The Samsung Galaxy A22 5G may not be a powerhouse phone, but it promises to give you what you need for not a lot of money.
Two different sets of leaks from SamMobile and Twitter leaker OnLeaks have revealed the phone's exterior design as well as some of its specs. And it looks like Samsung's going to be offering its cheapest 5G phone yet.
- Samsung Galaxy A52 5G review
- Find a new well-priced phone with our best cheap phones guide
- Plus: Samsung Galaxy Book Pro leak just revealed MacBook Pro rival
A previous leak has claimed this phone will cost under $200, which is unbelievably cheap for a 5G-ready phone. Samsung's Galaxy A32 5G is currently the cheapest the company offers, but that has a price of $279.
Inside the A22 is a MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset, accompanied by 6GB RAM. It managed a Geekbench 5 result of 562 single-core points and 1,755 multicore points, which isn't particularly impressive but what you'd expect for the price.
Looking at the outside of the phone, the A22 features an Infinity-V display (waterdrop notch in normal English), a step back from the punch-hole display the A21 used. Based on the A32, this is likely a 6.5-inch HD display, hopefully with a 90Hz refresh rate
Meanwhile, the camera bump on the back is square rather than Samsung's usual rectangle, and contains three sensors. We can assume these are the same 48MP main, 8MP ultrawide and 2MP depth sensors as appear on the Galaxy A42 5G, another new, cheaper member of Samsung's Galaxy A series.
Some of the other key features are welcome news. The A22 uses a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, an old-fashioned but still effective unlocking method. It also has a headphone jack for your non-wireless audio gear and runs on Android 11, presumably via Samsung's One UI 3.0.
The Samsung Galaxy A21s from last year featured a 5,000 mAh battery, which is large for any phone, let alone a budget device. Neither source mentions battery size, so let's hope this huge power cell has made it to the new version too.
There aren't many phones around this price point, but we are big fans of the ones which exist. This includes the Motorola Moto G Power (2021) and Moto G Stylus, which offer many similar features to the Galaxy A22. We'll have to give the A22 a full examination after its official reveal event to see if it deserves its own spot on the best cheap phones list.
