Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra — an Excellent Note Series Successor
A short review of this brilliant device.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra offers an exclusive Qualcomm processor, uncompromising photo equipment, and a new 200MP sensor. Is this the perfect Android flagship, or would you instead look elsewhere?
The best phone from the South Korean manufacturer has carried the Ultra label for a couple of summers now, which speaks for itself considering the premium price.
Of course, Samsung could not forgive itself for trying to make the most advanced smartphone in terms of hardware and software, even this year when it launched the Galaxy S23 Ultra. How did it do? And is it an imaginary star among flagship phones?
The contents of the package
The packaging of the Galaxy S23 Ultra is as environmentally as the one recently for the Galaxy S23, which means that in it, we find only a USB-C/USB-C cable in black, the phone itself and also a tool to pull out the SIM slot.
The manufacturer has also newly replaced the films covering the front and back of the device with a paper alternative (though even so, it’s quite likely to be a combination of paper and plastic, similar to the “paper” cups). However, the plastic strips (films) on the phone's sides have been retained, although everyone will likely peel them off soon after unboxing.
Design from 2022
In terms of design, the S23 Ultra is the “dullest” of the entire newly introduced lineup, or it brings the fewest changes from the previous generation. However, the look adopted from last year’s model is, in my opinion, successful, you have to consider that it is already a relatively large smartphone, but it is pretty well-balanced.
The new one has even 6 grams more, but you won’t notice the few grams in the context of the higher weight. Dimensionally, it’s a tiny 0.2 millimetres wider. What I was very satisfied with are the sides of the device, which are now a little flatter, so the novelty fits a little better in the palm of my hand. A small detail is the differently positioned antenna baffles or one extra microphone on the bottom.
IP68 certification is also standard, so you don’t have to worry about rain, and the phone should survive immersion in water without any problems. Moreover, the front, like the back, is covered by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, which is supposed to be even more durable but more environmentally friendly (about 20% of the material is recycled glass).
Finally, I’ll mention the retention of the matt surface of the back, which is so respectable that it resists various fingerprints and dirt (at least in the green colour tested), but also the high-quality haptic response, which is probably only surpassed by that of iPhones.
Brilliant display
The display is traditionally top-notch and, unlike the basic models, is LTPO with the ability to adjust the frequency from 1 to 120 Hz, which means, among other things, better endurance. While the maximum brightness isn’t as high as the iPhone 14 Pro’s, up to 2,000 nits, even 1,750 nits, is top-notch, and I’d argue that it’s sufficient even when the display is in the bright morning sun.
Samsung deserves another positive point for the fingerprint reader placement, which is manageable to the bezel. Given the display size, I wouldn’t have minded if it was even a little higher, but even this way, it’s not uncomfortable to use.
The reader is elegant, it can handle wet and frozen fingers. This reader has about 11x the surface area, allowing you to scan two fingers simultaneously and is also even faster. Another new feature is the display's curvature, which has been newly elongated. The angle where the curvature occurs has changed.
The S Pen then still has the same features as its predecessor. In addition to being able to take notes, draw, or even just tap on the screen, for example, when you’re wearing a winter glove (which is sometimes handy), you can also take photos with it remotely thanks to the remote shutter function or use it to scroll through slides, for example.
In this respect, nothing has changed, and I can’t think of anything that could be improved. The pen retains the ability to recognize more than 4,000 swipes, and the only thing that’s perhaps a bit of a shame is that it’s only available in black.
Great sound
The Galaxy Ultra series smartphones have always had top-notch loud (stereo) speakers, but with the newcomer, they’re perhaps a tad better between generations. When listening to music, you’ll appreciate the nice hints of bass and the very high volume without distortion, but you can equally praise the microphone array that records high-quality sound.
A significant change with the S23 Ultra is deploying the chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen2 for Galaxy, with truly brutal performance. Together with the improved cooling, it is clear that the Ultra has the power to spare and doesn’t let the phone get stuck with anything.
It can now be purchased with 8GB of RAM, but most customers will probably reach for the 12GB RAM variant. The latter is of the LPDDR5 type, and the storage, which can be purchased in sizes ranging from 256 GB to 1 TB, is of the fastest UFS 4.0 type.
Even given the deployment of ultra-fast storage, perhaps no one will criticize the lack of a memory slot since they would not achieve such high transfer speeds, nor are they as safe. However, the slot can fit up to two nanoSIM cards, and there is no eSIM support, but you can only have two SIMs activated at a time.
With the same battery capacity, it lasts longer
The processor and the modified cooling also impact the battery life and, in my opinion, the battery life. This is because the phone doesn’t heat up as much during demanding tasks, such as recording in 8K at 30 FPS, which is only suitable for long-term battery life. Oh, and the processor is more power efficient again, so the battery life has improved between generations even though the battery has remained the same and has a capacity of 5,000 mAh.
Given the improved cooling, this isn’t too much of a surprise, and let’s not forget that there’s also room for the S Pen inside. With the phone then, I managed one and a half days with absolute ease, and that’s from the beginning when you use the device, usually much more before everything “sits” and you stop enjoying playing with the phone. I believe that after a more extended period, I would get to two days of moderate use and always have the security of at least one day without charging.
Charging
Regarding charging, Samsung remains conservative; the maximum is 45W (wired) and 15W (wireless), respectively. Eventually, reverse wireless charging is also present, suitable, for example, for charging a smartwatch or headphones overnight when you’re also charging your phone and not using it.
Despite the not-so-great numbers, during wired charging, I saw the power replenish from 0 to 70% in 30 minutes (charging with a 125W PD-enabled adapter), with a full charge taking about an hour.
In particular, the level of charge within half an hour is sufficient. Finally, I’ll mention the phone’s ability to better hold a charge level in colder outdoor temperatures.
Connectivity: both 5G and superfast Wi-Fi
Regarding connectivity, the S23 Ultra has one slight advantage over the recently tested compact S23 in UWB support. However, it doesn’t have many uses yet, and you’ll probably only use it with a smart pendant. Otherwise, there’s Wi-Fi 6e, Bluetooth 5.3 and everything you’d expect from a flagship phone (NFC, 5G, GPS, GLONASS, BDS and Galileo).
Cameras
I enjoyed the camera as such, but I like the HDR output from the iPhone better, but it always depends on the scene and camera settings.
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra represents a welcome cross-generational renewal, bringing more performance, better cooling, longer battery life and a slightly better display in addition to a 200Mpx sensor.
As with the Samsung Galaxy S23, then, I’m sorry (perhaps a little more so with the Ultra version) that the manufacturer hasn’t installed the latest model of the ultrasonic fingerprint reader with a significantly larger surface area, and some might like to see faster charging on the phone.
However, the shortcomings above are easily compensated for by the uncompromising photo equipment and top-notch software support, which should be an essential criterion for anyone considering buying a new phone, especially in this price range.
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