The launch of the Galaxy A22, the successor of the Galaxy A21S, brought improvements to the specifications of the entry-level A-line phones, starting with the value. Among the improvements of the A22 is an increase in storage to twice the capacity of the older model and the new 90 Hz Super AMOLED screen.
While the Galaxy A21S landed in June 2020, the Galaxy A22 was announced just over a year later, in August 2021. The A21S is found in blue, black, and white colors. The A22 is also found in white, black, green, and violet. Find out what has changed between the devices in this comparison.
Galaxy A22 vs Galaxy A21s
| Galaxy A22 | Galaxy A21S | |
|---|---|---|
| Release date | February 2021 | June 2020 |
| Current price | $182 | $159 |
| Body | 6.4 | 6.5 inches |
| Screen resolution | HD+ (720 x 1600 pixels) | HD+ (720 x 1600 pixels) |
| Screen panel | OLED | LCD |
| Processor | MediaTek Helio G80, with eight cores up to 2 GHz | Exynos 850, with eight cores up to 2 GHz |
| RAM | 4 GB | 4 GB |
| Storage | 128 GB | 64 GB |
| Memory card | yes, microSD up to 1TB | yes, microSD up to 512 GB |
| Main camera | Quad Camera: 48, 8, 2, and 2 MP | Quad Camera: 48, 8, 2, and 2 MP |
| Front camera (selfie) | 13 MP | 13 MP |
| Operating System | Android 11 | Android 10 |
| Battery | 5,000 mAh | 5,000 mAh |
| Telephony | Dual SIM | Dual SIM |
| Dimensions and weight | 159.3 x 73.6 x 8.4 mm; 186 grams | 163.7 x 75.3 x 8.9 mm; 192 grams |
| Colors | white, black, green, and violet | blue, black, and white |
Screen and Design
Galaxy A22 and Galaxy A21S have similar builds and close dimensions, with the 2021 phone being slightly smaller and lighter. Both are plastic with HD+ resolution screens, with no protection against water, dust, or impacts.
The A22’s screen, however, is better in front of its rival, as it is a Super AMOLED display with up to 90 Hz refresh, which should make the image of movies and games more fluid. Meanwhile, the A21S has a 60 Hz LCD screen.
While the front camera of the A21S is allocated in a hole in the corner of the screen, the A22 has a drop-shaped notch, centered at the top of the display. The main cameras are housed in a module on the back of the device, the same location as the A21S’s fingerprint sensor. In the case of the A22, the fingerprint sensor is located on the power button.
Cameras
The camera module has received improvements from one generation to the next. Despite having the same structure with four sensors (the main one being 48 Megapixels), the Galaxy A22’s camera has optical stabilization (OIS). This feature should guarantee a higher quality of photos, even in environments with an unfavorable light. The videos produced on both cameras can reach Full HD resolution at 30 frames per second, and both cameras feature HDR.
The depth sensor also has an interesting feature in both devices, for an automatic adjustment that blurs the environment and highlights the photographed object, called Live Focus by Samsung.
The camera module of the Galaxy A22 is organized as follows:
- 48 MP main (f/1.8)
- 8 MP Ultra Wide (f/2.2)
- 2 MP depth (f/2.4)
- 2 MP Macro (f/2.4)
- 13 MP Front (f2.2)
Another feature in the sensors of both devices is the bokeh effect, present in selfie cameras, which enhances the photos taken by the front camera.
These are the sensors present in the Galaxy A21S:
- 48 MP main (f/2.0)
- 8 MP Ultra Wide (f/2.2)
- 2 MP Macro (f/2.4)
- 2 MP depth (f/2.4)
- 13 MP Front (f/2.2)
Performance and Storage
The performance of the smartphones is similar, as both offer 4 GB of RAM and eight-core processors that can reach 2 GHz of speed. In practice, the performance of the Exynos present in the Galaxy A21S should be slightly higher than the Galaxy A22’s processor. The swapping of Samsung’s processor for MediaTek’s, however, should contribute to more battery savings in the newer phone.
Despite the similarities, there is a big difference in storage. While the Galaxy A21S has 64 GB of internal memory, of which only 48.3 GB is available to the user, the Galaxy A22 has 128 GB, of which 103.6 GB is available to the user – more than double that of the rival.
To get around the deficiency, both have the possibility of memory expansion via microSD card – up to 512 GB in the A21S and up to 1 TB for the A22.
Battery
The battery included by Samsung in the two Galaxy is identical, with 5,000 mAh. Both the Galaxy A21S and Galaxy A22 should reach a full day of use without the need for recharging. Both also feature fast charging, with 15 W sources that can be purchased separately.
Android Version
Another major difference between the devices concerns the Android version. While the A21S comes equipped with Android 10, the A22 already arrives with Android 11. Nevertheless, both are on the list of updates released by Samsung at the end of 2021 and should receive Android 12 along with One UI 4. In addition to visual customization, this system version changes the notifications area.
With the update, Samsung promises to implement improvements regarding battery saving, the security and privacy area of the cameras and microphones, and the integration of the gesture system present in Android 12. It is worth mentioning that Samsung’s policy guarantees security updates for up to four years, so the Galaxy A22 should have an advantage with at least one more year of updates.
Additional Features
Both phones can connect to 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi networks and have Bluetooth 5.0, but only the A22 has NFC, used for proximity payments.
One notable evolution was the migration of the fingerprint sensor from the back of the device, on the Galaxy A21S, to the power button, on the A22, which makes unlocking the phone more ergonomic. The 3.5mm headphone and USB-C connections are also present.
Pricing and Availability
The Galaxy A21S is available for purchase and can already be found on Amazon for $159. The Galaxy A22 on the other hand can also be found on Amazon for prices starting at $182.
- Buy Galaxy A21s
- Buy Galaxy A22
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