Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
Can Samsung’s affordable 5G device impress photographers? Let’s ϐind out
Samsung’s A-series includes smartphones in the enthusiast level, approaching the mid-range segment. Well, at least that’s what we think, though Samsung tends to confuse everyone with some overlapping surprises here and there. The Galaxy A22 5G is joining a line of affordable 5G capable phones in the market.
Design & Build Quality
The phone is available in Grey, , Violet and a refreshing Green, which we overheard being called Mint unofϐicially. The polycarbonate back has a matte ϐinish and looks beautiful for a device in this price range. The back panel is not tightly packed, which is evident from the way the panel ϐlexes. The display is protected by a Panda Glass sheet. The device features a side-mounted ϐingerprint sensor on the power button along with the volume rocker on the right hand side. The hybrid card slot is on the left and it accepts two SIM in addition to a MicroSD memory card. A 3.5 mm audio jack is included at the bottom along with the USB Type-C port, microphone and speaker grille. Key Features
The Samsung Galaxy A22 5G supports 11 5G bands and hence promises network connectivity no matter which bands are going to be available in India. Among the other promises that Samsung offers are regular OS upgrades for two years. The device features a 6.6inch F DΪ Inϐinity-V TFT display with a teardrop camera design. The display features thick bezels, which look like a wastage of precious real estate.
The A22 5G is powered by a 7nm octa-core Mediatek Dimensity 700 5G processor, which seems to be the go-to SoC for budget 5G devices. The phone offers either 6GB or 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. The Galaxy A22 5G uses a triple camera system with a 48MP main camera, a 5MP Ultra-wide camera and a 2MP bokeh camera. The main camera offers up to 2K video capture.
The phone uses a 5000 mAh battery, which lasts for more than a day on full charge with some heavy usage. Samsung bundles a 15W charger with the device.
Ergonomics
The Samsung A22 5G is a large phone and people with small hands may ϐind it difϐicult to operate with one hand. The display is crisp, vivid and responsive even though it exhibits the narrow dynamic range typical of TFT displays. With 90Hz refresh rate, the screen offers smooth scrolling and better gaming capability than most devices in this range. The phone uses One UI Core 3.1 over Android 11, which provides a clean interface. The extra apps that come with the phone can be easily uninstalled. Both face and ϐingerprint unlock worked ϐlawlessly during our review.
Performance
Though the device is generally powerful, it is not made for high-intensity gaming.
We experienced lag in high-graphics games even at medium graphics setting. Sound quality was satisfactory both from the built-in speakers as well as headphones. If you feel that the output from the built-in speaker is not loud enough while gaming, make sure that your ϐingers are not blocking the speaker grille.
The cameras performed well in bright outdoors. However, the night mode disappointed. Though the shadow and highlight areas had good details, the colours appeared completely washed out. Generally, the images looked good on the screen, and this is what matters in the case of budget phones. However, it is not ϐit to be used in any serious work since the images don’t maintain the quality when viewed on a calibrated screen. Autofocus is painfully slow especially in close-up where it matters the most and the camera has limited close-up capability. The Portrait mode produced smooth bokeh.
Value for Money
The Samsung Galaxy A22 5G has slapped a price tag of Rs. 19,999 on the 6GB/128GB variant while the 8GB/128GB variant retails at Rs. 21,999. This is good value for money, considering the wide 5G bands and powerful specs it offers.