In this article, we’re comparing the best Motorola and Samsung have to offer at the moment. In other words, we’ll compare the Motorola Edge+ vs Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra handsets. Both of these phones launched in the first quarter of this year, and both are quite powerful. They are also considerably different in comparison, and that doesn’t go only for their designs, even though they do look different.
Just to be perfectly clear, the Motorola Edge+ is essentially the Motorola Edge 30 Pro, but for the US market. Now, we’ll start things off by listing the specs of the two phones, and will then compare them via a number of categories. We’ll just to design, display, performance, battery, cameras, and audio comparison categories. That being said, let’s get going, let’s compare the Motorola Edge+ vs Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.
Specs
Motorola Edge+ | Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra | |
Screen size | 6.7-inch fullHD+ OLED display (144Hz refresh rate) | 6.8-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display (120Hz adaptive refresh rate, LTPO, down to 1Hz) |
Screen resolution | 2400 x 1080 | 3080 x 1440 |
SoC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or Samsung Exynos 2200 |
RAM | 8GB (LPDDR5) | 8GB/12GB (LPDDR5) |
Storage | 512GB, non-expandable (UFS 3.1) | 128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB, non-expandable (UFS 3.1) |
Rear cameras | 50MP (f/1.8 aperture, 1.0um pixel size Quad Pixel Technology, omni-directional PDAF, OIS) 50MP (ultrawide, 114-degree FoV, f/2.2 aperture, 0.64um pixel size, Quad Pixel Technology) 2MP (depth camera, f/2.4 aperture, 1.75um pixel size) |
108MP (f/1.8 aperture, OIS, 0.8um pixel size. Produces 12MP images with 2.4um pixel size) 12MP (ultrawide, Dual Pixel AF, 120-degree FoV, f/2.2 aperture, 1.4um pixel size) 10MP (telephoto, Dual Pixel AF, OIS, f/2.4 aperture, 1.12um pixel size, 70mm lens, optical zoom 3x) 10MP (telephoto, Dual Pixel AF, OIS, f/4.9 aperture, 1.22um pixel size, 230mm lens, 10x optical zoom, 100x Space Zoom) |
Front cameras | 60MP (f/2.2 aperture, 0.6um pixel size, Quad Pixel Technology) | 40MP (f/2.2 aperture, 80-degree FoV, 0.7um pixel size, PDAF) |
Battery | 4,800mAh, non-removable, 68W wired charging (30W charger included), 15W wireless charging, 5W reverse wireless charging | 5,000mAh, non-removable, 45W wired charging, 15W Qi wireless charging, 5W Wireless PowerShare |
Dimensions | 163.06 x 75.95 x 8.79mm | 163.3 x 77.9 x 8.9mm |
Weight | 196 grams | 228/229 grams |
Connectivity | 5G, LTE, NFC, Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C | 5G, LTE, NFC, Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C |
Security | Side-facing fingerprint scanner | In-display fingerprint scanner (ultrasonic) |
OS | Android 12 | Android 12 One UI 4.1 |
Price | $999 | $1,199.99 |
Buy | Motorola | Samsung |
Motorola Edge+ vs Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Design
Both of these phones are made out of metal and glass. Different protection is used, though. You’ll find the Gorilla Glass 3 on the front, and Gorilla Glass 5 on the back of the Motorola Edge+. The Galaxy S22 Ultra, on the other hand, utilizes Gorilla Glass Victus+ on both its front and back sides. Needless to say, Samsung does come out on top here, as it offers Corning’s more advanced protection.
The two phones are somewhat similar when it comes to size. They are almost identically tall, and thick, while the Galaxy S22 Ultra is slightly wider. It is also considerably heavier at 228 grams, compared to 196 grams of the Motorola Edge+. The Galaxy S22 Ultra comes with flat top and bottom sides, which is not the case with the Motorola Edge+. Both phones are quite curved on the sides, and both offer curved displays.
You’ll notice a centered display camera hole on both phones, along with very thin bezels. The Motorola Edge+ includes three cameras on the back, while the Galaxy S22 Ultra has four of them. The in-hand feel is completely different in comparison, but they do have one thing in common, they’re both quite slippery. If you consider the fact they’re also large, you may want to use a case for both. It’s also worth noting that the Galaxy S22 Ultra comes with the S Pen stylus, which can be tucked away in an S Pen silo, inside the device.
They both feel premium in the hand, though considerably different. You should hold both in your hand before making a decision, to be quite honest. Also, if you don’t find large devices interesting, neither of these two will appeal to you, they both are truly huge.
Motorola Edge+ vs Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Display
The Motorola Edge+ comes with a 6.7-inch fullHD+ (2400 x 1080) OLED display. That display offers a 20:9 aspect ratio, and a 144Hz refresh rate. It also can show up to 1 billion colors, it’s HDR10+ certified, and it’s protected by the Gorilla Glass 3. That is not the most fortunate solution, as Gorilla Glass 3 is quite dated at this point, and it’s prone to microscratches. So, you may want to use a screen protector. This display is also curved, by the way, and it offers a 393 ppi, approximately.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra, on the flip side, includes a 6.8-inch QHD+ (3088 x 1440) Dynamic AMOLED 2X display. That panel is also curved, and it has a 120Hz refresh rate. It can show HDR10+ content, and it gets extremely bright at 1,750 nits of peak brightness. This display is protected by the Gorilla Glass Victus+, and we’re looking at a 500 ppi (approximately) display here.
So, on paper, the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s panel does look superior. Is that the case in real life? Well, yes, but the Motorola Edge+ display is nothing to scoff at. The Galaxy S22 Ultra’s panel does get considerably brighter, while it also has a higher resolution. That may not mean much to some of you, but if you’re used to QHD+ panels, you’ll notice the difference. Both panels do feel extremely smooth during usage, they offer great, vivid colors, and great viewing angles as well.
Motorola Edge+ vs Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Performance
Both of these smartphones are really well-equipped hardware-wise. When it comes to performance-related hardware, you’re getting the best of the best. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 fuels both smartphones (Exynos 2200 fuels the Galaxy S22 Ultra in Europe), while both devices include LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 flash storage. The Motorola Edge+ comes with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, while you can choose between 8GB and 12GB of RAM inside the Galaxy S22 Ultra, and several storage options are available. Do note that neither phone offers expandable storage, though.
Having said that, the performance of both smartphones is outstanding. In regular, everyday use, both smartphones fly through basically anything you throw at them. Ranging from web browsing, multimedia consumption, multitasking, and so on. They don’t skip a beat during any of those. Even when it comes to gaming, they’re both excellent. The only area where we noticed some stuttering was with the Motorola Edge+ and Genshin Impact. Those stutters were so rare, and far apart, though, that’s barely worth mentioning, and it could be attributed to the game’s optimization. All in all, both of these devices are excellent performers.
Motorola Edge+ vs Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Battery
How about battery life? Well, let’s first go over what the two phones pack in. The Motorola Edge+ comes with a 4,800mAh battery, while the Galaxy S22 Ultra packs in a 5,000mAh unit. You don’t need to worry about it, basically, as you won’t need to charge either of these two phones until the end of the day. Even with heavy use, the two phones are able to last through the whole day.
We did use both devices intensively during our testing, and even with some gaming thrown into the mix, along with plenty of camera use, and general usage, both phones tended to last until the end of the day. If you purposely want to drain the battery, well, that’s always something you can do. The Galaxy S21 Ultra did offer even better battery life, in our experience, but the Galaxy S22 Ultra is not far from it. Just to be clear, once again, we tested the Snapdragon version of the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
What about charging? Well, the Motorola does support 68W wired charging, but do note you’re getting a 30W charger in the box. You’ll need to purchase the 68W one separately if you’d like to take advantage of such charging. The device also supports 15W wireless charging, and 5W reverse wireless charging. The Galaxy S22 Ultra, on the other hand, supports 45W wired, 15W wireless, and 5W reverse wireless charging. Do note that you don’t get a charger in the box at all, though, when it comes to the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
Motorola Edge+ vs Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Cameras
These two smartphones have fairly different camera setups. The Motorola Edge+ includes a 50-megapixel main and ultrawide cameras, in addition to a 2–megapixel depth camera. The Galaxy S22 Ultra ships with a 108-megapixel main camera, a 10-megapixel telephoto, a 10-megapixel periscope telephoto, and 12-megapixel ultrawide cameras. So, which one is better in the camera department? In our experience, it’s the Galaxy S22 Ultra, easily, and this is why.
The Motorola Edge+ camera specs don’t look bad on paper at all, quite the contrary, the camera performance does suffer, though. During our usage, the subject focus was a considerable issue. The phone had considerable focus issues, even after tapping on the subject multiple times. The images themselves were good in good lighting, but not great. The Galaxy S22 Ultra offers visibly more details in such shots.
When it comes to night mode, the Galaxy S22 Ultra also offers better results. It offers more detail in such scenarios, and less noise. Overall, the Galaxy S22 Ultra provided better camera results in pretty much every way, and that even goes for video content. So, if camera performance is important to you, the choice between these two should be obvious. Truth be said, Motorola may fix some of these issues via software updates.
Audio
When the audio is concerned, let’s first mention that neither of the two devices offers an audio jack. You’ll have to use the Type-C port, or Bluetooth instead. Luckily, both phones are equipped with Bluetooth 5.2. That being said, both phones do offer stereo speakers, while Samsung’s are even tuned by AKG.
Are the speakers on the two phones any good? Well, yes, but they’re different. The Galaxy S22 Ultra speakers offer clearer sound, especially when it comes to higher frequencies. The Motorola Edge+ speakers offer quite a bit of bass, but they do struggle with clarity at times. Overall, though, both sets of speakers are really good.