The Galaxy S22 series could have been Samsung’s biggest Galaxy S success in several years. But Samsung got in the way of that. A string of mishaps tarnished the phone’s reputation within weeks after its launch. Chiefly among them was the throttling scandal that eroded trust in Samsung, especially in Korea. The company dropped the Galaxy S22 price in the region a few weeks ago, and now it’s offering big Galaxy S22 Plus and Galaxy S22 Ultra discounts to US buyers.
There’s no indication that price discounts in the US are related to the Galaxy S22 performance issues. If anything, Samsung ties the promotional prices with Mother’s day on its website. But the better deals are available on Samsung’s Amazon store. The Galaxy S22 Plus price drop means you can get a larger display for the same price as the Galaxy S22.
The throttling scandal
The Galaxy S22 throttling scandal came to light in Korea, and that’s the market where Samsung hurried to issue a fix first. The software update then came to Europe. These regions received the Exynos version of the Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22 Plus, and Galaxy S22 Ultra. The US models rock the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor.
Samsung is still facing legal action and inquiries from regulators in its home country. That explains why it hurried to launch price discounts for all three Galaxy S22 handsets so soon after launch.
Samsung worked with all Korean carriers to significantly increase the Galaxy S22 subsidies in the country. Buyers can purchase any of the three phones for half their price in the region, as long as they also purchase new contracts from the mobile operators. The price cut is still significant, but it only works as long as you get on the kind of plans that benefit the cellular operators.
On the other hand, the price cuts aren’t surprising for an Android flagship. These handsets lose value faster than iPhones, and it happens quickly. That could be a reason why Samsung is ready to offer an instant $200 price cut on the Galaxy S22 Plus and Galaxy S22 Ultra in the US right now. The Galaxy S22’s price goes down by $100, which is on par with the iPhone 13 Mini.
The Galaxy S22 Plus price cut
You can take advantage of two types of Galaxy S22 deals right now. First, Samsung offers $100 off any Galaxy S22 purchase on its website as a Mother’s day special offer. However, Samsung’s deal only works if you want to double the storage — and why shouldn’t you want that on a phone with no microSD support?
But you can’t take that $100 price discount on the cheapest Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22 Plus, or Galaxy S22 Ultra. Prices start at $799.99 for the Galaxy S22, which gets you either the 128GB or 256GB phone version. The same goes for the Galaxy S22 Plus, which sells for $999.99 regardless of storage. Move to the Ultra, and the 128GB and 256GB versions cost $1,199.99 each.
These are the prices before the trade-in discounts, and other deals are applied.
But move over to Amazon, and that’s where you get the real Galaxy S22 discounts. Importantly, the deals apply to the base memory models. If you’re fine with 128GB of storage, the Galaxy S22 price goes down to $699.99 on Amazon. Again, the iPhone 13 mini starts at the same price point if you take advantage of the instant $30 discount on Apple’s site.
The Galaxy S22 Plus is perhaps the sweetest Galaxy S22 you can score right now if you want a non-Ultra experience. Samsung cut the Plus’s price by $200 regardless of storage. The 128GB version costs $799.99. The 256GB model is priced at $849.99.
If you need a stylus in your Galaxy S22 experience, you can score $200 savings on the Ultra. The 128GB and 512GB models get the $200 price cut. Strangely enough, the 256GB model costs more than the 512GB variant, which is probably a Samsung/Amazon mistake.
Should you buy any of the cheaper Galaxy S22 models?
These savings show that Samsung is willing to do whatever it takes to sell the Galaxy S22 phones. A few weeks ago, I said you shouldn’t buy the Galaxy S22 even after the price cuts. I explained that Samsung misled buyers in various ways about the Galaxy S22. It’s not just the throttling.
If you’re aware of all that and don’t mind anything, now might be a great time to get the Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22 Plus, or Galaxy S22 Ultra. These price cuts will probably be short-lived on Samsung.com and Amazon. But they should be back in the future. That’s because Android flagships lose value fast and because Samsung wants to sell as many phones as possible.
