Samsung introduces new Galaxy phones: Here's what they're like

Yahoo Finance's Dan Howley reviews Samsung's latest smartphones: the Galaxy S22, S22+, and Ultra.

Video Transcript

AKIKO FUJITA: Well, Samsung is rolling out its latest trio of smartphones in their most recent push to compete against Apple's iPhone. Let's bring in Yahoo Finance's Dan Howley, who's taking a look at that. And we're talking about the Galaxy S22 line. How does it stack up?

DAN HOWLEY: That's right, Akiko. We're looking at the S22 line, as you said. These are Samsung's latest flagship devices. Now like Apple, Samsung has gone ahead and released a number of phones at once. This is the S22+. That's right, we all get exciting new names for phones every year as well. So let's go over some of the stats of these phones. There's the S22 and the S22+. Those are the basic ones. They start at $799, $999, and then $1,200.

And what you're going to look at with the S22 is a 6.1 inch screen. S22+, which is the one that I have, is a 6.6 inch screen. Neither of them have a stylus built in. That's important. I'll get to that in a second, though. They both have three cameras-- a wide angle, ultra wide, and telephoto. You can get 256 gigabytes of storage. And the big deal with these cameras is that they offer better low light capabilities.

Now, like the iPhone, the iPhone Pro, they have a 3x optical zoom. Now that's important if you want to zoom in on things. You're looking at taking photos of friends, but don't want to get super creepy up close with them. They're a great pair of phones. I've been using the S22+ for the past several days as, like, just daily driver. I love it. The battery life is fantastic. The interface is nice and smooth, a lot easier than prior Samsung interfaces since they've upgraded that last year. So it's definitely a great device if you're not an Apple fan.

Now let's move on to the S22 Ultra, though. And that's this big boy. This one has a 6.8 inch display. That's absolutely massive. You can see it's got these hardened edges up top, squared off. And then if I go here, this is where the stylus conversation comes from before. It has a built-in stylus. Now Samsung used to have a phone called the Galaxy Note. This is essentially the Galaxy Note now, but they're just going to call it the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

Like the other S22s, great low light camera performance, long lasting battery. But unlike the others, the S22 and S22+, this has a four-camera setup. And it has ultra wide, wide angle, that three times optical telephoto, and then a 10 times optical telephoto, which is just incredible. I mean, if you want to take really sharp photos of things that are at a distance, this phone is wonderful at it. The iPhone Pro only goes up to three times optical zoom, so this blows that out of the water. And then it does have those low light capabilities as well.

I think for me, I do love that 10 times zoom, but this bad boy is just too beefy for my hands. It's just too large. Getting it in and out of my pocket is an issue. I just don't feel like this is the phone for me. Now if you love giant phones, you want a stylus, and you want to be able to zoom and look at the moon, I guess, you can do that with this. As I said, $1,200. For me, though, it really is the Galaxy S22+. I think this phone is fantastic. If you're not an iPhone user, then I suggest checking this out. If you don't love Samsung, though, there's still the Google Pixel 6 Pro.

AKIKO FUJITA: Yeah, Dan, I'm with you. I think I have reached my max on the iPhone size, right? You've got to be able to put it in your pocket. And just, it has to be a little compact.

DAN HOWLEY: Too, too big. I think that's why I think the S22+ is really where to go. It fits very nicely in your hand.

AKIKO FUJITA: OK, and Dan's got the full review on our website at yahoofinance.com. Dan Howley, thanks so much for that. Coming up, WTI--