If you’re on a tight smartphone budget, logic typically says that you should buy a lower-end, but new, handset. Such as Samsung’s A55, or Google’s A series. However, with recent updates and promotions, Samsung has unintentionally made the Galaxy S22 Ultra the ultimate budget phone.
Let’s start with updates. Specifically, one UI 6.1. This brought Galaxy AI to Samsung’s Galaxy S24 and later the S21, S22 and S23. Except, the S21 only received one AI-powered feature—circle to search. The Galaxy S22 series got AI-tools such as Live Translate, Circle to Search, Note Assist and generative image editing.
This means the S22 is the cut-off point for Samsung’s AI software suite and it has continued to get more updates throughout the year. The latest round of AI tools from Samsung’s One UI 6.1.1 update are rumored to add features such as Portrait Studio (turns pictures of people into cartoon-like drawings) and Motion Clipper (creates gifs and stickers from motion pictures) to the S22 series.
While the functionality of the S22 range has improved, the price has obviously fallen as it fades out of the limelight. Right now, a refurbished Galaxy S22 is selling for $267.99 on Amazon, while an S22 Plus can be picked up for $300 and the Ultra unit is retailing for $418.
On the secondary market, there are “mint” condition S22 Ultra models on Swappa selling for around $400. You can pick up a base S22 model for $250 on eBay, or the Plus unit for just over $300. These values fluctuate depending on the condition of the phone.
These are good prices for a capable phone that was Samsung’s flagship hardware just two years ago. But there is one problem, software support. The Galaxy S22 series has two promised Android updates left, one of which (Android 15) will land very soon, with Android 16 being the last major OS upgrade the series will get. There should be between two or three years of security updates left, too.
If you buy a Galaxy S22 now, it will be up to date until the second half of 2025. You will then need to upgrade a year later because the device will no longer receive security updates. Research says that American smartphone owners typically upgrade their phones every two to three years, which buying the S22 would fall into.
There is, however, one more hidden bonus to buying Samsung’s older tech: its trade-in deals. Up until last week, Samsung was offering $650 for the S22 Ultra, $500 for the S21 Ultra and even $400 for the S20 Ultra.
If Samsung continues its high trade-in prices for old phones, as it has done for several releases, then you could get a valuation that’s higher than what you paid for it. Of course, that still means buying a new phone to get that trade-in price.
What we don’t know is how functional the S22 will be with more Android and AI updates. The battery can be replaced, but the processor can’t. Of Samsung’s new AI tools, the S22 series didn’t get Instant Slo because it lacks the necessary processing power. It may be that one more update is simply too much for three-year-old hardware.
Samsung has also repeatedly reminded users that Galaxy AI is “free until 2025,” with no further explanation of what happens in 2025. It could well be that the company is simply keeping the door open to charging a subscription for AI tools, or that it has concrete plans to do so. If it’s the latter, then older devices become less attractive purchases.
