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| Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Review: |
The Galaxy S23 Ultra, which retails for $1.100, is the only smartphone in Samsung's range to come equipped with the S Pen stylus, carrying on the legacy of the Galaxy Note. With the S23 Ultra, the business adopts a kitchen-sink strategy; it boasts nearly every feature a buyer of a flagship phone could ask for, including superb hardware, a stunning display, lightning-fast speed, and excellent cameras. Although its price and large size make us hesitate, many consumers are probably willing to overlook these drawbacks in exchange for a phone with this level of capability. Should you not want the stylus or the additional cameras, the marginally more compact and reasonably priced Galaxy S23+ could be a better option for you. However, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is our Editors' Choice winner for high-end Android phones if you want it all.
Gorgeous, But Huge
The largest and most powerful member of the S23 family—which also includes the S23 and S23+ is the Galaxy S23 Ultra. With its additional cameras, integrated S Pen, and squared-off style, it distinguishes itself from its more affordable siblings.
The S23 Ultra is mostly inspired by the design of the S22 Ultra from the previous year. With dimensions of 6.43 by 3.07 by 0.35 inches (HWD), the phones are identical, while the S23 Ultra weighs slightly more than the S22 Ultra by 5 grams. Comparatively speaking, the Galaxy S23 (5.76 by 2.79 by 0.3 inches, 5.93 ounces) and Galaxy S23+ (6.21 by 3.0 by 0.3 inches, 6.91 ounces) are significantly lighter and smaller. The S23 Ultra is unquestionably a huge piece of hardware. Considering the price, we advise adding a case, however doing so will only make it larger and heavier.
Today's best smartphones typically have a sandwich design made of glass and metal, and Samsung is the only firm that does it better. The Armor Aluminum frame of the S23 Ultra incorporates some recycled components. Gorilla Glass Victus 2 from Corning offers additional front and rear scratch and drop protection.
Cream, Green, Lavender, and Phantom Black are the four primary hues that Samsung offers for the phone. In the event that those don't catch your eye, Samsung's website has access to exclusive colors including Graphite, Lime, Red, and Sky Blue. Samsung claims that the phones are colored using recycled dyes. Both the matte surface on the back panel and the color-matched finish on the frame between are attractive.
Speaking of the frame, this is where the S23 Ultra has undergone the most modification, and it's also the change that has meant the most to me. The device's side edges have smoothed, but its sharp corners are still the same as those of its predecessor. Additionally, the business somewhat flattened out the display glass. Samsung lessened the curvature by 30% for the S23 Ultra, although the S22 Ultra still retained sharply curved side edges and a thin metal rail. You wouldn't believe how much of a difference this makes (in comparison to the S22 Ultra) in how much more comfortable the grasp is.
Samsung made no notable design adjustments to the camera module. Although the individual lenses are slightly bigger, the Ultra's four back cameras and laser focusing array remain the same as those of the S22 Ultra. It's a more appealing strategy than what Samsung did with its earlier devices.
The phone satisfies the rigorous IP68 grade for water and dust resistance. It can withstand submersion in water up to 1.5 meters (5 feet) for 30 minutes without any issues. This similar degree of security is shared by the Google Pixel 7 Pro and the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Simple controls highlight the frame. The right side of the device has the volume toggle, power button, and a plastic cutout covering the 5G antennas. Although the power button is a little small, the feedback and travel are both good. The phone's bottom is busy. It has a SIM card tray, a USB-C port, a downward-firing speaker, and a S Pen slot from left to right.
Samsung integrated a fingerprint sensor within the screen. It was easy to use and train, and I found it to be comfortable to reach. An encrypted face ID tool is located above the screen if you are partial to face recognition software. While it's not nearly as quick as the fingerprint reader, there are situations where it can be more practical (like when you're wearing gloves).
Overall, we can't criticize the otherwise excellent hardware, though some purchasers may find the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra to be too big.
An Amazing Display
One of the best smartphone screens available is found on the S23 Ultra. Even though Samsung didn't make much changes to the display from the previous year, it still provides a fantastic experience.
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| Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Review: |
In order to balance power and performance, Samsung chooses a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity-O panel with an adaptive refresh rate of 120Hz. Depending on the activity, the screen may dynamically change its refresh rate from 1Hz to 120Hz to save battery life or allow for seamless scrolling. Its resolution is QHD+ (3,088 by 1,440), with a pixel density of 501 ppi. In actuality, the pixel density of the Pixel 7 Pro is marginally greater at 512 ppi than that of the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which is lower at 460 ppi. The 120Hz screens on the S23 and S23+ measure 6.1 and 6.6 inches, respectively, and boast FHD+ resolution (2,040 by 1,080 pixels).
Brightness is the true upgrade. The screen's output ranges from 1,200 nits at peak outside to 1,750 nits on average. Though it is not as good as the iPhone 14 Pro Max's 1,600 nits (average) and 2,000 nits (peak outside), it is still far better than the S22 Ultra's 1,200 nits maximum from the previous year. When I held the S23 Ultra and the 14 Pro Max side by side in the open air, I noticed that the iPhone appeared marginally brighter than the S23 Ultra, but not enough to give it a significant advantage over the other device. In any case, the display of the S23 Ultra is easily readable in even the dimmest lighting.
Samsung offers a wide range of customization options. Firstly, you may choose between QHD+, FHD+, and HD+ resolutions according on whether you want to conserve power or view every pixel. Additionally, you can benefit from touch sensitivity, screen savers, Samsung's Edge panels (app shortcuts), the navigation bar (for gestures), color profiles, adaptive brightness, and blue light settings. Making adjustments results in a more customized experience.
The top of the screen is broken by the selfie camera, but the bezels that separate the screen from the metal frame are incredibly small and hardly noticeable.
At the top of the market, there is fierce competition for displays, but the S23 Ultra stands out and outperforms its main competitors.
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| Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Review: |
S Pen Expertise
The S23 Ultra is still distinctly different from the S23 and S23+ thanks to the S Pen stylus. The S Pen fits into a groove on the left side of the phone's lower border. The stylus head easily pulls out with a light push, making it simple to grasp and slide out.
A smaller stylus is the S Pen. Its smooth finish and slightly flat contour aid in grip. One side has a utility button that may be used for a variety of functions, such moving PowerPoint slides forward or activating the camera shutter (which is quite useful). This year, Samsung made no claims about enhancements to the S Pen's responsiveness. Nevertheless, it remains the greatest stylus experience available on a contemporary smartphone. Writing on the glass feels solid with the little tip, and the experience is wonderfully fluid.
The S22's S Pen-focused software bundle is also included in the S23 Ultra. This implies that there is no new capability added to existing capabilities like Smart Select (for pulling objects off web pages), Translate (for picking and translating text), S Pen to text (for transcribing), and Air Actions (for motion-based controls).
The S23 Ultra's improved connectivity with Google apps is the only significant change. To be more precise, S Pen input is supported in more text fields in Google products including Gmail, Chrome, and Maps. In actuality, a lot of the text areas you may wish to write in are tiny, so you'll need to give the function an extra press to activate it. But this might be useful if you're in full stylus mode and don't want to put the S Pen down to type text in specific fields. No other phone has a better or more potent stylus than this one.
Galaxy Snapdragon = Absurd Speed
One of the first manufacturers to release a smartphone using the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 CPU is Samsung. Possibly more intriguingly, Samsung collaborated with Qualcomm to optimize the chip's CPU and GPU output and offer it a competitive advantage. It outperforms the stock 8 Gen 2 in terms of speed and achieves impressive benchmark scores, as we predicted.
Establishing the Link
One of the first gadgets with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X70 modem is the S23 Ultra. To guarantee optimal performance, the modem collaborates closely with the 8 Gen 2 SoC to manage 5G, Wi-Fi, and other connections. Several new 5G bands that the S22 Ultra didn't support are now supported by the modem.
Same Power, Extended Life of Battery
The Galaxy S23 Ultra and the S22 Ultra from last year share the same 5,000mAh battery. The 2023 phone manages to outlast the 2022 model, albeit not significantly. This is despite the unchanged capacity.
When we played a YouTube movie on repeat over Wi-Fi with the phone's brightness set to maximum, the S23 Ultra's battery life was tested, and it lasted 13 hours and 11 minutes. Although it falls well short of the 19-hour mark of the iPhone 14 Pro Max, it is a nice improvement over the 12 hours and 14 minutes of the S22 Ultra and the 10 hours and 30 minutes of the Pixel 7 Pro.
Despite having a brighter screen and the same battery capacity, how did Samsung manage to gain improved battery life? Since the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 can perform computation jobs more quickly than the S22 Ultra's 8 Gen 1 SoC, it probably has some influence here.
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| Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Review: |
Challenger Pixel
Typically, Samsung saves its greatest camera technology for the Galaxy S series, but the S23 Ultra raises the bar. With five cameras, the phone can capture images on par with, or occasionally even better than, the Google Pixel 7 Pro and the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra from the previous year has a 108MP ISOCELL HP1 sensor. Samsung updated the S23 Ultra this year with a 200MP ISOCELL HP2 sensor. A 1/1.3-inch chip holds 200 million pixels, each with a size of 0.6μm. The phone's default resolution is 12.5MP, with a 16-to-1 pixel binning technique. If you'd like, you can choose to take 200MP or 50MP pictures. These may produce more noise, but they also provide more information for greater detail. With an f/1.7 aperture, the primary lens is equipped with both laser autofocus and optical image stabilization (OIS).
Android's Secondary Best
Samsung's One UI 5.1 user interface and Android 13 come preinstalled on the Galaxy S23 Ultra. The S23 Ultra has an excellent base layer in Android 13. Android 13 on the S23 Ultra looks different from Android 13 on Google's Pixel 7 Pro because Samsung has layered its own software on top.
The S23 Ultra hasn't changed much, except from a few small adjustments to the phone's personalization settings. For instance, there's a new video lock screen option and a new widget system for the home screen. Depending on your location or the time of day, you can switch between a few unique modes and routines. This is useful, for example, if you have work to focus on. Additionally, Samsung redesigned the Bixby Text Call function, which simplified the process of producing text-to-audio answers for incoming calls. Finally, Samsung made significant adjustments to its Knox security suite, making it even more enterprise-friendly than before.
My last opinion
If you're looking for the best of the best, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is a great option. The phone boasts an amazing display, some of the fastest performance we've ever seen, a strong software suite that integrates the S Pen stylus, an incredibly long-lasting battery, and an excellent set of cameras. However, because to its large size, it might not be suitable for people with smaller hands or pockets. It could also be financially unaffordable. In contrast, the Galaxy S23 and S23+ have smaller, less costly bodies while still providing many of the same capabilities as the Ultra. However, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is our Editors' Choice winner if you really want it all.