samsung Galaxy A22 provides an out-of-the-box experience.  Though the video recording comes out at 1080P 30fps because the sensor is optically stabilized we get smooth footage out of the camera. I was really surprised as I wasn’t expecting these good results.

Let’s wrap the camera department with the front camera. As we get a 13MP sensor on the front, it’s decent and acceptable for regular selfies and video conferences. The video recording from the front camera also maxes out at 1080P with 30fps. Though the front camera is decent in good lighting conditions, it struggles a bit in low light. Also, the daytime portrait images are appreciable.   

Performance –  Average  with the Helio G80

Samsung Galaxy A22 is powered by a 12nm Helio G80. At the time when G80 was launched, it was appreciated for its performance because it was used in Redmi devices which were priced under 20K, here in Nepal. For the performance, it was able to handle day-to-day tasks easily with few hiccups once in a while in the UI. Along with this, we get 6GB RAM and 128GB of eMMC 5.1 storage. Due to the use of eMMC storage, app opening takes some time. 

Talking about the benchmark scores, we got 370 in the single-core and 1230 in multi-core while testing it using Geekbench 5.4.1. The performance on the A22 is not bad by any means but if performance is your priority then you can get the device performing much better than the A22 at this price point. 

Battery – 5000mAh with 15W charging

I was really happy with the battery life of the Samsung Galaxy A22. You could easily get one full day of use with this one. As the display here is HD+ only and that along with the AMOLED panel, offered a good battery backup with consistently 7 hours screen on time. With not so heavy use, Samsung Galaxy A22 can easily offer one and a half-day of battery backup. For the charging we get 15W charging support and topping this battery from 0 to a hundred would take somewhere  2 hours and few minutes. Here Samsung should have provided at least 18W fast charging as the competition is providing a much faster 33W solution. 

Software Experience – One UI with Android 11

One UI falls under one of the most optimized custom UI in the field of Android. On the A22 we get One UI 3.1 with Android 11. Samsung provides one of the best user experiences in the industry with minimal to no ads. Also, we get a good amount of software updates even in the mid-range devices, so we expect something similar even with the A22. One Ui packs tons of features and customization and my experience was quite good except for some jitter and lang here and there. 

Samsung Galaxy A22 Specification

Conclusion

Concluding this review, what I would like to say is, Samsung Galaxy A22 is a decent device with a lightweight design and a good set of cameras. It lacks a bit on the performance side of things and also the HD+ display needs to be upgraded in the next iteration. If performance is your first priority, then A22 might not be a good choice for you.