Samsung has officially commenced to roll out its One UI 5 open beta to Galaxy S22 proprietors in the US, Germany, and South Korea. The update arrives a few weeks ahead of Android 13’s expected to release and just an occasional day before Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event.
Like the operating system, it’s powered by the One UI 5 beta darts like a relatively minor update that adds customization options, notifications tweaks, and new accessibility and security settings. But unfortunately, it’s only rolling out to phones in the US, Germany, and South Korea.
One UI 5 builds off Android 13’s theming alternatives by offering up to 16 preset color themes established on your wallpaper and 12 additional color prospects for your home screen, icons, and short panels. It also presents a way to stack similarly-sized widgets on top of one another to create a less cluttered look.
There are some new accessibility features, including a Magnifier tool that uses the phone’s camera to zoom in on real-life objects and text and options to have your phone read your keyboard input aloud.
Samsung details several features that One UI 5 has adopted from Android 13, such as new notification settings requiring app developers to ask for your permission before sending you notifications. In addition, the One UI 5 beta lets you set your preferred language on an app-by-app basis and provides access to a redesigned security dashboard that scans your phone for potential issues.
When Samsung released its One UI 4 beta last year, it highlighted how it’s getting updates earlier each year. This time, Samsung widened the gap between its previous update, beating its One UI 4 beta’s September 2021 launch date by a little over a month. As with Samsung’s previous One UI betas, you can access the One UI 5 update by registering through the Samsung Members app.
While the One UI 5 beta is only available on S22 devices in the US, Germany, and South Korea right now, Samsung plans on rolling it out to more devices and regions shortly. In addition, we might hear more about what One UI 5 has to offer at Samsung’s Unpacked event on August 10th, where Samsung’s rumored to launch a range of new devices, including the Galaxy Z Flip 4, Z Fold 4, Galaxy Watch 5, and Galaxy Buds Pro 2.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 is a string of Android-based smartphones conceived, developed, manufactured, and marketed by Samsung Electronics as parts of its Galaxy S series. Unveiled at Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event on February 9th, 2022, the series is the successor to the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy Note 20 series.
The Galaxy S22 series includes a design similar to preceding S series phones, with an Infinity-O display possessing a circular cutout in the top center for the front selfie camera. All three models utilize Gorilla Glass Victus+ for the rear panel, unlike the S21 series, which had plastic on the slighter S21. The rear camera display on the S22 and S22+ has a metallic surround, while the S22 Ultra has a separate lens bump for individual camera elements.
The S22 line incorporates three models with diverse hardware specifications. However, except for some African and all European countries that utilize the Exynos 2200, all models outside these regions use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
The S22 series features “Dynamic AMOLED 2X” displays HDR10+ support and “dynamic tone mapping” technology. In addition, all models utilize a second-generation in-screen ultrasonic fingerprint sensor.
The S22 and S22+ bid 8 GB of RAM with 128 GB and 256 GB alternatives for internal storage. The S22 Ultra contains 8 GB of RAM with 128 GB and a 12 GB option with 512 GB, 256 GB, and 1 TB options for internal storage. However, the S22 Ultra doesn’t feature a model with a 16 GB RAM variant, unlike the S21 Ultra. In addition, all three models lack a microSD card slot.
The S22, S22+, and S22 Ultra comprise non-removable 3,700 mAh, 4,500 mAh, and 5000 mAh Li-Po batteries, respectively. In addition, the S22 keeps wired charging over USB-C at up to 25W (employing USB Power Delivery), while the S22+ and S22 Ultra have quicker 45W charging.
The S22 Ultra is the first S series phone to include a built-in S Pen, a Galaxy Note series hallmark feature. The S Pen holds better latency at 2.8ms, lowered from 26ms on Note 20 and 9ms on the Note 20 Ultra and S21 Ultra, and marked the introduction of an ‘AI-based coordination prediction system.’ The S Pen also helps with Air gestures and the Air Action system.
The S22 phones were released with Android 12 (One UI 4.1) with Samsung’s One UI software. In addition, Samsung Knox is included for enhanced device security, and a different version exists for enterprise use.