Samsung Galaxy S22 review – iPhone user struggles with Android

I have spent a few weeks with the Samsung Galaxy S22. But here’s the thing… I’m an iPhone user—a typical, run-of-the-mill iPhone user. But I got curious: people in the office swear by Androids and like to boast that they can do all sorts of things with their devices. So, what am I missing by using an iPhone?

It’s super pretty!

The Samsung Galaxy S22 is a pretty good looking phone. The screen covers basically the entire front of the phone and wastes no space, and the glass back has a matte finish. But its edges are… surprisingly slippery. I wouldn’t use the phone without a phone case and a screen protector, very much like how I would use the iPhone. 

Way too much

Android phones—like the Samsung Galaxy S22—pride themselves on customisability, something that’s a lot harder for iPhones. You’re able to change themes super easily, which I genuinely enjoyed. And this is what I think the iPhone needs.

However, there are just too many options. Every option I was given drained me. I don’t care about where I put my icons. I don’t care about widgets. Yes, the iPhone can be too simple. Androids, on the other hand, can be a bit too complicated.

Packs a punch

The Samsung Galaxy S22 uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 instead of the Exynos chip on previous Galaxy phones. This… doesn’t mean anything to me. But I can tell you that it’s fast.

I loved playing music videos and playing music with the S22—probably even more than with the iPhone. It can be extremely loud when you want it to, and the visuals are just stunning.

However, I don’t recommend playing high frame rate games like Genshin Impact with it. The phone gets hot extremely easily. But still? I don’t mind it.

Its on-screen time is about three and a half to four hours—about the same as my iPhone, and I think it’s okay. But Rory tells me it’s on the low side because apparently, I should be expecting five to six hours for good battery life.

A nightmare for social media

To put this plainly, going from the iPhone 13 to a Galaxy S22 for social media usage actually sucks. And these phones are supposed to be in the same category, right?

So why is posting a nice Instagram story so goddamn hard?

Posting an Instagram story on my iPhone is something I do very regularly. And I have never stopped to think about how good iPhone users have it. Videos are smooth, and going through the app is seamless.

When I used the Samsung, however, the app was laggy, sometimes things didn’t load well, and no matter how much I tried, the videos I posted looked choppy.

I asked people for their opinions as well, just so that I could make sure I wasn’t imagining things. Surprisingly, more Android users told me they saw nothing wrong but iPhone users saw the difference.

In the end, I found that I never really posted as much as I used to. That might be a good thing in the long run. But if you’re an online content creator, using a Samsung after being so used to an iPhone can be a hindrance to your routine.

It’s extremely disappointing because the phone’s camera can probably beat the iPhone’s.

A pretty great camera… phone

Have you seen the S22’s low light photos and its insane zoom feature? Samsung knocked it out of the park—and I think it’s because of the S22’s 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide camera, and the 10MP telephoto camera with 30 times digital zoom.

Daytime photos look really good, capturing the little details and automatically focusing on something when it recognises a subject. Nighttime photos are also easy to do. It takes a while to capture and isn’t as snappy as I would like, but the photos come out pretty good.

It’s also impressive that a camera can let me zoom really far. There’s even a smaller window on the camera app to show you what exactly you’re pointing at.

But I’m not as impressed with the selfie camera. iPhone cameras often show how you look as you are but Androids seem to want to give you a little bit of a filter. The S22 gives you that filter—and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to switch it off.

Selfies aside, it’s just such a shame that with even a great built-in camera… I am not able to show much of it off through social media. So, honestly, what’s the point?

Can the S22 convert an iPhone user?

The thing about Androids is that there are so many different phones at different price points and Samsung has to compete with all of them. Through that competition, they’ve included many new features that we don’t see on the iPhone. Apple, on the other hand, can come off as lazy.

Looking at the Galaxy S22’s features, I wished that Apple added a few of them to their smartphones. Some of Samsung’s camera features are also a cut above what I’ve experienced with the iPhone 13— particularly its night camera and zoom.

If you don’t care about social media, and want a fast phone with a good camera and a nice screen, then the S22 is for you. The phone’s starting price is RM3,499. Because of its social media-based drawbacks, I’m willing to top up the extra RM400 for an iPhone 13.

Get the Samsung Galaxy S22: Lazada / Shopee