Exclusive: Samsung's Galaxy S22 Is a Low-Signal Beast
If you frequently have trouble staying connected to your carrier's network, the Samsung Galaxy S22 series might be the solution. In testing, Samsung's Galaxy S22+ and S22 Ultra phones significantly outperformed their predecessors (as well Google's latest Pixel phones) in low-signal situations.
The phones in the S22 lineup are the first on the US market with Qualcomm's X65 modem-RF system, which according to Qualcomm has two features that should improve low-signal performance: a new envelope tracker and "AI-enhanced signal boost." Both innovations optimize radio power to squeeze the best possible results out of tough situations. These features may appear in other Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 phones, but the S22 models are currently the only handsets that use the chipset stateside.
The results are striking. In extremely low-signal conditions (below -120dBm LTE signal), the S22 units consistently reported better signal strength than comparable S21 models that use Qualcomm's previous-generation X60 modem. (All the models in the iPhone 13 lineup also use the X60, for reference.) This advantage holds as long as the signal is lower than -110dBm.
In environments with a stronger signal, the older models often showed better signal-strength results, but that doesn't matter so much. For speed tests over a signal in the medium to good range, the newer models consistently outpaced the older ones.
The upshot is that the S22 is more likely to maintain a connection than other phones if you frequently see one or no bars of coverage.
If you have a phone that's even just a few years old, the entries in the S22 line promise drastic improvements. Carriers have recently spun up huge new networks that older phones can't touch.
T-Mobile uses its
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