It’s big, powerful and beautifully designed, and after going hands-on with the handset for a few weeks we’re flitting between delight and déjà vu. We continue to love the crisp display, built-in stylus, versatile camera system, smooth software and polished glass frame, but we’re not convinced that this iteration warrants an upgrade — at least until runs dry.
The glass back feels premium, although you’ll want to invest in a to protect it from marks or scratches and to add extra grippiness. You’ll need the second hand to pop out the S-pen that slides into the button left of the aluminium case. That’s right: This effectively turns the smartphone into a mini tablet — letting you scribble notes, sketches, drawings and annotations. You’re getting an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz for smooth scrolling on apps, loads of brightness and great haptic feedback when you press down with your fingertips. Unsurprisingly, given the OLED tech, colours and detail were stunning, with deep blacks of space contrasting against the bright green clashes of the lightsaber. The S23 Ultra takes the same approach as the Pixel 7 Pro by placing a pinhole gap for the front-facing camera in the middle of the screen. It looks neat and was never a distraction on test, although it’s a bit of a shame that there’s no Android alternative to Apple’s innovative “Dynamic Island” to be found on this new flagship. And unlike Apple, Samsung phones continue to lack full-blown 3D face recognition from the front camera. The rest of the system on the new flagship remains the same as last year, however, with a 12MP ultra-wide, two 10MP telephoto lenses and a 12MP selfie camera up front. We found the S23 Ultra’s images retain lots of small details in bright and low light.
Our outdoor shots show accurate colours in buildings and the sky in both sunny and overcast weather, and close-ups have loads of detail. Testing the Samsung S23 Ultra’s zoom on this Citi Bank logo at Canary Wharf, London. There aren’t many surprises for anyone who has used Android before, but the settings do contain some nice advanced features — including a one-handed mode that creates a small mirror of the display so you can flick around without stretching your fingers. There’s a capable 5,000mAh battery in the S23 Ultra, and while that’s the same size as last year’s model, it’s now more efficient due to the new processor that’s powering the phone. Aside from the camera upgrade, Samsung has thrown into the S23 Ultra a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor instead of the Exynos chip from the previous model. That probably won’t mean anything to most users, but what it translates to is more speed when loading apps, smoother performance when scrolling through menus and better efficiency in how power is distributed. On test, the earbuds appeared and connected in seconds, and we added a widget to the home screen that shows the battery of the buds and the case in real-time. There’s no way around it: The S23 Ultra is a big, heavy phone, so it may not be suitable if you prefer more lightweight and portable handsets like the iPhone 13 mini or the Pixel 6a, or if you have smaller hands. And while we appreciate that Samsung makes some smaller improvements under the hood, we aren’t convinced it justifies all the renewed fuss and marketing. But we can’t shake the fact that, as with 2022’s minor iPhone 14 ‘upgrades’, there have been so few changes from last year’s model offering despite the asking price going up.
Samsung Galaxy S23 vs iPhone 14 comparison: Which is better?
Not to be outdone, Samsung responded with a stunner of its own, the Galaxy S23, launched in February 2023 and priced at ₹79,999. Both have flat backplates but the S23 opts for a triple camera set up versus iPhone’s dual. The Galaxy S23 offers a more versatile camera setup with 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, and 10MP telephoto lenses. Both deliver great images, but for video, the iPhone 14 shines with more stable and balanced footage.
Both phones come with stereo speakers, but the S23 edges ahead with a wider soundstage and slightly more bass. The S23 excels in design, display, and audio, while the iPhone 14 leads in battery life and video recording.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
By clicking ACCEPT or continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.
The New Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 5G: Prices, Colors, Sizes, Features & Specs
Equipment Installment Plan: Tax on full price due at sale. Must remain on qualifying service in good standing for duration of EIP agreement.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra specs — everything you need to know
The only remaining question is if these specs add up to a good phone, but we’ll let you know the answer after we’ve done some more testing post-Galaxy Unpacked. For now though, here’s the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra specs, and some explanation if you’re uncertain what any of these numbers and names will mean for your smartphone usage. Swipe to scroll horizontally Galaxy S23 Ultra Display 6.8-inch QHD AMOLED Refresh rate 1 – 120Hz adaptive Rear cameras 200MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x telephoto, 10MP 10x telephoto Front camera 12MP selfie Chipset Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 RAM 8GB/12GB Storage 256GB, 512GB, 1TB Battery 5,000 mAh Charging 45W wired/10W wireless Water/dust resistance IP68 Size 163.4 x 78.1 x 8.9mm (6.43 x 3.07 x 0.35 inches) Weight 233g (8.25 ounces) Colors Phantom Black, Cream, Green and Lavender Swipe to scroll horizontally Row 0 – Cell 0 Row 0 – Cell 1 Size 163.4 x 78.1 x 8.9mm (6.43 x 3.07 x 0.35 inches) Weight 233g (8.25 ounces) Water/dust resistance IP68 Colors Phantom Black, Cream, Green and Lavender Materials Gorilla Glass Victus 2 (front/back), Armor Aluminum (sides) Like Samsung’s other flagship phones, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is IP68 dust/water resistance rated, the gold standard for smartphones. It’s still a large display with curved left and right edges (although flatter overall), a QHD resolution and an adaptive refresh rate that can slide anywhere between 1Hz and 120Hz to balance both smooth and efficient screen performance.
The maximum display brightness of 1,750 nits is the same as Samsung claimed for the Galaxy S22 Ultra last year. This sounds like a downgrade, but we’re impressed with its shots so far, so hopefully it’s actually a boost to the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s selfie game.
The important change to look out for is that the chip is specifically a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy. This mouthful of a name translates to Samsung getting a custom, higher-performance version of the new chip that would in theory outperform other phones using the same silicon. We’ll have our fingers crossed that with its new chipset and other refinements, the Galaxy S23 Ultra can manage a higher battery life score. The Galaxy S22 Ultra didn’t score well in our battery life test, particularly when in fully adaptive mode.
Few other phones come with styluses these days, so anyone who likes making hand-written notes or drawings is best sticking with Samsung.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra features a 6.8 inches Dynamic AMOLED 2X display that has a 1440 x 3088 pixels resolution. The sensors include ultrasonic under display fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer.
Be First to Comment