Sometimes I’m quite confused with the Samsung Galaxy A-series lineup positioning. Especially their entry-level models which indirectly clashing with each other either on the specification or pricing.

I get to test out Samsung’s newest Galaxy A22 non 5G, this is probably the most accessible smartphone that features a 90Hz Super AMOLED display and Optical Image Stabilisation camera.

Samsung Galaxy A22 – Specifications

Samsung Galaxy A22 – FastView

Samsung Galaxy A22 – What’s in The Box

Inside the box, there are the device, some documents, a SIM ejector pin, a USB A to USB C cable, a 3.5mm wired earphone and Samsung 15W Adaptive Fast Charger.

Samsung Galaxy A22 – Design

It’s an entry-level smartphone, so do expect more plastic here and there. The high-gloss plastic rear cover that looks like glass has a Samsung branding at the bottom and a quad rear camera bump.

On the right side is where the volume rocker and power buttons are. The power button also doubled as a fingerprint scanner.

It has a dual 4G sim slot plus a dedicated microSD card tray and supports up to 1TB storage which is located on the top left.

At the bottom is a single down-firing speaker, USB C charging port, a microphone and a 3.5mm audio port.

Samsung Galaxy A22 – Display

Sporting a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED HD+ resolution with Infinity-U display. It has a pretty decent bezel size and obvious chin size. Samsung did not specify what’s glass protection uses, since Corning Gorilla was not mentioned, I presuming it’s a DragonTrail glass.

Even though it has only a 720p resolution it looks absolutely fine (unless you pixel peeks), in fact, better than some other FHD+ IPS panels. Because it uses a Super AMOLED display, the display looks bright and crisp. There’s no issue viewing the display even under bright sunlight.

The 90Hz refresh rate added a smoother user experience regardless of scrolling or playing games that required fast touch-sampling.

The Always-on-Display (AOD) feature is also available on the Galaxy A22, this is thanks to the power-efficient Super AMOLED display, so you get to check time and notifications without switching on the device.

Samsung Galaxy A22 – Performance & Battery

Under the hood is the MediaTek Helio G80, an octa-core processor paired with 6GB of RAM and 128GB internal storage.

Performance was average like others mid-range devices. It can handle any regular tasks effortlessly such as social media, messaging and even casual gaming; as the MediaTek Helio G-series processors are optimized for gaming.

The 5,000 mAh battery can easily last 2 days with regular use. The 15W charger would take 2 hours to revive a completely flat Galaxy A22.

Samsung Galaxy A22 – Camera

Equipped with quad rear camera setup; a 48-megapixels f/1.8 aperture main camera with OIS, an 8-megapixels ultrawide, a 2-megapixels macro lens and a depth sensor.

The photos taken on the main camera is pretty decent with great dynamic range and sharp images. Coming to ultrawide, it has a 123-degree angle view and the picture quality are fine in bright light situations but a little saturated when coming to lowlight environments.

You can get more details when you switch to 48-megapixels, it’s pretty significant when you zoom in on the images. The OIS works impressively well, it not only helps in the video but also slow shutter photo taking like in night mode. Video recording-wise, it is only capable to shoot 1,080p at 30fps.

Here are some photo samples took with the Samsung Galaxy A22

If you like taking selfies, the front 13-megapixels does support portrait mode where you can take selfies with a bokeh background.

Samsung Galaxy A22 – One UI 3.1

Running on the latest One UI 3.1 based on Android 11 which also use on other Samsung’s latest flagship smartphones. It has a very clean and modern UX with adds Android 11’s core features.

The One UI 4.0 based on Android 12 is also in the pipeline for the Galaxy A22.

Samsung Galaxy A22 – Verdict

For the price of RM 899, the Galaxy A22 LTE is a pretty solid device to recommend for those who are looking for a budget everyday use device. It offers a smooth 90Hz Super AMOLED display and a 48-megapixels camera that has Optical Image Stabilization. As to date, I don’t see any smartphone offer similar at this price point.