Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Review: Are the Refinements Worth It?
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
For 2023, Samsung has refined its flagship smartphone; the Galaxy S23 Ultra. With a slightly tweaked design, a new 200MP camera, and impressive battery life, it’s hard to ignore how capable this phone is for users who demand the best of the best. It is worth considering if you want a feature-packed smartphone that happens to include a stylus.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra is a Samsung phone for consumers who want the most features with stellar hardware. The updates for the 2023 model, though, are very minor on the surface compared to previous versions.
The S23 Ultra got the refinements that, while on paper may not be exciting, improve the experience of using Samsung’s flagship smartphone in ways you might not expect. With that said, is the Galaxy S23 Ultra worth picking up, and does it meet the expectations of the best that Samsung offers? Let’s take a look.
The Design: Small Refinement Goes a Long Way
If you put a Galaxy S22 Ultra and an S23 Ultra next to each other, you won’t be able to tell the difference between the two unless you look at specific areas. While it may bother some that this year’s Ultra doesn’t bring major design changes, the design still holds up for me. The S22 Ultra had a new design, so we were not expecting a massive change this year anyway.
The main minor change to the design, aside from being more “eco-friendly”, actually fixes one of my biggest gripes with the previous generation: the curved sides. Samsung made the sides of the S23 Ultra flatter, making it feel more boxy, and in my opinion more comfortable to hold. Even though there is still a slight display curve at the edges, it is much more tolerable now.
I applaud Samsung for admitting that the curved sides were not ideal and making the S23 Ultra closer to the feel of the regular Galaxy S models with flat sides. Hopefully, other Android manufacturers (looking at you, Google) will follow Samsung by backtracking on curved displays or minimizing the curves on the sides.
In terms of color choice, the S23 Ultra comes in four colors for the carrier versions: Phantom Black, Green, Cream, and Lavender. I chose the Green version, and it looks excellent in person. There’s a reason why Samsung uses the Green S23 Ultra in its s. you could also purchase the phone in other colors that are exclusive to Samsung’s website.
While there aren’t any significant changes to the design—arguably what makes a new release truly feel new to most people—the S23 Ultra has a nearly perfected Note-like design by improving its biggest flaw in my eyes.
The S23 Ultra’s Display: As Expected From Samsung
The S23 Ultra’s display is everything it’s possible to expect from a flagship Samsung smartphone. It’s very similar to the display that is on the S22 Ultra, meaning it features a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED. It’s also an LTPO display with up to a 120Hz refresh rate and 1750 nits of peak brightness.
you may change between Adaptive and Standard if you want to prolong battery life by limiting the refresh rate to up to 60Hz. Like last year’s model, there is also an in-display fingerprint reader for unlocking the device. The sensor is reliable and is quick to unlock the phone.
One part of the display that is different is under the hood is its the efficiency. According toSamsung Display’s newsroom, the S23 Ultra has a new display that consumes less power. All in all, the display is one of the phone’s best features. It fits the target audience for this smartphone: power users.
You’ll appreciate this large, high-quality display when you watch content, use split-screen multitasking, or view your photos.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy: Flagship Performance
The Galaxy S23 Ultra and the regular S series phones for 2023 have a new Qualcomm chip. The processor is theSnapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxywith the Adreno 740 GPU. Like the Galaxy Z Fold 4, the Galaxy S23 series only uses the Qualcomm processor globally, compared to previous years when the phones used either a Qualcomm or an Exynos chipset in certain markets.
This chip discrepancy caused some controversy in the past since you would get different performance and battery life depending on which chipset your device had, so it’s good to see Samsung make this change for the Galaxy S lineup as well. This new Snapdragon chip is specifically for Galaxy devices due to a partnership between Samsung and Qualcomm. Compared to the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, the main difference is that the CPU and GPU have higher clock speeds.
Samsung states that the S23 series has a 34% faster CPU and a 41% faster GPU than its 2022 models. In Geekbench 6 benchmarks, the S23 Ultra scored considerably higher than the S22 Ultra, with 2012 on the single-core score, and 5305 on the multi-core score. When performing the same benchmark test, the S22 Ultra had a 1661 single-core score, and a multi-core score of 3615.
As for the GPU, the Adreno 740 had an Open CL score of 9117. When comparing it to the S22 Ultra, the Adreno 730 in that phone scored 4631 in the Open CL test; the S23 Ultra scored almost double the S22 Ultra. The new Ultra also comes with 8GB of RAM if you select the 256GB storage option.
If you want even more RAM, which for the Ultra is a decision you should consider if you are a heavy user, you have to upgrade to the 512GB storage model, which comes with 12GB of RAM. In day-to-day use, the phone is quick and snappy. I never felt like the phone couldn’t keep up with what I needed to do. You won’t be disappointed with the performance of this phone.
The 200 Megapixel Camera: More Pixels Isn’t Everything
Samsung’s Ultra smartphones have been one of the leaders in the smartphone camera game, alongside the iPhone and Pixel lineup. And this year, the highlighted upgrade for the Galaxy S23 Ultra is that the main camera is now 200MP. Some might ask,is the S23 Ultra’s 200MP camera gimmicky?The results might surprise you.
But before we get into how the camera performs, we have to mention the moon photo controversy that occurred after the S23 Ultra released. It created a lot of discussion online since the S23 Ultra is using AI to produce a fake and detailed image, instead of the hardware being capable of doing so. If you are unfamiliar with this, well-known tech YouTuber Mrwhostheboss made an excellent video that explains the controversy in detail.
Samsung should have been clearer about how the software allows the moon photos to have solid detail, not the camera hardware itself. Does that mean you should discount the camera system and not use it to take photos? Not necessarily.
Some smartphones use software to alter images to the extreme, such as the Phantom X2 Pro’s stock camera app that allows users to alter people’s faces and body parts. That is a step too far, in my opinion.
In addition to the moon photo controversy, the S23 Ultra suffers from some shutter lag. I noticed slight shutter lag sometimes when taking the first photo after launching the camera app, but then it wouldn’t reappear after taking that initial photo in regular situations. I also noticed shutter lag when trying to rapidly take photos.
For the photos themselves, however, the S23 Ultra camera system produces impressive shots. Specifically, the 200MP camera captures an incredible amount of detail.
You can zoom into parts of the image and still see exceptional detail with the S23 Ultra. In the sample photos, for example, you can zoom in on the rocks along the water and still see solid detail. In the pond photo, you can zoom in on the wooden pillar and still make out the detail of the wood, instead of just seeing a blurry mess. The 200MP images here have been cropped to help display the detail.
When you switch to 12MP for the main camera, the photos still turn out exceptional. In terms of the colors, they come out more saturated compared to some other phones. In the sample photos, the phone makes the grass greener than how it looks in real life. In comparison, the iPhone 14 Pro Max represents colors closer to reality. No filters were active in the camera app.
Regardless, some people prefer their images to look the way that Samsung phones produce them, so if that is you, the phone does a good job doing so. Overall, the phone takes excellent photos that contain a lot of detail and have solid exposure, especially outdoors, thanks to the f/1.7 aperture on the main camera.
The S23 Ultra also features a 12MP ultra-wide camera, a 10MP telephoto camera for portrait shots, and a 10MP periscope camera for better zoom capabilities. Despite the initial moon photo controversy and the slight shutter lag, I still think it is one of the best camera systems on a smartphone that you may buy in 2023. It has multiple capable cameras, solid software features, and can even shoot up to 8K video.
I feel confident relying on it to take the photos that I need in many situations. Hopefully, Samsung will address some of the camera bugs that some users have been experiencing with future software updates.
Battery Life: Stellar Improvement
For a device considered by many to be one of the most feature-packed smartphones in the world of Android, poor battery life would sour its capabilities. The Galaxy S23 Ultra features a 5000 mAh battery, the same as the previous generation. Even though the battery size didn’t change, there’s a noticeable improvement to battery life this time around.
While using the device throughout the day, the battery trickles down with light to medium use, such as checking email, using social media apps, watching YouTube videos, listening to music, and more. You can rely on this phone to get you through the day with no problem and then some. The battery life is impressive for an Android phone with a large, bright display and this level of processing power.
When it comes to testing standby, the S23 Ultra drained 6% with the always-on display enabled throughout the night. In addition to having improved battery life, you will be happy to know that the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s battery is easier to replace, compared to previous Galaxy phones. Samsung hasn’t featured a battery like this in a smartphone for some time now. JerryRigEverything highlights this in his teardown video.
The jump in battery life between the S22 Ultra and S23 Ultra reminds me of when the iPhone 11 Pro Max released in 2019, which greatly improved the battery life from the iPhone XS Max. While the improvement to Samsung’s Ultra line may not be as drastic, it is instantly noticeable. The solid battery life not only enhances the experience of using this phone but is arguably the main compelling reason to upgrade to the S23 Ultra, especially since long battery life is one of the features of a smartphone that many people care about the most.
S Pen: The Best Implementation of a Stylus
Since the S22 Ultra, Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S had the S Pen built-in, just like the previous Note series before it was discontinued. Unlike the Z Fold 3 and 4, you won’t have to carry it around in your pocket separately or purchase a case to have it with the device. That is a significant benefit over the Z Fold series.
The writing experience on the S23 Ultra is fluid, thanks to the S Pen having a low latency of 2.8ms.
Let’s talk about the software features that the S Pen provides. One of the most useful ones to me is Screen off memos. The feature lets you quickly create a digital note and write down information without having to unlock the phone, which is great for instances when you need to write something down fast. In addition to Screen off memos, the S Pen offers other features, many of which have been around on Note devices for a while now.
Another one that I find useful occasionally is Screen Select, which you can use to take a screenshot of a particular section of your screen instead of having to take a full screenshot and crop it manually.
Despite these features, the S Pen isn’t a part of the phone that everyone will use daily unless you take plenty of notes or signs documents frequently. However, it’s great to have the S Pen for quick notes, and thankfully the space it takes up in the phone doesn’t compromise the device’s battery life.
One UI 5: Good Software
Regarding software, the Galaxy S23 Ultra has Android 13 installed, with Samsung’s One UI skin on top. One UI 5 brings multiple new features and improvements that build on Android 13. One new feature, arguably the headlining one, is the lock screen customization.
One UI 5 gives users a new live preview for customizing their lock screen, similar to iOS 16, which brought lock screen customization to the iPhone for the first time. The lock screen customization gives you even more control, such as allowing you to remove some aspects of the lock screen, like the clock or notifications. When it comes to other customization features, there are more wallpapers and additional color palette options for you to choose from.
One UI 5 also includes a feature that can be great for your daily life, called Modes and Routines. Like Focus on iOS, you can set specific modes for your phone depending on what you are doing or the time. For example, the Work mode is designed to minimize distractions from your phone so that you can focus on your tasks. I use a similar one on iOS too.
I have mine automatically turn on at 9:00 am and disable after 5:00 without fault. In addition to Modes and Routines, there is a new separate mode called Maintenance Mode, which helps protect your private data when you send your device in for service. One UI 5 also brings smoother animations, changes to Samsung DeX, and much more.
Overall, One UI 5 brings excellent customization options for regular users and provides great new features perfect for power users. If you want to learn more, read aboutthe eight best One UI 5 features.
Should You Buy the Galaxy S23 Ultra?
The Galaxy S23 Ultra is a subtle but appreciated update. While it may seem like a boring upgrade, it improves on some of the previous generation’s annoying shortcomings and some of the most critical areas that make up a flagship smartphone. This year’s Ultra is a solid buy, and if you are looking for a powerhouse Android smartphone with all the bells and whistles, the S23 Ultra should be at the top of your list.
That said, if you have an S22 Ultra, the upgrades probably won’t be worth the money to you. It might be best to wait a little longer to change phones.
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