Leaked Samsung Galaxy S22 photo shows off Samsung’s glossy new phone

Samsung Galaxy S21
A Samsung Galaxy S21 (Image credit: TechRadar)

Update: Further leaked images of the Samsung Galaxy S22 series have appeared mere hours after this story was published. You can see the photos here of each new model.

Original story: The Samsung Galaxy S22 range must be almost here. We know that not just because it’s been almost a year since the Samsung Galaxy S21 range launched, but because of the quantity and quality of leaks we’re seeing, which now even includes a photo of the standard Galaxy S22.

The image was shared by reputable leaker UniverseIce on Weibo (a Chinese social network), along with text claiming that they suspect it’s a real Samsung Galaxy S22.

As you can see, the phone shown has a glossy black back, which is the main way in which it differs from the Samsung Galaxy S21, as that phone has a more matte finish.

A leaked photo supposedly showing the Samsung Galaxy S22

(Image credit: UniverseIce)

Beyond that it looks very similar to the current phone, with a triple-lens camera in a block on the top left corner, though that too is black rather than being a different shade as it is with most versions of the Galaxy S21.

The camera lenses here also stick out from the block they’re housed in, which they don’t with the Samsung Galaxy S21.

While we’d take this photo with a pinch of salt, especially as it’s the first live photo of the phone we’ve seen, it does line up with previous leaks and renders, and it comes from a reputable source.

So it’s probably accurate, especially as we’re now close enough to the likely January or February launch date that we’d expect there would be some more or less finished models.

Elsewhere, MySmartPrice has spotted the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra on an FCC (Federal Communications Commission) database, along with mention of an S Pen stylus. The same model number (SM-S908U) has also been mentioned on Samsung’s official Chinese website.


Analysis: the Samsung Galaxy S22 range is just around the corner

All of the leaks above strongly suggest that the Samsung Galaxy S22 range will land soon. We wouldn’t expect to see photos of finished-looking handsets until near launch, and phones usually don’t appear on the FCC’s database until they’re within a couple of months of launch either.

Seeing the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra’s model number on an official website is another clear sign that it’s coming soon, as while its presence there is possibly accidental, we wouldn’t think that’s an accident that’s likely to happen until the phone is on the verge of launching.

So the wait for the Samsung Galaxy S22 range is surely almost over, and we might even know the exact day that the phones will be unveiled, with one source pointing to February 8, followed by an on-sale date of February 18.

That might end up being wrong, as others only point to a vaguer February time frame, and some earlier leaks suggested January, but whatever the case, the phones probably aren’t more than a couple of months away.

Via GSMArena

James Rogerson

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.