We’ve come to the end of Mobile World Congress 2022, which, despite the pandemic and a war in Europe, went on as planned. While it’s typically a show full of phone launches from companies like Sony, Huawei, TCL, Xiaomi, Oppo and more, this year there were surprisingly few of those. Instead, we saw lots of laptops and tablets, as well as some foldable concepts. Plus, with major players like Sony choosing to sit out the event, MWC 2022 was generally quieter than years past. Still, if you feel like you’ve missed out on the news from the show, here’s a recap of everything interesting out of the convention this week.
Oppo kicked things off early, unveiling one of the few phones announced at the show: the Find X5 Pro. It’s a beautiful device with a ceramic body and a pair of 50-megapixel cameras using Hasselblad-infused software. In addition to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, the Find X5 Pro also carries the company’s own Marisilicon neural processor for faster processing when you’re recording content in high-res or low light. Like many phones unveiled at MWC, the Find X5 Pro’s availability in the US is unconfirmed, so don’t get too excited if you’re based in America.
Meanwhile, there was so much Huawei news out of PR Newswire’s daily MWC recaps that this year’s event should really be called the Huawei Show 2022. In addition to big speeches about global strategies and 5G, the company unveiled a new MateBook laptop, a MateStation all-in-one PC, a PixLab laser printer, new speakers and a tablet called the MatePad Paper.
The most intriguing of these is the MatePad Paper, a 10.3-inch e-ink tablet with some particularly thin bezels. Its texturized paper-like screen is easy to read in both sunlight and lowlight, and displays not only text and still images, but videos as well. It also works with Huawei’s M-Pencil so you can write on it, and the company’s custom software allows you to simultaneously read and write in a split-screen view. An onboard mic lets you record audio while taking notes, while a fingerprint sensor in the power button enables convenient logins.
Huawei
On standby, Huawei says the MatePad Paper can last up to four weeks. It’ll be available in Europe for 499 Euros and that price includes an M-Pencil. Honestly this might be the most modern e-ink device yet, and I’m quite taken by the sky blue and khaki color options.
Of course, Huawei continues to battle US restrictions that keep it from selling its devices stateside. This is likely part of the reason former Huawei sub-brand Honor left its parent company in 2020. At MWC this year, Honor debuted the Magic 4 series — a pair of flagship-level phones meant to contend with Samsung’s Galaxy S22s. They have triple rear cameras with 50-megapixel primary sensors, 120Hz LTPO screens and are equipped with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chips. But all the specs comparisons might be moot, because despite promises of a global rollout, last year’s Magic 3 never made it outside of China. For now Honor has shared initial European prices on its newly announced devices, which include new earbuds and a smartwatch, but US availability remains unknown.
Though Samsung already unveiled the Galaxy S22s and Tab S8 tablets, it still had products to show off in Barcelona — namely, a new line of laptops. The new Galaxy Book 2 series iterates on last year’s models with a trio of configurations, which include a pair of convertibles and a clamshell. All three flavors are available in 13- and 15-inch sizes, with upgraded webcams and 12th-gen Intel Core processors.
As with previous Samsung laptops, these also feature beautiful AMOLED displays and are impressively thin and light. The Book 2 Pro 360 and the Book 2 360 both support the S Pen, though only the former comes with the stylus in the box. I’ve been a fan of Samsung’s PCs for awhile, and though this year’s generation doesn’t seem to bring major improvements, I’m still curious to see how they stack up against the competition. Plus, Samsung added a burgundy color option that has me kind of mesmerized.
I didn’t even include the new ThinkPad X13s, which is the first ThinkPad powered by a Snapdragon chip. It’s also the first in the series to run Windows 11 on ARM, and the company says it’s the first time the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 has been used in a commercial device. The biggest draw here is the estimated 28-hour battery life, in addition to support for sub-6 and mmWave 5G and WiFi 6E. Sure, Windows on ARM has struggled to appeal to a mainstream audience, but with more OEM support and increasing app compatibility, 2022 could be the year Microsoft and its partners turn things around.
One of the best things about events like MWC is seeing the wilder concepts some companies showcase alongside their more traditional products. For the last few years, TCL has teased us with various concept devices at these shows, and this time around, it brought us the “Ultra Flex.” This is a prototype foldable phone that can bend both inward and outward — meaning its hinge and screen have to be extremely durable and carefully designed. The idea is intriguing, but in reality we never saw the display turn on during a demo session ahead of MWC. We did get to see the company’s “Fold n’ Roll” prototype that it announced last April, though, and while it had a technically “working” screen, it was still incredibly janky.
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
TCL didn’t just show us experimental products it doesn’t intend to sell. The company also launched five new phones in its 30-series, as well as two new tablets, including the NXTPAPER Max 10. That’s a bigger version of last year’s 8.8-inch slate with a reflective LCD screen that enables a full-color paper-like display.
There’s still more news from MWC 2022 that might pique your interest, like Qualcomm’s new X70 5G modem and former Xiaomi sub-brand Poco’s new X4 Pro 5G phone with a 108-megapixel camera. OnePlus also confirmed that the OnePlus 10 Pro is headed to the US, Europe and India this month.
Of course, since this is a mobile show, we learned about new developments in 5G. Specifically, FCC chairperson Jessica Rosenworcel announced that the US will hold an auction in July for 2.5GHz mid-band spectrum. Finally, we also couldn’t escape everyone’s favorite buzzwords: NFTs and the metaverse. FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta said in a keynote that there’s been “a lot of attention [on] blockchain products and services such as NFTs and metaverse.” During the same speech, he said the football club “should be able to offer digital products” to its members and fans that will “generate a very interesting emotional experience.”
Although we couldn’t be on the ground in Barcelona, team Engadget was still able to check out many of these new products first-hand at various preview events. Check out our hands-on videos and reports to get all the details.
Catch up on all of the news from MWC 2022 right here!
In spite of everything else going on in the world, Mobile World Congress 2022 took place this week. Companies like Oppo, Huawei, TCL, Samsung and Lenovo showed off a ton of new products, ranging from laptops and tablets to foldable concepts and some phones. While it felt strange to cover the news coming out of the show, especially from a distance, we were still able to check out some interesting tech. UK bureau chief Mat Smith joined us to make sense of all the news.
Listen below, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!
The ThinkPad X13s is powered by Snapdragon – 40:53
Apple’s “Peek Performance” event is scheduled for March 8th – 53:27
Multiple disability organizations call on US DOJ to finalize accessibility rules – 1:00:37
Biden wants to end targeted ads that are aimed at children – 1:07:46
Thermacell's smart mosquito repellent system – 1:08:37
Working on – 1:12:30
Picks – 1:16:33
Video livestream
Credits Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar Guest: Mat Smith Producer: Ben Ellman Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos, Luke Brooks Graphics artists: Luke Brooks, Brian Oh Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien
It's official: Apple just sent out invitations for its first event in 2022 and it will happen on March 8th at 10am PT. The invite, which usually offers subtle hints as to what we can expect, features the words "Peek performance." That's right — "peek" not "peak." The company is expected to launch the next-gen iPhone SE and iPad Air, along with new Macs. According to a Bloomberg report, an M2 chip may also be coming as part of the transition to Apple Silicon.
Considering the last iPhone SE was launched in 2020, it does seem like an updated model is overdue. Apple's compact, sub-$400 handset is one of the last remaining to still have a home button on the front below the display. It also has a single rear camera, and generally feels like a throwback to phones from five years ago. This year's model may bring Face ID and 5G support, with a design that could be similar to 2018's iPhone XR.
Whatever Apple is announcing, we will be covering the news and will also have a livestream following the company's keynote to discuss what was unveiled. Be sure to join us on the Engadget YouTube channel then to get your burning questions answered.
Google has been working on a "new interaction language" for years, and today it's sharing a peek at what it's developed so far. The company is showcasing a set of movements it's defined in its new interaction language in the first episode of a new series called In the lab with Google ATAP. That acronym stands for Advanced Technology and Projects, and it's Google's more-experimental division that the company calls its "hardware invention studio."
The idea behind this "interaction language" is that the machines around us could be more intuitive and perceptive of our desire to interact with them by better understanding our nonverbal cues. "The devices that surround us... should feel like a best friend," senior interaction designer at ATAP Lauren Bedal told Engadget. "They should have social grace."
Specifically (so far, anyway), ATAP is analyzing our movements (as opposed to vocal tones or facial expressions) to see if we're ready to engage, so devices know when to remain in the background instead of bombarding us with information. The team used the company's Soli radar sensor to detect the proximity, direction and pathways of people around it. Then, it parsed that data to determine if someone is glancing at, passing, approaching or turning towards the sensor.
Google formalized this set of four movements, calling them Approach, Glance, Turn and Pass. These actions can be used as triggers for commands or reactions on things like smart displays or other types of ambient computers. If this sounds familiar, it's because some of these gestures already work on existing Soli-enabled devices. The Pixel 4, for example, had a feature called Motion Sense that will snooze alarms when you wave at it, or wake the phone if it detected your hand coming towards it. Google's Nest Hub Max used its camera to see when you've raised your open palm, and will pause your media playback in response.
Approach feels similar to existing implementations. It allows devices to tell when you (or a body part) are getting closer, so they can bring up information you might be near enough to see. Like the Pixel 4, the Nest Hub uses a similar approach when it knows you're close by, pulling up your upcoming appointments or reminders. It'll also show touch commands on a countdown screen if you're near, and switch to larger, easy-to-read font when you're further away.
While Glance may seem like it overlaps with Approach, Bedal explained that it can be for understanding where a person's attention is when they're using multiple devices. "Say you're on a phone call with someone and you happen to glance at another device in the house," she said. "Since we know you may have your attention on another device, we can offer a suggestion to maybe transfer your conversation to a video call." Glance can also be used to quickly display a snippet of information.
Google
What's less familiar are Turn and Pass. "With turning towards and away, we can allow devices to help automate repetitive or mundane tasks," Bedal said. It can be used to determine when you're ready for the next step in a multi-stage process, like following an onscreen recipe, or something repetitive, like starting and stopping a video. Pass, meanwhile, tells the device you're not ready to engage.
It's clear that Approach, Pass, Turn and Glance build on what Google's implemented in bits and pieces into its products over the years. But the ATAP team also played with combining some of these actions, like passing and glancing or approaching and glancing, which is something we've yet to see much of in the real world.
For all this to work well, Google's sensors and algorithms need to be incredibly adept not only at recognizing when you're making a specific action, but also when you're not. Inaccurate gesture recognition can turn an experience that's meant to be helpful into one that's incredibly frustrating.
ATAP's head of design Leonardo Giusti said "That's the biggest challenge we have with these signals." He said that with devices that are plugged in, there is more power available to run more complex algorithms than on a mobile device. Part of the effort to make the system more accurate is collecting more data to train machine learning algorithms on, including the correct actions as well as similar but incorrect ones (so they also learn what not to accept).
Google
"The other approach to mitigate this risk is through UX design," Giusti said. He explained that the system can offer a suggestion rather than trigger a completely automated response, to allow users to confirm the right input rather than act on a potentially inaccurate gesture.
Still, it's not like we're going to be frustrated by Google devices misinterpreting these four movements of ours in the immediate future. Bedal pointed out "What we're working on is purely research. We're not focusing on product integration." And to be clear, Google is sharing this look at the interaction language as part of a video series it's publishing. Later episodes of In the lab with ATAP will cover other topics beyond this new language, and Giusti said it's meant to "give people an inside look into some of the research that we are exploring."
But it's easy to see how this new language can eventually find its way into the many things Google makes. The company's been talking about its vision for a world of "ambient computing" for years, where it envisions various sensors and devices embedded into the many surfaces around us, ready to anticipate and respond to our every need. For a world like that to not feel intrusive or invasive, there are many issues to sort out (protecting user privacy chief among them). Having machines that know when to stay away and when to help is part of that challenge.
Bedal, who's also a professional choreographer, said "We believe that these movements are really hinting to a future way of interacting with computers that feels invisible by leveraging the natural ways that we move."
She added, "By doing so, we can do less and computers can... operate in the background, only helping us in the right moments."
The American Council of the Blind, National Disability Rights Network, National Federation of the Blind and more than 170 other disability organizations signed a letter published today, calling for the Department of Justice to finalize rules for online accessibility. According to the letter, the rulemaking process began in 2010 "under Titles II and III of the ADA" but was withdrawn in 2017. Last year, US representative Ted Budd (R-NC) led the re-introduction of a bill proposing an Online Accessibility Act, which was initially introduced in October 2020.
In today's letter, addressed to assistant attorney general Kristen Clarke, the signees urged "the Department of Justice to maintain this rulemaking process as a priority and finalize a rule by the end of the current administration." It states that while the DoJ has held that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) includes websites and other technologies critical to accessing a business' services, it has "failed to define when and how they should be accessible."
Director of advocacy and government affairs for the American Council of the Blind Clark Rachfal told Engadget that at the moment, the DoJ enforces accessibility online "on a case-by-case basis."
"This is equivalent to enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act for the physical build environment by going door-to-door along main street," he said. The signatories of this letter want the DOJ to create enforceable accessibility standards "to ensure equal access to telehealth, distance learning, remote work, and online commerce for all people with disabilities," he added.
Efforts to come up with these rules have ebbed and flowed. The letter noted that "In 2018, the Department reconfirmed its position that the ADA applies to the internet but never completed rulemakings that were begun in 2010 under Titles II and III of the ADA and withdrawn in 2017."
The result is an online world where people with disabilities struggle to get their needs met. According to WebAIM (Web Accessibility In Mind), about 97 percent of the 1 million pages evaluated had WCAG 2 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) failures. These issues ranged from using low contrast text and missing form input labels to empty buttons and missing alt text for images.
zlikovec via Getty Images
"The absence of digital accessibility regulations in the intervening time period has resulted in persistent exclusion of people with disabilities from digital spaces covered by the ADA," the letter notes. It also highlights issues like "persistent barriers in telehealth accessibility," particularly for deaf users. While there haven't been quantitative studies on intersectional disabilities and how they relate to online accessibility, the letter states "anecdotal reports suggest that the vast majority of DeafBlind people are completely unable to utilize telehealth as it currently exists."
An American Foundation for the Blind study that's cited in the letter found that almost 60 percent of educators surveyed in Fall 2020 reported "their blind and low vision students could not access one or more of the digital learning tools they were expected to use in class."
As the world increasingly lives and conducts business online, it's crucial that the digital world is accessible by design. The letter points out that "These findings are neither exhaustive of all website-related issues nor comprehensive of the entire disability community." There's a lot of work and research still to be done.
"The disability community is large and diverse, facing access issues that continue to grow and evolve with the ever-changing landscape of websites and applications." Having a set of rules in place will help enable clearer communication and implementation of the tools that will make websites (and apps) accessible to all.
Apple continues to release findings from its ongoing Women's Health study, and is announcing updated results today ahead of International Women's Day (March 8th). The report, published on Harvard's website, reveals some insights on polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and cardiovascular health, based on data from more than 37,000 participants.
Apple and Harvard found that its participants who had received PCOS diagnoses tended to be diagnosed between ages 14 and 35, with the median age being 22 years old. They were also more likely to report a family history of the syndrome and have unpredictable menstrual cycles after their first periods.
According to the report, more than 70 percent of participants without PCOS diagnoses said their menstrual cycles became regular within four years of their first period, while just 43 percent of those with PCOS experienced the same. In fact, 49 percent of participants with PCOS diagnoses never had regular menstrual cycles or only got regularity after using hormones.
The study also looked at the health conditions related to PCOS. It reported that participants with PCOS diagnoses were four times more likely to have pre-diabetic conditions, three times more likely to have Type 2 diabetes and twice as likely to have high blood pressure and high cholesterol. It also said irregular heartbeats or arrhythmia was more common among participants with PCOS diagnoses than those without.
Apple Women’s Health Study - Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Apple did caution that these were preliminary insights. Data was gleaned from medical history surveys completed by more than 37,000 participants enrolled from November 2019 through December 2021. Of those who completed the medical history surveys, about 30,000 also filled out reproductive history surveys and answered questions about their menstrual cycles over time.
According to co-principal investigator Dr. Shruthi Mahalingaiah, "The Apple Women’s Health Study is one of the first studies where we can look at the connection between menstrual health, polycystic ovary syndrome, and heart health at a population level.”
Mahalingaiah also said "Despite the association between PCOS and heart-related conditions, historically, research studies about heart health have not included information about menstrual cycles," adding that the study "is important for having a better understanding of PCOS and its health impacts, including for people with PCOS and those that might have PCOS, but do not know.”
Looking forward, Apple and Harvard want to "create a larger foundational data set on PCOS, with self-tracked variables, and its connection with heart health."
"Our hope is that by expanding the understanding of the public health burden of PCOS, we can create research models that can be applied to further scientific understanding of other health conditions and the burden of other diseases,” Mahalingaiah said.
Samsung may be best known for its Galaxy phones, TVs and household appliances, but I think its laptops deserve more recognition. At MWC 2022 today, the company unveiled the next generation of its Galaxy Book series of PCs. Last year’s models brought vibrant AMOLED panels while maintaining strikingly sleek profiles. This time around, the new Galaxy Book 2 series offers upgraded webcams and processors, improved S Pens and a gorgeous new burgundy color option
At the moment, there are three models in the lineup: the convertible Galaxy Book 2 360, the clamshell Galaxy Book 2 Pro and the Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360, which is not only a mouthful of a name but also a high-end 2-in-1. They all sport 13-inch screens, with the Pro and Pro 360 also coming in 15-inch versions. A fourth “Business” model is coming later this year, and it’s the only 14-inch option of the lot, which is interesting given the laptop industry has generally been moving towards that size.
Like most computers launching this year, the Galaxy Book 2s run Windows 11 and come equipped with Intel’s 12th-gen Core i5 or i7 processors. But Samsung’s strength is, as always, in its displays and this year's AMOLEDs can hit up to 500 nits of brightness, making for easier viewing in challenging lighting conditions. At a recent hands-on one evening in New York, I wasn’t able to take the machines out to read under direct sunlight as the sun had already set. In the brightly lit demo space as well as under our spotlights, though, it was easy to watch videos on the Galaxy Books.
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
Like I said last year in my review of the Book Pro 360, the new model’s 16:9 aspect ratio feels outdated in an era where most laptops have shifted to 16:10 screens. This leaves a thumb-wide bezel below the display that could otherwise display a few extra lines of text at least. Still, they all run at 1,920 x 1,080 which is probably a more power-efficient option than 4K for machines that are this thin and light.
I also enjoyed the vibrant colors on the AMOLED panels (which support HDR), almost as much as I enjoyed scrawling “I love cake” on them. The Book 2 Pro 360 comes with an S Pen, while the 360 supports it but doesn’t ship with one. The Pro, meanwhile, isn’t touch-enabled and doesn’t work with the stylus. There’s not much new about the S Pen here — Samsung says it's improved the latency, though it hasn't shared details beyond that. The pen is still a separate accessory that you might leave behind by accident. I miss when Samsung included a smaller version of it in an onboard slot in the Galaxy Book Flex.
Besides the new chips and brighter displays, the main upgrade for this generation of the Galaxy Book is higher-resolution webcams. Specifically, all three models now offer 1080p cameras that, based on my limited experience so far, already take better pictures than their predecessors. Samsung had aggressive beauty filters built into last year’s Galaxy Book Pro 360 for some reason, resulting in poorly exposed pictures from its 720p camera. This time, thankfully, the camera app looked like the stock Windows version with no strange filters on my face.
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
In fact, it seems like Samsung’s cleaned up its software in general. Things from previous models like a faux privacy screen and a security feature that would snap pictures of people making failed login attempts were nowhere to be seen. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re gone — I didn’t have time to hunt them down during the hands-on. But the demo units presented a fairly clean Windows 11 experience, from what I saw.
The last new offering in the Galaxy Book 2 is a burgundy color option (limited to the Pro 360) and I am ashamed to admit this might be my favorite thing about Samsung’s latest laptops. It’s the same shade as you get in the S22 Ultra, and after covering boring silver, black, white and even copper laptops for years, I’m just grateful for something that’s not just different but that’s beautiful. Samsung’s notebooks have been some of the more colorful around, like its fiery red Chromebook or the cobalt blue Book Flex. I never knew I could lust after a burgundy laptop, but here I am coveting a PC for its color.
I also really liked how light and thin the Book 2 Pro is (13-inch version weighs 0.87kg or 1.91 pounds), and in spite of its daintiness it felt premium and sturdy. Samsung’s laptops might not look as elegant as HP’s Spectre series, but they certainly give Dell’s XPS or Microsoft’s Surface products some competition.
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
But back to features that will make more of a difference in your daily workflow. The 15-inch Book 2 Pro 360 has a comfortable, spacious keyboard and gigantic touchpad that was responsive during my time with it. I hardly ever use numpads anymore, but the larger models come with them, which could be handy for those working with numbers a lot. I also enjoyed typing on the 13-inch versions of the Galaxy Book 2 — there’s enough travel and satisfying feedback.
My main gripe with the Galaxy Book 2 is the $50 price hike. The Book 2 Pro 360 starts at $1,250, up from last year’s $1,200, and I’m not sure a brighter screen and sharper webcam alone are worth the difference. I’d also need to test these devices out for longer to gauge their real-world performance and determine things like battery life and thermal efficiency. The good news is there’s still time — pre-orders start on March 18th, with availability beginning on April 1st. The Galaxy Book 2 360 starts at $900, and is only available from April 1st onwards, while the Book 2 Pro goes for $1,050.
Catch up on all of the news from MWC 2022 right here!
TCL seems to love showing off eye-catching prototypes at shows, and today it’s doing the same for MWC 2022. Alongside an array of new phones and tablets, the company just debuted a concept device tentatively called the “Ultra Flex” — a phone with a 360-degree rotating hinge and a flexible display that bends along with it. That means this thing can fold in on itself as well as out towards the world.
This is a technically challenging proposition, since the screen has to undergo much more flexing than those that only bend one way. The strip that’s right above the hinge, in particular, would probably suffer the most stress.
In fact, it’s so prone to breaking that the unit we saw at our hands-on in New York never did turn on. Its 8-inch, 2,480 x 1,860 PLP AMOLED screen remained disappointingly dark, though TCL reps did show us photos of it working earlier that day. For now, we can only take their word for it.
TCL
The display wasn’t the only engineering challenge for this prototype: The 360-degree hinge also needed some finessing. Each time I folded and unfolded the device, most of the movement was smooth until the screen’s halves were close to touching. That’s when it made unsettling noises and felt like crunching cereal under a membrane. TCL has not shared any specifics on how the hinge and display work, either, keeping those details confidential for now. It’s clear that this prototype is nowhere close to being a real product.
Why would we even want a device that can fold both ways? TCL reps said it would offer the benefits of both inward-folding devices like the Galaxy Z Fold as well as those that bend outwards like Huawei’s first Mate X foldable. Having a panel you could fold outwards could offer a preview for your camera subjects to see how they look while you frame them up, for example, or let you present slides to someone facing you. Given that Huawei has since adopted Samsung’s approach instead of sticking with an outside-facing flexible screen, it appears that style of foldable might not be very feasible.
Still, I liked the Ultra Flex prototype’s matte blue finish and the mock quad-camera array on the back. The pliable, corrugated backing for the hinge also added an interesting touch to the design, and a slot on the bottom left indicates potential for the inclusion of an onboard stylus.
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
We also got to see the company’s “Fold n’ Roll” concept device in person for the first time since it was unveiled in April last year. This is a foldable 6.7-inch phone that uses a motorized mechanism that, at the push of a button, unfurls more of its screen to make an 8.8-inch 2,880 x 2,160 canvas. Like the Ultra Flex, this prototype felt janky, and getting the device to roll out its screen was like asking a dog to sit. Sometimes it worked as expected, sometimes pushing the button did nothing and sometimes the mechanism would whir away but the screen would struggle to move.
At least on this device the screen was working… Ish. For the first half of the demo session, the Fold n’ Roll was stuck on the lock screen, and didn’t respond to any touches or swipes. By some miracle, it eventually unlocked and revealed the Android home screen, but still refused to register any taps. I launched a grand total of zero apps on this prototype, helplessly watching it do nothing as I jabbed at the screen. It reminded me of the panel on Motorola’s Razr — both felt like they were slightly detached from the rest of the components below, like a piece of tape stuck to itself and no longer adhering to the rest of the roll.
The only thing it did was actually recognize when the additional bit of screen had finished rolling in or out, and change its aspect ratio and size to fill up and match the new widths. At this point I was so happy something worked that I was probably too impressed by a feature that should be expected, rather than a bonus.
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
Were these prototypes buggy as hell? Yes. Was I intrigued by them regardless? Also yes. We all love being distracted by interesting new form factors and product types, especially as non-foldable smartphone hardware matures and stagnates. As foldables continue to pique our interest and actually become better over the years, who knows what other shapes they might evolve into?
TCL hasn’t said if these prototypes are worth pursuing and turning into actual products, but the company has promised that it plans to launch a foldable phone that costs hundreds less than the competition. Though that has yet to happen, we did see a canceled product last year codenamed Chicago. It’s very similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 3, though with a different external screen and camera setup, as well as a slightly more textured finish. I was impressed how nice this looked in person, and the hinge felt less resistant than the Z Flip 3’s. Until TCL starts selling these for real, though, all of its prototypes and concepts remain aspirational. I get that there are global supply issues potentially in the way, but at this point it feels like TCL has teased us for too long.
Catch up on all of the news from MWC 2022 right here!
The S22 Ultra is, for all intents and purposes, a new Galaxy Note. It has the same rectangular silhouette, the same onboard S Pen and the same list of top-tier specs. With the S22 Ultra, Samsung is introducing a more mainstream audience to the S Pen that’s long been the hallmark of the Note series. By merging the two lines, Samsung is consolidating its top-tier products, bringing together the most popular features across its portfolio. That’s not to say there’s nothing new about the S22 Ultra — Samsung brought updated camera, display and software features this year as well.
It’s strange to review a phone that’s supposed to be new, but feels so familiar. If you’ve been missing the Note series, that familiarity will be welcome. But for those simply considering a new Galaxy S flagship, the S Pen alone won’t be enough of an upgrade. Thankfully, though, Samsung promises display and camera improvements that might make the S22 Ultra even better than its predecessor.
Design
The difference between the S22 Ultra and last year’s model starts with their design. The S22 Ultra is pretty much a Note 20 Ultra clone, which makes it a departure from the S21 Ultra’s rounder silhouette. With the same rectangular shape, curved edges and matte brushed metal finish, the two handsets look and feel almost identical. The S Pen slot is even in the same location at the left side of the bottom edge. If I didn’t give you the exact dimensions, you probably wouldn’t even be able to tell that the S22 Ultra is slightly wider, shorter and thicker than the Note. You might notice, though, that the S22 Ultra is about 21 grams (or 0.74 ounces) heavier.
The phone weighs more than the Pixel 6 Pro, too, though the iPhone 13 Pro Max still beats it at 240 grams. Google’s premium flagship already reminded me of the Note 20 Ultra, aside from its colorful two-tone design and camera bar. Instead of a rectangular module at the top left corner housing the array of sensors, the S22 Ultra’s cameras are neatly laid out in two columns on the back with no boundaries containing them. I prefer this streamlined, less cluttered look to the Note 20 and S21 Ultra’s versions.
I also appreciated the S22 Ultra’s Gorilla Glass Victus+ covering, especially after it fell from the top of a cabinet and survived without a scratch. I was somewhat disappointed that the review unit I received was the boring black version, not one of the other three color options. If I were shopping for myself, I’d choose either the green or burgundy, which I got to see in person at a recent Samsung hands-on event.
Display and audio
As is usually the case with Samsung's devices, the S22 Ultra's screen is sumptuous. Its 6.8-inch Super AMOLED panel is colorful, bright and easy to read in the sun, thanks to its peak brightness of 1,750 nits. Like previous Galaxy flagships, the S22 Ultra also refreshes at 120Hz, making for a smooth scrolling experience.
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
To ensure users can see what's on their phones regardless of the lighting conditions, Samsung this year introduced what it's calling "Vision Booster." The feature is meant to kick in when it detects you're in direct sunlight or in super dim environments, adjusting not only the display brightness but also its color and contrast. You'll need to have adaptive brightness on for it to work.
I didn't notice much of a difference when I was playing Two Dots in bed one night, even when I pulled up the same scene on my Pixel 6 Pro to compare. Samsung says the effect is more noticeable in sunlight, but I still didn’t observe a significant difference as the sun shone on the S22 Ultra’s screen when I made my way to the office. Perhaps this is something where the effect is so subtle that it’s hard to notice, but I never had trouble reading things on the S22 Ultra, regardless of the lighting around me.
I don’t generally play music through my phone, but one night when my WiFi went out and I couldn’t use my speakers, I had to resort to streaming Spotify on the S22 Ultra and it provided decent audio quality. It was loud enough to deliver the background noise I was looking for, though songs like Heartbreaker by Wabisabi sounded hollow and were lacking in bass. It was, however, better at handling mid-heavy sounds like the audio cues for games like Two Dots.
S Pen
Another aspect of the S22 Ultra that’s more than a little reminiscent of the Note is the onboard S Pen. The main difference between the S Pens on the S22 Ultra and the Note 20 Ultra is the improved latency of 2.8 milliseconds this year (down from 9ms). This means you'll be getting a slightly better version of an already responsive writing experience, along with Samsung's nifty handwriting recognition software in its Notes app. If you use Samsung's keyboard instead of switching to Gboard, you'll also be able to use the S Pen to scrawl text into search fields and URL boxes throughout the system.
Samsung also provides a list of suggested functions when you pop the S Pen out of its slot, so you can quickly do things like create a note or select a portion of your screen to take a screenshot of and immediately draw on it.
Engadget (Screenshot)
There's not much I can say about the S Pen now that we haven't already covered in previous reviews. Samsung's stylus is competent, if a bit of a blunt object for those looking to create finer works of art. But as a pencil for jotting down a quick list, or signing documents on the fly or as a cursor for the big screen, the S Pen is more than adequate. In fact, in more mainstream functions like acting as a remote control for your camera or music playback, it's perfectly capable. The only issue is whether you're the sort of person who would pull out a stylus to interact with your phone, as opposed to simply using your hands. Either way, the S Pen is a nice accessory to have when you need it, and it stays out of your way when you don’t.
Cameras
The S22 Ultra shares the same camera setup as the S21 Ultra, with a 108-megapixel main sensor, a 12-MP ultrawide option and a pair of 10-MP telephoto lenses. What's new this year are features like auto-framing and improved video stabilization in videos, better stereo depth mapping for more accurate portrait blur and something Samsung is calling Adaptive Pixel. This stitches together high-res images from the 108-MP sensor and a photo taken with nona-binning for bigger pixels to capture more light, supposedly resulting in brighter pictures that retain crisp detail.
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
In reality, Adaptive Pixel is tricky to figure out, and its results might not be worth the effort. First, you have to set the S22 Ultra to shoot at the highest resolution and then, when the system detects you're shooting in low light, it performs the stitching in the background. There's no way you can be certain Adaptive Pixel is at work; there are no user-facing indicators. I shot a few photos of the New York City nightscape with the S22 Ultra both at the default 12-MP and at 108-MP, and they were mostly indistinguishable from each other. When I zoomed in to see more detail, buildings looked equally muddy, mostly due to flares from the various lights in the image.
I took more pictures in low light with the camera set to default resolution and 108-MP, and honestly the effects were incredibly subtle. The high-res shots were sometimes better exposed, but not always. And any improvement in clarity was so subtle that you wouldn’t notice unless you were extremely zoomed in.
Either way, though, Samsung's photos held their own against those from the iPhone 13 Pro and Pixel 6 Pro. Google continues to deliver superior pictures in low light thanks to its Night Sight mode, but Apple and Samsung's offerings are closing the gap. In daylight, the S22 Ultra produced slightly more saturated pictures than the Pixel 6 Pro, which generally renders a more neutral tone. Which camera suits you better ultimately boils down to your preference: Do you like richer-looking pictures, even if they're not the most realistic? Meanwhile, the iPhone 13 series offers Photographic Styles that let you select a default color temperature and contrast setting so all your shots come out tuned to your tastes.
Up front, the S22 Ultra's 40-MP camera is also similar to the S21 Ultra's. Samsung says it improved its stereo depth mapping system for more accurate bokeh effects in portraits, though, and from my experience it seems effective. Compared to selfies I took with the iPhone 13 Pro and Pixel 6 Pro, Samsung's flagship was just as accurate at differentiating my hair from my background, blurring out exactly the same areas as the other two did. Previous Samsung cameras delivered somewhat artificial and awkward-looking portraits, but this time around the S22 Ultra produces more natural-looking bokeh.
The S22 Ultra’s other updates are around video recording. Specifically, Samsung added an auto-framing feature that will detect faces in view and keep up to 10 subjects centered in the scene. You can also select the people you want to prioritize, and the system will follow them around. This was generally effective in my testing, and though I held the S22 Ultra still from a fixed point, the camera followed our video producer Brian around as he strolled around our office. But as he got to the extreme sides of its field of view, the scene started to show noticeable fisheye distortion, warping Brian’s face.
There are plenty of other features Samsung carried over from its previous flagships, but breaking them down here would take forever. Suffice to say that most features you’ve enjoyed on the S21 Ultra or older, like capable image stabilization and Director’s View for recording with both the front and rear cameras, are there. And if you’re one of the people who enjoyed the 100x Space Zoom feature from before, you can still use the S22 Ultra to get super up close to faraway objects. Though I generally found this feature slightly creepy, in some cases the results were actually clear enough to read. For the most part, though, I found Space Zoom most useful at up to 30x zoom. Anything beyond that was usually muddy and unusable.
Samsung software exclusives
Thanks to a collaboration with Google, the S22 series gets a custom version of the Duo video calling app that exclusively enables new screen sharing and auto framing features.
When my colleague Sam and I called each other on our review units, I was able to show him a game I was playing by selecting the new screen share button in Duo. As I launched other apps while on the call, a small icon appeared on the left side of the screen to remind me I was still sharing my screen.
Engadget (Screenshot)
This integration isn’t as sophisticated as Apple’s SharePlay, which has thoughtful limitations on what notifications can be seen while you’re sharing your screen. Meanwhile, another S22 Ultra reviewer I called could see the message alerts that popped up during our chat. Samsung and Google’s Live Sharing feature also doesn’t natively support streaming apps like Netflix or Hulu, meaning you won’t be able to watch shows together with your friends (unless it’s on YouTube).
Samsung also added the auto-framing feature it introduced in its camera app to Duo, so you can make sure your face is centered while you’re on your call. When I enabled this feature, the app automatically switched to a wider angle shot via the front camera, zooming in to keep me in view as I moved around my living room. It’s helpful if you want to leave your phone propped up somewhere while you’re talking, but it does nothing if you’re just going to hold your phone up or remain stationary, which is how I take most of my video calls. This feature is more useful on smart displays, since you can’t move them around as easily as phones.
Samsung also offers a “collaboration view” feature that allows you to use your S22 handset as a second screen for a Tab S8. For example, if you open Samsung Notes on the tablet and click the phone icon on the top right (after both devices are connected to the same WiFi), you can use your S22 as a secondary menu or control panel for paintbrush options. We don’t have a Tab S8 in for review yet, so I unfortunately couldn’t test this feature.
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
As with older Samsung flagships, you can also quickly share content to other nearby Galaxy devices and use Link To Windows to connect to your laptop. One UI 4.0 also offers new color palettes and themes that permeate the entire system, a la Material You on Android 12, which lets you refresh your interface any time you get bored.
Performance and battery life
The S22 series are among the first flagships to use Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processors, and in general you’ll get the expected speedy performance from the premium processors. My S22 Ultra didn’t break a sweat when I was jumping between reading Reddit and playing a spot-the-difference game while using it as a hotspot for my other devices while my internet was out. I’m actually surprised I never noticed the handset running warm during my time with it, and I have to give credit to Samsung for its improved thermal system here.
I was also slightly taken aback to see the S22 Ultra’s battery life drop from 75 percent when I took it out of its box at noon to just 20 percent by the evening. I initially chalked that up to power used during setup, but in general the S22 Ultra never made it through a full 24 hours. On our video rundown battery test, the S22 Ultra’s result of 17 hours and 16 minutes beat the Pixel 6 Pro by just three minutes, but was hours behind the S21 Ultra, which lasted 21 hours and 42 minutes. It’s possible that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is not as power efficient as its predecessor, and Samsung also confirmed to Engadget that the S Pen draws power from the S22 Ultra while inside its slot, which might be why the S21 Ultra has a longer runtime.
Wrap-up
I have to confess: While writing this review, I kept typing “the Note 22 Ultra” and had to correct my mistake at least a dozen times. Those of you who are Note fans will find this a pleasant reunion. The main upgrades for those coming from a Note 20 Ultra will be in the cameras and software, and considering that phone is about two years old by now, you’ll probably be thankful for the updated specs.
But if you’ve never held a Galaxy Note before, the change could be a welcome refresh. With the addition of the S Pen, too, the S22 Ultra is, more than ever, the phone for the most demanding of power users.
If you want a premium Android flagship but don't need extras like the S Pen or a second telephoto lens, you'll probably find the S22+ good enough. The only real complaints I have with the S22 Ultra are that the display and camera updates Samsung added this year are a little underwhelming. Minor gripes aside, the S22 Ultra is still an excellent phone and the best premium Android flagship you can buy.
Key specs
Spec
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
Display
6.8-inch 3,088 x 1,440 (19.3:9) curved AMOLED, up to 120Hz, with Vision Booster and 240Hz touch sampling in Game Mode
Dimensions
6.43 x 3.06 x 0.4 inches / 163.3 x 77.9 x 8.9 mm; 8.07 oz / 229 grams
The existing Privacy Sandbox is itself a set of proposals that would eventually grow into a set of open standards Google hopes the industry will adopt. Last year, one of the primary approaches Google was putting forward was FLoC (or Federated Learning of Cohorts) that would group people with thousands of other users with similar browsing histories. That was replaced last month by Topics API, which let Chrome use your browsing history to serve publishers a list of five subjects it determines you're interested in, again based on your browsing history.
What that demonstrates is the current fluidity of Privacy Sandbox, which is a collection of ideas at the moment. In today's announcement, vice president of product management for Android security and privacy Anthony Chavez wrote that "these solutions will limit sharing of user data with third parties and operate without cross-app identifiers." That would include advertising IDs. Chavez said "we're also exploring technologies that reduce the potential for covert data collection, including safer ways for apps to integrate with advertising SDKs."
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
But there are no real concrete methods actually being executed right now, and Google is in the design and testing stage. Starting today, the company said developers can "review our initial design proposals and share feedback on the Android developer site." It is planning to "release developer previews over the course of the year, with a beta release by the end of the year." Google also promised "regular updates on designs and timelines."
In the meantime, the company said it will continue to "support existing ads platform features for at least two years, and we intend to provide substantial notice ahead of any future changes."
Google also referenced Apple's approach on iOS today (without naming the iPhone maker), acknowledging that "other platforms have taken a different approach to ads privacy." But Chavez described that approach as "bluntly restricting existing technologies used by developers and advertisers." The company believes it still needs to provide a way for businesses to serve targeted ads to users and to make sure those ads are relevant.
Chavez added that "we know this initiative needs input from across the industry in order to succeed," and the company included statements from many partners in its news post today. These include Snap, Duolingo, Rovio, Activision Blizzard and seven other app makers, who each expressed similar sentiments about respecting the privacy needs of Android app users. Google's Privacy Sandbox has already faced regulatory scrutiny from the EU and the UK, with the latter's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) having accepted Google's latest proposals last week.
Clearly, there is a lot of work to be done while the internet's giants and the ad industry figure out how best to balance personalized ads with user privacy, and Google's inclusion of Android in its considerations is happening not a moment too soon.
