The Samsung Galaxy S smartphone line has followed a fairly predictable trend when it comes to screen size: a steady increase. In 2015 and 2016, the handsets packed 5.1-inch screens before Samsung upped it to 5.8-inches between 2017 and 2018, and up again to 6.2-inches for the Galaxy S20 and S21. Now, with the Samsung Galaxy S22, it appears Samsung could be putting this trend into reverse with a noticeable reduction.
According to Mauri QHD, a leaker with a very strong track record, the Samsung Galaxy S22 will come in three sizes: 6.06-inches, 6.55-inches and 6.81-inches. If correct, it means that only the Ultra will maintain a similar screen dimension from the previous generation. For the two other devices, it will be the first time Samsung has decided to reduce the panel dimensions.
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For reference, the standard Galaxy S21 is 6.2 inches, the Plus model is 6.7 inches and the Ultra is 6.8 inches. The Galaxy S21 FE (Fan Edition), meanwhile, is predicted to sit between the standard S21 and S21 Plus models with a screen size of 6.4 inches.
Granted, we’re not talking an enormous differences here, and other design tweaks may mean the phones end up feeling pretty similar in the hand. But Mauri QHD shared something else significant: “Only Ultra is LTPO.”
LTPO – or low-temperature Polycrystalline oxide – allows phones to dynamically shift their refresh rates without extra hardware components. This means that a handset can shift from power-hungry, high-refresh rate activity (say a game running at 120 fps) to a much lower one (a 1 fps clock on your lockscreen) aiding battery life without impacting the day-to-day experience.
Samsung claims that handsets which use its LPTO panels, including the Galaxy S21 Ultra, enjoy power consumption reduced by up to 16%. Keeping it exclusively for S22 Ultra buyers can be seen one of two ways: either a cost saving measure to allow the S22 and S22 Plus to sell for less, or a way of upselling the Ultra version to people who want the best battery life and screen tech imaginable.
Given the Samsung Galaxy S22 family likely won’t be with us until January 2022 at the very earliest, all of this should be treated with a degree of skepticism for the moment. But with Samsung’s new ISOCELL JN1 camera sensor with tiny 0.64 micrometer pixels and a possible tie in with AMD for a huge graphical boost, it’s hard not to look ahead to what the company may have in store for us next year.
And Roland Moore-Coyer reckons the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra could be the best Galaxy Note ever.
