Update: According to new rumors, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and S22 Plus will feature the brightest displays to date, with peak brightness of 1,750 nits for both models.

Samsung may have passed on releasing a new Galaxy Note phablet this year, but a new Note may be coming in the new year.

It is no secret that Samsung is preparing its Galaxy S22 lineup for an early 2022 launch, and February is a likely release date for the new flagship phone. As in recent years, three models are expected, with the standard Galaxy S22 joined by Plus and Ultra versions. However, persistent rumors suggest that the Galaxy S22 Ultra will be released as the Galaxy Note.

The latest person to make that claim is a Twitter leaker posting under the name Tron, who has been posting tidbits here and there about the upcoming Samsung phone; the latest tweet, spotted by PhoneArena.com, claims that the S22 Ultra will be the Galaxy S22 Note, and states that it will be replaced by the Note.

It is hard to say definitively how reliable this claim is, but Tron is not the first to make it. Furthermore, other leaked information about the Galaxy S22 Ultra/Galaxy S22 Note suggests that the phones have more in common with Samsung's phablets than with the Galaxy S lineup.

For starters, the S22 Ultra/S22 Note is supposed to support the S Pen like the Galaxy Notes used to. Indeed, this year's Galaxy S21 Ultra also supported the S Pen, but only as an optional accessory. This time around, Samsung reportedly plans to offer the S Pen as a built-in feature on the largest device in the S22 lineup.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra/S22 Note could stand out from the rest of the S22 lineup in other ways. Rumors suggest that the phone will have a different design; leaked images purported to be of the S22 Ultra show off a device with a blocky appearance and a flat top and bottom. These features are far more similar to the Note than they are reminiscent of the Galaxy S model. The Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Plus are rumored to have a more orthodox design.

In previous years, Samsung has separated the Galaxy S and Note devices, releasing the former at the beginning of the year and the latter in the second half. However, as the Galaxy S grew larger, one of the key differentiators from the Note lineup disappeared; with the addition of S Pen support to the S22 Ultra, the line between the different devices further disappeared.

Consolidating the Galaxy S and Note into a single lineup makes a lot of sense, especially if Samsung keeps the Galaxy Note name for power users who appreciate having a device that enhances their productivity. Samsung could also continue to develop foldable devices like the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3, which could be released later this year.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra/S22 Note may have a different look and more powerful features than other S22 devices, but the basic guts of the phone should be the same. All three models should also have wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto cameras, but the S22 Ultra will likely add a second telephoto lens like the S21 Ultra. The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is also said to have 1TB of onboard storage.

What Samsung has in mind and what it will call its next phone will become clear in the coming months.