Bringing a new color to a phone is a well-known way to refresh a mid-cycle device. Apple does it with its iPhones—purple with the iPhone 12, and green with the iPhone 13. Now Samsung is bringing a midyear color to its Galaxy S22 phones, a lavender it calls "Bora Purple."
Bora is Korean for purple, and Samsung says it "blend[s] the calmness of blue and the excitement of red." Samsung has had purple phones before—the S22 in fact comes in "violet." But where Samsung's "violet" is a little pale and washed out, the "bora" color is deeper and more shimmery, with a bit of refraction when you look at it edge-on.
Bora makes the ninth color that the S22 is available in. It's also available in white, black, green, graphite, violet, blue, pink, and cream, although the graphite, cream, blue and violet colors are only available on Samsung's website and not at carrier stores.
Only the small S22 will initially come in Bora Purple, Samsung says, but the color will also feature on "new Galaxy devices" later this year—which may mean the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 4, to be launched at the Galaxy Unpacked event on August 10.
The new color could help juice sales of an already-successful phone. According to research firm Wave7's most recent report, carrier reps frequently cited the base Galaxy S22 as a top seller, more often than the Galaxy S22+.
The new color will be available for purchase on August 10, both at Samsung.com and at carrier stores.