Fans of the Samsung Galaxy Note series were left disappointed this year as the Korean smartphone maker has skipped the Note series for 2021. To make up for it, Samsung has added S Pen support to more devices such as the Galaxy S21 Ultra and the Z Fold 3. However, the biggest problem is that the S Pen is offered as an add-on and you don’t have an elegant way to keep it when it is not in use. That may soon change with the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and this could be the real Galaxy Note 20 Ultra successor that fans are waiting for.
Leakster Steven Hemmerstoffer aka @Onleaks has shared high-quality 360-degree renders of the Galaxy S22 Ultra which reveals something extra. Besides a new supposed camera bump, the Galaxy S22 Ultra render has included what appears to be a stylus silo on the bottom of the phone. This is used to stow the S Pen just like any other Galaxy Note series. Besides that, you also get a USB-C port and no headphone jack.
In terms of design, the overall design looks similar to the Galaxy S20 or Note 20 series with a flat slab exterior with rounded edges. The front remains unchanged and the screen still has curved edges which are to be expected for the Ultra model. Also shown here is a punch-hole camera and it looks like Samsung isn’t adopting an under-display camera for its selfie shooter.
According to @onleaks, the S22 Ultra features a 6.8″ AMOLED display with a high refresh rate. As a comparison, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra had a 6.9″ Quad HD+ 120Hz display while the current S21 Ultra gets a 6.8″ QuadHD+ 120Hz screen. Looking at the camera bump, it looks like Samsung will continue to include a periscope telephoto camera for greater zoom range.
The odd design choice is the camera bump. Instead of having a more integrated camera bump design like the Galaxy S21 series, the new S22 Ultra design looks like an updated Galaxy Note 10+ with an extended bump to accommodate a 4th camera lens and extra sensors.
Another prolific leakster @UniverseIce has commented that there could be an alternative design where the camera array is split into two separate bumps. @Onleaks has also released another render with this possibility as shown above.
Following @UniverseIce comments on my #GalaxyS22Ultra, I asked my sources to investigate.
— Steve H.McFly (@OnLeaks) September 26, 2021
Seems a prototype w/ uniform body frame indeed exist but I got no confirmation on the camera housing design.
Nonetheless, here two updated renders depicting these prospective differences. pic.twitter.com/14bNzFxqDP
Take note that these renders and leaks are still speculative but @onleaks has often been able to provide clear renders that are close to the final product. If Samsung is making the Galaxy S22 Ultra the new proper “Note device”, it looks like there won’t be a new dedicated Note series in the near future. Based on what we’ve seen in 2021, we can expect one set of mainstream S-series flagships in the first half of 2022, followed by new foldable Z-series flagship models in the second half of the year.