The Samsung Galaxy A22 5G looks as though it could be Samsung’s cheapest 5G phone yet, and one of the cheapest 5G phones you can get from any company, which makes it an exciting prospect.
While nothing about the phone is confirmed so far, we’ve now heard a number of rumors about it and seen quite a few unofficial renders, so we have a good idea of what to expect.
The leaks point to a phone that’s not just cheap and packing 5G, but also equipped with a quad-lens camera, 6GB of RAM, and more. Below you’ll find all the details that we’ve heard so far, including the likely price, release date and specs.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? Samsung's cheapest 5G phone yet
- When is it out? Possibly June or July
- How much will it cost? Possibly 200,000 won (around $180, £135, AU$240)
Samsung Galaxy A22 5G release date and price
The Samsung Galaxy A22 5G will possibly land in July, as a leaked Samsung product roadmap shared by Evan Blass (a leaker with a great track record) has it listed for then. That said, the roadmap also lists ‘PC Unpacked’ for April 14, and that’s an event that’s actually scheduled for April 28, so it’s definitely not totally right.
If not July though it might launch even sooner, as The Elec (a South Korean site) claims that the Galaxy A22 5G will be announced in June.
As for the price, that’s rumored to be 200,000 South Korean won (around $180, £135, AU$240), which as noted would make it both Samsung’s cheapest 5G phone and one of the cheapest 5G phones from any company.
Though it’s worth remembering that even if this price is right in South Korea, it won’t be an exact conversion in other regions.
Design and display
Our first proper look at the likely design of the Samsung Galaxy A22 5G came from unofficial renders shared by leaker @OnLeaks.
You can see some of these below, and they show a phone with a teardrop notch on the front, a square camera block on the back, a fairly large bezel below the flat display, a 3.5mm port on the bottom edge, and a fingerprint scanner on the right edge.
The dimensions meanwhile are apparently 167.2 x 76.4 x 8.7mm (or 9.7mm with the rear camera bump).
The source adds that the Samsung Galaxy A22 5G apparently has a 6.5-inch screen, and these renders more or less match case renders that we’ve previously seen.
The only real differences are the placement of the 3.5mm headphone port, which appears to be on the top edge in the case renders (below), and the appearance of the camera lenses, which we’ll get to further down.
Samsung Galaxy A22 renders by third party casemakers. pic.twitter.com/aFoxGCkvjRApril 19, 2021
Since then the team at 91mobiles has got in on the leaking action, posting its own renders of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy A22 5G. Thankfully for the credibility of the rumor mill, they're pretty close to the first bunch of renders, so it looks like this will be the official design
Camera
One slightly unclear aspect of the Samsung Galaxy A22 5G is its camera, as the unofficial renders above show a triple-lens one with an LED flash, while the case renders show a quad-lens one. However, there’s no sign of a flash on the latter, which suggests they’re wrong and that one of the things they’ve shown as a lens is actually a flash.
So does the Galaxy A22 5G have a triple-lens camera? Well, not necessarily. The Elec claims the phone will have a quad-lens snapper with a 48MP main one, an 8MP (likely ultra-wide) one, and a pair of 2MP snappers, probably filling in macro and depth duties. The site also says the A22 5G has a 13MP selfie camera, and those specs incidentally are the same as the Samsung Galaxy A21s.
Some clarity is provided by a more recent leak from 91mobiles: their sources are saying that the Samsung A22 5G will have a triple-lens 48MP+5MP+2MP rear camera, but the 4G LTE version of the same phone will go for a quad-lens 48MP+5MP+2MP+2MP snapper around the back.
Power and battery
A benchmark for a phone believed to be the Samsung Galaxy A22 5G reveals a MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset and 6GB of RAM, plus Android 11 and 5G of course. Those are fairly low-end specs, but they’re in line with the rumored price of the Galaxy A22 5G.
There will be a 4G version of the phone according to rumors, which will ditch the 5G while upgrading other areas: this phone is said to be running a MediaTek Helio G80 processor under the hood, for example.
The Samsung Galaxy A21s came with a 5,000mAh-capacity battery, and sources say that the 4G LTE and 5G versions of the Galaxy A22 will match that, with a relatively low 15W wired charging supported.
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