It started with an email from a reader in Norway. He writes:
“I was early to buy one of the brand new Samsung phones, a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra with 512 GB storage. I chose to buy it even though it was an expensive phone, but then you expect great things.
Unfortunately, I found that the phone lost connection on the mobile network and those who tried to call me were told that I could not be reached as the subscriber had switched the phone off or was out of coverage.
The mobile’s display showed that I had signal and I could also call others. But while talking, I repeatedly lost the sound of the other party, while at the other end they heard “white noise” like the roar of a TV without signal. This could last for 10-15 seconds before the sound came back into the conversation , and after a while it would happen again and again.
After much troubleshooting I came to the conclusion that these problems occur when disabling 4G voice (VoLTE), or that the phone is out of 4G coverage, i.e. when using only the 3G/2G network.
On 10 March, I returned the phone to the dealer and they were to send me a new phone, which arrived on 15 March. Satisfied, I unpacked and set up the new phone, only to discover that it had exactly the same problems as the one I returned!
I also see on Samsung’s own forum that many others are experiencing the same problems – in several countries. It seems to me that Samsung has managed to produce a top of the range mobile phone that you can’t use to make calls on a normal GSM network.”
We have subsequently investigated the matter and have found that a large number of users are reporting identical or related problems with the new Samsung top model.
On Samsung’s European forum alone there is a thread titled “Problems with the GSM network on the Galaxy S22 Ultra” that so far fills over 30 pages with a total of more than 300 comments! A similar discussion can also be found on Reddit and in a German language version on Samsung’s own forum forum.
- User complaints include:
- They cannot be called by others even if they have full signal
- The sound disappears for 10-15 seconds at a time during calls
- It takes longer to connect to other phones when calling them with Galaxy S22 Ultra
- Getting a new SIM card does not help
- On the other hand, disabling 4G and 5G may solve the problem, but most users consider this a completely unacceptable workaround
- Other than the above suggestions, Samsung support has not provided any useful help
The first posts appeared three weeks ago, while the last posts are from today. At no point in the intervening period has Samsung commented on the problem – either on their discussion forum or elsewhere.
Sound & Vision therefore sent a few questions directly to Samsung in the Nordic region and to Samsung’s PR office on Monday. We asked:
- Is Samsung aware of this problem?
- What is the cause?
- What are you going to do about it?
This morning we received a call from a Samsung representative who wanted to be quoted for the following response:
“We are aware of the current situation with the GSM network that a small number of users have reported on their Galaxy S22 Ultra. Our customers’ experience is our top priority and we are working diligently to analyse and resolve this situation.”
So it seems that a solution is on the way, which must be said to be good news for all Galaxy S22 Ultra owners.