Within its five-year software update lifespan, the Galaxy S23 Ultra will receive several new security patches, and feature drops as well as a total of 4 Android upgrades by Samsung. Samsung will provide a total of four major OS upgrades and five years of security patches.
Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus Review: It’s All About the Battery Life
Editors’ note, Nov. 1: With its sleek design, vibrant screen, improved battery life and versatile camera system, Samsung’s Galaxy S23 is a top choice for Android fans in search of a premium smartphone. It even wrangled endorsements from acclaimed directors Ridley Scott and Na Hong-jin during its Galaxy S23 announcement. However, in a surprising move for Samsung, the camera plays second fiddle to battery and performance upgrades in the new Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus. Performance is faster, and battery life is thankfully a bit longer, which addresses the biggest complaint I had about the Galaxy S22.
Instead, Samsung focused on making practical refinements to one of the areas that matters most in a phone: how long it lasts on a single charge. The $899 Pixel 7 Pro falls in between the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus pricewise and offers a stellar camera that bests Samsung’s in some scenarios.
Overall, the Galaxy S23 is ideal for Android fans that prioritize fast performance, solid cameras and having a spacious and bright screen in a compact package. The new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor inside the Galaxy S23 series, which has been optimized for Samsung’s new phones, should also bring some improvements to power efficiency.
When I used the 6.1-inch Galaxy S22 as my daily smartphone for roughly a month, I noticed that the battery dipped down to between 30 and 40% by 9 p.m., especially after a long day in the office.
With the Galaxy S23, the battery was down to 46% by 9:45 p.m. after a day of heavy usage (running benchmark performance tests, taking lots of photos and videos, etc.).
While charging speed isn’t a deal-breaker when buying a new phone, it would have been nice to see Samsung push forward in this area. That’s especially true considering rivals like Xiaomi and OnePlus continue to shorten the time it takes to replenish their respective phones’ batteries.
Playing games with the graphics and frame rate at the highest settings felt smooth, and apps launched instantly. All three new phones have an adaptive refresh rate that reaches up to 120Hz for smoother scrolling and animations, which also contributes to the devices’ peppiness. Benchmarks meant to test general computing (Geekbench 5) and how a processor handles high performance in short bursts (3DMark) told a similar story. But the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus did outpace the OnePlus 11 in the test meant to evaluate a processor’s single-core performance, which makes sense considering Samsung overclocked one of the CPU cores.
Other than the faster video export speeds, I didn’t experience anything on the Galaxy S23 lineup that felt unusually fast compared to most other phones in the same price range. Thanks to a technique called pixel binning, you can choose to shoot photos at the full 50-megapixel resolution or 12 megapixels depending on the scenario. Samsung also integrates the controls from its Expert Raw app right into the main camera, making it more convenient for those who want easy access to the full, uncompressed version of an image. The Galaxy S23 performs well in dim conditions overall, which isn’t surprising considering low-light photography has been a big area of focus for Samsung in recent years.
Even though the iPhone 14 and Pixel 7 Pro performed better in the examples above, the S23 easily challenges Apple and Google in other low-light photography scenarios, like taking photos of pets and still objects.
In the photos of a book stack below, for example, the Galaxy S23 did a great job at retaining detail and color. The iPhone 14’s photo isn’t as colorful and has some noise compared to Samsung’s, although the Pixel 7 Pro’s image was a close competitor. While the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus can both capture crisp and clear images, there were instances in which colors either looked exaggerated or blown out compared to the same photos taken on the iPhone 14 and Pixel 7.
The Galaxy S23’s camera isn’t a leap forward, but it’ll feel significant to those upgrading from a phone that’s several years old. The main difference is that Samsung did away with the camera island on the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus, instead opting for standalone lenses that sit arranged in a vertical column on the back of the device.
The Galaxy S23 Plus, for example, only feels slightly larger than the 6.1-inch iPhone 14 despite the amount of extra screen space it provides. The Galaxy S23 is also one of the few Android phones with a 6.1-inch screen other than the Pixel 6A, making it a compelling choice for those who prefer compact devices. That means your Galaxy S23 will last for at least four years from a software perspective, so it shouldn’t feel outdated anytime soon. Consistent with Samsung’s theme of making practical changes this year, the Galaxy S23 Plus and S23 Ultra now start at 256GB of storage rather than 128GB.
Those who have an older phone will get the benefits that came with last year’s camera upgrade and redesign, along with the S23’s better battery life. The camera generally captures more accurate colors and crisper zoom shots than Samsung’s and you get a slightly larger screen for a cheaper price than the Galaxy S23 Plus. However, just remember that Google only offers three generations of Android OS updates for the Pixel 7 line, so you might want to upgrade sooner. We push the processor’s performance to the extremes using both standardized benchmark tools like GeekBench and 3DMark, along with our own anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution videos and playing graphically intense games at high refresh rates.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Software Update
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Galaxy S23 Android 14 firmware available on SamMobile now!
Earlier today, Samsung finally started rolling out the stable Android 14 and One UI 6.0 update for the Galaxy S23 series, following weeks of beta testing that saw the company fixing lots of issues thanks to feedback from its users. Once you download the appropriate firmware file for your Galaxy S23 series device, you can flash it manually through a computer running Windows OS and using the famous Odin tool.
Samsung Galaxy S23 / Galaxy S23 Ultra – Install Device Software Updates
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Mobile Hotspot not included on Unlimited Welcome plan.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Firmware Download SM-S918B Free Download
Extract (unzip) the Samsung firmware file. Reboot Samsung phone in Download Mode (hold Home + Power + Volume Down buttons / hold Volume Down + Bixby buttons then plug-in cable) Connect you Samsung phone and wait until you get a blue sign in Odin
Click the START button, sit back and wait few minutes
Samsung Galaxy S23 series August update lands in the US with new camera features
We’ll detail the current software versions for each device and alert you if there’s a new update rolling out. Samsung usually pushes out updates to the entire series, but this may vary per variant and carrier. All three Galaxy S23 series phones launched with Android 13 and Samsung’s One UI 5.1 skin on top.
Samsung will offer four major Android OS updates to the Galaxy S23, S23 Plus, and S23 Ultra.
The update also improves the portrait video mode and now lets users record at a 30fps frame rate using Big Circle, Color Point, and Glitch effects. Samsung started rolling out the One UI 6 beta, with the Android 14-based software available to users in Germany, the US, and South Korea. Samsung is rolling out its August update for Galaxy S23 owners in Thailand, according to SamMobile. Samsung has started pushing out the July security patch to all phones in the Galaxy S23 series. SamMobile reported that the update was initially available in Europe, packing firmware version S91xBXXS1AWD1. SamMobile reported that the update was initially available in Europe, packing firmware version S91xBXXS1AWD1.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 series got the April security patch alongside a substantial camera upgrade. February 20, 2023: The Samsung Galaxy S23 series got its first software update with firmware version S91xBXXU1AWBD.
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