Google Pixel 7 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: What's the best Android phone?

A Google Pixel 7 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra showdown can decide which Android flagship is the best for you. It’s a tough race to call, since both devices do specific things very well. If you’re looking for the best value, stick with the less expensive Pixel, but if you want heaps of features, opt for the Galaxy.

Of course, the camera competition is fierce, with Samsung and Google putting up their best efforts yet. The Galaxy S22 Ultra goes all in on zoom, offering 10x optical and 100x digital. But the Pixel 7 Pro has many useful features up its sleeve, making it the smartest camera phone ever made.

So which device is better? Read on for our Google Pixel 7 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra face-off.

Pixel 7 Pro vs. Galaxy S22 Ultra: Specs

Google Pixel 7 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Price and availability

The Pixel 7 Pro and Galaxy S22 Ultra diverge significantly when it comes to price. Google’s phone starts at $899 / £849 / AU$1,299 for 128GB of storage. The S22 Ultra kicks off at a whopping AU$1,199 / £1,149 / AU$1,849, a full $300 / £300 / AU$550 more than Google’s flagship. That’s a huge difference, no matter where you're located.

Topping out at 512GB (not available in the UK) for $1,099 / AU$1,599, the Pixel 7 Pro offers a serious advantage over the Galaxy S22 Ultra in price. Samsung’s top Galaxy S caps at 512GB for $1,399 / £1,329 / AU$2,149. We can’t overemphasize how big an advantage a $300 / £300 / AU$550 price gap is for the Pixel 7 Pro, especially at a time when costs are on the rise. To save even more on these particular models, look for either the best Pixel 7 deals or best Galaxy S22 deals.

You can pick up the Galaxy S22 Ultra basically anywhere, but the Pixel 7 Pro also enjoys a wider availability over its predecessors. Google expanded its markets to 12 new countries this year, meaning more people can enjoy its excellent handset.

Winner: Google Pixel 7 Pro

Google Pixel 7 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Design

Both the Pixel 7 Pro and Galaxy S22 Ultra balk at traditional smartphone design, taking their phones in a different direction from Apple’s.

The Pixel 7 Pro looks a lot more interesting with its now iconic camera bar stretching across the width of the phone. The camera lenses, more prominent this year, catch your attention immediately with Google indicating that this device means business when it comes to photography.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra looks unique also, having adopted the Galaxy Note design from 2020. (In fact, this device is a Galaxy Note in all but name.) The rear quad camera plus laser autofocus setup sits in a P shape in the top left corner of the device. It’s a cool look, especially when combined with the flat edges and rounded back.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra feels like a brick, weighing a solid 8 ounces (228 g), while the Pixel 7 Pro feels more svelte at 7.3 ounces (212 g). Both phones are IP68-rated, able to survive submersion underwater up to roughly three feet (1.5 m) for 30 minutes.

The winner in design comes down to personal preference. Do you like the large, bulky, blocky Galaxy S22 Ultra? Or the slimmer Pixel 7 Pro with Google’s refined design language? Both are sturdy and well-built, so I will call this one a draw.

Winner: Draw

Google Pixel 7 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Display

When it comes to displays, Samsung is the clear winner. The Pixel 7 Pro puts up a great fight with plenty of brightness and rich colors, but Samsung simply has the advantage. 

The Pixel 7 Pro features a 6.7-inch OLED panel with a resolution of 3120 x 1440 and an adaptive refresh rate of 10-120Hz. In our testing, it achieved 927 nits of brightness, whereas the Galaxy S22 Ultra, with its 6.8-inch Super AMOLED (3088 x 1440) display and 1-120Hz refresh rate, managed an insane 1,359 nits.

For color reproduction, the Pixel 7 Pro reproduced 104.9% and 74.3% of the sRGB and DCI-P3 color gamuts, respectively. We performed these tests in the phone’s Natural color calibration. With the Galaxy S22 Ultra, meanwhile, we saw 137.5% of the sRGB spectrum and 97.4% of the more challenging DCI-P3 gamut. That was also in the Natural color setting.

For Delta-E color accuracy, where a score of 0 is perfect, the Pixel 7 Pro managed 0.28 while the Galaxy S22 Ultra scored 0.25. 

Videos, games and pictures just pop more on the Galaxy S22 Ultra, though both phones are pretty equal for sharpness with their QHD+ resolutions. Reading books on either device is a treat, but if you consume any other media, the Galaxy S22 Ultra is the easy pick.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

Google Pixel 7 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Cameras

The Galaxy S22 Ultra packs in four cameras, two of which are telephoto lens. The S22’s main sensor is a massive 108MP with an aperture of f/1.8 and pixel size of 0.8µm. The 12MP ultrawide sensor sits behind a lens with a 120-degree field of view. The twin 10MP telephoto sensors come equipped with 3x or 10x optical zoom. The fifth sensor in the camera module provides laser autofocus.

The Pixel 7 Pro makes do with three rear cameras. The main 50MP (f/1.85) sensor does the heavy lifting combined with Google’s software magic, while the 12MP ultrawide helps capture wider shots with its 126-degree field of view. The 48MP telephoto camera has a 5x optical zoom, plus 2x when combining the main and telephoto cameras with Super Res Zoom.

For selfies, the Pixel 7 Pro has a 10.8MP front shooter while the Galaxy S22 Ultra sports a 40MP one. The Pixel 7 Pro enjoys a wider 92.8-degree field of view for group selfies versus the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s 80-degree FOV.

To start this photo comparison, here’s an oddly artistic trash can in my neighborhood. I notice that the Pixel 7 Pro’s image is a bit dimmer to account for the bright sun in the background. The Galaxy S22 Ultra cranked up the brightness. The Pixel’s shot is a bit warmer, too, while the S22 Ultra is a tad more vibrant than what I saw at the scene. I think the Pixel’s picture is better.

Inside, the Galaxy S22 Ultra once again strays toward too bright. The Pixel 7 Pro represented these books appropriately given the ambient lighting in the room. It’s a lot more accurate with the colors, too, while the S22 Ultra exhibits some of Samsung’s trademark oversaturation. The Pixel easily wins this one.

Looking at this basket of fruit outside at night, this is a close call. On the one hand, the Pixel 7 Pro shows off the colors beautifully, but the focus is a bit soft. On the other, the Galaxy S22 Ultra is brighter and more vibrant with sharper detail. It’s hard to believe, but I think the Galaxy S22 Ultra has the better night shot.

Finally, in this selfie, I think the Galaxy S22 Ultra didn’t capture my proper skin tone. I look way too tan and orange-ish, while the Pixel 7 Pro got my natural ruddiness right. Like in the portrait, it darkened my hair a bit too much, but overall, I prefer the Pixel’s selfie. The Galaxy S22 Ultra’s looks really good, but it’s not accurate.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra is a great camera phone, but the Pixel 7 Pro wins out in most respects. But I’m sure you’re just as shocked as me that Samsung’s night mode beat the Pixel’s Night Sight.

Winner: Google Pixel 7 Pro

Google Pixel 7 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Performance

Starting last year, Google moved away from Qualcomm to make its own chipsets in collaboration with Samsung. The result was Tensor (G1), a chip focused specifically on AI and machine learning through Google’s own Tensor Processor Unit (TPU). The result was pretty impressive, even if the chip’s raw performance didn’t impress.

This year, the Pixel 7 Pro uses the Tensor G2, an upgraded version of the G1. It’s more powerful and has the capacity for even more AI/ML applications. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S22 Ultra rocks the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, which was Qualcomm’s flagship product before the release of the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 later on in 2022.

Surprisingly, Tensor G2 is a good match for the Snapdragon in benchmarks like Geekbench 5 and Adobe Premiere Rush, though it still lags in the graphics department. For example, the Pixel 7 Pro scored 1,060 / 3,046 in Geekbench single-core and multicore, respectively. The Galaxy S22 Ultra managed 1,240 / 3,392.

In our Adobe Premiere Rush 4K-1080p video transcoding test, the Pixel 7 Pro completed the task in 47 seconds, matching the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s time. So if you want to edit and transcode video shot on either phone, you’re in good hands.

The larger gap comes down to the GPUs, with the Pixel 7 Pro managing 40 frames per second (fps) in 3DMark’s Wild Life Unlimited graphics benchmark. The Galaxy S22 Ultra pulled 57 fps. 

While the Pixel 7 Pro puts up a good fight with more than adequate performance for daily use, photography, and video consumption, the Galaxy S22 Ultra is simply more powerful in most respects.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

Google Pixel 7 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Battery life and charging

Both the Pixel 7 Pro and Galaxy S22 Ultra have 5,000 mAh batteries, which is positively massive. Unfortunately, neither phone wowed us in our battery life test. This is where we task a phone to reload web pages continuously over a cellular connection until they die. 

Modern 5G smartphones average a little less than 10 hours on this test. Sadly, the Pixel 7 Pro turned in a poor time of 8 hours, 4 minutes with its adaptive refresh rate enabled. The Galaxy S22 Ultra got much closer with 9 hours, 50 minutes in its adaptive refresh rate mode. But at almost two hours longer, the Galaxy S22 Ultra enjoys a substantial lead over the Pixel 7 Pro.

That continues with charging. The Pixel supports up to 30W while the Galaxy S22 Ultra can go up to 45W. It stands to reason that the Galaxy will recharge its 5,000 mAh battery well before the Pixel can recharge its own.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

Google Pixel 7 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Software and special features

The Pixel 7 Pro runs Android 13 out of the box, complete with Google’s vision for the OS. It's a more simplistic affair than the Galaxy S22 Ultra, which runs Android 12 at time of writing. (Android 13 and One UI 5 are right around the corner, however.) Both phones have excellent software and you can’t honestly go wrong with either of them.

Thanks to its Tensor chipset, the Pixel 7 Pro has many neat tricks like Photo Unblur, which does what you might expect. It’s honestly quite impressive and the Pixel 7 Pro can even unblur your old photos. Then there’s Active Stabilization, which stabilizes videos with a lot of motion, such as when running. Cinematic Blur adds an artistic bokeh effect to your videos, similar to portraits.

Tensor powers other Pixel 7 Pro features, too, like Direct My Call, which transcribes automated voice menu options right away, or Hold For Me, where Assistant will stay on the line for you if you’re put on hold. There’s the legendary Call Screen, which lets you see who’s calling and why before you pick up. The Pixel 7 Pro easily outpaces the Galaxy S22 Ultra in software tricks, especially something as simple as voice typing — Assistant is really good at this, understanding context and even suggesting relevant emoji even if you don’t remember the right name.

This isn’t to say that the Galaxy S22 Ultra is a slouch. Samsung’s flagship offers its own smorgasbord of features thanks to the built-in S Pen, unlocking incredible stylus capabilities. Not only can you take handwritten notes (which can convert to text), but you can also use the S Pen to select things in images, markup documents and screenshots, and translate text.

In typical Samsung fashion, there are a lot more features onboard, much more than I have time to talk about here. While the Pixel 7 Pro opts more minimal, useful features, the Galaxy S22 Ultra goes all out. Which is better depends on your preference.

However, the reason I will crown the Galaxy S22 Ultra the winner here comes down to support. Samsung has promised four years of Android updates and five years of security patches, while Google has committed to only three years of Android updates. At least Google matched Samsung on security. 

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

Google Pixel 7 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Verdict

Like I said, this is a close race, but the Galaxy S22 Ultra ultimately comes out ahead with its best-in-class display, stronger performance with its Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, and better (though still not great) battery life. Of course, the Pixel 7 Pro proved the superior camera phone and is a much, much better value at $899 — the $300 delta between these two phones cannot be ignored.

After using both phones consistently for over a week, I am hard-pressed to pick a favorite. I love the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s display, but I also love the Pixel’s software. If it were my money, I’d go with the Pixel 7 Pro, as I’d have a hard time justifying an extra $300 / £300 / AU$550 for the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Whether that holds true for you or not depends on what you value in a smartphone. 

Just because Samsung won our Google Pixel 7 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra showdown by a hair doesn’t mean the Pixel 7 Pro deserves any less praise. If only the battery life was better, then Google might have won this one out. In fact our Global Editor-in-Chief, Mark Spoonauer, also thinks that after using the both the phones — the Pixel 7 Pro blows away the Galaxy S22 Ultra.