Update: The Samsung Galaxy S22 seems likely to feature the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, one of the five Galaxy S22 upgrades we really want to see.

Benchmarks of the Samsung Galaxy S22 have reported that it utilizes the new Snapdragon chipset. Unfortunately, these results give a poor first impression of Samsung's upcoming flagship.

The Galaxy S22 Plus with the Snapdragon 898 chip was spotted in tech site Aroged's Geekbench 5 results browser. Its score was 1,163 in the single-core test and 2,728 in the multi-core test. [Compared to last year's Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus (1,116 single-core, 3,300 multi-core) and rival OnePlus 9 Pro (1,126 single-core, 3,685 multi-core), the single-core scores are slightly better, but the multi-core scores are much lower. This is not unusual for an early test with only a few months to go before launch. When we can actually test Geekbench 5, we will see the new model beat the old one in both parts of Geekbench 5.

Even if the multicore results are a big step forward, the new Snapdragon chip will still fall short of the iPhone 13 Pro Max's 1,720 and 4,549 scores. As the most powerful phone on the market today, Samsung will have to look elsewhere to gain an edge over Apple in terms of performance.

One such edge could be found in the Exynos 2200 chip. This slice of silicon is rumored to include an AMD GPU, which would be a first for Samsung and could have major implications for mobile gaming. If the rumors become reality as they are, it would be a shame that US buyers will not be able to try this out.

The device found in the Geekbench browser is codenamed SM-S906U, indicating that this is the US version of the phone. Only some Galaxy S22 models sold in the US are believed to have the new Snapdragon chip. Those sold in other regions, such as the UK, should use Samsung's own Exynos 2200 chip instead.

According to previous rumors, the Galaxy S22 Plus shown in this Geekbench is running the same 8GB RAM as the Galaxy S21 Plus. It is also running Android 12, which the S22 was almost guaranteed to run under the guise of Samsung's One UI.

Outside of performance-related rumors, we were able to dissect the Galaxy S22 rumors: both the S22 Plus and base Galaxy S22 are said to have smaller frames (and thus smaller batteries), but include a 50MP main camera and 3x optical zoom telephoto, Several new camera sensors are also said to be on board.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra is also likely to be wider, squarer, and reshaped to accommodate the rumored built-in stylus, the S Pen. The camera is believed to be similar to that of the Galaxy S21 Ultra, but with revamped internals and a new high-detail mode on the main 108MP sensor.

Wireless charging on the Galaxy S22 may also get a boost, jumping from 15W to 25W.

It will be some time before the Galaxy S22 arrives. The latest release date rumors have Samsung announcing the Galaxy S21 FE in January, with the S22 coming in February.