Samsung Galaxy S22 and S22+ variable refresh rate doesn’t work as previously announced

Last week, after much anticipation and countless leaks, Samsung has unveiled its Galaxy S22 series. The lineup brings three handsets, the vanilla Galaxy S22, the Galaxy S22 Plus, and the Galaxy S22 Ultra. While the Galaxy S22 Ultra stands as the true flagship of the lineup, the vanilla and models are more of an incremental upgrade over last year’s products. One thing that all these devices have in common is the performance. All three come with the Exynos 2200 or the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. Initially, we thought that all three had an LTPO display allowing for a 10-120 Hz variable refresh rate. However, that does not seem to be the case after all.

The company initially announced the Galaxy S22 and S22+ with 10 Hz to 120 Hz variable refresh rate support. However, the spec sheet for both devices had been updated on Samsung’s website. Now, it states that the devices offer 48 to 120 Hz variable refresh rate support, which is on par with the last year’s models. DSCC’s CEO, Ross Young, was the first to highlight this change and even revealed that the S22 and S22 Plus feature LTPO panels that offer 48 to 120 Hz variable refresh rate support.

The LTPS panel on the S22 and S22 Plus have reportedly achieved under 48 Hz refresh rates in some demos. As a result, Samsung had been using lower refresh rate figures in the original marketing material. Now, the company has updated the spec sheet to reflect accurate information. The folks at XDA-Developers have contacted Samsung to obtain a further explanation. Unfortunately. the company didn’t answer.

Galaxy S22 and S22+ don’t bring significant display upgrades

Now, that the information has been cleared on the website, we can confirm that only the S22 Ultra uses the LTPO technology. The device has an LTPO 2.0 panel which can offer 1 to 120 Hz variable refresh rate support. That’s a big improvement over the last year’s S21 Ultra which offered the 10 to 120 Hz variable screen refresh rate.

The Galaxy S22 does not seem to come with any improvement for display at all. The S22+, on the other hand, at least has a brighter display with 1,750 nits of peak brightness. We just incremental upgrades, we can see that Samsung is clearly adopting an Apple-like strategy for its smartphones. The S22 Ultra is the one for those who want a 2022 flagship experience with cutting-edge technology, and a durable build. However, it also needs you to shell out more money.