I posted in here a few months ago about my experiences with the S22U camera and how as well as finding it less intuitive than the cameras I’ve used on my old iPhones, I’ve just found the output underwhelming compared to the hype around the stats and have always had better results from my family’s iPhones (all different models).
I know the S22U in Europe/the UK has the Exynos chip and I’ve had issues with it (including the phone freezing stuck on, twice in 12 hours at one point), and it seems like (based on Reddit comments etc) I’m not the only one and the Snapdragon chip is like getting a new flagship phone.
Is it possible the fact I feel like my family’s iPhones produce much better results (98% of the time. Especially portraits/photos with people in them) due to the Exynos chip?
Because of the issues, I’m looking to upgrade to the S23U anyway, but if it isn’t a chip thing then I’m considering possibly going back to an iPhone. I don’t know.
My plan is to get a Plus Plan with 02 (who I already have a contract with) which includes Switch Up which means I can switch my phone from every 90 days. They accept it, pay off the rest of the contract, and put me on a new phone of my choice with another Plus Plan. They refurb and sell the old phone ‘as new’. So it’s like a trade in with Samsung except I don’t have to pay the rest of the phone off (on the whole I don’t really mind about not getting free gifts like Galaxy buds. I’ve got my Sony’s and am happy with them)
Can other people who’ve got Exynos (or Snapdragon) S22U’s weigh in on this? Is it just a chip thing and I’m good to upgrade to the S23U which has Snapdragon worldwide?
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Use pro mode. Solved 99% of my camera issues with samsung. Only big issue I have is I can’t lock the exposure for video unless I use opencamera. Also the 64mp shooter doesn’t work with flash. It’s so terrible I might actually create a new instagram or X to start posting the horrible out of focus images it creates with the flash enabled.
S23 ultra user here, you are probably going to see a significant difference jumping from the exynos variant s22U but tbh the night time shots and the motion blur is still awful.
I don’t understand how people compare this to the iPhone’s (14/15 series too) camera and says it beats it, during day time and in well lit surroundings sure it does really well but that’s like every other high end phone at this point, but as soon as it’s night time with even medium lit surroundings the phone struggles to take anything useful and the night time videos turn out to be very choppy (4k 60 fps looks more like 1080p 30-45 fps or something). the post processing that samsung does on those night time shots makes it further a blurry mess, the skies are whitened and some unusual white bands visible. I have tried turning off scene optimizer and tweaked a few other things on camera assistant but yeah it hasn’t helped much. The new lens that s23U has with large aperture messes up the focus on things even close by. coming from a galaxy A51 which is a low tier midrange phone from like 3 years ago, I was expecting something a lot better but it’s bad still.
That being said everything else, this phone delivers (and arguably it beats everyone else including the latest iPhone 15s), its crazy fast, really really smooth and snappy when it comes to multi tasking,I’ve had no stutters or random issues so far, battery life is inconsistent with the updates but atleast I get anywhere between 6.5-9 hours of screen on time and around 12-15 hours of screen off time from 100-20%. The front cam is insanely underrated, takes really good portrait selfies and decent night time shots. The 200MP captures really good details in well lit areas (but again horrible in any other lighting conditions). The 100x zoom is wild and the processing helps get some really good details out of it.
I would say if you’re getting it purely for the camera and the ease of use when it comes to communicating with others who are also on iOS, iPhones are the way to go, everything else s23U gives a far superior experience. most of these camera issues I believe can be fixed from a software perspective but these exist in every other samsung phone and I don’t really expect anything to be fixed soon (android 14, one ui 6 is around the corner and there isn’t any news on these issues fixed, all they did related to camera was change the camera UI), maybe with the s24U release and possibly one ui 6.1, hoping for something that is better.
Then you should get an iPhone, if you are not confident. My wife uses an iPhone (I have one as a backup), but she says the photos on my Samsung S22U and now S23U are better than her iPhone photos.
From my experience with S22U, Exynos chip… Everything was fine with the camera until S23 came out. If I remember correctly, all the problems started with the September software update.
Yeah I have no idea what samsung had in mind with the S22 Series. Even the year prior’s model S21 Ultra is better in most ways. Should have done your research properly, unless you got it at launch, not much research to do then other than the specsheet, which already pointed at some underwhelming specs in comparison to the S21U
Unfortunately A I think I upgraded near launch bc my old S10 5G (also Exynos) was also giving me issues and B I don’t understand the technical jargon and specs too much and how to compare the stats etc etc. Since I’m a photography buff, the most I did/could understand really in terms of the specs is watching YouTube videos comparing the cameras etc but now ai realise those are likely probably biased.
And since I’m very bad at budgeting etc (severe ADHD) I don’t make those kind of decisions. My mum pays my phone bill (and also kn the last couple instances my phone outright when I traded in) really when I can upgrade is kind of all on her as well.
My family members say there’s always 'something that’s gone wrong with my phone despite it being new. I think it’s a combo of the chip (this and the S10 5G have had Exynos, my previous Huawei Mate 20 Pro had the Kirrin chip I believe?) and also possibly how I take care of them; I’m incredibly clumsy etc.
Which is why I wanted to switch to the Plus Plan with 02 so I can take advantage of Switch Up and basically upgrade whenever I want without worrying too much about the cost as they pay the rest of the plan off for you.