It’s rare to find an AMOLED screen on a budget handset, and more amazing still if its a high refresh display operating at 90 Hz. But this is precisely what you’ll find on the Samsung A22: a stunningly good-looking 6.4-inch screen that’s colour rich and pin sharp, and now scrolls smoothly through those social feeds and enhances your mobile-gaming experience. It also has dual SIM slots, if you plan to jump between providers to take advantage of great data deals or on-network task time, and it supports microSD cards up to 1 TB.
Easily the best on test here, the quad cameras on the rear of the A22 performed brilliantly, whatever we threw at them. The HDR worked exceptionally well keeping colours vibrant and saturated but stopping short of looking garish and unnatural. On the contrary, both the 13 MP front and 48 MP rear cameras handled skin tones and natural phenomena beautifully. We were delighted to find that the ultra-wide sensor produced almost none of the distortion or discolouration that normally comes with wide-angle pictures, and the macros pictures were also the best on test here.
Even if you’re not a Samsung fan, there is no disputing how well its phones are built, especially the budget models. The A22 is wonderfully thin and light, and certainly has a premium feel. The raised ridges around the rear camera set prevent damage to the lenses from being placed face down on surfaces.
This is a lot of phone for the money and for just R500 more you can have 5G thrown in as well.
6.4” screen @90 Hz, 4 GB RAM, 8 MP front / 48 MP + 8 MP wide + 2 MP macro + 2 MP depth cameras, 128 GB storage, 5 000 mAh battery, R4 000
