Among recent Galaxy S flagship phones from Samsung, there's little separating the design of the standard and plus-sized models from the Ultra version. But it sounds like that could change for the Galaxy S22.
Let's Go Digital says it has info from a former Samsung employee out of South Korea who goes by the handle of Super Roader. And that source tells the Dutch blog that the Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus won't adopt the waterdrop-style lenses reportedly on tap for the S22 Ultra. Rumors of that new S22 Ultra design emerged last month, along with concept drawings showing what the phone would look like.
- Here are the best Samsung phones right now
- Samsung Galaxy S22 vs Galaxy S21: Biggest rumored differences
- Plus: Galaxy S22 reportedly now in mass production for early 2022 launch
Instead, the Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus are rumored to go with a different design, one that's more closely aligned with the current Galaxy S21 look. That means a camera bump on the lefthand side of the S22's back, containing a triple camera lens array.
To help visualize what that might look like, Let's Go Digital posted concept illustrations from Italian digital artist Giuseppe Spinelli featuring a theoretical Galaxy S22.
It may be a departure for Samsung to differentiate the designs of its standard and Ultra models, but the move makes sense. Rumors suggest that the S22 Ultra is going to be treated more like a successor to the Galaxy Note series — it's expected to feature built-in S Pen support. So it could be that Samsung is trying to further distinguish the S22 Ultra from the other phones in that upcoming release by giving it a different look.
And it's not as if the Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus would lose anything by adopting a design similar to their predecessors. The Galaxy S21 released this year introduced us to Samsung's contour-cut camera design, where the phone's camera array blended seamlessly into the side of the device, making it feel less prominent. That was one of our favorite design touches with the S21, so we would be happy to see it make a return with Samsung's new phone next year.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra seems to be garnering most of the attention when it comes to rumors of what Samsung has in store for next year's phones, but the S22 could be a formidable flagship in its own right. The S22 could be slightly more compact than its predecessor, making the device easier to handle with one hand. Samsung's also said to be looking to add an under-display front camera and improvements to the rear camera that could mean more accurate colors for your photos.
The Galaxy S22 family is expected at some point during the first three months of the new year, possibly as soon as January. However, a new rumor suggests the phone's launch could be pushed back to February to accommodate the Galaxy S21 FE launch.
- More: Best Android phones
