Samsung’s base model of the Galaxy S22 has been one of the best “affordable flagships” for most of 2022, but a new challenger arrives in the form of the OnePlus 10T, which brings a newer top-of-the-line Qualcomm chip, along with the usual 120Hz OLED displays and premium build quality, at a slightly lower price point.

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OnePlus 10T vs Samsung Galaxy S22: Specifications

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OnePlus 10T vs Samsung Galaxy S22: Hardware and Design

Both the OnePlus 10T and Galaxy S22 sport a cool-looking design in which one side of the camera module blends into the frame. Although I personally like the OnePlus’ look a bit more, I must give credit to Samsung for pioneering this design, as it first debuted in 2021’s Galaxy S21 series. The Galaxy S22 is a typical glass-and-aluminum slab, while the OnePlus 10T uses glass front and back too, but the frame is plastic.

Samsung’s phone also has a slightly newer version of Gorilla Glass reinforcement (Victus), while the OnePlus 10T uses Gorilla Glass 5. If you want to get a case for your OnePlus 10T, we have curated a selection of them. We got you covered if you want Galaxy S22 cases too.

Display

The OnePlus 10T is a much bigger device, thanks to its 6.7-inch screen compared to the Galaxy S22’s 6.1-incher. Both screens look great, 120Hz panel using some of the latest OLED technology for deep blacks and punchy reds. But the Galaxy S22’s screen is a tad better, with a bit higher maximum brightness and a larger range of variation between refresh rates (as low as 24Hz all the way to 120Hz).

The OnePlus 10T panel is no slouch, it’s also vibrant with zippy animations (and its refresh rate can be either 60Hz, 90Hz, or 120Hz). But the Galaxy S22 screen takes the win by a hair.

SoC, memory, and battery

Since the Galaxy S22 came out at the beginning of the year, it runs on a slightly older chip, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, compared to the 8 Plus Gen 1 powering the OnePlus 10T. The newer Plus chip is marginally more powerful but noticeably more energy efficient. This, plus the much larger battery cell in the 10T (4,800 mAh) means OnePlus’ phone gets better battery life than the Galaxy S22’s 3,700 mAh battery.

Both phones come with 8GB of RAM and storage starting at 128GB. The OnePlus 10T can double both RAM and storage to 16GB and 256GB, while the Galaxy S22 can only double storage -- the RAM stays at 8GB. It shouldn't matter much to be honest, as 8GB RAM is more than plenty in 2022.

Cameras

The Galaxy S22 comes with a triple-lens system with three actual useful lenses covering the wide, ultra-wide, and 3x zoom focal range. The main camera is a 50MP Samsung GN5 sensor with a 1/1.5-inch image sensor size, and the camera is used to capture sharp pixel-binned images. The ultra-wide is a 12MP shooter with a wide 122-degree FoV, and finally, a 10MP 3x telephoto zoom lens.

The OnePlus 10T also has a trio of rear-facing cameras, but one of the lenses is the rather useless 2MP macro sensor that’s more for show. The 8MP ultra-wide sensor is also a bit low in pixel count, so images are softer in low-light scenes. But at least the 10T’s main camera is good: a 50MP Sony IMX766 sensor with the same 1/1.5-inch image sensor size as the Galaxy S22’s main camera. In terms of main camera performance, both phones are very good and just about neck and neck. But the Galaxy S22 clearly wins in zoom and ultra-wide photography.

The 10T also takes a slight win in selfies, as its 16MP shooter is not more pixel-dense, but OnePlus doesn’t apply heavy skin brightening filters the way Samsung’s phones all do. Still, overall, the Galaxy S22 camera system is superior.

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OnePlus 10T vs Samsung Galaxy S22: Software

Android 12 is the name of the game here for both phones, and each runs on the company’s own Android skin. Samsung’s OneUI is more feature-packed, allowing you to open apps in a resizable floating window and output a PC-like layout to an external display. But OnePlus’ OxygenOS is a more visually mesmerizing UI, with animations that look not only faster but more fluid to the eyes. A lot of this is an illusion — OxygenOS has always prioritized how animations look, but I can’t deny basic smartphone tasks like jumping in and out of apps, or even bringing down the notification tray, appears more pleasing to my eyes in OnePlus phones than Samsung phones. However, the inability to open apps in a floating window (you can only do split-screen multi-tasking on OxygenOS) is a bit limiting for someone who likes to multi-task often such as myself.

Neither software get in the way of core Android much, so all the usual Android 12 features are here. Ultimately, this comes down to preference: do you want beautiful, buttery smooth animations, or more features? Samsung DeX has proven legitimately useful at times when I’m trying to do work on the road.

One final benefit for Samsung: the South Korean tech giant promises at least four years of Android software updates, while OnePlus is only guaranteeing three years. If you use your phone for years at a time, this could play a factor.

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OnePlus 10T vs Samsung Galaxy S22: Performance

Other than battery life — which is a clear win for the OnePlus 10T due to having a more efficient chip and larger battery size — general performance will be similar for both phones, despite the OnePlus 10T running on a slightly more capable chip, with a 7% better CPU clock speed and 10% more efficient GPU. The reality is you won’t see the difference doing 99% of normal daily tasks like texting, emailing, or reading words on a website.

Both phones have excellent haptics and stereo speakers, though the OnePlus 10T is a better media consumption or gaming device due to having a larger screen and a bit more efficient GPU. The Galaxy S22 is superior as a multi-tasking productivity machine, however, due to OneUI’s ability to open apps in resizable windows and Samsung DeX.

If you care about benchmarks, the OnePlus 10T obviously scores higher in Geekbench due to having the newer chip. You can see in the screenshots below the newer Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 particularly wins in multi-core performance. Either way, these are both very much flagship-level phones and they are not lacking in power.

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OnePlus 10T vs Samsung Galaxy S22: Which phone should you buy?

The OnePlus 10T is a bit more affordable at $649 compared to the Galaxy S22’s $799. However, the latter is Samsung’s official retail price, there are deals on Amazon that lowers the Galaxy S22 to $699. The OnePlus 10T may have some deals too, so do check around.

Whether saving $50-$150 is a big deal or not depends on your spending power. We do think the Galaxy S22 is a slightly more polished device due to having a better camera system, brighter screen, and longer guaranteed years of software updates, but the OnePlus 10T has more fluid animations, a larger screen for media consumption, and better battery life.

Either way, both phones are very good and if you’re on the market for a flagship-level phone but don’t want to pay close to $1,000, either of these will serve you well. If you want me to share which phone I would pick, I would pick the OnePlus 10T if the price gap is $150, but I’d take the Galaxy S22 if the price gap is just $50.