Thanks to OLED, the Galaxy A22 (left) has a much higher-contrast display (6.4 inches) than the Galaxy A22 5G, which is larger at 6.5 inches.
Galaxy A22: design and size
Gone are the days when cheap smartphones looked cheap and bulky. Although the display frame of the test candidate is significantly thicker than that of the S22, for example, the display covers more than 80 percent of the front. The front camera is hidden in a small teardrop-shaped recess. If you hold both devices next to each other, you will immediately see differences. For one thing, the A22 (6.4-inch display size) is smaller than the A22 5G (6.5-inch). There are also significant differences in display quality.
Galaxy A22: OLED, but dark
pace of work
Who needs 5G?
For maximum Internet speed on the go, the 5G version is technically the variant of choice. In practice, however, 5G is currently rather a waste in this price range. Anyone in Germany who is currently willing to shell out 40 euros or more a month for an expensive 5G tariff will certainly not end up buying a 200-euro smartphone. After all, 5G offers a bit of future security – Samsung also promises three years of Android updates for the A series, i.e. theoretically up to Android 14, and another year of security patches that come every three months. The WLAN equipment with Wifi 5 (WLAN-ac) is completely sufficient for the offered performance. The devices work on both common WLAN frequency ranges. And the slow processors would hardly be able to process more data throughput without hiccups.
Strong battery life
As low as the working speed is in this price range, the battery life is as long. With more than 14 hours of continuous use, the normal Galaxy A22 achieves one of the best runtime values of all smartphones tested so far, lasting almost two hours longer than the A22 5G. No wonder: the processor works leisurely, the screen only has to move a comparatively few pixels back and forth. Even the increased refresh rate of 90 Hertz does not noticeably reduce the battery life.
Samsung A22: patience while charging
Samsung takes it easy when charging. Samsung includes a 15-watt power supply with the inscription “Adaptive Fast Charging” in both models. But in 2020, a charging time of more than two hours is anything but fast, even with a huge battery of 5,000 mAh. After 15 minutes, the battery of the A22 is only 11 percent full (with the A22 5G it is at least 15 percent) – in the test, the LTE model did not exhaust the performance of the 15-watt power supply unit and never pulled more than it even from the socket 13 watts.
Galaxy A22 left, A22 5G right. Both have main (48 MP), ultra wide (A22: 8 MP; A22 5G: 5 MP) and depth (2 MP) cameras. Only the A22 has a macro.
Galaxy A22: The bokeh effect (portrait mode) for selfies may still look acceptable on the mobile phone display. However, a closer look reveals unnatural edges.
Watch out for storage!
The memory of the tested model variants with 128 gigabytes is large enough for most users. We do not recommend the 64 GB variants that are also offered – especially since the savings of 10 to 20 euros are extremely small. The memory can also be expanded with a card. But only a few apps are able to store data on memory cards.
Galaxy A22: shot with the ultra wide-angle camera.
Galaxy A22: shot with the main camera.
Galaxy A22: Zoom shots with very high magnification (here 20x) are useless.
Camera: Not bad at all
In the camera tests, the devices did not do so badly. Both have a 48-megapixel main camera. It takes some really good photos in daylight. However, the zoom performance is abysmal, especially with the smaller A22 – which does better in low light. There is also an ultra-wide-angle camera (5 megapixels on the A22 5G, 8 MP on the A22) – the A22 also has a macro camera (2 MP).
Test conclusion: Galaxy A22 (LTE)
The Galaxy A22 in the version without 5G scores with the high-contrast and reasonably bright screen. But it is very slow and has a pixelated display. If you are not very patient and use your cell phone mainly indoors, it is better to use the Galaxy A22 5G.