The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is the latest addition to the Galaxy lineup, and as the name suggests, it’s the most powerful and feature-packed phone in the series. With matte black glass, aluminum rails, quad cameras, and a hidden stylus, the S23 Ultra is a testament to Samsung’s prowess in the smartphone industry. In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into the features of this phone and discuss what sets it apart from its predecessors.
Design and Aesthetics
At first glance, the S23 Ultra may not seem like a significant upgrade over its predecessor, the S22 Ultra. The phone’s side radii are slightly more squared off, making it more comfortable to hold, and the rings around the cameras are slightly larger. The industrial design, button placement, and ports are all pretty much the same as the previous model. However, the phone’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2 is a step up from Victus Plus, making the phone even more durable.
Upgraded Chip and Camera
The two most important upgrades on the S23 Ultra are the chip that runs the phone and the cameras. The phone is equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, a customized version of the chip that is specific to Samsung phones. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 has been lauded for its excellent CPU and GPU performance, as well as its efficiency, which translates to better battery life. The S23 Ultra’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 has a slightly higher max clock speed on the performance core and GPU, resulting in slightly better benchmark scores than the regular Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
The other significant upgrade is the phone’s cameras. The S23 Ultra boasts quad cameras, including a 108MP primary sensor, a 12MP ultra-wide lens, a 10MP 3x telephoto lens, and a 10MP periscope lens. The periscope lens enables up to 10x optical zoom and 100x digital zoom, allowing you to capture stunning long-distance shots. The phone also features an improved Night mode, which takes advantage of the phone’s large sensor and computational photography to produce brighter and clearer low-light photos.
Battery Life
One of the most impressive features of the S23 Ultra is its battery life. The phone has a 5,000mAh battery, which is the same as the previous model. However, the phone’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, combined with its efficient software and optimization, makes a significant difference in battery life. The phone can easily last for two days with normal usage, and heavy users can get up to 8.5 hours of screen-on time. The phone also features a 45-watt fast charging capability, which can charge the phone from 0 to 100% in just an hour, and wireless charging.
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is a powerhouse of a phone, with significant upgrades over its predecessor, the S22 Ultra. The phone’s customized Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip and quad cameras make it a top contender in the smartphone industry. Its battery life is impressive, and the phone’s fast charging capabilities and wireless charging make it convenient to use. If you’re in the market for a high-end smartphone, the S23 Ultra is definitely worth considering.
I went from the 21 ultra to the 23 ultra, the battery improvement is pretty huge, although I did have the Exynos S21 ultra.
The S23 Ultra has this Note9 vibe to me. Yeah the Note9 was an incremental upgrade over Note8, but it upgraded everywhere it mattered.
My S23 Ultra arrived yesterday. The amount of detail the 200MP photos resolve blew my mind. It is so much better than my S21 Ultra and Fold 4.
There’s an option for your personal preference in camera settings to prioritise speed or quality which helps with the shutter lag, also there’s two microphones instead of one at the bottom and a bigger cutout for the speaker at the top.
I think that Samsung have made the best decision in keeping the design more or less the same and focus on improving the innards, like going all in on Snapdragon for all regions and improving and optimising things that need to be. I think this may have a positive impact on the resale value of the S22 Ultra too, simply because of how a product’s design (language) tends to sway public opinion as to what is the latest and the greatest device to get. Here the message is clear, if you have the S22 Ultra, do NOT upgrade, but if you are from a Note 10+ (or later models) for example, then by all means this will be a worthy upgrade. I mean, current iPhones essentially look the same since the iPhone 12 and they still sell like hotcakes, right?! So for Samsung to sort of take the same approach, for me is something that makes sense.
Pre-ordered today. A big step up from my S10. Also in terms of size which I’m not used to yet.
Great Review! I just wanted to add that, for the s23 series, you can actually reduce/remove the shutter lag if you go into the settings for the camera. You should try it out! I believe you essentially choose that the picture is taken when you click the shutter button instead of when your finger leaves the button, if that makes sense.
I still can’t decide if this is worth the upgrade from the S22 Ultra. I usually upgrade every year but I think this might be the generation to skip and just hope the S24 brings even more significant updates.
Didn’t expect this to be surprisingly good. Time to upgrade finally!
I currently have the note 20 ultra. I’m thinking the upgrade to the 23 ultra would be worth it for the camera upgrade. The extra zoom would be nice, as I can’t zoom on my note much before I get extremely blurry pictures.
The only thing I don’t like about the phones that came after the note 20 ultra (including the s23) is the lack of an SD card slot…. :/
Got my S23 ultra yesterday as an upgrade to my old S10 and it’s been an amazing experience so far. The battery is amazing that I would playing games at 60fps without being afraid of the battery draining to fast. I love the pen, love the display but I wasn’t able to use the camera extensively as of yet but can’t wait to put it to the test.
So far I’m really enjoying it. Totally worth it.
Honestly, I’m not sure what to do right now. I have a Note 20 Ultra that’s now 2 years old. I’m used to upgrading every two years, but the Note 20 is still near-perfect to me, so I feel uniquely happy with it and not super in need of an upgrade. But the S23 Ultra is interesting to me. Any thoughts on if it’s worth it to upgrade, or should I just stick with the Note 20 Ultra since it still has a year or two of major software updates?
The S23 ultra was outperformed by Amazons AMT99X release which also happened. Those who don’t know should probably care. Our heart goes to the entire community for this project building up something which is worth it for everyone. This is so smart by them to launch it to shatter the doubts and fears of the common folk which shouldn’t even exist to begin with. Everyone knows the state of inflation and recession now and the way out is already in progress. Now it’s just about catching the big fish.
Great review, but you forgot to mention that pro photo and pro video mode now work with the front facing camera. So you now can adjust the white balance, shutter speed and ISO of the front facing camera, where you couldn’t before in any of the previous years’ models. Also, the speakers have improved sound quality from last year, as other reviewers noted.