Summary

  • Samsung’s One UI 6.1.1 update is reportedly bricking many Galaxy S22 phones.
  • The problem appears to be primarily affecting Exynos 2200-powered S22s in Europe and Asia.
  • Samsung has not yet acknowledged the widespread problem or released a fix.



Following One UI 6.1 earlier in the year, Samsung pushed the Android 14-based One UI 6.1.1 update to its flagship Galaxy smartphones in September. The company had to retract the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s build soon after release due to major camera issues. It eventually fixed the bug and released a revised build a few weeks later. However, the Galaxy S23 is seemingly not the only phone negatively affected by the One UI 6.1.1 firmware. Several Galaxy S22 owners have complained about the update bricking their devices permanently or causing random restarts and crashes.

The back of a blue Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra with its camera stack in focus.

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According to SamMobile, many Galaxy S22 users report that the One UI 6.1.1 update, which rolled out in September 2024, has unexpectedly bricked their devices. On reaching out to Samsung’s customer support, the affected users were recommended to get the phone’s motherboard replaced because it had become faulty. Since these devices are now out of warranty, they were asked to shell out a hefty sum for the replacement.

Samsung’s support forums (2) and social media platforms are filled with complaints from Galaxy S22 owners about the issues. Given the number of reports, it’s evident that the problem appears to be affecting a sizable number of Galaxy users. In cases where the update did not brick the phone, users complain of random reboots and overheating issues.


Bricking bug appears to impact Galaxy S22 with Exynos 2200 chip

The problem primarily seems to be affecting Exynos 2200-powered Galaxy S22 units sold in Europe and parts of Asia. In the US, the phone launched with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip under the hood.


Despite the bricking issue seemingly looking fairly widespread, Samsung has yet to acknowledge the matter and issue a statement.

Samsung had to pull the One UI 6.1 update for the Galaxy S22 earlier this year due to several bugs. The following One UI 6.1.1 firmware for the phone appears even worse, turning it into a brick for many.

For now, if you own a Galaxy S22 and have already installed the One UI 6.1.1/September 2024 update, there’s not much you can do. Since then, the phone has received multiple updates, but they don’t seem to have helped with the random reboots and crashing issues.