The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is officially present as the most advanced variant of the Galaxy S23 series. This phone at a glance looks like its predecessor but brings a number of improvements that are not kidding.
The main selling point of the Galaxy S23 Ultra is of course the 200 MP camera which we will discuss in this review. In addition, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip used in this cellphone is specifically designed for the Galaxy S23 series.
We had the opportunity to test the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra for two weeks to explore all of its features. Curious about what the performance is like? Check out the following review of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Design
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes in four color choices, namely Phantom Black, Green, Lavender and Cream. There are also four exclusive color options available online namely Graphite, Sky Blue, Lime, and Red.
The unit that visited our editor was Green. Unlike the Green color on the Galaxy S22 Ultra which is more striking, the green version of the Galaxy S23 Ultra has a much calmer and darker tone. So dark, the green color is more like gray.
The glass and back panel are coated with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 which is claimed to be more resilient, while the frame uses Armor Aluminum. The back panel has a matte finish which makes it fingerprint free, but on the other hand makes the body feel slippery. If you are often careless, you should use a case to prevent the phone from slipping when you hold it.
At first glance, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is similar to the Galaxy S22 Ultra. But after being held and seen carefully, there are some fairly minor design changes.
The most significant changes can be felt immediately the first time you hold the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Samsung changed the design to be more boxy with a completely flat top and bottom side, while the left and right sides are slightly curved.
The screen is still slightly curved at the edges but not as extreme as the previous Samsung flagship phone variant which used a curved screen. This is of course good news for Galaxy S Ultra fans who are not comfortable with curved screens.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra's screen also feels more spacious thanks to the very thin bezels at the top and bottom of the screen. Even though the screen is slightly curved and the bezel is thin, the Galaxy S23 Ultra still feels solid in the hand and when used it is rarely wrong to touch.
Turning to the back, the back of the Galaxy S23 is also made flat like the front with a slight bend at the ends. The rear camera layout is still the same as the Galaxy S22 Ultra, but each lens is decorated with a ring that makes it look more prominent.
The power and volume buttons are placed on the right side of the phone. Meanwhile, the lower part is quite crowded because it is filled with the S Pen slot, speaker, USB-C port and SIM card slot.
Screen
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra uses a 6.8 inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel. The screen has a resolution of 3,088 x 1,440 pixels (QHD+) with an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz, HDR10+, and supports always-on displays.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra screen has a maximum brightness level of up to 1,750 nits. With such a brightness level, the Galaxy S23 Ultra's screen remains comfortable and bright to look at in the hot sun.
Samsung still uses the punch hole design to place the front camera on the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Interestingly, the camera circle will shine when the front camera is used to take selfies.
The large screen of the Galaxy S23 Ultra is of course very satisfying for watching videos and playing games because of the colors that stand out. Users can choose the desired color mode between Natural or Vivid. In addition to HDR10+ support, the Galaxy S23 Ultra also has a Widevine L1 certificate so you can enjoy Full HD quality Netflix content.
Oh yes, for multimedia matters the Galaxy S23 Ultra is also equipped with stereo speakers whose sound quality and clarity is very impressive. Don't miss Dolby Atmos support which can adjust audio profiles according to user activity.
Under the screen, the Galaxy S23 Ultra also has a fast and accurate ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. The ultrasonic fingerprint sensor doesn't need to shine a light on the fingerprint to detect it, so if you have to open your phone in the middle of the night you don't have to be surprised by the phone's screen suddenly brightening.
The S Pen and productivity
Just like its predecessor, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is equipped with an S Pen stylus embedded in the body of the cellphone. But its presence is not so shocking compared to the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
Its presence is even cooler because Samsung also did not bring an update for the S Pen function on the Galaxy S23 Ultra. That's not to say this feature isn't important, because users of the Galaxy S22 Ultra or Galaxy Note are definitely familiar with the S Pen.
The S Pen on the Galaxy S23 Ultra is placed at the bottom left. As soon as the S Pen is removed from its silo it will immediately open the Air Command menu which shows shortcuts to several features. The features are still the same as the previous generation, you can use it to write, draw, doodle, and even color.
Some of its superior features include Smart Select which can select parts of websites or photos to then doodle as desired, then there is AR Doodle where users can make AR stickers with streaks on the screen, and there is also the S Pen to Text which can change handwriting into digital text.
The experience of using the S Pen on the Galaxy S23 Ultra is still the same as the previous generation. Smooth and responsive, and can adjust the thickness of the stroke according to the pressure applied.
The S Pen on the Galaxy S23 Ultra can also be used as a remote control for various functions, one of which is as a camera shutter by pressing the button on the stylus. The S Pen also supports Air actions which allow users to control apps with gestures.
To support user productivity, the Galaxy S23 Ultra also features DeX and Link to Windows which allows users to access the contents of their cell phones on a PC.
Camera
The biggest improvement that the Galaxy S23 Ultra brings is, of course, the camera. The Galaxy S23 Ultra is Samsung's first cellphone to have a 200 MP camera. Previously, the Galaxy S22 Ultra used a 108 MP main camera.
Even so, the Galaxy S23 Ultra camera by default takes 12 MP images. Samsung also provides the option of taking 50 MP images.
The bigger the megapixels, the bigger the size of the photo taken. One 200 MP photo taken by the Galaxy S23 Ultra is over 30 MB in size. Of course it really takes up space, especially if the storage on your cellphone is running low.
In addition, the difference in the 200 MP and 50 MP mode shots does not look significant. If you want to take photos and then crop them, it's better to use 50 MP mode.
In addition to the 200 MP camera, the Galaxy S23 Ultra also features a 12 MP ultra-wide camera, a 12 MP telephoto camera, and a 10 MP periscope camera with 10x optical zoom. The Galaxy S23 Ultra can also take photos with zoom up to 100x, which results are less impressive if you don't use a tripod. There is also a Nightography feature which allows for more optimal photo and video capture in low light conditions.
Performance and battery
The main attraction of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is, of course, its different processor than the others. This phone is driven by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset which is specially designed for Samsung. The chipset is combined with 12GB of RAM and up to 1TB of internal memory.
So, what's the difference between Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy and the regular version used by other flagship Android phones? The main difference is that Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy has a higher clock speed for the CPU and GPU.
Does the difference in clock speed make the Galaxy S23 Ultra faster than other cellphones that use Snapdragon 8 Gen 2? There may be a slight difference felt in terms of performance, but not that significant.
I personally haven't tried other phones with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 so I can't compare directly. But when compared to Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, the improvement you feel is very significant.
One of the things that is often complained about from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is the problem of overheating. Qualcomm seems to have managed to avoid that problem in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy (or maybe the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in general) because it's barely felt in the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
The issue of overheating was also managed by Samsung, which embedded a larger vapor chamber on the Galaxy S23 Ultra. The cooling system used is upgraded from the graphite pad used by the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
The combination of Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy and a larger vapor chamber is really felt when playing heavy games like Genshin Impact. This game can be played with the highest graphic quality and 60Hz frame rate smoothly and the body of the phone only feels a little warm on the back.
Used for multitasking and switching applications, the Galaxy S23 Ultra can bulldoze it easily. The following are the benchmark results for the Galaxy S23 Ultra using the AnTuTu, Geekbench and PCMark applications.
In addition to the latest custom chipset, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is also equipped with a 5,000 mAh capacity battery to support its performance. Don't miss 45W fast charging, so the battery capacity and fast charging are still the same as the previous generation. In one charge, this phone can last more than a day even when used to play heavy games.
Again, Samsung only provides a USB-C to USB-C cable in the sales box for the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Not having a genuine 45W charger from Samsung, I used a 100W charger made by a third party to test this phone. As a result, recharging the battery takes about 70 minutes from 5% to full.
Our Opinion
With a 200 MP camera and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset for Galaxy, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is the most advanced Samsung cellphone at the moment. The screen is still as stunning as the previous generation, the performance is getting faster, and the camera is getting more sophisticated.
However, there are a few things that might make some Samsung fans think twice about upgrading to the Galaxy S23 Ultra. First, the design is almost unchanged compared to the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Yes, the screen and chassis have become flatter, but overall the changes are not too dramatic.
Overall, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is similar to the more polished Galaxy S22 Ultra. Even so, for those of you who want to try the latest camera experience, or have a crush on the Galaxy S22 Ultra but need something more, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is worth considering.