SAMSUNG Galaxy S22 Ultra Dual Sim 8GB RAM 128GB Black EU

 

***Update: unfortunately I was experiencing some call quality issues with the S22 Ultra. Dropped calls, poor sound quality and signal strength problems probably due to a weak 5G signal. I believe the UK operates on two LTE bands! B1 and B7, whereas Germany uses B3 and B7 bands. As this phone came from Germany it could be that it was not as strong a signal due to the bandwidth here in the UK causing the issue.Thankfully Amazon customer support is excellent and they advised I return the phone for a full refund.***If you’re spending this amount of money on an item it’s always a good idea to video the unboxing for proof in the event something is wrong. Be sure to take it in one video from opening the packaging, checking the factory seals, inspecting the phone for damage and make sure to get the IMEI in the same video. All of this will help in the event the phone condition is disputed by either seller or buyer or damaged in transit.I purchased this from Amazon EU as the seller for extra peace of mind. I’ve purchased phones in the past from other sellers that looked new but on closer inspection they prove to be renewed. This is when a video of the unboxing as described above is invaluable in helping you get a full refund.Note: once you setup your phone it’s always a good idea to run the inbuilt Samsung diagnostic. I believe this is available if you download Samsung Members from the Galaxy Store but it may be available without this via Device Care.If you go to settings and type diagnostics you should see it under Device Care. Hit that and scroll down and select Diagnostics then select Phone Diagnostics. You can choose to test all or select the ones you want.This will test all of your phone’s components are working and if the software is official Samsung and not a clone. If your phone does have an issue like one of the mics aren’t working or the battery has an issue, it’s better to find that out before the return window has closed.This S22 Ultra from Amazon EU cost £610 and was shipped from Germany to the UK in two days. It was in perfect condition, brand new and factory sealed.The first time you turn it on you select the language and after that nothing was different from any other phone I’ve purchased in the UK.Note: because this phone came from Europe it has the updated Snapdragon processor. The standard UK version shipped with Exynos, which is the older Samsung processor.Samsung S22 doesn’t ship with chargers anymore so I didn’t need to worry a European charger. It does come with a USB C to USB C cable but I recommend you purchase a 100w cable to allow super fast charging from a 45w charger. I purchased the Anker 100w cable and 65w charger as they are a trusted brand and sell good quality equipment.The quality of this S22 Ultra is truly outstanding. I highly recommend you do a deep dive into the AI and the customisation that this phone is capable of. I had the S20 plus previously and this S22 Ultra is a world away from that and it performs ever task easier and was well worth the upgrade.Update regarding the camera focus:There has been issues reported with the S series since the multiple lenses were added for different focal lengths as the focus hunted between the different lenses on auto focus. However, if you go back and test any other Samsung previous to the multi lens layout you’ll find the same autofocus hunting and often missing. The problem is you notice the hunting and missing focus more on the S22 Ultra due to the noticeable increased sharpness when it does hit the focus correctly. It’s similar to when TVs switched to HD and 4K, the standard definition looked abysmal. Everyone was complaining the lager screens looked terrible on standard definition. This was noticeable on the better quality display of the 4K as on the older screens everything was as equally blurry.*** S22 Ultra Focus ***That said, there is some things I’ve noticed that help reduce the focus missing on the S22 Ultra. Firstly let me make it clear that no phone, or even professional camera hits focus every time. Even expensive DSLRs can come out of the factory with the focus not hitting the exact point where it should be. This is called back focusing and is a result of cost of manufacturing. To get every camera to be perfect every time would drive the cost of production into many thousand of pounds. So they work to within manufacturing tolerances that means the focus on some cameras can be soft and slightly off the focal plane.The workaround for me with the S22 Ultra turned out to be preventing over processing in 108M pixels mode. The 12M mode was perfect and easily one of the sharpest images from a phone camera I’ve seen. The 108M mode wasn’t focusing properly and never achieved the same sharpness as the 12M mode. So I switched to manual focus and checked the image and it was crystal clear edges and focused perfectly. You’ll notice that motion tracking isn’t available on the 108M mode and this could be contributing to the auto focus missing.*******************************************************************************************************************The Solution:After a few test I found I managed to get the 108M mode to focus properly by selecting the settings in camera mode top left, then selecting Intelligent optimisation and turning off Scene optimiser.***This gave me sharper pictures nearly every time and was as sharp, if not sharper, than the 12M mode.*********************************************************************************************************************Some quick tips for better photographs:The camera always works better in good lighting so if possible take your pictures in natural daylight.Try the Pro mode in the settings. It’s not as difficult as you’d think and even the manual focus is really easy. It highlights everything in green on the screen that’s in focus. This can be shifted to exactly the point you want to be the sharpest.Lastly, the Raw mode is for doing as little processing in the camera as possible. It takes the exact information that hits the sensor and saves it with no compression. If you see any reviewers comparing one phone’s Raw image to another phones Raw image, it’s not going to tell you anything about the camera or image quality. Raw is designed to be exported to a software application like Photoshop or Lightroom to be processed.So if a Raw picture doesn’t look bland and washed out it’s not a very good Raw image. It’s exactly the same if you buy a £5000 DSLR, the image will not be processed in Raw mode to retain as much detail as possible to be edited later in a specific program that allows maximum quality. It’s kind of like an old negative photo in the sense that neither have any processing. They are the image that the photo is made from.Hopefully this helps you get better results from your S22 Ultra camera.