presentation s23 ultra

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review: indomitable showman

Upping the ante on the already excellent.

TechRadar Verdict

A tougher build, faster memory and storage, a more efficient battery, a custom-tuned chipset and a new 200MP main camera hidden behind a familiar design; the S23 Ultra is a more substantial upgrade than you might first realize. Provided you're not dissuaded by the steep asking price, in every other regard you'll be getting one of the best phones in the world.

Bespoke Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset

More base storage than predecessor

Functional refinements

Faster charging would have been nice

Looks identical to predecessor

Seriously expensive

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• Price & availability
• Performance
• Should I buy it?
• Also consider
• How I tested

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Two-minute review

The Galaxy S23 Ultra offers up a familiar face that, at a glance, looks identical to its predecessor. The changes are there though, they're just not as big as those you'll find on the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus. (You can read our Complete Samsung Galaxy S23 review and our thorough Samsung S23 Plus review for more on those two phones).

A familiar squared design plays host to a tweaked display that offers a greater flat surface area, giving the S Pen stylus more room to work with. The front and back now sport the latest and most resilient Gorilla Glass Victus 2 , and all the mod-cons from its predecessor – including IP68 dust and water resistance, and 45W wired charging – remain.

Samsung has also worked to integrate more recycled materials into the phone's design, with the likes of recycled fishing nets going into the construction of the S Pen's inner cover and the speaker module, for example.

Some elements – like the 6.8-inch 1Hz to 120Hz adaptive Dynamic AMOLED 2X display and the 5,000mAh battery – have received seemingly minor tweaks (greater color accuracy and 20% improved efficiency, in the case of the above examples, respectively).

On the inside, however, there are some bigger changes, like the new ' Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy' that Samsung and Qualcomm have collaborated on; purpose-built to offer rival-beating performance (51% better NPU performance, 41% better GPU performance and 33% greater CPU performance than previously, according to Samsung). The Ultra – along with the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus – is also one of the first phones out there to boast faster and more efficient LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage.

A familiar-looking rear four-camera rear array hides a new 200MP lead sensor that offers 16-to-1 pixel-binning, with the aim of advancing the S23 Ultra's 'Nightography' abilities for everything from general snaps, to portrait photography, to videos of the night sky using the new Astro Hyperlapse mode and in practice, although imperfect, you'll be hard-pressed to find an alternative phone with the same level of consistency, quality and confidence across its various sensors.

Those who want to shoot with greater control now also benefit from enhanced editing control too, with the ability to work with shots at up to 50MP captured in Expert RAW mode.

You still get a 12MP ultrawide and dual telephoto lenses at 3x and 10x (periscopic) zoom, respectively, granting the S23 Ultra the same degree of class-leading camera versatility offered up by the last couple of generations of Ultra.

Samsung has also renewed its commitment to offering up to four years of OS updates and five years of security updates, across the Galaxy S23 series. All three arrive with One UI 5.1 atop Android 13, which folds in better collaborative working in Samsung Notes and an enhanced Privacy Dashboard, among other things.

While the starting price (in the US, at least) remains consistent with the Galaxy S22 Ultra 's base price, Samsung has doubled the entry-level storage to 256GB, while the top-tier model can be had with 12GB of RAM (up from 8GB on the base version) and a whopping 1TB of storage.

For a deeper dive, head on to the full in-depth review below, but know that, provided you're comfortable with the Ultra's high asking price, there's little to be disappointed by here.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review: Price and availability

• Starts at $1,199.99 / £1,249 / AU$1,949
• Same US starting price despite double the storage YoY
• Top 1TB model is more expensive YoY across key markets

The Galaxy S23 Ultra launched alongside its anticipated siblings – the standard Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus – on February 1, with pre-order availability kicking off on the same day and running until February 16. The Galaxy S23 Ultra is available to buy as of Friday, February 17 (check out the best Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra deals in our dedicated article).

One of the nice fundamental upgrades over the Galaxy S22 Ultra is that base storage has been doubled to 256GB (or rather, there simply is no 128GB S23 Ultra), which benefits US customers in particular, as they're being asked to pay no more than they were for the base 128GB S22 Ultra, when it launched, at $1,199.99.

The 512GB model is $20 cheaper compared to its predecessor, at $1,379.99, while the top-tier Samsung.com-exclusive 1TB storage variant costs $20 more, at an eye-watering $1,619.99.

Things are generally worse for UK customers when comparing  to the S22 Ultra's pricing, with the baseline S23 Ultra costing the same as last year's 256GB model at £1,249, while the 512GB and 1TB versions are £70 and £100 more expensive each; at £1,399 and £1,599, respectively.

Compared to the S22 Ultra, Australian customers pay AU$50 less than the 256GB S22 Ultra cost last year, at AU$1,949. The 512GB version, meanwhile, is AU$100 more this year, while the top 1TB S23 Ultra is AU$200 more, compared to the price of its 2022 predecessor.

Whichever storage configuration you pick, being asked to pay a premium for Samsung's best shouldn't come as too much of a shock in a market that also plays host to the similarly-priced iPhone 14 Pro Max and a growing contingent of foldable phones that almost all comfortably push past the $1,000 / £1,000 / AU$1,600 mark.

• Value score: 3.5 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review: Specs

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes in three storage configurations, with 8GB of RAM in the base model and 12GB in the two higher storage models.

Specs otherwise remain consistent across all three variants.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review: Design

• Almost identical design to predecessor
• Premium look, feel, and materials
• Improved environmental credentials

The S22 Ultra was the first of Samsung's phones to truly fuse Galaxy S and Galaxy Note sensibilities together, and in doing so it shrugged off the contour-cut camera-led aesthetics of its predecessor and its launch siblings. Instead, it favored a cleaner and more squared form; partly as a means of further differentiating itself from the standard S22 and S22 Plus, but also in order to physically accommodate an integrated S Pen stylus.

For the S23 series, the standard and Plus models have played catch-up in the design department, while the S23 Ultra offers only subtle refinements that, to the eye, will be almost impossible to spot for those familiar with the S22 Ultra.

There's a similar pill-shaped top-down profile, with curved front and back glass feeding into a metal frame, although one change S22 Ultra users might notice when they pick up the S23 Ultra, is the reduced the radius of the curved edges of the display, giving you a greater flat surface area on which to use the integrated S Pen; a subtle but welcome tweak, functionally speaking.

I'd argue this small change makes the phone harder to pick up off a flat surface but the difference is negligible. Its squared silhouette will be more divisive, however, making it trickier to pocket than the Galaxy S21 Ultra – with its rounded corners. It remains an undeniably good looking device that's becoming of its premium standing and promised power, though.

With launch S23 colors consistent across the whole range this year, you can pick the Ultra up in one of four finishes – Phantom Black, cream, green and lavender – in most places. As in previous years though, there are also a handful of colors exclusive to Samsung.com, including Sky Blue, Graphite, Lime and red (my personal favorite, offset against a black frame).

While the cap of the S Pen matches the body color of your choosing, the rest of the stylus is black, regardless of your preferred finish.

In a not dissimilar fashion to the recent Hazel Google Pixel 7 Pro or the brand-new Eternal Green OnePlus 11 , the green finish of the S23 Ultra review sample I've been testing is distinctly muted, particularly when viewed in artificial light. To some, this will come across as subtle and tasteful, to others it'll just look bland; so if you get the chance, try and get hands-on with your chosen finish before laying down any cash (assuming you don't plan on sticking it in one of the best Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra cases from the get-go).

The company's excellent efforts in durability persist too, with IP68-certified dust and water ingress protection, a resilient Armor Aluminum alloy frame and – for the first time on any phone, the latest Gorilla Glass Victus 2 – from Corning. It's a good thing too, as the rounded edges (even if they are slightly less rounded this year), paired with that smooth front and back, and the sheer size of the phone make it tricky to wield one-handed, especially when compared to its smaller, flat-fronted S23 siblings.

For all the advanced technology that Samsung has managed to pack into the S23 series, it's also tried to up the ante in terms of environmentally-friendly materials, with the Ultra being the real champion of this initiative. 80% of the deco film used in the construction of the phone's back is recycled, as is 22% of the glass used across its body, along with 20% of the S Pen's inner cover – reportedly hewn, in part, from ocean-bound polyamide.

Samsung claims that other recycled materials that have been hammered into the shape of the S23 Ultra include discarded fishing nets, water barrels, PET bottles and pre-consumer recycled aluminum, which have contributed to the construction of components (12 in all – double that of the S22 Ultra) like the volume keys and SIM tray, speaker arrangement, 5G antenna arrangement and more.

While Samsung isn't alone in working to improve the the green credentials of its phones (the iPhone comes to mind), this is certainly the most vocal we've seen the company about a particular handset in this regards and it represents a push that will hopefully catch on with rival phone makers going forward.

• Design score: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review: Display

• Familiar display experience to predecessor
• Promise of more accurate colors and better eye comfort viewing
• Responsive S Pen stylus experience

Aside from that reduced curvature along its edges and greater protection thanks to that new Gorilla Glass Victus 2, the S23 Ultra's display offers a familiar viewing experience to its predecessor.

As on last year's Ultra, you get a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel, with a resolution of 1440 x 3088 and a dynamic refresh rate that can scale between 1Hz and 120Hz, automatically shifting to prioritize power efficiency or visual fluidity as needed. By having the display rate displayed on-screen using developer options, I was able to see the screen switch between 24Hz, 48Hz, 60Hz and 120Hz, which is a wider array of frequencies than I've seen from any other Android phone boasting a dynamic refresh rate, supporting Samsung's claims of greater power efficiency this generation.

Samsung's displays remain some of the nicest out there on mobile and the S23 Ultra's is no exception. Colors and visibility – even against strong ambient light – are great, with viewing angles showing minimal brightness drop-off and a nice consistency to colors. In fact, Samsung has apparently tuned the display to serve up more accurate colors against a wider array of ambient lighting scenarios this time around (three, to be precise), with what it calls its Advanced Vision Booster; adjusting tone and color as needed.

Max brightness still doesn't compare to the iPhone 14 Pro 's impressive 2,000 nit peak (the S23 range all tops out at 1,750 nits), but in real-world viewing, movies, games and other visuals look exceptional. Meanwhile, Samsung isn't making any new claims of further-reduced S Pen latency or additional Air Gesture functionality this time around, but it's already impressively responsive (Wacom-supported tech that allows for 2.8ms latency) and the user experience has been augmented in other ways that appeal to productivity.

• Display score: 4.5 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review: Camera

• First Samsung phone with a 200MP sensor
• Improved 'Nightography' experience for stills, portrait and video
• Integrated Expert RAW shooting now supports up to 50MP

Cameras are one area where the Ultra has always stood out when looking at the best Samsung phones available and the multi-sensor setup that the company's been using for the last few generations has consistently ensured that these devices find a place up at or near the top of our best camera phones roundup year after year.

While the 12MP ultrawide and dual 3x and 10x 10MP telephoto sensors on the back of the S23 Ultra feel decidedly familiar, the phone shrugs off the primary 108MP resolution sensor seen on previous entries in the series and replaces it – for the first time on a Samsung phone – with a whopping 200MP primary camera; thought to be the ISOCELL HP2 that TechRadar's cameras editor, Tim Coleman, dived into a few days prior to the S23 series' launch.

Such a change in hardware can sometimes result in a drop in quality for some manufacturers; with their camera teams needing time to retune their algorithms and color science to get the best from the new components (something that's happened with the likes of OnePlus in the past). But much as with Google 's move to a new 50MP primary sensor on its Pixel 6 series and Apple's shift from a 12MP to a 48MP primary sensor the year after, with the iPhone 14 Pro line, it's clear that Samsung's camera team has ensured that the output from the S23 Ultra's new 200MP Adaptive Pixel Sensor offers just as consistent and impressive an experience as its predecessor, right out of the gate.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra camera samples

Galaxy S23 Ultra (top) | Google Pixel 7 Pro (bottom) S23 Ultra's zoom range (0.6x to 100x) compared to the Pixel 7 Pro's (0.5x to 30x).

The versatility of the S23 Ultra's camera is bolstered by its outstanding stabilization and impressive post-processing, retaining exceptional detail and color consistency across its entire zoom range in well-lit scenarios.

The S23 Ultra seems to default to matrix metering when using the standard photo mode, which usually yields great results but in higher contrast scenarios can lead to under or over-exposure of your subject (as seen in the 10x and 100x samples above).

Pixel 7 Pro (left) | Galaxy S23 Ultra (center) | iPhone 14 Pro Max (right) In very dark environments, the S23 Ultra handles night mode shooting very differently to its lead rivals, bring exposure up, revealing more in the darker areas of a scene, but sometimes at the expense of color accuracy and fine detail.

Samsung's efforts in 'nightography' aren't just hyperbole, it's a phenomenal phone for low-light shooting, even if results are a little stylized. What's more impressive is that it can deliver across the whole zoom range, especially up to its optical zoom ceiling of 10x.

While the previous samples with shot with the standard Photo mode, the above were taken using Night mode and highlight that the feature is best used in more extreme conditions with less light to work with, as the telephoto sensors in particular suffer from a green tinge and more noise here.

Sure, it may be little more than a party trick, but being able to capture a shot of the moon – from the Sea of Tranquility (top center) to the Tycho Crater (bottom right) – like this on a smartphone, always feels like magic.

Pixel 7 Pro (left) | Galaxy S23 Ultra (center) | iPhone 14 Pro Max (right) Notice the color difference in the sky between the S23 Ultra and its biggest rivals at their respective maximum optical zoom ranges (5x, 10x and 3x).

Pixel 7 Pro (left) | Galaxy S23 Ultra (right) While both phones capture color beautifully, opt for the S23 Ultra if you like your colors and contrast with a little more pop, as standard.

The (presumed) matrix metering mentioned earlier not only affects exposure, but color reproduction across the phone's various rear sensors. Notice how washed out the 10x zoom sample (left) looks, compared to the same section of the building at short focal lengths.

Pixel 7 Pro (left) | Galaxy S23 Ultra (center) | iPhone 14 Pro Max (right) All three phones offer impressive detail capture at their maximum optical zoom ranges, however, in this example the Pixel's handling of dynamic range offers up greater detail in the darkest areas of frame.

Galaxy S23 Ultra (top) | Pixel 7 Pro (bottom) Both the Ultra and the Pixel serve up a pleasing portrait photography at multiple focal lengths, with a nice level of bokeh and robust edge detection around the subject in both instances. The Pixel's blur looks more natural by default but both phones let you adjust the amount of blur and area of focus after the fact, which is really powerful.

While there's a degree of consistency – in terms of dynamic range across the S23 Ultra's zoom range in low light – the 3x sensor processed colors differently and the primary 200MP sensor used all that additional image data to quash noise far better than any other camera on the phone's back.

Samsung's bias for 'pop' means blacks along the cat's flank in this portrait shot are completely crushed; a scenario where shooting in Expert RAW might have been prudent.

...ultrawide.

By default, the S23 Ultra's main camera pixel bins images by 16 to 1, down to 12.5MP (output as 12MP stills) that use all that additional pixel data to iron out image shake, while also taking in more light and retaining more color information. Speaking of which, low light photography is a big area of focus for the camera experience on this Ultra; with the promise of enhanced night shots across the board – including portraits – as well as a new astrophotography hyperlapse video mode.

Stabilization across stills and video has been improved too, with double the angle of movement now possible in the OIS (optical image stabilization) system, compared to last year's S22 Ultra (3-degrees on the S23 Ultra), along with improved VDIS (video digital image stabilization) and faster autofocus from the 'Super Quad Pixel' sensor, as Samsung has branded it.

For users who want to get more granular with the Ultra's photography experience, the Expert RAW mode – integrated into the camera UI – now supports an output of up to 50MP, rather than 12MP previously. The Ultra also lets you snap 200MP stills (as jpegs), if you want to play with the full sensor's available detail.

Original image (left) | Raw file w/ EV+3 (center) | Jpeg w/ EV+3 (right) You can see just how much more image data and fidelity is preserved when adjusting a raw and a jpeg of the same image to the same exaggerated exposure value.

In practice, while shooting in raw allows for greater fidelity and significantly more robust editing – letting you pull more data out of the darkest or lightest parts of an image – the S23 Ultra seems to consistently under expose in Expert RAW and results all come with a graded profile as standard, rather than a neutral image.

In the pursuit of switching up sensors, all three of the S23 series also gain a new 12MP front-facing snapper this generation, set into the display (Samsung hasn't yet been bold enough to import the Z Fold series' under display camera), which holds promise and brings more consistency to the experience of owning an S23, regardless of model.

Samsung brands the S23 series' camera as its first 'Super HDR selfie camera'.

Pixel 7 Pro (left) | Galaxy S23 Ultra (center) | iPhone 14 Pro Max (right)

Anecdotally, the 12MP front-facer feels like a faster sensor than the one found on its predecessor, offering up a nice overall image with impressive dynamic range, as selfie snappers go.

In side-by side selfie tests with the Google Pixel 7 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max , the S23 Ultra most closely matches Apple 's flagship and offers a surprisingly (for Samsung) natural-looking final image, with impressive detail and what often came across as pleasing, more natural skin tones than the Pixel, which was uncharacteristically out of step against both Samsung's and Apple's phones in testing.

Samsung also continues to work closely with big social brands like Snap, TikTok and Instagram to ensure phones like the S23 Ultra benefit from higher fidelity image and video quality, as well as tighter integration with creative features within each social app, something rival Android phone makers miss out on.

• Camera score: 4.5 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review: Performance

• Custom flagship-class chipset offers exceptional performance
• Faster and more efficient memory and storage than many rivals
• Performance gains over standard 8 Gen 2 are negligible

It's not really a secret that Samsung has connections in high places, building Wear OS 3 with Google and having co-developed the last few generations of its own flagship chips in conjunction with Qualcomm, but that partnership has matured into something exceptional for 2023.

Whereas previously, users in different markets could expect Galaxy S devices powered by either Samsung Exynos or Qualcomm Snapdragon silicon, the Galaxy S23 series gains Qualcomm's latest and greatest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip worldwide.

This eliminates performance discrepancies that previously left users of Exynos-powered Galaxy S phones feeling behind the curve and also helps with aspects like camera processing (thanks to the use of the same ISP across regions) and battery life consistency.

Not only has the 8 Gen 2 already shown its capabilities (our OnePlus 11 review already offers first-hand insight into how the chip performs) but Samsung has managed to gain access to an exclusive tuned variant of the SoC, dubbed the 'Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy'. In a nutshell, the prime Cortex-X3 core inside the chipset has been overclocked to 3.36GHz (rather than 3.2GHz, as is standard); without compromising efficiency or battery longevity.

As Samsung's Nick Porter pointed out during a one-on-one interview with TechRadar ahead of the phone's launch, the vapor chamber is "2.7x bigger on average across the whole S23 series" this year, helping with thermal efficiency, while the use of faster and more efficient LPDDR5X memory and UFS 4.0 storage, lend themselves to greater performance and quality of life too.

In testing, artificial benchmarks reveal what I suspected ahead of time: the S23 Ultra gains a slight edge over the OnePlus 11 – with its similar-but-technically-lesser chip – based on the numbers, but the Ultra's lead is so slight that you're unlikely to feel any real-world benefit. As such, that higher prime-core clock speed is far more beneficial for Samsung Galaxy S23 series marketing campaign than it is the end user, but regardless you're getting one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful phone on the market.

In real-world use, the pairing of the new chipset, RAM and storage collectively deliver performance that – as you'd hope for a device with the S23 Ultra's standing and price tag – feels rock-solid. The most demanding task the Ultra faced during review was running the graphically demanding game Genshin Impact, with settings intentionally set to their upmost limits. Everything ran smoothly for the 20 minutes of play time, but the phone did get noticeably hot, to the point where I'd suggest sticking with the title's default settings (at which it still looks and runs fantastically).

• Performance score: 4.5 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review: Battery

• Up to 45W wired charging
• 15W wireless and 4.5W reverse wireless charging
• Same capacity battery as S22 Ultra, but 20% improved efficiency

The battery specs read the same as the S22 Ultra, with a 5,000mAh cell inside the S23 Ultra supporting 45W wired charging (along with wireless and reverse wireless charging), however, Samsung claims that the collective effect of the new hardware efficiencies and tighter integration between hardware and software result in a 20% improvement that Porter claims delivers "the longest ever battery life on a Galaxy S smartphone;" and I'd be inclined to agree.

While the 100W charging speeds of OnePlus 11 and 125W speeds of the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra both leave the S23 Ultra in the dust, actual longevity on Samsung's new uber-flagship is greatly improved, despite the phone having the same-capacity battery as its predecessor.

What was a one-day phone at best now lasts a day and a half, in normal usage and will still see you through a full day, even if you plan on streaming Disney Plus with brightness pushed up or want to dive into an hour of CoD: Mobile or Wreckfest.

In testing, the S23 also delivered some of the longest screen-on time per charge of any phone we've tested recently, at approximately eight hours; surpassing rival devices with similarly-capacious batteries by at least half an hour.

• Battery score: 4.5 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review: Software

• Android 13 w/ One UI 5.1
• Four years OS & five years security updates
• Customizable and well-featured

Samsung is class-leading, when it comes to making the best Android phones for update support, promising four years of OS updates and five years of security updates across the Galaxy S23 series; with all three devices running on the latest Android 13 – dressed in the company's own One UI 5.1 – out of the box.

It should feel like a familiar experience for existing Samsung Galaxy owners, with squircle icons and a generally flat graphical style as standard, dressed with a few new additions that appear to focus on collaboration, convenience and security.

Samsung Notes now allows for simultaneous creators to work within a single document collaboratively, routines and modes can be set to suit different scenarios – adjusting settings accordingly and an upgraded privacy dashboard should dispel ambiguity around how secure your device is. Air Command and Air Gestures remain in place as part of the S Pen experience, offering the ability to control the camera, translate text and cut and paste on-screen content instantly, with simple stylus-driven actions, although camera controls in particular take a little getting used to.

While One UI won't be to everyone's tastes, it's unique, fairly customizable and displays a level of polish that's evident from initial setup to everyday use, and which you'll be hard-pressed to find elsewhere. Want to scan a QR code to connect to Wi-Fi during setup, instead of having to type out your password? Done. Want your device to auto-restart when it senses performance degradation? There's a toggle for that. Want to run two instances of the same messaging app logged into different accounts simultaneously? There's an option for that too.

• Software score: 4.5 / 5

Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra?

Buy it if...

You want the best Android phone out there There's little the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra doesn't do and do well by modern smartphone standards. It has everything you could need, plus a few extras.

You want one of the best camera phones on the market Consistency is hard to achieve between camera sensors and the S23 Ultra does a great job of offering a persistent photographic experience, while also embracing a new sensor and improving low light performance.

You need as much power as possible Whether for gaming, multitasking or some other productivity use case, the Galaxy S23 Ultra offers some of the most potent hardware currently available on a smartphone, only really contested by Apple's iPhone 14 Pro series, but like for like comparisons get tricky between the two, when it comes to comparing performance; Apples to oranges, if you will.

Don't buy it if...

Money is a concern Ultras are marketed as the best of the best, but that comes at a high cost and year on year the S23 Ultra is even pricier than its predecessor in a lot of markets.

You don't like big phones It's not just big, the squared silhouette of the S23 Ultra means it's especially poorly suited to pockets. One-handed use is also a challenge.

You hate One UI Samsung's take on Android won't be for everyone; with its own fonts, additional features and distinct aesthetic. While there's a degree of customization on offer and you can use third-party launchers to mask parts of the user experience, you won't be able to hide the Samsung-specific touches outright.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review: Also consider

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is Samsung's statement piece for this point in the year and it's one that's hard to ignore but if you're after a class-leading phone that doesn't come from the South Korean tech giant for one reason or another, here are a handful of alternatives.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

While there was never any question that Samsung would be offering up a new Ultra for 2023, there was nothing inherently wrong with its predecessor, and aside from running on the previous year's internals and a lower resolution primary camera, you're getting a very similar experience from a device with a year's worth of price reductions under its belt worth considering.

Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max

If you're after a large-screened flagship phone with class-leading performance and a capable camera setup that isn't the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Apple will accept a similar amount of money for their latest top dog.

Google Pixel 7 Pro

If Samsung's take on Android simply isn't for you, or you want a similar experience in a different design, Google's Pixel 7 Pro offers an equally stunning screen, a compelling camera with a 5x optical zoom and a custom-built flagship chipset, tailor-made for sorts of AI-based workloads that we're seeing more and more of.

How I tested the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

• Review test period = 11 days
• Testing included = Everyday usage, web browsing, social media, photography, video calling, gaming
• Tools used = Geekbench 5, Geekbench ML, GFXBench, native Android stats

I lived with the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra as my primary device for over a week and a half, using it for everything from making and taking calls, to photo and video capture, scrolling through social media, playing music, gaming and even to jot down the occasional note.

That killer display lent itself exceptionally well to watching episodes of Dropout's Dimension 20 on my morning and evening commute, and pairing it with the phone's class-leading performance allowed for some fast-paced sessions of Apex Legends Mobile, without me ever feeling like I was waiting for the phone to catch up.

While I value real-world feel and performance above all else, sometimes it's easier to quantify elements of a device to better assess manufacturers' claims of performance, power or aptitude.

With most phones, I use Geekbench 5 for CPU testing (the S23 Ultra landed the highest scores of any Android phone we've tested to date), Geekbench ML for machine learning and AI benchmarking (using NNAPI, for those curious) and GFXBench's selection of on-screen tests, with the display set to its highest supported refresh rate and resolution, to stretch the GPU. Battery life was assessed based on real-world usage, with Android natively including screen-on time as one additional useful metrics. 

I bring 12 years of industry experience to my role as Senior Phones Editor here at TechRadar. With a focus on phones, tablets and wearables in the consumer space, I'm well versed in what the market has to offer and how to assess a device like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and how it fits into the landscape of that market, as well as how well it does, or doesn’t suit the needs (and the budgets) of typical users 

Read more about how we test

Note: the iPhone 14 Pro Max used for camera comparison in this review was supplied by Vodafone UK , who offer the phone up from £57 per month, with a £49 upfront cost, on a 36-month Phone Plan, with a 24-month 25GB Airtime Plan.

First reviewed February 2023

Alex joined as TechRadar's Senior Phones Editor in June 2022, but brings over a decade's worth of experience to the role, with an expertise in smartphones, tablets and wearables. He's covered keynotes hosted by the biggest brands and attended the launches for some of the most influential mobile products of the last few years. His experience was amassed at some of the most reputable consumer technology publications out there, including GSMArena, TechAdvisor and Trusted Reviews.

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Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Review: The King of Extra

Samsung's Galaxy S23 Ultra builds on the company's camera strengths, but this is still a very expensive device.

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Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

• Fast performance
• Excellent main camera, especially in low light
• Bright screen
• Included stylus
• Double the storage in the base model
• Four years of Android OS updates
• Photos don't always look natural, especially selfies
• No improvements to fast charging

Samsung clearly wants the Galaxy S23 Ultra to be the ultimate camera for cinematographers and photographers. I'm certainly not a professional filmmaker, nor do I consider myself to be a shutterbug. But after using the Galaxy S23 Ultra for several days, it's clear the new camera upholds the areas in which Samsung already excels -- like low-light photography -- and pushes those strengths a little further. 

The $1,200 (£1,249, AU$1,949) Galaxy S23 Ultra will be available on Feb. 17 alongside the rest of Samsung's new phone lineup, which includes the $800 Galaxy S23 and $1,000 Galaxy S23 Plus . Like last year's Galaxy S22 Ultra , the S23 Ultra's giant screen, high price and souped-up camera may be too much for the average person. 

The name "Ultra" says it all; this phone is for people who want a phone that's over the top. Compared to the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus , the Ultra offers a closer zoom magnification than most people will probably need, a stylus that stores inside the phone and a massive 6.8-inch screen that's larger than both those of the iPhone 14 Pro Max and Google Pixel 7 Pro . You might not need all that excess, but after using this phone for a few days, I wouldn't blame you for wanting them. 

The Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Samsung largely achieves its goal of providing a deluxe phone with an excellent camera and giant display. But it isn't perfect. That high price is hard to ignore, and photos taken on the Galaxy S23 Ultra don't always look as natural as those captured on the iPhone 14 Pro or Pixel 7 Pro. 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra camera is a step up

If you watched Samsung's Unpacked presentation, you already know the S23 Ultra's main camera is its prized attribute. Samsung added a 200-megapixel sensor for the first time , marking a technical upgrade from the S22 Ultra's 108-megapixel main shooter. 

With the S23 Ultra, you have the option to shoot photos at a 12-megapixel, 50-megapixel or 200-megapixel resolution, which you can adjust in the settings menu alongside the camera's viewfinder. Samsung's Expert Raw app is now integrated into the native camera app after you download it for the first time. Although I don't typically edit raw photos myself, the use case certainly seems appropriate for a phone like this. Shooting in raw allows photographers to edit the full, uncompressed version of an image, giving them more flexibility and data to work with in terms of colors and exposure. 

The cameras level up on Samsung's Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Under-the-hood improvements to color, dynamic range, autofocus and low-light performance seem more meaningful than the resolution bump. Samsung said when announcing the S23 Ultra that its new image sensor is better at minimizing noise, and that its algorithms have gotten better at enhancing color tones and details. Samsung largely positioned these improvements in the context of video recording and low-light photography, but they seem evident across general still photography, too. These changes are more noticeable to the naked eye than the increased resolution. 

Unless otherwise specified, the photos in this article were taken at the default 12-megapixel resolution because the 200-megapixel files are just too large to display here. You can still see changes in how the camera processes color, skin tone and dynamic range even at this lower resolution. However, I did capture several 200-megapixel photos throughout the course of my testing. 

The biggest differences I noticed in those 200-megapixel photos compared to the 108-megapixel images taken on the Galaxy S22 Ultra had to do with color. Flowers were more vibrant shades of orange and trees looked more lush. The difference in resolution is only noticeable when you zoom all the way in to view the actual size of the pixels. 

The photos below, however, show how the Galaxy S23 Ultra's camera has changed compared to the S22 Ultra's. Take a look at the photos of trees and shrubbery taken at a park. Although you might not notice it in the smaller embedded version below, the leaves in the S23 Ultra's photo have a bit more separation and crispness compared to the S22 Ultra's, and there's also better contrast in the tree bark.

In the photos of sweets arranged in a baker's display case below, the S23 Ultra captured more detail on the strawberries in the top row. 

Those who have taken photos with Samsung phones before might have noticed that colors sometimes look exaggerated. Samsung has improved this in recent years, but the Pixel 7 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro still take photos that look more natural overall.

But, natural doesn't always mean better. There are times when Samsung's overstated color works well, and others when it doesn't. For photos of people and pets, for example, Samsung's emphasis on color can result in more flattering images. In the pictures below, my husband preferred the Galaxy S23 Ultra's photo over the more natural-looking image from the Pixel 7 Pro because it made his beard and eyes look more vibrant. But he liked the iPhone 14 Pro's photo best because it struck the right balance of accuracy and bold color. The iPhone 14 Pro also captured a lot more detail in the cookie-shaped bench he's sitting on.

However, Samsung's phones don't always handle challenging lighting scenarios very well. When snapping a photo of my husband in front of a window at a bakery, both the S23 Ultra and S22 Ultra's images looked washed out and overexposed, although the S23 Ultra's did have more color than the S22 Ultra's. The iPhone 14 Pro's was the best of the bunch in this case, but the Pixel 7 Pro's was impressive, too. 

Colors in landscape photos taken on the Galaxy S23 Ultra can look brighter and exaggerated compared to those from the iPhone 14 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro. Take a look at how that photo of the park from earlier compares to similar photos taken on the iPhone 14 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro, and you'll notice the shades of green look more natural. The right side of the iPhone 14 Pro's photo looks blown out, but otherwise would have been a better shot since the colors are more accurate. Still, Samsung did a great job with dynamic range; you can see the shadows more clearly in its photo compared to the others.

But Samsung is still the king of low-light photography in my book. In my testing, the Galaxy S23 Ultra captured better detail and color. The Galaxy S23 Ultra was able to focus more sharply than both the Pixel 7 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro. It was also slightly better than the Galaxy S22 Ultra, although it was sometimes a close call.

My favorite example of this is in this photo of my cat, Buddy, shown below. Even though the iPhone 14 Pro's photo is brighter, I like the S23 Ultra's better because it has more contrast and detail. When looking at these photos side-by-side on a large monitor, you can see the stripes in his fur more clearly. The Galaxy S22 Ultra's photo is too soft, while the Pixel 7 Pro's looked like it had a bluish filter over it when I viewed it on a large screen. It's also another example of how the S23 Ultra's emphasis on color makes for a more flattering photo.

Video recording on the Galaxy S23 Ultra was upgraded to 8K at 30 frames per second, whereas it previously topped out at 24fps when shooting at that resolution. Samsung also increased the field of view when recording 8K video, which is very noticeable compared to the Galaxy S22 Ultra. 

Even though Google provides more natural color in still photography, I experienced the opposite when it comes to recording video. The Galaxy S23 Ultra generally captured more realistic color and sharpness compared to the Pixel 7 Pro during my testing. The iPhone 14 Pro was a close competitor, but Samsung's footage had a little more detail. When testing the video capabilities of each phone, I recorded clips at the highest supported resolution and frame rate. That's 8K at 30fps for the Galaxy S23 Ultra, 8K at 24fps for the Galaxy S22 Ultra and 4K at 60fps for the iPhone 14 Pro and Google Pixel 7 Pro. 

Samsung also highlighted the S23 Ultra's new 12-megapixel selfie camera when announcing the phone, which it said separates the subject from the background better for more clarity. Selfies were sharp and colorful overall, and I preferred photos taken with the S23 Ultra's selfie camera over the Pixel 7 Pro's in every test. The Galaxy S22 Ultra's were comparable to the S23 Ultra's, but the iPhone 14 Pro's selfies had the best overall combination of detail and accurate color. Samsung's selfies sometimes looked unnatural since the color in my hair seemed exaggerated. 

The only exception was in very dim lighting, an area where Samsung reigns supreme. Take a look at the selfie I took in a very dark theater with red lighting. The Galaxy S23 Ultra's photo has much more detail than the others. 

When it comes to the rest of the cameras, you can expect the same arrangement as the Galaxy S22 Ultra. In addition to the main camera, there's also a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera and two 10-megapixel telephoto lenses that allow for a 3x or 10x optical zoom and up to 100x digital zoom. Photos from the ultrawide camera packed plenty of color and brightness, as shown in the images below.

You'll also get more zoom than you probably need on the S23 Ultra, but that might be useful for people who frequently take photos at concerts and sporting events. The 100x digital zoom can feel unwieldy, but Samsung does provide a higher optical zoom than its competitors. Like the S22 Ultra, the S23 Ultra can zoom optically up to 10x, while the iPhone 14 Pro is at 3x and the Pixel 7 Pro is at 5x.

Check out the photo samples below to see the difference in optical zoom levels.

Overall, I was impressed with the Galaxy S23 Ultra's cameras. They remain the best for zoomed-in shots and low-light photography. The improvements to color and dynamic range are noticeable as well, and Samsung fans upgrading from a phone that's at least two years old will likely see a major difference. Still, the iPhone 14 Pro's camera was better in most situations, save for a few exceptions. 

Check out the gallery below for a closer look at some photos I captured with the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

See the Galaxy S23 Ultra's Camera in Action

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra performance

The Galaxy S23 Ultra runs on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor , which isn't surprising considering Samsung typically uses the latest Qualcomm chip for its new phones. What is surprising, however, is that Samsung decided to customize this chip more than usual for the S23 series. Samsung calls it the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, and it's essentially a special version of the processor that's been optimized for better performance and power efficiency. A standard version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is being included in rival phones like the  OnePlus 11 5G . 

The S23 Ultra feels fast and snappy, whether I'm just swiping around the operating system, playing games while on a video call or running Samsung's Dex program to use my phone as a PC. I plugged my S23 Ultra into an external monitor, attached a keyboard and mouse via Bluetooth and had five apps running, including Google Docs, to take notes for this review. I never experienced any lag or overheating during any of these tasks.

The S23 Ultra can also export videos quickly, which might be helpful for those who shoot and edit video projects on their phone frequently. In my testing, it exported a 30-second 4K video clip to 1080p three seconds faster than the S22 Ultra and a full 10 seconds faster than the Pixel 7 Pro on average. The iPhone 14 Pro, however, finished the job about three seconds faster than the S23 Ultra on average. You'll also get double the storage that's in the base model of the Galaxy S23 Ultra (256GB versus 128GB), which gives you more space to store those video projects. 

Samsung's new phone also scored higher than the Galaxy S22 Ultra, Pixel 7 Pro and OnePlus 11 5G on benchmarks meant to test computing power in everyday tasks and in apps that require short bursts of high performance, like mobile games. The iPhone 14 Pro, however, scored higher than the S23 Ultra on the general computing benchmark (Geekbench 5) but lower on the one that measures brief periods of high intensity (3DMark Wild Life Extreme). 

• Galaxy S23 Ultra
• OnePlus 11 5G
• Galaxy S22 Ultra
• iPhone 14 Pro Max
• Pixel 7 Pro

Frames per second

Samsung galaxy s23 ultra battery life and charging.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra has a 5,000-mAh battery, just like the Galaxy S22 Ultra, but it should offer better power efficiency, thanks to its new processor. I need to spend more time with the phone to compare it to the S22 Ultra, but the results are promising so far. After 12 hours of use, which equates to a full workday and then some, the battery was down to 66%. 

I had adaptive motion and adaptive brightness settings turned on, which adjust the screen's refresh rate and brightness based on the situation. The always-on display feature was also turned on, but I had "tap to show" enabled, meaning it wouldn't display the time and date unless I touched the screen. Battery life will always vary depending on how you use your device. In this scenario, I used the phone to take photos, record a few videos, check email, browse social media and stream music for about 15 minutes. 

On a separate day, the Galaxy S23 Ultra still had roughly three quarters of its battery left by the middle of the workday even after shooting 4K video for roughly a half hour. We're still conducting more battery tests on the S23 Ultra and will update this review accordingly. 

The Galaxy S23 Ultra has 45-watt fast charging.

I also ran a 45-minute test in which I played games, made a 10-minute video call, checked social media and streamed video; over that span the S23 Ultra dropped from 100% to 94%. The Galaxy S22 Ultra dipped to 91% during that same test. The Galaxy S23 Ultra's results are similar to the Pixel 7's, which also hit 94% after that 45-minute challenge. (During this test, I kept the brightness at 50%, left the high refresh rate setting turned on and switched off the always-on display.)

Like last year's Galaxy S22 Ultra, the Galaxy S23 Ultra has a top wired charging speed of 45 watts. You need to use the correct adapter, which you'll have to purchase separately if you don't already own one since Samsung doesn't bundle one in the box. So far, that 45-watt charging speed has enabled my S23 Ultra to go from 46% to 91% in just 30 minutes of charging.

That's not bad, but it would be great to see Samsung push things further now that companies like OnePlus and Xiaomi are offering upwards of 100-watt fast charging. The Xiaomi 12T Pro, for example, supports 120-watt fast charging and went from zero to 100% in 19 minutes, according to my colleague Sareena Dayaram's Xiaomi 12T Pro review . 

Galaxy S23 Ultra: Take a Closer Look at Samsung's Giant New Phone

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra design, display and other features

The Galaxy S23 Ultra looks almost identical to the Galaxy S22 Ultra. It has the same boxy edges that give it a sharper look compared to the regular Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus. But this year, the S23 Ultra is available in cream, green, black and lavender color choices. Like last year's device, it's rated for IP68 water resistance, meaning it can be submerged in up to 1.5 meters of fresh water for 30 minutes. 

There's no mistake about it; the Galaxy S23 Ultra is a gigantic phone, just like its predecessor. It has a 6.8-inch screen, making it slightly bigger than the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max and Google Pixel 7 Pro. It's the type of phone your friends might gawk at the minute you take it out of your pocket. That's not an insult; there are plenty of people out there who love large phones. It's just another reminder that this phone isn't for everyone. But if you do a lot of reading, gaming, photo editing and TV watching on your phone and don't mind stretching your fingers for one-handed use, you'll likely appreciate the extra screen space. 

Like last year, the S23 Ultra comes with an S Pen stylus.

I'm also certain you'll never struggle to see the Galaxy S23 Ultra's screen in direct sunlight. It's super bright, reaching 1,750 nits, which is brighter than the Pixel 7 Pro's 1,500-nit peak brightness but not quite as luminous as the iPhone 14 Pro's 2,000-nit peak outdoor brightness. Still, it's bright enough to fit most people's needs and circumstances.

You'll also get an S Pen stylus, just like last year's Galaxy S22 Ultra. Samsung's Ultra lineup has effectively replaced the Galaxy Note series, which was previously known for its large screens and embedded stylus. Expect the same familiar S Pen experience on this device; as soon as you pop the pen out from the bottom of the phone, you'll see a pop-up menu with compatible apps like Samsung Notes and the drawing app PenUp. I don't usually use the S Pen frequently, but I found myself jotting down notes during the course of this review more than I had expected. 

Samsung also once again commits to four generations of Android OS upgrades, which is on par with the OnePlus 11 and surpasses Google's three-year promise for the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. Samsung, OnePlus and Google all provide five years of security updates for their latest devices. That means you won't have to worry about the S23 Ultra's software feeling outdated anytime soon since it launches with Android 13 and Samsung's One UI 5.1 software.

One extra feature you get by going for the Ultra or Plus instead of the regular model is ultrawideband support , which makes it easier to connect to nearby devices more precisely than Bluetooth. UWB isn't a necessity, but it can make sharing files or using your phone as a digital car key faster and easier. We could see more services and accessories that require it in the future.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Buy or skip?

The Galaxy S23 Ultra is a lot, but in a good way. Its large screen, 200-megapixel camera, 100x zoom and S Pen might be more than most people need in a phone. But that's exactly who Samsung is targeting, and it's ultimately iterating on a formula that's worked in the past. 

This is a phone for people actively seeking features like large screens and versatile cameras that are willing to pay top dollar for them. If you just want a reliable new Android phone with a great camera, the cheaper Pixel 7 Pro, Galaxy S23 or Galaxy S23 Plus will likely do the trick. (However, we haven't tested those other new Galaxy phones, so we can't recommend them just yet). 

The Galaxy S23 Ultra has a giant 6.8-inch screen.

The barrier to entry for the Galaxy S23 Ultra is higher than that of the iPhone 14 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro. But you also get certain extras like the S Pen, more storage at the base level, a slightly larger screen and a better zoom lens. Those aren't must-haves for everyone, but this is a phone for people who want extras like these. 

The Galaxy S23 Ultra's new camera is the most significant change compared to last year's S22 Ultra. But in my experience, the behind-the-scenes upgrades Samsung made to the way the camera captures color, skin tones and dynamic range are a more welcome improvement than increased sharpness alone.

Samsung could do more to push the Galaxy Ultra line forward in ways beyond the camera. I would have loved to see faster charging, for example. And even though the camera is impressive, the iPhone 14 Pro often outpaced it in my testing.

If you want a giant screen, a great camera and are upgrading from a phone that's more than two years old, you won't be disappointed with the S23 Ultra. Just try to snag it at a discount through a trade-in deal to make that $1,200 price easier to swallow.

How we test phones

We pit the Galaxy S23 Ultra (top) against the iPhone 14 and more.

Every phone tested by CNET's reviews team was actually used in the real world. We test a phone's features, play games and take photos. We examine the display to see if it's bright, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and build to see how it is to hold and whether it has an IP-rating for water resistance. We push the processor's performance to the extremes using both standardized benchmark tools like GeekBench and 3DMark, along with our own anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution videos and playing graphically intense games at high refresh rates.

All the cameras are tested in a variety of conditions from bright sunlight to dark indoor scenes. We try out special features like night mode and portrait mode and compare our findings against similarly priced competing phones. We also check out the battery life by using it daily as well as running a series of battery drain tests.

We take into account additional features like support for 5G, satellite connectivity, fingerprint and face sensors, stylus support, fast charging speeds, foldable displays among others that can be useful. And we of course balance all of this against the price to give you the verdict on whether that phone, whatever price it is, actually represents good value. 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra specs vs. Google Pixel 7 Pro, Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max

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Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

• Released 2023, February 17 234g, 8.9mm thickness Android 13, up to 4 major upgrades 256GB/512GB/1TB storage, no card slot
• 21% 14,725,694 hits
• 1680 Become a fan
• 6.8" 1440x3088 pixels
• 200 MP 4320p
• 8/12 GB RAM Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
• 5000 mAh 45W 15W

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Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review: practically peerless

It’s big, expensive, and occasionally weird. but the s23 ultra lives up to its name..

By Allison Johnson , a reviewer with 10 years of experience writing about consumer tech. She has a special interest in mobile photography and telecom. Previously, she worked at DPReview.

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If the Samsung S22 Ultra was the ultimate evolution of a slab-style smartphone, then the Galaxy S23 Ultra is a victory lap — everything that the S22 was and a little extra. 

The S23 Ultra offers a handful of updates and a new main camera sensor. There are no groundbreaking new features. It doesn’t fold in half . Until someone invents radically improved battery technology or holographic displays, that’s just going to be the case for the Ultra for the foreseeable future. 

The other side of that coin is that the S22 Ultra was already really good, and the S23 Ultra is a little better. Performance — delivered by a custom Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset — is whip fast. The updated camera system is capable of stunning feats. And a couple of small tweaks — the phone’s slightly reshaped side rails and screen — have a big impact on the device’s likability.

The phone’s slightly reshaped side rails and screen have a big impact on the device’s likability

That’s all good news. The bad news is that it remains a very expensive device at $1,200, which is a bit more than a $1,099 iPhone 14 Pro Max and a big leap from the Pixel 7 Pro’s $899 starting price. There are some familiar sore spots with Samsung software, like its insistence on including its own app store in addition to Google’s. And although the camera system can produce stunningly good images, it occasionally makes weird choices and comes up with a photo that’s just downright bad.

But if you can stomach the price and the occasional weird photo, then I think you’ll find the S23 Ultra’s maximalism highly rewarding.

Looking at the S22 Ultra and S23 Ultra side by side, you’ll see the slightly different shape on this year’s model — a display with a little less curve at the edges and side rails that are flatter. It doesn’t sound like much, but I think it makes a big difference. It feels much more secure in my fingers every time I pick it up off a table than the curvier S22 Ultra did. I realized I was actually bracing myself for it to slip out of my grasp every time I picked it up, which happened a lot with its predecessor. The S23 Ultra feels more secure as I pick it up but also in my hand as I’m using it, too, which is especially important when you’re writing on it with the S Pen.

This slight flattening makes the S23 Ultra look a little boxier than the S22 Ultra, and you know what? I like it. In the cream color especially, it’s kind of late-’80s chic. I don’t know how else to describe it except for fancy. It feels worthy of a high price tag.

All that said, it is still a very big and relatively heavy phone. The screen is still a 6.8-inch 1440p LTPO OLED panel with a top 120Hz refresh rate. It’s lovely to use and basically the same as last year’s. My one complaint is with the embedded fingerprint sensor, which is inconsistent and a beat slower than the one I just used on the OnePlus 11 5G . Thankfully, face unlock is pretty speedy. With both biometric security methods enabled, I found that one or the other worked quickly enough. 

There are, of course, all the other trappings of a high-end phone: a robust IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, all flavors of 5G, wireless charging, fast 45W wired charging (charger not included), and built-in storage of at least 256GB — Samsung doubled the base-model storage this year.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra performance and battery

The Galaxy S23 Ultra uses Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. Excuse me, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 For Galaxy . It’s a slightly different version of the company’s top-shelf processor that’s a tiny bit faster than the garden-variety 8 Gen 2. 

Compared to the OnePlus 11 5G with the non-Galaxy 8 Gen 2, I could not tell you what difference this makes in practical use. The S23 Ultra simply feels fast. Whipping through recently opened apps feels almost dizzying. There’s nothing I throw at it in day-to-day use that makes it flinch. It comes with 8GB or 12GB of RAM. The unit I tested has 12GB, but either one should stand up to demanding tasks.

The new chipset also runs much cooler than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 — after downloading Genshin Impact install files for 10 minutes with the loading animation playing (and the phone resting on a heat-insulating couch cushion), it was only slightly warm to the touch. The S22 Ultra was borderline uncomfortable to hold after doing something like that. Gameplay is incredibly smooth, with a barely perceptible hiccup here and there as it loads more area data.

The S23 Ultra has the same 5,000mAh battery capacity as last year, but Samsung claims that battery performance is improved, thanks to the processor upgrade — it’s theoretically more battery-efficient than its predecessor — and some tweaks to the display. Battery stamina does, in fact, seem to be improved over the last generation. The S22 Ultra often felt like it was coasting on fumes at the end of a day of moderate use, and I feel like I can wring a little more juice out of this one. It’s not worlds better, but it gives you a little more breathing room to get through your day.

My typical day includes about four hours of screen-on time, and the S23 Ultra usually got me to the evening with somewhere around 30 percent left. That includes using the always-on display, which puts extra drain on the battery. I tried putting it through the wringer on a day with more intensive activities — navigation, a 30-minute Zoom call, 40 minutes of streaming video, lots of camera use, including 4K video recording — all off of Wi-Fi. That knocked the battery down to about 25 percent by the end of the day. Truthfully, I could have gone a little harder on the phone, but I came down with food poisoning in the afternoon, which put a damper on my ability to use the phone or do anything at all. 

All that is to say you can get through a day of moderate use with the S23 Ultra a little more comfortably, and it stands up a bit better to heavier use. If you plan on doing a lot of processor-heavy stuff like gaming or, I don’t know, measuring every room in your house in VR , then you’ll probably still need to recharge before the day is done. For most of us, this is an all-day battery, with a little more wiggle room than last year’s.

This is an all-day battery, with a little more wiggle room than last year’s

Something that’s becoming more and more important is how well a smartphone integrates into the rest of your digital ecosystem. The S23 Ultra is armed with no shortage of connectivity features, including the much-improved DeX for Windows PC integration, Samsung’s SmartThings app for smart home, and a feature called Smart View to quickly mirror your device to a Samsung TV. 

The latter worked flawlessly on my 2016-era Samsung TV. And despite it being an older model, the TV connects to the S23 Ultra via SmartThings, too. From the SmartThings app on the phone, I have control of all the basic functions of the TV, like volume, channel, and source. At long last, I thought I’d conquered my need to get off the couch and find the remote. Unfortunately, my TV is just old enough to lack support for a crucial feature — powering on via mobile. Looks like I’ll still need that remote after all.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra S Pen and software

The Galaxy Note lives on in the S23 Ultra by way of its embedded S Pen stylus. There are no major updates to the S Pen or its features this time around, though the slightly flatter screen edges are designed to provide more surface area for writing. With the S22 Ultra’s curvier edges, you’re more likely to accidentally run the stylus off the side of the screen as you’re writing.

That happens less often with the S23 Ultra, but I still found at least one instance where the slight curve threw me for a loop. One of the templates in the notes app includes a left-aligned column of boxes to write in, but when I started writing in letters to mark days of the week, I had very little space to work with since the stylus kept running into the curve. I’m hoping for a totally flat display in 2024.

I haven’t been a huge stylus fan in the past, and I still think that most people will rarely use one given the option. But I was more inclined to pop out the S Pen and jot down a note with the S23 Ultra than when I tested the S22 Ultra. At the risk of giving Samsung’s very slight redesign too much credit, I think this is partially because this phone is more comfortable to hold than the last one.

I’m also on a mission to reorganize my life, and I found it genuinely useful to replicate some of my running IRL to-do lists with digital ones pinned to my home screen. Has it made me more organized? The jury’s still out on that one. But it feels like a happy medium between the convenience of an app-based to-do list and the tactile experience of jotting down a note. 

The S23 Ultra ships with One UI 5, Samsung’s Android 13 skin. It’s a pretty light update to the One UI 4 that the S22 series launched with, and it includes new emphasis on setting up modes and routines, as well as more lockscreen customization options. It remains a maximalist experience, with two pages of quick settings in the notification shade by default and Samsung’s own app store, virtual assistant, and web browser alongside Google versions of these things. It’s a lot, and it’s not to everyone’s taste. Personally, I can tolerate it if I spend some time organizing it to my liking when I set the phone up. (Bye, Bixby.) 

Something that anyone can enjoy about Samsung’s software, though, is that it comes with a great support policy: four years of OS updates and five years of security updates. That’s a little short of Apple, which tends to offer OS upgrades for upwards of five years and the stray security update for much longer , but it’s definitely one of the best policies you’ll find among Android makers.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra camera

The S23 Ultra offers one of the most powerful mobile camera systems money can buy. It comes with both a 3x and 10x telephoto lens, an ultrawide, and of course, that shiny new 200-megapixel main camera. It’s capable of images that I honestly can’t believe I took with a smartphone, especially from the 10x to 30x zoom range. I took a picture of the top of the Space Needle from street level standing over half a mile away, and I can make out details like the elevators and people on the observation deck. That’s ridiculous. 

• 200-megapixel f/1.7 standard wide with OIS
• 10-megapixel f/2.4 3X telephoto with OIS
• 10-megapixel f/4.9 10X telephoto with OIS
• 12-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide
• 12-megapixel f/2.2 selfie with autofocus

But as good as it can be, the S23 Ultra’s camera occasionally turns in a real dud of an image. It can get into trouble turning the saturation or HDR up to 11 once in a while, and unless you’re taking a photo of the actual moon , you should just stay away from the digital 100x “Space Zoom” setting because it looks like pixelated garbage.

The thing to know about the new 200-megapixel sensor is that taking 200-megapixel photos is one of the least interesting things you can do with it. Sure, the option is there. Tap a couple of menu options, press the shutter, and bam — 200 million pixels at your disposal. As long as the lighting is good, you’ll find a ridiculous amount of detail when you zoom into those photos. Images lack the wider dynamic range you’ll get in the standard shooting mode, but if it’s sheer detail you want, then that’s what you’ll receive.

But the more interesting way that it works is by combining those pixels into groups and treating them as bigger individual pixels (a process called pixel binning) to improve image quality in less-than-great lighting conditions. In bright light, the sensor uses something called a re-mosaic algorithm to mimic a traditional color filter pattern and use pixels individually and capture more detail. Even when you’re in the default shooting mode, which downsizes images to 12 megapixels, you should see the benefits of all that extra detail capture.

If I’m hard-pressed, I think I see a little more detail in the S23 Ultra’s images compared to the iPhone 14 Pro’s, which uses a pixel-binning sensor with a lower 48-megapixel resolution. But generally, I notice the processing choices that each camera makes more than anything. The iPhone goes for a little harder contrast, while Samsung embraces more saturated colors and brighter shadows, occasionally straying into HDR-gone-wrong territory.

What the iPhone (or the Pixel, or really any other phone) can’t touch is the S23 Ultra’s zoom capabilities. In good light, photos at the native 3x and 10x settings look very good. In between these two focal lengths and beyond 10x, the phone uses AI-powered Space Zoom to fill in the gaps (read as: to make an educated guess about what’s there).

It does a surprisingly good job all the way to 30x and comes up with images I’m perfectly happy using on Instagram. Would my 30x Space Needle photo look great as an 8x10” print hanging on my wall? Probably not. But it’s well beyond the “good enough” threshold for social media. Digital zoom has come a long way.

The thing to know about the new sensor is that taking 200-megapixel photos is one of the least interesting things it can do

Low-light photos are generally fine, though I saw a couple of weird things happen in particularly challenging situations. In back-to-back portrait photos of my toddler taken at a Mexican restaurant, he looks distinctly orange in one and incredibly pale in the very next shot. Maybe the colored walls and light sources threw the camera for a loop, but whatever the reason, it took the photo seriously off the rails. 

A couple of my low-light portraits have a bit of an unnatural HDR look about them, with over-brightened shadows. Forcing night mode on in dim conditions also conjures up a bad HDR look — best to let the phone decide when it’s truly dark enough for night mode.

Otherwise, Samsung’s portrait mode remains one of the best in the game. It’s hands down the winner when it comes to subject isolation and manages to hang on to incredibly fine details like individual hairs. Background blur, especially on the 1x setting, still looks a little too uniform, producing that classic cardboard cutout look. It’s not as noticeable in 3x zoom portraits, which generally look fantastic.

Video quality is good, too; recording is available at up to 8K/30p, though I stuck to 4K for the most part. Clips in good lighting show nice color and detail. Indoors, I saw a tendency to flatten dynamic range in a way that turns bright whites slightly gray. Bright colors look a little oversaturated, too. But it’s more than good enough to grab clips of a very active toddler, and I didn’t hear any complaints about video quality from his grandparents.

The more I use the S23 Ultra, the more convinced I am: this isn’t just a phone for someone who’s going to use every single feature. It’s a phone for someone who wants to feel like they’re not held back by what their phone can do. Maybe you don’t actually use the S Pen very much. That’s okay, because you could if you wanted to. Or maybe you’re not interested in the telephoto lenses. But they’re there just in case you ever need them for a once-in-a-lifetime shot. It’s the ultimate phone for someone with technology FOMO.

It’s also not the most approachable device. All of those cameras, the deep menus, and, most of all, the steep price tag will put off a lot of people. And unless you really love Bixby, it takes a little fiddling to de-Samsung the software. You probably shouldn’t have to spend the time doing that on a $1,200 phone.

It’s the ultimate phone for someone with technology FOMO

But if you have the patience and the deep pockets, the S23 Ultra makes for an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s an incremental update, for sure. But the S22 Ultra was already so good that the minor improvements on the S23 Ultra put it that much further ahead.

In the US, at least, the S23 Ultra really doesn’t have another Android peer to compare it to. The Google Pixel 7 Pro is probably the closest competition, but it feels like an entirely different experience in comparison. It’s more pleasant to use out of the box, with a strong camera and capable performance. But it lacks all of the optical zoom power of the Ultra, the stylus, and — surprisingly — comes with one less year of Android OS upgrades. It’s a better option if you don’t want to fuss with the software and you don’t care about having the very best of the best. Not to mention, it’s a full $300 cheaper.

Calling your flagship phone the “Ultra” is a bold statement — not that Samsung’s ever been shy about that. This particular “Ultra” wears that title well. It has a deep feature set, top-notch hardware, and an unrivaled camera system. It’s pricey and unapologetically big. For one of the first new mobile devices of 2023, it sets an awfully high bar to clear. If all of that’s not Ultra-worthy, then I’m not sure what is.

Photography by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Agree to continue: Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it — contracts that no one actually reads. It’s impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we started counting exactly how many times you have to hit “agree” to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people don’t read and definitely can’t negotiate.

To use the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, you must agree to:

• Samsung’s Terms and conditions
• Samsung’s Privacy Policy
• Google Terms of Service (including Privacy Policy)
• Google Play Terms of Service
• Automatic installs (including from Google, Samsung, and your carrier)

There are many optional agreements. If you use a carrier-specific version, there will be more of them. Here are just a few:

• Samsung “Continuity Service” and sending diagnostic data
• Samsung “Customization Service” for personalized ads
• Google Drive backup, Location services, Wi-Fi scanning, diagnostic data
• Bixby privacy policy (required to use Bixby), plus optional for Bixby options like personalized content, data access, and audio recording review

There may be more. For example, Samsung’s Weather app also has its own privacy policy that may include sharing information with  weather.com .

Final tally: there are five mandatory agreements and at least seven optional ones.

10 years later, Apple Pay is amazing — and about to change

Anker’s new 100w charger is almost as small as your airpods, intel strikes back against windows on arm, whatsapp will send messages to other apps soon — here’s how it will look, sony might have confirmed the ps5 pro while it was busy celebrating.

More from this stream Wednesday’s top tech news: another year of the Chief Twit

Xbox february update includes google home app support and ‘carbon aware’ downloads, twitter is relaxing its policies to allow cannabis ads, apple’s mixed reality headset will reportedly debut at wwdc, twitter is back after struggling on a random wednesday.

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?

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When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.

ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form .

5 hidden features on the new Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23 Ultra

This year's  Samsung Unpacked event saw the launch of six new Galaxy devices, more if you count the non-Pro . 

That's a whole lot of tech to sink into, with countless features that make headlines write themselves: "Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra features a massive 200MP camera ," "The new Snapdragon 8 Gen for Galaxy chip is faster than ever," "The Galaxy Book is going Ultra!"

Review: Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Best smartphone of the year (so far)

And then there were the features that were not so flashy, ones that had just seconds, if any, of screen time as Samsung executives presented to San Francisco fanfare. Those features are the ones that I'll be highlighting below. Because there's a high chance that you might've missed them, and now wonder why you didn't find out sooner. 

Buy the Samsung Galaxy S23 series

1. spam-fighting with bixby text call .

I've never been the biggest fan of Samsung's voice assistant, Bixby, and I think I'm in the majority here. One of the newest Galaxy S23 features, however, might change that. Bixby Text Call, which is akin to Google's own  Call Screening , makes use of Samsung's voice assistant to respond to incoming phone calls on your behalf. Think the "Your call cannot be completed" lady but more customizable.

Also: Can someone tell if I block their number?

Instead of picking up the call, you can input text for Bixby to respond with. So, whether you'd like to question the "Unknown Caller" or simply no longer have the energy to speak to the customer representative you waited hours to get a hold of, Bixby Text Call should make conversations less intrusive and easier to interpret thanks to the live transcriptions.

2. Image clipping makes it look easy

The Galaxy S23 series is also the first from Samsung to receive "Image clipping", a subject-cropping feature that might ring a bell if you've ever used the iPhone's " Remove subject from background ." Image clipping allows you to pull the subject of an image from its background and copy and paste it into other apps. See how it works below.

It's not so much the output that impresses here -- the crop effect is not always accurate -- but the fact that I can just tap and hold on any subject and transform it into a transparent file instantly is mesmerizing. With split-screen or pop-up view open, you can simply drag and drop the clipped image from one app to the other. Otherwise, letting go of it will bring up options to copy the image, share it, or save it in your gallery.

Also: How to use the Galaxy S23's new magical Photoshop-like trick

3. Game for longer with Pause USB Power Delivery

The new Samsung Galaxy S23 models have proven to be excellent gaming phones thanks to the new, overclocked Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset and larger cooling chambers. But, perhaps the most important gaming addition to this year's Samsung phones is the new "Pause USB Power Delivery" feature. It's a battery bypass setting that's typically found in specialized gaming phones made by the likes of Black Shark and Asus, but is now widely available across the latest Galaxy S23 handsets. 

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Typically when you're gaming and charging a phone at the same time, not only will the device overheat from the intensity of the graphics but also from the battery receiving electrons. With Pause USB Power Delivery, instead of charging the battery cell at a rapid rate, the S23 will redistribute the incoming power directly to the CPU, reducing the amount of overheating, enhancing performance, and slowing down any battery degradation.

The feature can be toggled on via the Game Booster settings and works with any USB-PD charger , not just Samsung's.

4. The Adobe partnership we didn't know we needed

Samsung's Expert Raw camera app is nothing new, but this year, the Galaxy S23 takes things a step further by integrating Adobe Lightroom as the default image-editing platform. The partnership, first covered by our sister company CNET , allows users to dial into Adobe's robust suite of color and subject-editing tools straight from the Samsung camera app. 

This is a big deal because as the capabilities of smartphone cameras continue to expand, photographers will have more ways to edit their photos without needing to hop on a dedicated computer or laptop.

Also:  How to easily take better night photos with your phone camera

While you will still need an Adobe subscription to take advantage of the premium features, the standard lineup of tools, like cropping, applying preset color profiles, and adjusting optics and details, are free to use. Samsung users also qualify for a free two-month trial of Adobe Lightroom Premium.

5. A larger 3D fingerprint sensor by Qualcomm

We don't often think about how good our smartphone's fingerprint sensor is, just like how we don't think about the effort it takes to roll out of bed. But with the Samsung Galaxy S23 series, Qualcomm's 3D Sonic Sensor Gen 2 brings a noticeable improvement over last year's biometric technology, enough to earn the final spot on this list. 

Also: Galaxy S23 Ultra vs S22 Ultra: Is this year's flagship worth the upgrade?

Besides speed, there is now a much larger sensor area to register your finger. It's large enough that my finger can be off-center from the fingerprint visual and the S23 will still detect it consistently and reliably.

Samsung Unpacked

5 new (and handy) android features to look forward to this month, why the $799 google pixel 9 is the real star of this year's android phone lineup, galaxy note 20 and note 20 ultra: how to pre-order samsung's latest phones.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review

The galaxy s23 ultra packs a stunning 200mp camera along with very fast performance and much longer battery life.

Tom's Guide Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra takes Samsung's flagship to the next level with a whopping 200MP camera and lots of other photography improvements. You also get a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip for Galaxy for the fastest speed on Android, stellar battery life and smart One UI 5.1 upgrades.

Powerful 200MP camera

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip beats iPhone on graphics

Awesome display

Excellent battery life

Smart One UI 5.1 upgrades

Very expensive

Curved screen can get in way

No upgrade in charging speed

Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.

• Release date and price
• Design and colors
• Performance

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra wants to take smartphone photography to the next level with its massive 200MP camera and other improvements. And based on my testing, this camera system — and nearly everything else about this flagship — lives up to the hype. 

So what can you do with 200 megapixels? The sensor can combine 16 pixels into one for brighter, more detailed shots, or you can shoot in full 200MP mode, which gives you a lot more freedom when it comes to cropping in and reframing your pics. 

Other Galaxy S23 Ultra upgrades include a sharper 12MP front camera, an exclusive new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip made for Galaxy that delivers fast graphics performance that beats the iPhone and a display that's better optimized for S Pen use. See our Galaxy S23 Ultra vs S23 face-off if you're on the fence between both flagships. 

Based on my extensive comparisons, I can tell you that the S23 Ultra is definitely one of the best camera phones — even better than the Pixel 7 Pro and neck and neck with the iPhone 15 Pro Max . Even better, the battery life is much improved at over 13 hours. Is all of this worth $1,199?

Yes, the Galaxy S23 Ultra isn't just the best Android phone money you can buy, it's arguably the best phone period among premium flagships. Here's the pros and cons based on my Galaxy S23 Ultra review. 

For more, see our Galaxy S23 Ultra vs iPhone 15 Pro Max comparison to see which phone is right for you and our Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Pixel 7 Pro comparison. 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra release date and price

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra arrived in February with a starting price of $1,199 / £1,249 / AU$1,949 for 256GB of storage. That's double the storage of the Galaxy S22 Ultra , which is good news, but the UK / AU pricing is £100 / AU$100 more than what the S22 Ultra cost. 

The Galaxy S23 Ultra is also available with 512GB for $1,379 / £1,399 / AU$2,249 or 1TB of storage for $1,619 / £1,599 AU$2,649. 

Check out our Galaxy S23 deals page for the latest discounts. 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra specs

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra design and colors

There's a couple things you notice about the Galaxy S23 Ultra's design right of the bat. The cameras on the back are even bigger this time around compared to the Galaxy S22 Ultra and the display is flatter. There's still a gentle curve to the 6.8-inch panel, but you get a slimmer curve with a flatter surface area, which makes using an S Pen a bit more comfortable.

I know some would prefer a totally flat design, but I hold the S23 Ultra in my hand the curve does give it a slightly more premium feel. The only issue is that it can sometimes be difficult to target items with your finger on the extreme edges of the display. 

The Galaxy S23 Ultra is built to be tougher, too, as it's the first phone with Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus 2, which promises to protect the front and back better from scratches and drops. The YouTuber JerryRigEverything has conducted some durability tests , and the Galaxy S23 Ultra fares quite well when it comes to scratching and bending. However, you'll still want to invest in one of the best Galaxy S23 Ultra cases to protect your investment.  

The Galaxy S23 Ultra comes in four colors, including Phantom Black, Green, Cream and Lavender. I'm partial to the green as it pops the most of all the hues — which is the model I'm testing — followed by the lavender, which is subtle and elegant. I also like that the design does a fairly good job of resisting fingerprints. 

It's worth noting that the S23 Ultra still features a SIM card slot, unlike the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which is located on the bottom of the device. 

Samsung is touting the eco-friendliness of the S23 Ultra's design, as the company is using more recycled materials for the phone. This included recycled discarded fishing nets for the S Pen inner cover and bottom speaker module, recycled water barrels for the side key and volume key and recycled aluminum for the SIM tray.

Weighing 8.2 ounces and measuring 6.4 x 3.0 x 0.35 inches, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is the same size as the S22 Ultra but a bit heavier as that flagship weighed 8.08 ounces. 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra display

The Galaxy S23 Ultra simply has one of the best displays on any phone. It's bright, bursting with color and performed very well in our lab testing. 

Like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, the S23 Ultra features a 6.8-inch QHD OLED screen with a resolution of 3088 x 1400 pixels and a rated peak brightness of 1,750 nits. You also get the same 120Hz refresh rate as before, which can scale down to 1Hz. 

During my testing, I've been very impressed with the overall image quality from the S23 Ultra's panel. When watching the trailer for The Mandalorian season 3 , the shiny helmets popped off the screen, and I enjoyed wide viewing angles. Even in direct sunlight I could see the display fairly well. 

This is also an amazing canvas for showing off your photos and videos. I loved reviewing the shots I took with the S23 Ultra's cameras, including the super shot above image of a water fountain in Bryant Park. 

In our labs, the Galaxy S23 Ultra's display turned in an average brightness reading of 1,225 nits with HDR content, which is just behind the iPhone 14 Pro Max's 1,275 nits. The Galaxy S23 Ultra's screen delivers more colors, hitting 112% of the DCI-P3 color gamut in Natural mode, compared to 83% for the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Both panels are also highly color accurate, with the S23 Ultra registering 0.3 on the Delta-E Test where lower numbers are better in Natural mode and 0 in Vivid mode. The iPhone 14 Pro Max scored 0.26.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra also includes an advanced Vision Booster feature, which is designed to let you adjust color and contrast of the image to ambient lighting conditions. And there's an eye comfort feature to make viewing the display easier.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra cameras

Is it overkill or a game changer? After doing lots of testing, I'm leaning toward the latter. The Galaxy S23 Ultra is the first flagship phone in the U.S. to pack a 200MP camera, and Samsung says this sensor can deliver poster size prints. 

But that's not the only benefit of having a main wide camera this powerful. The adaptive pixel sensor can combine 16 pixels into one larger pixel for brighter and more detailed photos, especially in lower light situations.

Shooting in 200MP model also gives you the option to crop in on the image after you shoot, so you can get a completely different looking shot without (ideally) sacrificing detail. I was floored when I took a photo of a Bryant Park surrounded by colorful paper lanterns. Look how much I can crop in on the sign and then the lanterns themselves. (Note that the establishing shot is in 12MP because our system cannot support uploading such a large file.)

For more on the Galaxy S23 Ultra's main camera, check out our 200MP camera tests with Samsung's flagship phone .

The Galaxy S23 Ultra has a new 12MP front camera, which is technically a downgrade versus the S22 Ultra's 40MP selfie shooter, but Samsung promises better portraits overall thanks to better AI along with a compelling Night portrait mode.

In this selfie example, the Galaxy S22 Ultra produces a brighter image of my face but I appreciate the greater level of detail in the Galaxy S23 selfie, especially in my shirt on the left side. The grass also looks lusher in the S23 Ultra image. 

You still get dual 10MP telephoto lenses with 3x and 10x optical zoom, and a very strong 30x digital zoom option. The 100x Space Zoom option is also still available, though the results can be shaky.

Check out the above photos of the Empire State building ranging from 1x all the way up to 100x. At 3x you can make out the steam coming off the top of a nearby building in the freezing cold, then the spire of the building at 10x and then the windows surrounding the top of the building at 30x. While a bit shaky it's impressive that you can see the colored lights at 100x.

While we're on the subject of zoom, let me just say it's no contest here between the S23 Ultra and Pixel 7 Pro. The Samsung's shot of the Chrysler Building at 30x is considerably sharper. The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max only goes to 15x, so it couldn't compete here. 

In this portrait comparison, the Galaxy S23 Ultra delivers crisp detail in my blue jacket and hair without blowing out my face in the sun like previous Galaxy phones. The bokeh effect is a bit aggressive blurring out the trees, though you can adjust that. By comparison, I'd say the iPhone 14 Pro is a bit too warm but the Pixel 7 Pro does the best job with my face and skin tone. 

Next we have a couple of M&M cookies for a close-up food shot. The Galaxy S23 Ultra's colors are oversaturated, while the iPhone 14 Pro's and Pixel 7 Pro's shots look more natural. The difference is that the iPhone's image blurs out the background while the Pixel keeps the whole cookie in focus. Samsung loses this round. 

For this photo I wanted to see how the Galaxy S23 Ultra could capture a skating rink while dealing with the sun directly off to the right. The skaters and surrounding buildings look good but the ice looks blank. The iPhone 14 Pro does a better job showing off texture in the ice, as does the Pixel 7 Pro, even though they both exhibit some lens flare. 

I snapped this photo of bumper cars on the ice rink to see how well the S23 Ultra handles lots of colors. In this case I think the punchy yellow, red and blue plays to Samsung's advantage, although I prefer the higher contrast and slightly better definition from the iPhone 14 Pro Max. 

I was pleasantly surprised by the Galaxy S23 Ultra in this photo of the Bryant Park fountain. It's the brightest image of the bunch and does the best job exposing the area right underneath the top part of the fountain, which kind of gets lost in the shadows on the iPhone and Pixel. Though the Pixel better captures the bricks on the building in the background. 

So how well does the Galaxy S23 Ultra's cameras perform in low light? Quite well, even if it doesn't always beat the competition. In this photo of a fish market at night, the iPhone 14 Pro Max's image is brighter overall, from the walkway and parking lot to the car to the right. However, the S23 Ultra's image does a better job with the neon sign, as it's closer to red than orange. 

Indoors in this photo of a home bar I'd say it's a toss up between the S23 Ultra and Pixel 7 Pro. The iPhone 14 Pro Max pic is brightest but also on the fuzzy side. The S23 Ultra is brighter than Pixel but Google's phone produces more natural looking colors in the bottles. 

The Galaxy S23 Ultra fell a bit flat in low light with this photo of a sleeping dog. Check out the more detailed fur in the iPhone's image, and in the blanket on the right side. Samsung's photo is a bit blurry by comparison. 

Photographing fire or candles is tricky for most camera phones, but the Galaxy S23 Ultra renders the frames well here as well as the soot below. In this case warmer is better. The fire's reflection in the glass door looks pretty cool, too. The walls in the iPhone's photo are better defined, but I'd rather share the S23 Ultra's image. The Pixel's shot is too dim. 

For this night mode challenge I took a photo of some patio furniture with only the moon as a light source. The Galaxy S23 Ultra snapped a brighter shot but the iPhone 14 Pro Max delivers more detail in the wicker chairs and has the edge here. 

I was really impressed when I turned the Galaxy S23 Ultra's camera on the moon, especially since all I could get out of the iPhone 14 Pro Max was a blurry bright blob. The 100x space zoom photo shows darker and lighter spots on the surface; it's almost like having a telescope in your pocket. 

Other camera upgrades include an astro hyperlapse mode for taking clips of star movements, enhanced auto focus and a multiple exposures mode for combining multiple frames into one picture.

Since our review was initially published, a Galaxy S23 software update brought more refinements to the camera system , including the option to take photos faster.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra video

On the video front, the Galaxy S23 Ultra offers improved video stabilization in video, and video recording now goes up to 8K at 30 fps (up from 24 fps) with a wider angle for recording (from 57 to 80 degrees).

Since everyone is making a big deal about image stabilization these days, I started with a test running up a small incline at a park trail. The iPhone 14 Pro Max wins this contest hands-down. Not only is its footage smoothest, the blue in the sky is more pronounced and it does a better job handling the sun.

I'd say the S23 Ultra is second best here with fairly smooth video and the Pixel 7 Pro just looks washed out.

Next up I wanted to see how the Galaxy S23 Ultra fared with a video of the Bryant Park skating rink, and my colleague Mike Prospero volunteered to skate. I actually prefer the Samsung's video in this case, as the footage looks a bit brighter and more colorful.

And with the 10x optical zoom feature on the S23 Ultra (something the iPhone lacks), I could get closer to Mike without losing detail. The zoom mic also kicked in, which was a bit jarring as the music got instantly louder, but it definitely works. I'd say the Pixel 7 Pro's video just looks flat and dull by comparison. 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra performance

The Galaxy S23 Ultra packs an exclusive version of Qualcomm's new chip called the Snapdragon 8 Gen for Galaxy. Samsung promises that this processor can deliver even higher clock speed than the standard version of the chip, going as high as 3.36 GHz.

Samsung also promises the world's fastest mobile graphics in a phone. We've run several Galaxy S23 Ultra benchmarks, and the results are quite strong. In fact, the S23 Ultra beats the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max on graphics. 

Geekbench measures CPU performance, both in single-core and multicore applications. The Galaxy S23 handily beat the Galaxy S22 Ultra on both tests and the iPhone 14 on mult-core but not single core. The iPhone 14 Pro's A16 Bionic is still fastest though. 

We use 3DMark Wild Life to test the graphic performance of mobile devices. And this is where the S23 Ultra shined with its frames per second (FPS) count.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra surpassed the iPhone 14 Pro 79 fps to 74 fps on the Unlimited test and it narrowly beat the iPhone with a 20.9 to 20 fps score on the more demanding Extreme Unlimited test. 

In our Adobe Premiere Rush test we transcode a 4K video file to 1080p and time the results. The Galaxy S23 Ultra took 40 seconds, which is 7 seconds faster than the S22 Ultra. The iPhone 14 Pro needed only 26 seconds and the Pro Max 30 seconds. 

I can also say that the phone is very responsive when using the app switcher and popping in and out of open apps. The only lag I noticed was when attempting to edit a 200MP photo in the Gallery app.

So how about actual gameplay? I played Apex Legends, and the graphics were stunning and controls super responsive. Whether I was sliding down a mountain to ambush an opponent or blasting away enemies or punching them, the S23 Ultra never slowed down. Plus, I didn't notice the device get hot even after a half hour straight. 

It's also worth noting that the Galaxy S23 Ultra has a larger vapor cooling chamber than the Galaxy S22 Ultra, so you should see stronger sustained performance along with less heat. For that reason, the Galaxy S23 Ultra could be the best gaming phone out there, better than even purpose-built gaming handsets.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra battery life and charging

The Galaxy S23 Ultra offers the same high-capacity 5,000 mAh battery as the S22 Ultra. But it looks like Samsung has made this phone more efficient through the Snapdragon 8 Gen chip.

On the Tom's Guide Battery test, which involves continuous web surfing at 150 nits of screen brightness over 5G, the S23 Ultra lasted a very strong 12 hours and 22 minutes in Adaptive mode (where the screen can go up to 120Hz). That's good enough to make our best phone battery life list. 

Even better, in 60Hz mode, the S23 Ultra's battery lasted a superb 13 hours and 9 minutes.

The previous Galaxy S22 Ultra lasted only 10 hours and 18 minutes in the Tom's Guide battery test, and the iPhone 14 Pro Max endured for an even longer 13:39. For more details see our Galaxy S23 Ultra battery life results comparison. 

Unfortunately, Samsung is sticking with the same 45W fast charger for the S23 Ultra. We'd like to see it go higher, as the OnePlus 11 that shipped just after the S23 Ultra features 80W charging in the U.S. and 100W charging elsewhere. 

On our charing test, the S23 Ultra reached 57% in 30 minutes, which is below Samsung's claim of 65%. After half-an-hour, the OnePlus 11 was nearly completely charged, so yes, the faster charging speed does matter.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: S Pen

Other than minimizing the curve on the display for comfier S Pen use, there are no major new S Pen features for the Galaxy S23 Ultra. But it's still a valuable tool for taking notes, drawing and sketching. I also find it a good option for making finer photo edits or even scrolling while reading. 

If your screen locks on you while you're taking notes, I like that you can just tap the S Pen button to unlock the screen if you want to bypass entering a password or fingerprint, though you have to set this up in settings. And while it's not new, I appreciate being able to hover over images in the gallery for an Air preview.

The Samsung Notes app does have a new collaboration feature, allowing users to share a note and be edited simultaneously by different people.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: One UI 5.1

Running on top of Android 13, the new One UI 5.1 software for Galaxy S23 Ultra offers a number of handy improvements. For example, with Bixby Text Call Samsung's assistant can answer incoming calls for you, and then you can pass on messages via speech-to-text or by voice typing. It's actually pretty cool to see the Bixby feature in action, though callers might be freaked out the first time they encounter this.

There's also a new Modes option that lets you create customized settings for different aspects of your life, whether it's sleep, exercise, driving or work. (Think iOS 16's Focus mode feature, but on a Samsung device.) There's also more personalization features in One UI 5.1, such as an improved stacked widget system and recommended apps and actions for different times of the day. 

For more, see our One UI 5.1 guide to all the new features.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra verdict

Based on my testing I'd say the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is the best Android phone you can buy period, and it makes a very strong case for being the best phone overall. Galaxy S24 Ultra rumors are already promising big changes for next year's model, but that's further down the road — the S23 Ultra is the best right now.

The 200MP camera is simply stunning, and Samsung has really upped its game when it comes to low-light performance. In some cases the S23 Ultra delivered better looking photos than the iPhone 14 Pro Max, though Apple won other rounds. But the iPhone still falls behind on zoom power. 

The S23 Ultra is also a seriously fast phone, thanks to the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip, and this is the best phone for gaming I've tested yet. Plus, the over 13 hours of battery life is a serious improvement over the Galaxy S22 Ultra. 

If you don't need an S Pen, the Galaxy S23 Plus could be a better value. For $200 less, you get a slightly smaller 6.6-inch display, but the same powerful Snapdragon chip, an equally bright screen and the same 256GB of storage.

But if you want a phone that can do it all and want to see what a 200MP camera can do, the Ultra is definitely worth the splurge. 

Mark Spoonauer is the global editor in chief of Tom's Guide and has covered technology for over 20 years. In addition to overseeing the direction of Tom's Guide, Mark specializes in covering all things mobile, having reviewed dozens of smartphones and other gadgets. He has spoken at key industry events and appears regularly on TV to discuss the latest trends, including Cheddar , Fox Business and other outlets. Mark was previously editor in chief of Laptop Mag, and his work has appeared in Wired, Popular Science and Inc. Follow him on Twitter at @mspoonauer.

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• AnnedroidFool Thank you so much for the Article! After having a sub par camera on the LG Wing the last 2years of it's life, I have to see how a 200MP camera works. On Samsung's website, I chatted with a sales rep and per him: "The cost of Galaxy S23 Ultra Unlocked | 1TB is $1619.99+tax without any trade-in. " Reply
• MaxSlain Thanks for the article. Strangely it includes a video (with no explanation) introducing the Samsung S20 lineup... :unsure: Reply
• tbtravels360 s21 ultra specs: 16 gb RAM 512gb storage, same 3 out of 4 cameras. s23 ultra specs: *12 GB RAM 512gb. S21 ultra in developer mode blists the s23 ultra... free of charge Reply
• lotrfan2001 I think you have a typo in your second sentence: And based on my testing tje camera system — and nearly everything else about this flagship — lives up to the hype. Reply
• View All 4 Comments

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Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review: Understated grandeur

Ironically, the headliner feature is the worst part..

Android Central Verdict

It's the very best Android phone you can buy and would be absolutely perfect if it weren't for the weird camera issues. It's got a better-than-usual processor upgrade, up to 2-day battery life, years of software updates in tow, and the power of the Galaxy ecosystem behind it.

Blazing fast processor that keeps cool

Up to 2-day battery life

200 MP camera packs in the detail

Improved design over the S22 Ultra

One UI 5.1 niceties

S Pen built in

Inconsistent camera quality

Why you can trust Android Central Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test .

• Price and availability
• Hardware and design
• Software and S Pen
• Performance and Battery Life
• Competition
• Should you buy it?

Strangely enough, if it weren't for the camera, I would have given the Galaxy S23 Ultra 5 out of 5 stars. I say this is ironic because Samsung spent the entirety of the unveiling presentation in January talking about how good the camera is.

And it is. The 200 MP camera is groundbreaking in so many ways, but only when it wants to be . It's bizarrely inconsistent in its quality in ways many other flagship phones are not. Many times, the quality is mind-blowing. Other times, you'd swear a 5-year-old phone took the shot. It's bizarre and it mars an otherwise perfect phone.

But if you're ok with waiting for the inevitable software update that should fix (most of) these problems, you'll be awarded an experience like no other. Samsung addressed every complaint we had with the Galaxy S22 Ultra , making the Galaxy S23 Ultra the very best Android phone you can buy today. Just be prepared to pay a pretty penny for it.

If you're looking for something smaller — or something that just costs less money — Samsung's Galaxy S23 is the phone we hoped they would have delivered last year and costs hundreds less than the S23 Ultra. Additionally, Samsung offers the Galaxy S23 Plus , a phone that's cheaper than the S23 Ultra but larger than the smaller S23, delivering a sort of Goldilocks balance between the two.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Price and availability

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is officially available from February 17, 2023. Just like the S22 Ultra, S23 Ultra pricing begins at $1,200 / £1,250 and ramps up from there. The base model includes 256GB of storage but users can also opt for 512GB or 1TB of storage for a price increase.

Unlike last year, all Galaxy S23 models are available in Phantom Black, Cream, Lavender, and Green regardless of the model you choose. Buying a Galaxy S23 from Samsung.com will give you additional color options including Graphite, Sky Blue, Lime, and Red.

As usual, the best Galaxy S23 deals will get you the phone for far less than $1,200. Most carriers are offering some kind of discount deal or bundle with the phone, and you can always trade in your old phone to your carrier or Samsung for an extra discount.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Hardware and design

At first glance, the Galaxy S23 Ultra looks identical to the S22 Ultra. It's got the same overall dimensions, the rear camera design with individual raised camera lenses, squared-off corners, and a display with curved edges on the left and right sides.

The display is the same that you'll find on the Galaxy S22 Ultra which means it's super bright, ultra-crisp, and includes great features like Vision Booster to ensure you're getting the best clarity any mobile phone will deliver.

But, look more closely and you'll find some subtle — yet very important — changes Samsung made. The edges of the screen are much less curved than last year, making it easier to write close to the side with the S Pen. That also means that curved screen protectors aren't as susceptible to lifted edges over time.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra introduces subtle changes including a reduced screen curve and flatter edges for better grip.

Additionally, the curve around the edges has been notably reduced. Instead of a perfect half circle — as it was on the S22 Ultra — the S23 UItra's sides are totally flat but still feature a nice curve into the top and bottom of the phone. It's a subtle but substantially better design and it made it possible for me to use the S23 Ultra without a case and not have it slip out of my hand constantly. However, if you're like most people, you just might want to grab one of our recommended S23 Ultra cases and/or screen protectors .

The S23 Ultra is a few grams heavier than the S22 Ultra but you won't notice this while holding it. Regardless, it's still a very heavy phone that feels incredibly solidly built. Surprisingly, I didn't mind the squared-off edges this year as I did with the last few Samsung phones with a similar design — that's the S22 Ultra and Note 20, for note.

It's also worth noting that Samsung upgraded the glass with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 , even if that means you'll still see scratches from time to time.

This one above, for instance, happened sometime in the first few days I had the phone. I hadn't even taken it out of the house at the time and didn't notice it until I was taking a photo of it in the sun. I have no idea how it happened, but it didn't occur from a drop or anything like that.

Additionally, the raised camera lenses are still the dust magnets that they were last year. Above are two comparisons between the S22 Ultra and S23 Ultra. While both phones have plenty of dust around their lenses, it doesn't show up as well on the S23's Green colorway. At least that's a positive.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Software and S Pen

One UI 5.1 launches alongside the Galaxy S23 Ultra but this update isn't exclusive to this phone. By the time it comes out, many Samsung phones will have already begun to receive the update, but that doesn't make it any less important for folks picking up the S23 Ultra.

Included with One UI 5.1 are several quality-of-life changes and a few new features. The headliner feature, for me, is the new Bixby Text Call which was previously only available in South Korea for the past few months.

Bixby Text Call is better than Pixel Call Screening...when it wants to work, that is.

Bixby Text Call works nearly identically to Google Assistant call screening on a Pixel phone but, for the most part, it's a better experience for one huge reason: you can actually type out messages to the person and have Bixby read them back.

The transcription on both ends is phenomenal, too, and Bixby's voice sounds very natural. You can select from three English voice options as of launch and Samsung will, undoubtedly, add more voices and languages in the future.

The only problem is that it refused to work for me most of the time. I receive several spam calls in any given week — as I imagine everyone else does — but this feature didn't appear on the dialer one single time in the last two weeks. It only worked for me when I disabled and reenabled the feature and then rebooted. Even then, it only worked for one phone call.

I contacted Samsung about the issue but haven't heard back yet. Hopefully, this is just an isolated issue that gets solved soon.

But there's another feature in One UI 5.1 that I absolutely loved (and it worked all the time): lifting an image.

It's as easy as long-pressing on a subject in the Samsung Gallery app and using the context buttons that pop up to take an action. This is absolutely a copy of what Apple did in iOS 16 and quite honestly, I don't care. It's just good software.

It's a proper return to form for lockscreen customization.

Speaking of Apple, now that Apple is including proper lock screen customization in iOS 16, Samsung is bringing back more lock screen customization options including filters, fonts, clock styles, and more. It's a proper return to form and includes a bunch of fun new features, too.

Best yet, you can change your lock screen at any time by long-pressing anywhere on the wallpaper on your lock screen. It's super easy and can even be customized to change automatically with routines on the phone.

Samsung has also overhauled the privacy and security section, now combining everything into one handy Security Dashboard. This is significantly more user-friendly than splitting everything up and it's organized in a nice, easy-to-understand format.

Samsung has also overhauled the privacy and security section, now combining everything into one handy Security Dashboard.

McAfee is even included if you're worried about malware, adding to the repertoire of ways to prevent your phone from getting infected if you love to download questionable apps.

Google and Samsung continue to cozy up more as the Galaxy S23 Ultra launches with a few new ways to enjoy using Google Meet including enhanced video resolution, better background noise canceling, live sharing, and even editing Samsung Notes in real-time. That last one is ridiculously cool although I surmise it won't be used often by most people.

On the topic of the S Pen, you'll find the S Pen remains identical to what's been included in Samsung Note-style devices since the Note 20. It's still small and less comfortable to use than the S Pen Pro but, of course, it's included for free with the phone and sits nicely in the holster, making it ultra-convenient to use.

The S Pen experience remains identical to the S22 Ultra and is just so much fun to use.

And no, you can't put it in backward and break the phone. Don't worry.

Writing on the screen is better than ever now, though, thanks to the reduced curves on the edges. I never once found that the pen would slip off the edge while writing near the margins, which isn't something I've been able to say with Note-style phones for a long time.

GIF remastering has been added to Samsung's Gallery app, a feature that uses onboard AI processing to help enhance GIFs and make them better quality. It works similarly to last year's photo remaster function but this time with support for animated pictures, of course.

And while it's not new, I love the ability to draw over GIFs with the S Pen and keep the animation intact. All you do is edit a GIF in the gallery and start drawing on it, then you can adjust where your artwork fits in the timeline and hit save. It's super simple and adds a bit of value to everyday meme life on the internet.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Performance and Battery Life

Performance and battery life are two of my absolute favorite parts of the Galaxy S23 Ultra experience.

It may sound ridiculous to say that in 2023 when smartphone performance seems almost meaningless and most phones offer good enough battery life, but it's true.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is the best-performing "normal" phone I've ever used. By normal, I mean a phone that isn't specifically made for gaming as those usually include fans and alternative designs that are geared toward long gaming sessions.

Unlike last year's disastrous Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 that powered the Galaxy S22 Ultra (and plenty of other phones in the first half of 2022), the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 performs well and stays performing well.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra runs games at twice the framerate of the Galaxy S22 Ultra when gaming for more than 20 minutes. It also doesn't get molten lava hot like last year's phone.

It also doesn't turn into molten lava when trying to play a game for more than 20 minutes, a vast improvement alone over last year's phones.

While benchmark scores can help illustrate the difference, benchmarks often don't take long enough to showcase the absolute drop in performance we saw last year.

For instance, if I play Fortnite with epic graphics settings on a Galaxy S22 Ultra, the game will start playing at around 50 frames per second (FPS). Over a period of roughly half an hour, that framerate will drop to a solid 30 FPS and never again rise until the phone has adequate time to cool off.

When playing the same game with the same settings on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Fortnite runs at a solid 60 FPS and never dips below that speed even after an hour and a half of playtime. This will continue ad infinitum because the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy Devices does a much, much better job of cooling itself off and keeping cool even while pushing mobile graphics to their limit.

Similarly, gorgeous games like Genshin Impact run at a locked 60 FPS without notable dips in most areas. If you're nearer the end of the game and are in some of the more detailed areas you might see it drop a few frames but, overall, the performance here is incredibly impressive.

Amazingly enough, this performance increase doesn't come at the expense of battery life. In fact, the battery life on the Galaxy S23 Ultra is the best I've seen among flagship phones this side of a OnePlus 10T .

I've easily been able to get 2 days of battery life out of a single charge during the last two weeks. I'm not sure I can remember a flagship phone that gave me this much longevity on a single charge.

But here's the deal. While both the S23 Ultra and phones like the OnePlus 10T remove all worries of battery anxiety, they both accomplish that task for different reasons. The S23 Ultra might have a battery that lasts a long time but, if you end up forgetting to charge it and have to leave the house in 10 minutes, you might still be in trouble.

I've easily been able to get 2 days of battery life out of a single charge during the last two weeks.

That's because Samsung's charging speeds are still incredibly slow when compared to a lot of other modern smartphones — the iPhone excluded, of course.

Yes, it still supports 45W charging like last year's phone did but, in my testing, there was almost no real-world difference when using a 45W charger and a 25W charger on the Galaxy S23 Ultra. While the 45W charger gained percentage points slightly quicker initially than the 25W charger did, both chargers fully charged the phone from 20% to 100% in about 50 minutes total.

In other words, Samsung is still throttling charging performance to manage the thermal load. Oh well, maybe next year we'll get faster charging.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Cameras

Update 3/14/23: It looks like Samsung heard us and has been working diligently on a big camera update which could, potentially, launch as early as the end of this month. My hope is that the issues that I — and many others — found with this phone's camera can be fixed in that update. After all, everything that was wrong with this phone's camera was entirely the fault of the software, not the hardware.

Now, on to the camera review.

Samsung spent an extraordinary amount of time talking up the Galaxy S23 Ultra's video recording capabilities at the unveiling in early February. While most of it was surely hyperbole — I highly, highly doubt that Ridley Scott will continue using a Galaxy S23 Ultra for any of his future films — the video recording capabilities of the phone's camera are its most impressive feature.

Video recording capabilities of the phone's camera are its most impressive feature.

I've already published a highly-detailed Galaxy S23 Ultra camera review if you want all the nitty gritty details but, for this general phone review, I'll sum up my findings. Please hit that link if you want to learn more, though.

Now, as for video recording, it's clear that Samsung realized its strengths and decided to play toward them with this release. These two videos help illustrate just how good the video recording quality is on the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

So how about the rest of the Galaxy S23 Ultra camera experience? It's quite good, but I really can sum it up in one unfortunate word: inconsistent .

With this release, Samsung upgraded the main sensor to 200 megapixels (MP). That's an upgrade from the 108 MP sensor in the Galaxy S22 Ultra and it can be used in three different resolutions: the default 12.5 MP mode, a 50 MP binned mode, and the full 200 MP resolution.

Photo quality can be out-of-this-world but it's inconsistent far too often for its own good.

Taking shots at 200 MP is a joy and brings exquisite detail to any situation. Unlike the full-resolution shot on most phones, Samsung still uses proper multi-frame capture so you don't end up with photos that have poor shadow detail or overblown skies.

Essentially, the only negative of using the 200 MP resolution is speed. On average, you'll be able to take 3-4 pictures in a 5-second window when using 200 MP mode while the default 12.5 MP mode can take up to 8 in that same time. Not a big deal but worth noting if you miss a split-second photography moment.

But, while 200 MP mode adds considerable detail to a scene, not all is positive. The Galaxy S23 Ultra can still zoom up to 100x away and get a reasonably good shot (the sweet spot for quality is between 15x and 50x), but the overall quality is strangely inconsistent from time to time.

Typically, when the Galaxy S23 Ultra messed up a shot, it would overexpose the scene.

Typically, when the Galaxy S23 Ultra messed up a shot, it would overexpose the scene and cause a loss of detail because something was blown out.

While this wasn't a common occurrence, it happened more often than I expect to see on a phone of this caliber and more often than on the Galaxy S22 Ultra — something that should never happen when "upgrading."

Above are a smattering of photos showing this phenomenon, including objects in motion. Additionally, the Galaxy S23 Ultra still struggles to take photos of kids and pets . Any bit of movement often results in a blurry face and that's incredibly frustrating from a flagship-level device in 2023.

Samsung owns the award for the best front-facing camera, the best portrait mode, and the best quality macro camera of any Android phone I've tested.

Sadly, the new options in the Camera Assistant app that help reduce shutter speed and the time it takes to actually capture a photo don't help with these issues. Yes, they absolutely improve that capture time — tapping the shutter instantly takes a photo when the proper Camera Assistant option is enabled — but it doesn't fix the inability to capture movement without getting a blurry image.

But that's the worst part of the Galaxy S23 Ultra camera experience. On the positive side, Samsung owns the award for the best front-facing camera, the best portrait mode, and the best quality macro camera of any Android phone I've tested.

On the software front, Samsung continues to upgrade its manual camera modes and "Nightography" options. Fans of manual modes will absolutely love the new RAW camera options in the Expert RAW mode.

New Expert RAW options include multi-frame exposure and Astrophotography.

RAW photos can be taken in up to 50 MP resolution — sorry, no 200 MP option for RAW — and you can even select multi-frame exposure to add to a RAW file. It's impressive, to say the least, and lets you get the power of RAW post-editing without sacrificing the positives that multi-frame capture brings, namely the extra dynamic range.

Additionally, Samsung is taking on Google's Astrophotography mode with its own identically-named mode. But Samsung isn't just resting on Google's laurels and making a carbon copy. Not only can you take a long exposure photo that uses AI to blend together shots in an intelligent way to create a stunningly gorgeous night shot, but you can also use this mode in Expert RAW to take things even further in post-editing.

I took a look at Samsung's Astrophotography mode and was impressed with the results. Google's astrophotography mode might be a little more user-friendly — Google's is totally automated but you'll have to download the additional Expert RAW app on the Galaxy and manually enable astrophotography mode — but Samsung offers more capture options and the ability to better tweak the final output via the RAW format.

Since launch, Samsung has come under fire for "faking" photos taken of the moon with the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Both Andrew Myrick and I agree that the criticism here is overly silly and that it doesn't matter if these photos are 100% "real" or not.

In a nutshell, here's why. When you take a photo with your smartphone, the final photo you see afterward is never a representation of what the sensor saw when you tapped the button. Rather, the output is a fantastical amalgamation of several photos taken at once, combined to create one "super photo," and further processed to eliminate noise, enhance color, and do all sorts of other interesting things.

In a way, Google could also be called out for "faking" photos of your kids' or pets' faces because the final image isn't actually the image that was taken from a single camera lens when you tapped the button. Rather, the face has been reconstructed using pictures from multiple cameras on the back paired with an AI algorithm that sharpens it and makes features clearer. In a nutshell: who cares. Your phone is still taking a great picture.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Competition

If cameras are your thing, the Pixel 7 Pro might be a better option depending on what you're looking for. Google's image capture algorithm does a better job than Samsung's when it comes to two main things: capturing objects in movement (kids and pets), and better exposure. Photos from the Pixel almost always look better but there are plenty of exceptions. It has a much, much worse portrait mode, the front-facing camera isn't nearly as good, it can't zoom quite as far as the S23 Ultra, and video capture is definitely not as good.

Last year's Galaxy S22 Ultra might be a better pick if you're still interested in Samsung's particular camera expertise — portrait mode, video capture, and manual camera control, specifically — but don't need the latest and greatest mobile processor and 2-day battery life. Most everything else about the phone is nearly identical to the S23 Ultra, though, and it's still guaranteed four more years of updates (3 more major Android updates) until Samsung drops support.

If you're just looking for a new Samsung phone with the latest and greatest mobile processor, excellent battery life, and new features, the Galaxy S23 or S23 Plus will save you some money by getting rid of the S Pen and the extra telephoto camera. That means you'll be getting the same processing speed and screen quality, the same great photo and video modes, and the same great Samsung One UI 5.1 experience for less money.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Should you buy it?

You should buy this if ...

• You want a superb, versatile camera most of the time
• You need the best performance and long battery life
• You want a phone that'll last for years and still get updates

You shouldn't buy this if ...

• You take lots of pictures of your kids or pets
• You need a camera that's more consistent
• You don't need the absolute best performance

So long as the camera inconsistencies and issues with capturing motion don't bother you, this is the new king of Android phones. Even still, the potential of a camera fix coming at the end of March highlights what mere software updates can do for a phone. Updates are important, and this phone will get them for years to come.

It's a phone that's essentially perfect if Samsung can tweak the camera experience just a bit more to match what Google does with the Pixel and, even then, Samsung excels at so many areas in the camera department it might be easy to overlook for many people.

There's no arguing with the versatility of the S Pen and how much fun it adds to the everyday phone experience. Doodling on GIFs, taking easy screen captures, writing notes with friends, or just taking a photo of you and your friends with the button on the pen. It's the same great experience we've loved for years and just keeps getting better.

And who can forget the performance and battery life here? The special Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy Devices that powers the Galaxy S23 Ultra is the fastest, most efficient processor we've seen from Qualcomm in a long, long time. It also doesn't get hot or drop performance over time like last year's processor did, all while running games twice as fast in most cases. If you want the best overall Android phone around, this is it.

If you want the fastest mobile processor ever in an Android phone, an impressive 200MP camera, the power of the S Pen, and more features than you can shake a stick at, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is the phone for you.

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Samsung One UI 6.1.1 Expands Latest Galaxy AI Features to Even More Users Around the World

KOREA – September 4 , 2024 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced One UI 6.1.1 which will bring the latest Galaxy AI features to more Galaxy devices through a new update. Beginning to roll out from September, the update will extend the AI features of Galaxy Z Fold6 and Z Flip6 to previous models including Galaxy S24 series, S23 series, S23 FE, Z Fold5, Z Flip5 and Tab S9 series. With the latest advanced features across communication, productivity and creativity, One UI 6.1.1 will uplevel every mobile experience for users to deliver greater intelligence and convenience. Intuitive Communication Without Barriers Communicating with someone in another language has been made simple and easy by Galaxy AI. Interpreter 1  offers Listening Mode which will now be available on all expanded devices, offering one-way translation whether listening to a presentation or translating a video. With Chat Assist , users can effortlessly draft emails and even social posts using Composer 2  by inputting just a few keywords before Galaxy AI will generate a full message for review based on tone and personal style 3 . Suggested replies 4 , previously only available on Galaxy Z Flip6, will now be available on Galaxy S24 series devices when connected with a Galaxy Watch7 or Galaxy Watch Ultra for quick replies right from the wrist. Powerful Productivity from Anywhere The latest expansion of Galaxy AI features can transform any Galaxy device into a powerful productivity tool. Note Assist 5  makes time-consuming meeting notes a thing of the past, enabling translation and summarizing of notes, while newly added transcript feature can quickly create notes based on voice recordings. PDF overlay translation 6  can translate and overlay text in PDF files effortlessly and will even translate text in images and graphs. And Sketch to image 7  helps uplevel photos on the Note screen or in Gallery by generating a selection of image options that perfectly complement the original image. Plus, the advanced search capabilities of Circle to Search 8  with Google generate intuitive search results in an instant and now offer step-by-step instructions for solving even the most complex math problems, as well as newly added music recognition capabilities. Advanced Creativity Made Easy Galaxy AI is enabling everyday users to create professional-grade content, whether an amateur photographer or aspiring content creator. Instantly create portraits in a variety of styles such as 3D cartoon or watercolor with Portrait Studio 9 . With Instant Slow-mo 10   users can also instantly slow a video down while maintaining smooth image quality before quickly saving and sharing in just a few simple steps. About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Samsung inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies. The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, home appliances, network systems, and memory, system LSI, foundry and LED solutions, and delivering a seamless connected experience through its SmartThings ecosystem and open collaboration with partners. For the latest news, please visit the Samsung Newsroom at   news.samsung.com . 1  Interpreter requires Samsung Account login. Certain languages may require language pack download. Service availability may vary by language. Accuracy of results is not guaranteed. Availability and supported features may vary by country, region or carrier. Availability of supported languages may vary. 2  Composer requires a network connection and Samsung Account login. Service availability may vary by language. Accuracy of results is not guaranteed. 3  Tone suggesting feature in Chat Assist requires a network connection and Samsung Account login. Must meet length requirements to activate feature. Service availability may vary by language. Accuracy of results is not guaranteed. 4  Suggested Replies feature for Chat Assist requires network connection to receive messages. It can suggest replies with or without network connection once the messages are received by the device. Samsung Account login required. Service availability may vary by language and app. Accuracy of results is not guaranteed. 5  Features for Note Assist require a network connection and Samsung Account login. Service availability may vary by language. Voice recording feature in the Samsung Notes app may not be supported in some countries. Summarizing feature is activated when a certain number of characters is met and is under the character limit. Audio files must be under 3 hours in duration to be processed. Accuracy of results is not guaranteed. 6  Overlay translation not supported for PDF files secured with password. 7  Sketch to image requires a network connection and Samsung Account login. Editing with Sketch to Image may result in a resized photo up to 12MP. A visible watermark is overlaid on the image output upon saving in order to indicate that the image is generated by AI. The accuracy and reliability of the generated output is not guaranteed. 8  Sequences shortened and simulated. Results for illustrative purposes only. Results may vary depending on visual matches. Requires internet connection. Users may need to update Android to the latest version. Product functionality may be dependent on app and device settings. Some functions may not be compatible with certain apps. Availability of the service varies by country and language. Accuracy of results is not guaranteed. Circle to Search is not available via the FlexWindow. 9  Portrait Studio requires a network connection and Samsung Account login. Supports JPG, HEIC (HEIF), BMP and PNG files. The background must not be transparent. Editing with Generative Portrait results in a resized photo up to 12MP. A visible watermark is overlaid on the image output upon saving in order to indicate that the image is generated by AI. The accuracy and reliability of the generated output is not guaranteed. 10  Instant Slow-mo feature is available on Samsung Video Player and Samsung Gallery. May not be available on certain video file types. Accuracy of results not guaranteed.

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Samsung’s ai tools are coming to more galaxy phones and tablets.

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Samsung is rolling out its One UI 6.1.1 update to more devices, bringing the company's Galaxy AI tools to more phones and tablets.

The One UI 6.1.1 update was initially introduced on the Galaxy Z Fold6 and Z Flip6 but will now be available on the Galaxy S24 series starting today. Other devices, including the S23 series, S23 FE, Z Fold5, Z Flip5, and Tab S9 series, will get the update starting September 12.

Galaxy AI comes with Interpreter and Listening Mode gives real-time translations, which is useful in presentations or conversations with people speaking different languages. The feature now extends to all devices included in the update. This includes Chat Assist and Composer, which can draft emails, social media posts, and short messages based on user input and personal style preferences. Additionally, Galaxy S24 series owners will gain access to suggested replies when connected to a Galaxy Watch, a feature previously exclusive to the Galaxy Z Flip6.

Productivity is also getting a boost. With its translation and summarization capabilities, Note Assist will help owners efficiently capture and manage meeting notes. The newly added transcript feature converts voice recordings into text, while PDF Overlay Translation simplifies text translation within PDF files or images. Sketch to Image lets users generate images based on simple sketches. This lets users who aren't very artistic or don't have the time to create detailed art make what they need.

One UI 6.1.1 also introduces Portrait Studio, which lets you create artistic portraits in various styles. There's also instant Slow-mo that gives seamless video slowdowns without compromising image quality. Z Flip5 users will also benefit from the addition of Auto Zoom, which is great for cutting down editing hours. The integration of Circle to Search with Google gives advanced search capabilities, including step-by-step instructions for solving complex math problems.

Eligible Galaxy devices will receive the One UI 6.1.1 update as an over-the-air (OTA) software update. The update will be rolled out in phases, starting with the Galaxy S24 series on September 5, 2024. Other devices, like the S23 series, S23 FE, Z Fold5, Z Flip5, and Tab S9 series, will receive the update from September 12 onwards.

Source: Samsung

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Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : prix cassé pour ce smartphone haut de gamme à saisir en ce week-end

Profitez vite de l’offre Cdiscount du jour, portant sur le smartphone grand format de Samsung, sorti en 2023. Accompagné d’un stylet, le Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra ravira à la fois les gamers, les amateurs de photographie, les adeptes de l’IA et les internautes en quête d’un mobile 5G performant.

La rédaction du Parisien n'a pas participé à la réalisation de cet article.

Compatible avec les tout nouveaux outils Galaxy AI, le Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vient de voir son prix chuter chez le e-commerçant Cdiscount. Pourvu d’un grand écran Dynamic AMOLED 2X de 6,8 pouces, soit 17,2 cm, ce smartphone vous permettra de profiter de vos médias en qualité QHD+. Les gamers qui apprécient les jeux dynamiques seront conquis par le taux de rafraîchissement adaptatif de ce mobile, qui peut atteindre 120 Hz. Au cœur de votre Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, vous découvrirez un processeur Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Si vous désirez recevoir votre nouveau smartphone 5G en express sans frais, n’oubliez pas de vous inscrire au programme de fidélité Cdiscount à Volonté avant de passer commande. Évalué en moyenne 4,7 étoiles et annoncé comme au meilleur prix, le Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra en vente chez Cdiscount vous est proposé au tarif réduit de 648,88 euros.

Obtenez le smartphone 5G Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra à prix fou

Protégé par un verre Gorilla Glass Victus 2 et étanche selon la norme IP68, le Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra est considéré par Cdiscount comme un appareil plus responsable, puisqu’il dispose d’un indice de réparabilité de 8,2. Noir, le châssis de ce smartphone comporte quatre capteurs arrière pouvant filmer jusqu’en 8K à 30 i/s : une caméra principale de 200 MP, un ultra grand-angle de 12 MP et deux téléobjectifs de 10 MP. Pour vos selfies, vous pourrez compter sur un objectif avant de 12 MP, pouvant enregistrer des vidéos en 4K à 60 i/s. Pourvu d’une batterie de 5000 mAh, compatible avec les dispositifs de charge filaire 45W, le Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra contient aussi 256 Go d’espace de stockage. Sécurisé par Samsung Knox, ce smartphone tourne sous le système d’exploitation Android 13, via l’interface One UI 5.1. Pour vos accessoires sans fil, vous aurez accès au Bluetooth 5.3.

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Le prix du Galaxy S23 Ultra est en train de fondre chez Rakuten, profitez-en

Samsung explose le prix de son smartphone surpuissant, le Galaxy S23 Ultra est à prix fou - Rakuten

Pas besoin de vider votre compte en banque pour vous procurer un téléphone performant. Chez Rakuten, vous trouverez le Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra au prix de 705,95 euros au lieu de 1 419 euros. Et en rejoignant le Club R, vous allez faire encore plus d'économies ! En effet, vous aurez accès au cashback valable sur tous les produits, toute l’année. Ainsi, en achetant votre smartphone, vous allez créditer 28,24 euros en Rakuten Points. Vous pourrez les déduire d’une prochaine commande. Le Club R est gratuit et sans engagement. Avec lui, vous aurez droit à des promotions exclusives tout au long de l’année.

Avec ce prix, le Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra va disparaître des stocks

Décidément, Rakuten est toujours là quand il s’agit de baisser les prix. Le site marchand vous offre une remise de 50 % sur le Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. En outre, la livraison à domicile est gratuite et vous avez la possibilité de payer en 4 fois.

Ce téléphone propose un design très pro aux coins en angle droit. La prise en main est agréable et il est très robuste grâce au verre Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. Il est également certifié IP68.

Il est fourni avec son S Pen, qui vous permet d’écrire directement sur l’écran. Celui-ci fait 6,8 pouces et embarque une dalle Amoled. Vous allez profiter d’une résolution QHD+ et d’un taux de rafraîchissement de 120 Hz. Les images seront bien nettes, détaillées et fluides. C’est parfait pour regarder des vidéos.

Avec son processeur Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, vous allez pouvoir exécuter tous vos jeux et vos applications avec rapidité. Vous trouverez sur ce téléphone un capteur de 200 mégapixels, un ultra grand-angle et 2 téléobjectifs. De quoi faire vos plus beaux clichés ! Enfin, il embarque une batterie de 5 000 mAh.

Cliquez ici pour obtenir le Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Ce contenu a été réalisé par un expert de l’équipe shopping de BFMTV, indépendante de la rédaction de BFMTV.com. Les prix indiqués sont donnés à titre indicatif et sont susceptibles d’évoluer. BFMTV est susceptible de percevoir une rémunération lorsqu’un de nos lecteurs procède à un achat via les liens intégrés dans cet article.

Tous les bons plans Rakuten

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Samsung One UI 6.1.1 Expands Latest Galaxy AI Features to Even More Users Around the World

Samsung Electronics has announced the expansion of One UI 6.1.1 1 , which puts some of the latest Galaxy AI features in the hands of even more users. Starting today, Galaxy AI features — including Composer, 2 Sketch to Image, 3 and more — unveiled on the Galaxy Z Fold6 and Z Flip6 will be available across the Galaxy S24 series, with S23 series , S23 FE , Z Fold5 , Z Flip5 , and Tab S9 series devices receiving the update beginning September 12. In addition to these new features, Z Flip5 users will also gain access to Auto Zoom 4 as part of the update. The updated OS delivers the latest features across communication, productivity, and creativity, increasing convenience and enabling innovative new experiences throughout the devices.

Intuitive Communication Without Barriers

Communicating with someone in another language is simple and easy with Galaxy AI. Interpreter 5 offers Listening Mode, which provides one-way translations when listening to a presentation — this feature will now be available on all expanded devices. With Chat Assist , users can easily draft emails, social media posts, and other short comments using Composer. Users can simply input a few keywords and Galaxy AI will generate a full message based on tone and personal style for review.   Suggested replies, previously only available on Galaxy Z Flip6 , will now be available on Galaxy S24 series devices — offering quick replies from the wrist when connected to Galaxy Watch7 or Galaxy Watch Ultra .

Powerful Productivity from Anywhere

The latest expansion of Galaxy AI features can transform any Galaxy device into a powerful productivity tool. Note Assist 6 makes time-consuming meeting notes a thing of the past, enabling translation and note summaries, while the newly added transcript feature can quickly create notes based on voice recordings. For added convenience, PDF Overlay Translation 7 can effortlessly translate and overlay text in PDF files or even translate text in images and graphs. And Sketch to Image helps enhance photos by generating a selection of image options that perfectly complement the original image based on simple sketches. Plus, the advanced search capabilities of Circle to Search 8 with Google quickly generate search results, and now offer step-by-step instructions for solving complex math problems.

Advanced Creativity Made Easy

Galaxy AI is enabling everyday users to create professional-grade content, whether they’re an amateur photographer or aspiring content creator. Instantly create portraits in a variety of styles such as 3D cartoon or watercolor with Portrait Studio. 9 Plus, Instant Slow-mo 10 allows users to seamlessly slow a video down while maintaining smooth image quality, before quickly saving and sharing in just a few simple steps.

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Samsung Expands Circle to Search to Galaxy A Series and Galaxy Tab S9 FE Series

1 the updated software version will be displayed as one ui 6.1 for the galaxy s24 series, s23 series, and s23 fe, and one ui 6.1.1 for the z fold5, z flip5, and tab s9 series. galaxy ai features by samsung will be provided for free until the end of 2025 on supported galaxy devices. samsung account login required., 2 composer requires a network connection and samsung account login. service availability may vary by language. accuracy of results is not guaranteed., 3 sketch to image feature requires a network connection and samsung account login. editing with sketch to image may result in a resized photo up to 12mp. a visible watermark is overlaid on the image output upon saving in order to indicate that the image is generated by ai. the accuracy and reliability of the generated output is not guaranteed., 4 auto zoom length varies and is shorter than standard zoom length., 5 requires samsung account login and language preset (english and spanish pre-installed; other languages require free download) results may vary., 6 for text in samsung notes only (200 – 10,000 characters); requires samsung account login and internet connection., 7 overlay translation not supported for pdf files secured with password., 8 requires internet connection; results may vary by uniqueness, clarity and framing of circled image and related factors., 9 portrait studio requires a network connection and samsung account login. supports jpg, heic (heif), bmp and png files. the background must not be transparent., 10 instant slow-mo feature is available on samsung video player and samsung gallery. may not be available on certain video file types. accuracy of results not guaranteed., media contact.

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