Samsung Galaxy S22 live blog: Better cameras, new Ultra replaces Note with S Pen

And that's a wrap. As expected, the Galaxy S22 lineup and Galaxy Tab S8 family were the stars of the show. Check out our additional coverage above for more information. 

Samsung is incorporating ocean plastic, specifically fishing nets, into phones. It won't affect any big parts yet, just the S22 Ultra's S Pen sheath and a plate under the volume and power buttons on all three S22 phones. But it's a promising start.

The Galaxy S22 incorporates repurposed fishing nets, Samsung says. The packaging is also made with 100% recycled paper. The company is also extending OS upgrades to four generations so that people keep using their phones for longer. 

Now we're hearing about privacy and security. "We will respect what you're willing to share or not and follow your lead," Samsung says. It's showing features like the privacy dashboard that breaks down app permissions and the ability to hide your precise location from certain apps. Again, this isn't new, but Samsung seems to be reiterating these features in light of its new smartphones. 

One UI is Samsung's Android skin, and One UI 4 has a few new tricks, mostly in auto-suggestions for adding calendar dates and file synchronization between Samsung Notes and other Samsung apps.

Now we're hearing about One UI 4, which is essentially Samsung's software features. The update itself isn't new, but Samsung seems to be touting how it works on its new phones and tablets. 

Samsung also announced that the Google Assistant is finally coming to the Galaxy Watch 4 in the coming months. Samsung also announced some new health features and colored watch faces. Read more about Galaxy Watch 4 updates.

To sum it up, the Tab S8 series comes in three sizes. Preorders start today, and the Ultra starts at $1,099. The Plus begins at $899 while the smaller regular Tab S8 starts at $699. 

The Galaxy Tab S8 can record in 4K in both the front and rear cameras. Samsung is clearly targeting creative types, another sign that it's positioning this as an iPad Pro alternative for Android users.  

The front-facing ultrawide camera on the Tab S8 Ultra automatically shifts to whoever's in the frame, something we loved in the iPad Pro 2021. This feature is actually in the S22 phones, too, though it's only on the rear cameras when you capture video -- it's not for video chats, as the tablet's seems to be.

The tablets also come with an S Pen for note taking. Now Samsung is giving us an overview of what's new with its S Notes app. You can now display two pages side-by-side and sync notes faster across devices. You can also grab content from websites and add it directly to S Notes. This seems like a big effort to remain competitive with the Apple Pencil. 

The Tab S8 Ultra lets you split the screen into up to three apps and click-to-drag them around to resize and rearrange. Helpful!

We're seeing the Tab S8 Ultra being used in multiwindow mode. Samsung is seemingly positioning this as a device for working, entertainment and video chatting. There are dual cameras on the front for video calls, one of which is an ultrawide camera.  

There are three new tablets, and we're starting with the Tab S8 Ultra. It has a 14.6-inch Super AMOLED display. That makes it bigger than many laptops. 

First Bridgerton and now Batman? The Tab S8 is certainly one way to watch The Batman, coming out later this year. 

Samsung is moving onto its new tablets, the Galaxy Tab S8 series. Based on what we're seeing so far, the design looks very iPad-like, with flat metal edges. 

The biggest improvements are the S-Pen, new design, 4-nanometer processor and various night photography features (the latter of which should be available on all Galaxy S22 phones). It's up for preorder today and starts at $1,200. 

Now we're hearing about an Expert Raw app that gives you full control of the camera lenses. Apple also has a feature aimed at pro photographers called ProRaw, so this might be similar. 

We're also hearing about the improved stabilization we should be seeing in the S22 Ultra to adjust shaky frames. The camera should be able to adjust individual frames even in low light conditions, Samsung says.

Night solution uses multiframe processing to remove frames that have noise or blur in dark scenarios, and then combines the remaining frames. It works with the telephoto lens, front camera and in portrait mode, too. 

Samsung is talking up the artificial intelligence that works on the backend to enhance image quality on the Galaxy S22 Ultra. We're hearing about how the Galaxy S22 Ultra should be better at taking photos at night and in the dark. 

Now we're hearing about the phone's new camera. The new phone uses a feature called Adaptive Pixel, which combines the detail from the phone's 108-megapixel sensor with brightness from a process known as "pixel binning." In English, that term means the camera combines the data from multiple pixels to create one larger pixel. 

The new phone is powered by a 4-nanometer processor, which should boost machine learning performance, says Samsung. Aside from raw performance, these type of advancements usually help with photography features that rely on machine learning too. 

The Galaxy S22 Ultra has a 6.8-inch screen, making it the biggest new Galaxy S22 phone of the bunch. It can crank its screen's refresh rate up to 120Hz, just like last year's S21 Ultra. 

Samsung is also talking up a new feature called Vision Booster for the display, which considers the light intensity of your surroundings to improve visibility. 

If you weren't already convinced that this is essentially a new Galaxy Note, Samsung confirmed that it will come with an embedded S-Pen. That means you won't have to buy it separately, and there's a slot in the phone for storing it. 

Samsung also says it's made improvements to the way the S-Pen works. It should be better at predicting where you're about to draw or scribble next. 

Now we're getting a look at the Galaxy S22 Ultra. As we expected, it's very Galaxy Note-inspired and has sharp edges just like the Galaxy Note.

Finally, prices: the Samsung Galaxy S22 costs $800, and the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus costs $1,000. (In the UK they start at £769 and £949, respectively -- add £50 to double the 128GB storage.) Funnily enough, that makes the S22 the new middle child considering the $700 S21 FE that launched a month ago -- though it packs last year's specs.

So to sum it up, it seems like the new 50-megapixel camera and telephoto lens are the big upgrades to expect from the Galaxy S22. It starts at $800 while the Plus model starts at $1,000, and preorders start today. 

The Galaxy S22 range's cameras have had a few tweaks, but mostly on the lower two phones. The Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus have improved their main cameras to 50 megapixels for sharper photos, but the 64-megapixel telephoto seen on last year's S21 has been downgraded to a 10-megapixel lens, though it still has a 3x optical zoom. 

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has virtually unchanged cameras from last year, so the big changes are in the software, which we've dived deep on here. They're still powerful cameras, just with a bit better software this time around.

Read more: The Galaxy S22 Ultra fails to excite this pro photographer. And that's a problem

Portrait mode on the Galaxy S22 is also supposed to get a big upgrade. Samsung says the new phone will be better at separating subjects from the background.

The standard Samsung Galaxy S22 packs top-tier specs with a smaller 6.1-inch screen, top specs and cameras, with 25-watt wired charging and a 3,700-mAh battery. The Galaxy S22 Plus is the larger 6.6-inch model with a few more premium extras, like faster 45-watt wired charging and a bigger 4,500-mAh battery. 

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has the best specs and cameras, as expected. New this year is a dedicated S Pen stylus slot, which makes it feel even more like a Galaxy Note in all but name.

It's here, the Galaxy S22. Samsung is talking up the bigger new sensor that can take in more light. Samsung is also showing off new optical image stabilization and the camera's ability to analyze four times as much data. There's also a new design. 

As we expected, it sounds like photography will be a big focus. This whole Bridgerton video is all about teasing the Galaxy S22's camera improvements. 

It looks like Samsung is kicking things off with a Bridgerton-inspired video to introduce the Galaxy S22. "We need better lighting," one of the characters says. 

Samsung is talking about the ways in which it's improving its environmental footprint. Every new product announced today uses ocean-bound plastics, says Samsung's TM Roh.  

Samsung Unpacked is officially underway. We're minutes away from seeing the reveal of the Samsung Galaxy S22 phones and much more, but if you're just tuning in, here's how to watch Samsung's first reveal event of the year. 

All rumors and leaks point to the Galaxy S22 Ultra being a full replacement for the Galaxy Note. We haven't seen a new Galaxy Note since 2020, so it wouldn't be surprising if Samsung took this direction. 

The Galaxy S22 Ultra is rumored to come with a built-in S Pen and a new Note-like design with sharper corners, according to the leaks we've seen over the past few months. Check out our full roundup if you want to get a better sense of what we're expecting.

We're minutes away from the Samsung Unpacked kickoff, and we've heard plenty about the soon-to-be-revealed Samsung Galaxy S22 phones.

First, we still expect three phones with the standard Galaxy S22, S22 Plus and the S22 Ultra (sorry to fans of the Samsung Galaxy S10E). Among all the rumors, we've heard that the S22 Ultra will get the best camera upgrades, though there seems to be better night photography in store with something called "Nightography."

While we expect the phones to pack the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset that Qualcomm announced back in December, it will be interesting to see if there will be any other spec upgrades, including whether expandable storage will return. Faster charging, a 200-megapixel camera and other wild rumors abound, so check out everything we've heard before the phones are officially unveiled.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy S22 rumors: Accidental Amazon listing reveals Nightography

In addition to the Samsung Galaxy S22 range, the other device we're expecting is the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8. 

A rumor has suggested the brand's next flagship tablet will come in an 11-inch base model, a larger 12.4-inch Tab S8 Plus, and a new 14.6-inch Tab S8 Ultra. Samsung hasn't said what's coming in the new edition to warrant the "Ultra" name, nor what's been improved in the new tablet line, but we've also heard all models will get Wi-Fi 6E and go on sale Feb. 25.

Good morning! We're gearing up for Samsung Unpacked, where we expect to see the Samsung Galaxy S22 phones officially revealed along with a few other surprises.

The event is an online-only event, but there are plenty of ways to watch. The Samsung Unpacked start time is 7 a.m. PT (10 a.m. ET), and we expect it to last around an hour. You can watch the event on YouTube, Samsung's website and even its metaverse, if that's your fancy.

Read more: Samsung's Galaxy S22 Unpacked event is today: How to watch it live

We're expecting to see the Galaxy S22 lineup at today's event. But Samsung just launched the Galaxy S21 FE in January. So one of the big questions is whether the Galaxy S22 lineup will make the S21 FE feel obsolete already.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy S21 FE review: A great $700 phone that comes at an awkward time

Samsung Galaxy S22 series

• Samsung Galaxy S22 first look video: Hands on with all 3 new phones
• Galaxy S22 Ultra: Samsung's $1,200 luxury phone fully replaces the Note
  
• Samsung is phasing out the Galaxy Note, and it's about time
• Google Duo live sharing lets you watch YouTube with friends and work with them too
  
• Galaxy S22 gets Android 12's Material You design, so you can change all the colors
  
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. Pixel 6 Pro: Specs compared
• The Galaxy S22 Ultra fails to excite this pro photographer. And that's a problem
• AT&T's Galaxy S22 offer allows for $800 off even if you trade in an older, broken phone
  

Samsung Galaxy Tab

• Samsung's Galaxy Tab S8 looks like a promising iPad Pro alternative: Video
  
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra towers over the iPad Pro with 14.6-inch screen, starts at $1,100