When the Galaxy S22 series launched, we told you that the Galaxy S22 preorder deals were so good you had to check them out. The alternative was to wait for the Galaxy S22 price to drop to buy a better deal in the weeks that followed the release date.
With more than a month since preorders started, we’ve had a chance to learn more details about Samsung’s Galaxy S22 phones. And it turns out that the various controversies surrounding the phone make it a questionable purchase.
In what follows, I’ll cover four reasons why you shouldn’t buy the Galaxy S22, even when the price drops.
Should you buy the Galaxy S22?
The Galaxy S22 is one of the most anticipated phones of the year, something that can be said about any of its predecessors. And Samsung already registered record sales for the handset in Korea. But that was during preorders before all the problems came to light.
In what follows, we’ll highlight three significant controversies that hurt the Galaxy S22. Add to that the phone’s poor performance in durability tests, and you have at least four solid reasons not to buy a new Samsung flagship smartphone.
The glass breaks easily
The Galaxy S22 features a sturdy design, and we saw the phone survives all sorts of durability tests with ease. But the one area where the Galaxy S22 fails is accidental drops.
We saw a few drop tests so far, and the Galaxy S22 models shattered after just the first drop. The Galaxy S22 Ultra’s curved edges appear to be particularly prone to cracking.
That’s not to say other glass phones are any safer. And this isn’t such a big controversy. The iPhone 13 certainly isn’t shatter-proof, although it won’t break quite as easily.
You should know from the get-go that you will need protective gear with the Galaxy S22. All that Aluminum Armor and Victus Glass talk won’t do much to safeguard the phones against drops.
Samsung lied about the Galaxy S22 display refresh rate
Nobody forced Samsung to lie about the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Plus display specs in its announcement. But the company did it anyway. And it hasn’t exactly apologized.
As a reminder, Samsung initially said that the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Plus support dynamic refresh rates between 10-120Hz. That’s a great feature to have, as it helps the phones conserve battery life by intelligently lowering the refresh rate when full 120Hz support isn’t needed.
The truth is that the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Plus can only go as low as 48Hz. That’s still helpful, of course. However, it doesn’t change the fact that Samsung lied about the specs.
What 45W charging?
Buy a Galaxy S22 phone, and you won’t get a charger in the box. Samsung mocked Apple’s move a few years ago and then copied it anyway. Obviously.
That’s not a problem for most handset owners, as they probably have USB-C chargers at home that will work fine with the new device. But if you want to take advantage of the fastest charging speed on the Galaxy S22 Plus and Galaxy S22 Ultra, you will need a 45W charger.
You can buy a 45W charger from Samsung or a third party. Regardless of where you get it, tests have shown that 45W charging is a joke on the Galaxy S22 Plus and Ultra. That’s right, it appears as though Samsung lied yet again.
This is the kind of feature that looks great on paper. But in real-life tests, the phone spent about a minute recharging at top speeds. After that, it no longer charges at 45W.
The worst offense: Galaxy S22 app throttling
Say you’re willing to ignore all the Galaxy S22 issues noted above, and you’re determined to buy one of the three models. You should be aware of the big Galaxy S22 performance throttling issues.
The controversy is so significant that Samsung rushed to issue a fix and roll it out in Korea and Europe. Moreover, Samsung is facing lawsuits and investigations at home, and the company had to address the matter openly during its shareholders’ meeting earlier this week. Samsung apologized, but the damage was already done.
Also, the company said it didn’t cut Galaxy S22 costs at the time. Some speculated the phones had to reduce performance because they lack proper cooling.
Even with the fix in place for some regions, the throttling controversy is still worrying. We’ll have to wait a bit longer to understand what happens if you remove the throttling. The feature is meant to prevent overheating and battery drain. Does that mean you should expect these problems once you disable throttling?
The throttling problem nullifies all of Samsung’s marketing efforts that promote the speed and performance of the new phones. And benchmark tests already showed the Galaxy S22 can’t outperform the iPhone 13 series that was released last year.
Also, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S8 flagship tablets suffer from the same problem.
Do not buy the Galaxy S22
To recap, the Galaxy S22 isn’t as durable as we thought it would be. Samsung misled customers about the display specs on the cheaper models. The charging speed isn’t as fast as advertised even on the more expensive models. And the performance of all Galaxy S22 versions.
With all that in mind, there’s no reason to buy the Galaxy S22 right now. Not even after Samsung inevitably slashes prices in the coming weeks.
I will note that one can ignore these problems. You can buy accessories to protect the glass, just like any glass phone. You don’t need the display to go down to 10Hz. And 25W charging is fast enough for most people. Finally, the throttling fix might really solve the performance issues.
But people buying a Samsung flagship expect the best possible experience. It’s the principle of the matter. Dealing with all these issues is an aggravating headache when you spend so much money on the latest and greatest smartphone.
Just imagine what it would mean for the latest iPhone to disappoint buyers like this.
The Galaxy S22, S22 Plus, and Ultra reviews on Samsung’s website seem to agree. These are three-star phones at best.
Instead of the Galaxy S22, you can look forward to the Galaxy A53 and A33 mid-rangers that can’t possibly disappoint. On the other hand, if the Galaxy S22 price drops to A53 levels before any trade-in offers and carrier deals, it might be worth revisiting.
