Samsung Galaxy S22 case renders show big changes for the S22 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra review
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (Image credit: Future)

Other than the Google Pixel 6 – which is in a weird half launched state – the Samsung Galaxy S22 range is arguably the next major smartphone launch we’re expecting, and we now have a good idea of what to expect from the phones visually, thanks to some leaked case renders.

The most interesting are those showing the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, shared by leaker Ice Universe. These show a phone with a far more angular design than the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. It’s a shape that’s more like the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra in fact.

The images also show a cut-out in the case which might be for the rumored S Pen slot, all of which, along with the rumored name change to the Samsung Galaxy Note 22 Ultra, suggests that the Note range might be coming back sooner than expected.

The back of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra also looks different, with a camera block that’s more of a ‘P’ shape, though it sounds like Ice Universe isn’t certain this will be the exact shape, based on the accompanying text.

Next up there’s the Samsung Galaxy S22 and Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus, with renders for both of these phones shared by SlashLeaks. These are less interesting simply because they look a lot like their predecessors, though it appears that the Samsung Galaxy S22 might have larger camera lenses than the Galaxy S21.

However, given that the lenses also look potentially bigger than those shown on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus, we wouldn’t read too much into this – they might have been incorrectly rendered.

In any case, all of these designs look broadly like what we’ve seen before in previous leaks, so while we’d take them with a pinch of salt, they may well be accurate.


Analysis: Samsung rolling the Note into the S range makes sense

A lot of people were disappointed that there wasn’t a new Samsung Galaxy Note this year, but the range hasn’t made a huge amount of sense for a while now.

The Note range used to have larger screen sizes than the S range, but in recent years that hasn’t so much been the case, leaving the S Pen as the only major differentiator. That hardly seems enough to justify a whole line of handsets, but it is a useful feature to have, so Samsung adding it to the S range makes sense.

That started with the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra this year, but that phone didn’t have a slot for the S Pen, while it’s looking increasingly like the Galaxy S22 Ultra will.

We’re not sure it’s necessary to change the name or design in line with the Note range, as also might be happening. But either way, whether we get the S22 Ultra or the Note 22 Ultra, it seems the spirit of Samsung’s Galaxy Note range will probably live on, without the excessive number of overly similar premium handsets that the company has been offering for the last few years.

Via PocketNow

James Rogerson

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.