Who would’ve thought we’d see a Galaxy S device with a built-in S Pen? That’s the reason why it’s quite surprising when the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra was announced. Essentially a Galaxy Note in all but name, the S22 Ultra has all the winning features of a Note device, including the much loved stylus.

We just received a review unit of the S22 Ultra not too long ago, so if you’re wondering what you get in the box, here’s our unboxing of Samsung’s latest flagship phone. Oh, if you’re planning to get any phone in the S22 series, you may want to get a number of other accessories too, including a screen protector.

Naturally, the retail box of the Galaxy S22 Ultra is not all that different from its predecessor’s. It’s packaged in a sleek, slim box, because…well, a charger is no longer bundled with the phone. So yes, if you don’t have a spare USB-C charger around, you’d need to get one.

Fortunately, a USB-C to USB-C cable is provided with the S22 Ultra, so you don’t have to shop for both a cable and charger. Now, if you want to make use of this cable, you’ll have to make sure you get a charger with a USB-C port instead of the more common USB-A connection.

There’s also one more noteworthy change to the Galaxy S22 Ultra: it doesn’t come with a pre-installed screen protector anymore. Keep this in mind if you’re shopping for a case to protect the phone; you may want to grab a screen protector too.

And…that’s pretty much the unboxing of the S22 Ultra. Of course, there’s the S Pen neatly tucked into the bottom of the phone. A click on the top of the stylus allows you to grab onto it and pull it out to start scribbling. Thanks to its lower latency, the writing experience is more fluid than ever too.

Basically, it feels very natural to write using the S Pen on the Galaxy S22 Ultra; almost like I’m physically scribbling on a piece of paper. The S Pen itself sees a slight revision as well – it now has rubberised texture for a more comfortable grip. I also like the fact that it’s finished in black instead of matching the phone’s colour.

While we’re on the topic of colour, I’m quite a fan of the Burgundy S22 Ultra. Depending on the lighting, it can appear as a shade of dark red, brown, or even purple. If you want something more…professional, you can always opt for the Phantom Black or Phantom White colourways.

Aesthetically, the Galaxy S22 Ultra can easily pass off as a Note device with its flat top and bottom, giving it an angular appearance. The sides of the phone, however, are rounded; it’s almost like the display and glass back panel of the S22 Ultra are wrapping around the frame. All in all, this makes for a premium phone in looks and feel.

What about the display quality of the S22 Ultra? As expected, it’s a stunning 6.8-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel. According to Samsung, this is the brightest screen ever on a Galaxy S device with a peak brightness of 1,750 nits. It also supports HDR10+ with 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut.

Of course, the S22 Ultra’s display has a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate too, and it can go as low as 1Hz, depending on the content shown on the screen.

In the performance department, the Malaysian market is getting the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 version of the Galaxy S22 Ultra instead of the Exynos 2200 variant. This is quite a surprise, given that our market usually gets the Exynos version of the Galaxy S series.

Nonetheless, this Snapdragon 8 Gen 1-equipped S22 Ultra feels very fast and zippy; what you’d expect out of a 2022 flagship chipset. I also played a quick session of Genshin Impact with the phone, and it’s…well, quite promising. Stay tuned to our full review for an analysis of the S22 Ultra’s performance.

Naturally, the quad camera system of the Galaxy S22 Ultra is a sophisticated one. It’s made up of a 108MP primary sensor, a 12MP ultra-wide angle shooter, a 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom, and another 10MP telephoto lens that can do 10x optical zoom.

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is a very promising, very refined flagship smartphone. Not only is it the first device in the S series to get a built-in S Pen, it also offers fast performance, a bright, stunning display, and an even more capable camera system.

But all of these impressive features also demand a matching price tag: starting at RM5,099 for the base 128GB model – up to RM5,899 for the range-topping 512GB variant – there’s no denying that the Galaxy S22 Ultra carries a premium price tag.

Now, whether or not this asking price is justified…we can only fairly assess in a full review of the S22 Ultra. Stay tuned for that!