Samsung S22 Ultra aka Note 22 pops up at the FCC with an S Pen like no other
There was an influx of Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra news over the weekend, but Monday is not a exception. First we learned that Samsung's 2022 flagship phone may be called Note 22, after all, then benchmarks of the Chinese version of the S22 Ultra/Note 22, leaked out.
In fact, the leaked benchmark called the handset Note 22, but those Geekbench entries can be easily manipulated, so we wouldn't put much stock in the benchmark's validity, moreso it listed the handset as having 8GB RAM which is hard to believe. What's certain, however, is that the Galaxy/Note 22's FCC certification listing finally appeared and it confirms quite a lot about the handset.
Galaxy S22 Ultra/Note 22 S Pen features
The Galaxy Note 22/S22 Ultra, which can be found under the SM-S908U disguise at the FCC, is certified with an on-board S Pen but the model number of the stylus - EJ-PS908 - is unlike any other S Pen registered so far, so there might be new stylus features arriving with the Note 22/S22 Ultra flagship.
The obligatory FCC approval label for wave-emitting devices obviously wouldn't fit on an S Pen, so Samsung has advised the FCC it will include it in "Settings -> About phone -> Status Information S Pen FCC Certification." There you have it, the SM-S908U Galaxy is coming with a built-in S Pen, and you know what that means. We've heard it many times before, but now that we have it confirmed by the FCC filings, it's as if Samsung is making its first handset with a stylus silo since the Note 20 official.
Besides the the S Pen, a LED View Cover case for this phone was also approved by the FCC under the EFNS908 model number. Usually, up to two months pass from an official listing of a model number at the FCC to a phone's launch, so we can reasonably expect the S22 series to be announced at the beginning of February, as rumored, with an official release in the US about two weeks later.
Galaxy S22 Ultra design changes to accommodate the stylus
In the meantime another leaker, Ice Universe, mentioned that there will be a new S22 series "design style" with the change in the aspect ratio from tall 20:9 to a slightly wider 19.3:9 one, thus improving the screen-to-body ratio. They mentioned that the chin of the S22 Ultra will be slightly thicker than what's on the S22 or S22+, though the difference is perhaps really small judging from the alleged S22 series screen protectors they leaked.
That's not the only difference, apparently, as the design of the S22 and S22+ will be with curved corners, whereas the Note 22, S22 Ultra, or whatever Samsung names it in the end, will have a boxier image brought on by more rectangular corners (you can see the expected rear looks rendered by LetsGoDigital above). The extra space allowed by this more angular design could have gone to fit both the stylus and the same giant 5000mAh battery pack that is in the S21 Ultra, while the S22 and S22+ will reportedly carry slightly smaller batteries than their predecessors.
Alleged Galaxy S22 series screen protectors, not the more angular S22 Ultra
That's not the only difference, apparently, as the design of the S22 and S22+ will be with curved corners, whereas the Note 22, S22 Ultra, or whatever Samsung names it in the end, will have a boxier image brought on by more rectangular corners (you can see the expected rear looks rendered by LetsGoDigital above). The extra space allowed by this more angular design could have gone to fit both the stylus and the same giant 5000mAh battery pack that is in the S21 Ultra, while the S22 and S22+ will reportedly carry slightly smaller batteries than their predecessors.
That battery fact already got tangentially confirmed by none other than an FCC listing again, when the S22+ popped up there with a 4500mAh battery, instead of the 4800mAh unit of its predecessor.
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