Samsung’s Ultra label is normally reserved for gadgets that contain all of the high-end capabilities that are physically possible. The Galaxy S23 Ultra boasts a large, gorgeous OLED screen, a new CPU with even better performance, improved cameras, and some updated software. there is also an integrated S Pen for all of your drawing and note-taking requirements. The S23 Ultra, the company’s newest flagship phone, doesn’t look or perform all that differently from the S20 from a year ago, despite the fact that in general, that statement is still true.
The Galaxy S23 avalable for Pre-order: https://amzn.to/3YRdLU9
The new 200MP camera sensor from Samsung is fantastic, but it takes work to make it shine.
You’ll have to squint to see the improvements in the display and style.
The normal samsung S23 and Samsung S23+ received a redesign this year, but the Ultra doesn’t look much different from its predecessor unless you really pay attention. You receive a sizable 3.088 x 1,440 resolution, 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, 6.8-inch AMOLED display. Even if those specifications haven’t changed much from the previous model, it still looks fantastic. Brightness reaches a breathtaking 1,750 nits, with a normal maximum brightness in my tests of around 1,000 nits. Colors are vibrant.
Positives Outstanding display
Pros Long battery life; built-in S Pen; great performance; improved cameras
Pricey; mostly the same design; no new S Pen features
The rest of the phone is a fantastic combination of Samsung’s dependable Armor Aluminum and Gorilla Glass Victus 2. A few minor changes have been made to the chassis, including a tiny reduction in the screen’s curved corners to help prevent unintentional touching. Having said that, on the phone from last year, I never really had a problem with that. The S23 samsung Ultra’s frame is also slightly flatter, which gives the whole design a boxier appearance. Additionally, minor components of the phone, such as the lock button, are created from plastic that ends up in the ocean thanks to Samsung’s continuous focus on sustainability. But that’s pretty much all. Therefore, even when you compare the S22 Ultra and S23 Ultra side by side, it’s nearly impossible to tell them different unless you’re already familiar with the new colour possibilities for the samsung S23 Ultra, which include cream, lavender, green, and black.
New chip means faster performance
One of the first smartphones using a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip is the S23 Ultra. Samsung, though, didn’t stop there. It collaborated with Qualcomm to develop a special processor version designed only for Galaxy phones. What does that buy you, then? A richness of speed, in a nutshell. In tests, the samsung S23 Ultra produced multi-core Geekbench 5 scores that were 40% higher than what we obtained from the phone from the previous year. That’s a significant jump, so it probably won’t come as a surprise when I say that all the apps, games, and other content feel fluid.
Now, I should point out that Samsung employs a customised version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy platform, which has a clock speed that is only about 150 MHz faster than the regular chip. In reality, most users — including myself — won’t notice this difference in everyday use. One of the main improvements for 2023 is that all Ultra models will come equipped with Snapdragon chips, preventing consumers outside of North America from having to use a less potent Exynos processor as in past years. When you upgrade to the 512GB or 1TB storage options, you receive 12GB of memory instead of the base model’s 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
Software: While One UI 5.1 is lovely, it is not necessary.
In addition to launching the Galaxy S23 series, Samsung is also releasing One UI 5.1, which comes with several useful adjustments and customizations. Nevertheless, some of the new features, such as the expanded colour palette for the UI’s accent colours and the additional lock screen personalization choices, are similar to those seen in iOS 16 or Android 13’s Material You. You may also add information to the lock screen to make it simpler for individuals to return your lost cellphone to you.
By just long tapping on an object and moving it to another app for simple sharing, Samsung is also making it simpler to make personalised stickers from your images. Sadly, some topics are simpler to clip than others. Your results may vary, but generally speaking, faces and animals work rather well. However, other objects, such as flowers, frequently wind up seeming a little wrong. Additionally, the phone may now modify a variety of settings for particular activities like working out or relaxing in the new Modes and Routines area of the menu. But in addition to the Sleep mode selection
Unfortunately, despite having a S Pen and a useful storage space, the S23 Ultra doesn’t really have any new note-taking or sketching features, which is sort of disappointing. I wish there was something, anything, new to experiment with because Samsung’s top-tier phone continues to lead the industry in terms of stylus compatibility on smartphones. But I have to admit that I’m having trouble coming up with a significant feature that I’d really like to see included.
More pixels are beneficial in cameras.
The S23 Ultra’s upgraded 200MP primary sensor, which has twice as many pixels as the previous model, is the largest improvement. To really highlight the phone’s unique cinematic capabilities, Samsung showcased clips of short films from not one, but two renowned filmmakers at Samsung Unpacked. Although that sounds great, using the new sensor to its full potential requires some work.
The S23 Ultra uses 16-to-1 pixel binning in regular operation to help capture more light and generate clear, vivid photos without the need for extremely huge file sizes. Additionally, it usually results in better-looking photos. Those obtained with the S23 Ultra’s basic 12MP mode had more accurate colours and better details than images made with the sensor’s full 200 megapixels when I used it to take pictures of some pizza (which, I might add, was really tasty). You may be able to catch finer textures on some topics by turning on the sensor’s full resolution under the correct circumstances, but you’ll need to enlarge the image to do so.
There were observable variations in the white balance and sharpness, in addition to the fact that it appears Samsung’s object identification and optimizer doesn’t function in 200MP mode. On the one hand, that makes sense because professional photographers frequently like photographs with flatter colour profiles because they’re a little simpler to edit afterward. But that also means you’re best off staying with the default 12MP option unless you’re altering everything you shot in a programme like Lightroom or Photoshop. This is what I mean when I say that you have to put in some effort to make the most of the new camera on the S23, and it also applies to other things like Samsung’s Expert Raw app.
The S23 Ultra’s increased OIS is a good feature for decreasing shaking and vibrations while taking video, since the situation is similar. The new 8K/30 fps option, which is an improvement over the 8K/24 fps mode from a year ago, is good because it eliminates the 2X crop that was present on the S22 Ultra. But who actually makes home movies in 8K, let alone possesses the right monitor to see those films in their entirety? Yes, it’s convenient to have the option to crop in when you need more detail. However, this seems like overkill, especially when you realise that a two-minute 8K/30 FPS video has a file size of more than one gigabyte, which means you’re going to run out of storage space.
The phone sports a new 12MP camera with dual pixel focusing, and its selfie photos appear amazing despite having a sensor with a lesser resolution than the one on the previous edition. Because the 10x optical zoom is still my favourite lens on the phone, I feel like the 12 MP ultrawide camera and the two telephoto lenses (3x and 10x) are essentially identical
Battery life is excellent
While the batteries in the Samsung S23 Ultra’s smaller siblings both received updates, the flagship model from Samsung maintained its 5,000 mAh capacity. However, it’s alright because there is enough juice for everyone. The samsung S23 Ultra lasted an impressive 19 hours and 26 minutes on our video rundown test, which is comparable to the OnePlus 11 (19:45) but not quite as long as the iPhone 14 Plus’ 21:17. And that was with the adaptive refresh rate of the phone activated.
You need more than a day’s worth of battery life in the real world. Even on a day when I was performing extensive benchmarking and playing NBA All-World, which consumes a lot of electricity owing to continual GPS use, I still had 25% battery life at the end of the day. And on days when I didn’t use it as much, I frequently had 40% or more of the tank left by the time midnight came around.