It started when I noticed a small edge – an imperfection – on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra’s perfect plan of glittering Gorilla Glass.
My finger caught something I could not see. I ran absently with my finger back and forth across the screen, which is currently showing my Twitter feed. Did I feel anything? Nah … no, wait … there it is.
I stopped reading angry tweets and started examining the screen when my mind flashed back to two days before.
As I stood in my kitchen, fumbling with the 6.8-inch Android 12 smartphone (which I had often used, especially for its star photography), it slipped out of my grip and clattered to the tile floor just a meter below.
“What was that? Was it your phone?” called my wife from the other room.
I quickly snatched the inclined device from the floor. It’s in a Samsung rubber case, so I was not so worried. I looked at it, noticed no pauses, and shouted back, “Yeah. That’s fine.”
“Why do only my phones break?” asked my wife.
First, I do not lose phones. In almost 20 years of testing them, I have never broken a review unit. I once dropped a 12.9-inch iPad Pro on a glass table and smashed the screen, but it was a no doubt unmanageable tablet. I’m not losing phones … or rather, I did not.
Now, on the train where I ran my finger over what I realized was a crack, I understood what I had done.
As I looked closer, I could see a fine crack winding from the top of the phone, just above and to the right of the selfie camera, almost two-thirds of the way down the front of the screen to the right edge.
When the phone is switched on, you can hardly feel it unless a letter falls just below the crack and is split into two slightly offset halves.
This should not have happened.
With the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, Samsung built a block of a phone from the original Galaxy Note design base. It is a large, solid, stiff, but not uncomfortable to hold on to, 229 gram unit that, from the looks of it, should be for a drop or two.
The phone is wrapped in Gorilla Glass Victus + (which is rated by Corning to withstand drops of up to 2 meters). It covers the back and my now damaged 6.8-inch AMOLED screen. In addition, I had it in a case.
This fine crack, which starts at the top of the phone just above and to the right of the selfie camera, snakes almost two-thirds of the way down the front edge of the screen to the right edge.
You may be wondering why I did not reach this conclusion when I reviewed the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. The fact is that I do not do drop tests with review units, units that have been temporarily handed over to me by manufacturers that they have all expectations of will be returned in fairly pristine condition.
I like to dip them in water, but do not drop them on concrete knowing that even if they do not break, they will get some ugly scratches. I do not think it is a good idea to do it with equipment you do not own.
My review process also reflects how I would use these products if I owned them. I generally do not drop technology (or really anything).
Still, I am here, confronted with the result of an unplanned fall test, and the results are not good.
A drop of three feet (or 1 meter) of the covered smartphone should not have resulted in this crack. I understand, however, that with any glass-screened device, the only thing you need to do is find the optimal stress point, and where the physics are ready to crack even the hardest screen.
This is at least a pure crack and not a splinter – you know, the ones that make the screen useless and even dangerous to touch (the small shards of glass). This is a pause that, although significant, you really need to look closely to see it or turn off the screen, which seems to highlight it more.
It is also worth noting that the crack of the screen in no way affects the performance of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. It’s just as fast and fun to use as ever – until my digit jumps over the fine, sharp edge. That break also means that the device is no longer sealed against the elements. I would not confidently drop it in a bucket of water or even use it out in the rain for too long.
I’m disappointed with myself for my clumsiness and a little over the Galaxy S22 Ultra for not being equal to such a short a fall.
It’s not a good look for this Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, but I warn against assuming that all S22 Ultras are prone to becoming fragile. My guess is that the fall captured the top edge of the phone and that a fall first on the screen could have had a different result.
On the other hand, get a case on your Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and hold on to it – well.