Samsung’s February Unpacked Event has just concluded, and as we expected, it was filled with exciting flagship product announcements, from a powerful new Galaxy S22 Ultra to a revamped tablet experience featuring three new Galaxy Tab S8 devices.
Today’s event was the first of two mobile product events that Samsung usually holds each year, but it’s this one where it shows off its most popular new flagship devices and that sets the tone for the remainder of the year.
How to watch Samsung’s Galaxy February Unpacked event if you missed it
Samsung broadcast the event live on its YouTube channel on Wednesday, February 9, but the good news is that if you couldn’t watch it live, the whole thing is still available for viewing on-demand.
If you prefer not to sit through the entire event, we expect Samsung will also publish a few shorter videos soon to recap its individual announcements, so be sure to keep an eye on the Samsung YouTube channel for those.
Samsung also still has its official trailer up for the event and a teaser for the new smartphone lineup. There’s also a video preview of its 3D billboard campaigns from several cities around the globe.
What Samsung announced at Galaxy Unpacked February 2022
As we expected, the star of the show was Samsung’s new Galaxy S22 Ultra — a “noteworthy” smartphone that melds the best features of the S21 Ultra and the 2020 Galaxy Note 20 into a revolutionary new smartphone. This includes room for Samsung’s S Pen, a 108-megapixel camera that can shoot 8K video at 24 frames per second (fps), and configurations of up to 12GB RAM with 1TB storage.
Naturally, Samsung also refreshed the Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus. Next to the insanely powerful S22 Ultra, these may see like more pedestrian entries, but they’re both worthy successors to last year’s S21 lineup, with a classy new front-and-back glass design. Both gain a 50-megapixel main camera with the same 8K video recording capabilities and other camera enhancements as the S22 Ultra.
Samsung has joined many other smartphone manufacturers in recognizing that most users aren’t on annual upgrade cycles, so it’s fair to say Samsung is aiming the new S22 lineup more at folks still toting the S20 or older models. Certainly, the S22 Ultra will be a welcome entry for folks who had been clutching onto their Note 20 for dear life, fearing there would never be another.
“At Unpacked in February 2022, we’ll introduce you to the most noteworthy S series device we’ve ever created,” Samsung’s Dr. TM Roh announced in a recent editorial. “The next generation of Galaxy S is here, bringing together the greatest experiences of our Samsung Galaxy into one ultimate device.”
Of course, while the S22 family headlined the event, it wasn’t just about smartphones. Samsung used the last part of Unpacked to show off a whole new Galaxy Tab S8 lineup with a third player: The new Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra.
This year, it’s apparent that Samsung has rebranded “Ultra” to be synonymous with “Note,” and it made it clear that this is where it’s largest new tablet fits into the mix. With a 14.6-inch screen, Samsung has managed to make the Tab S8 Ultra its thinnest tablet ever, while still packing in a Super AMOLED 120 Hz panel with a WQXGA+ resolution.
It’s a device that’s certain to give Apple’s iPad Pro and Microsoft’s Surface Pro a run for their money, with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, up to 16GB of RAM, and up to 512GB of storage. It’s also getting a notch to make room for dual 12MP wide and ultrawide sensors for videoconferencing, and it’s logically put that notch on the long edge of the screen.
You can check out our full roundup for more details on everything Samsung unveiled at the event, and of course, we’ll have lots more follow-up coverage to offer our thoughts and hands-on experiences with Samsung’s latest products.
