Hands-on review of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, S23+ and S23


introduction

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is here alongside the Galaxy S23+ and Galaxy S23, and we can finally move past the leaks and rumors and into real, official territory. We’ve spent some quality time with all three devices and would like to share some initial thoughts: how they feel, what’s new and what’s not.

Let’s start with some similarities to last year’s models. For one, the formula hasn’t changed. We’re still getting an Ultra, a Plus, and a vanilla, and their position, relative to each other, has also remained the same.

The Ultra is the no-holds-barred flagship phone, the Galaxy S23/S23+ is more affordable with some “sensible” omissions. Size is also a factor: Just like last year’s models, the Ultra is bigger in more ways than one: physically, screen-wise, and battery-wise.

As before, there are some key similarities between the three models. The biggest one is the underlying chipset: all three models use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, this is a customized version for these three devices in particular. Samsung and Qualcomm call it the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy, and it’s basically a higher clocked version of the new familiar chip.

The Ultra still has the upper hand in terms of performance, thanks to the 12GB RAM option, while the S23/S23+ maxes out at 8GB.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra looks (and feels) familiar. You’d be excused if you think it’s a minor upgrade over the Galaxy S22 Ultra. But you would also be wrong. If we agree that camera, performance, and battery life are the key areas where a phone can upgrade, then the Galaxy S23 Ultra is a major upgrade over the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 brings moderate to large performance improvements. Judging by some early benchmarks, the Cortex-X3 inside is 10% to 20% faster than the Cortex-X2 inside the Exynos 2200 in single-core tests. Multi-core scores for the new processor can be 30% to 60% better depending on the benchmark. The GPU is also much faster. Samsung has steered clear of naming rates, but games like PUBG Mobile are capped at around 60fps on the Exynos 2200-powered Galaxy S22 Ultra, while Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 devices support gameplay at up to 120fps.

Synthetic scores aside, the new chip is much more efficient and less prone to thermal issues. According to the specifications alone, it is about 40% more efficient than its predecessor, which itself was more efficient than the Exynos 2200, which was predominantly featured in the Galaxy S22 series globally. That means the Galaxy S23 Ultra will likely squeeze more hours out of its 5,000mAh battery pack — that’s your main battery upgrade.

Finally, the new 200MP main camera could prove to be a generational upgrade over the old 108MP. The new sensor can produce 12MP and 50MP photos, depending on the scenario. And you can get that 50MP through the Expert RAW app, giving professionals a richer, sharper baseline. Night photography and video have also been improved.

The specifications of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra at a glance:

  • Body: 163.4×78.1×8.9mm, 233g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus 2); IP68 water and dust resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 minutes), Armor aluminum frame with increased drop and scratch resistance (advertised), stylus, 2.8ms latency (Bluetooth integration, accelerometer, gyroscope).
  • Screen: 6.80″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1750 nits (peak), 1440x3088px resolution, 19.3:9 aspect ratio, 501ppi; Always-On Display.
  • chipsets: Qualcomm SM8550-AC Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4nm): Octa-core (1×3.36GHz Cortex-X3 & 2×2.8GHz Cortex-A715 & 2×2.8GHz Cortex-A710 & 3×2.0GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 740.
  • Memory: 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM, 1TB 12GB RAM; UFS 4.0.
  • Operating system/software: Android 13, a 5.1 user interface.
  • Rear camera: Broad (main): 200 MP, f/1.7, 23mm, 1/1.3″, 0.6µm, PDAF, Laser AF, OIS; Telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.4, 70mm, 1/3.52″, 1.12µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom; Telephoto: 10 MP, f/4.9, 230mm, 1/3.52″, 1.12µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS, 10x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚, 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, dual pixel PDAF.
  • Front camera: 12MP, f/2.2, 25mm (wide), PDAF.
  • Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@24/30fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+, stereo sound recording, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30fps.
  • Battery: 5000mAh; 45W wired, PD3.0, 10W wireless (Qi/PMA), 4.5W reverse wireless.
  • Various: Fingerprint reader (under display, ultrasonic); NFC; stereo speakers; Samsung DeX, Samsung Wireless DeX (desktop experience support), Bixby natural language commands and dictation, Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified), Ultra Wideband (UWB) support.

Compared to the Ultra, the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ are incremental updates. The biggest update is the move to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which will bring with it better overall performance and battery life. The batteries got a 200mAh increase on both models, for a total of 3,900mAh and 4,700mAh on the S23 and S23+, respectively.

The specifications of the Samsung Galaxy S23+ at a glance:

  • Body: 157.8×76.2×7.6mm, 195g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), aluminum frame; IP68 water and dust resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 minutes), Armor aluminum frame with increased resistance to drops and scratches (advertised).
  • Screen: 6.60″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1080x2340px resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 390ppi; Always-On Display.
  • chipsets: Qualcomm SM8550 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4nm): Octa-core (1×3.36GHz Cortex-X3 & 2×2.8GHz Cortex-A715 & 2×2.8GHz Cortex-A710 & 3×2.0GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 740.
  • Memory: 256GB 8GB RAM, 512GB 8GB RAM; UFS 4.0.
  • Operating system/software: Android 13, a 5.1 user interface.
  • Rear camera: Broad (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 23mm, 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.4, 70mm, 1/3.94″, 1.0µm, PDAF, 3x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚, 1/2.55″ 1.4µm, Super Steady video.
  • Front camera: 12MP, f/2.2, 25mm (wide), PDAF.
  • Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@24/30fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+, stereo sound recording, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30fps.
  • Battery: 4700mAh; 45W wired, PD3.0, 10W wireless (Qi/PMA), 4.5W reverse wireless.
  • Various: Fingerprint reader (under display, ultrasonic); NFC; stereo speakers; Samsung DeX, Samsung Wireless DeX (desktop experience support), Bixby natural language commands and dictation, Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified).

The specifications of the Samsung Galaxy S23 at a glance:

  • Body: 146.3×70.9×7.6mm, 167g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), aluminum frame; IP68 water and dust resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 minutes), Armor aluminum frame with increased resistance to drops and scratches (advertised).
  • Screen: 6.10″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1080x2340px resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 422ppi; Always-On Display.
  • chipsets: Qualcomm SM8550 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4nm): Octa-core (1×3.36GHz Cortex-X3 & 2×2.8GHz Cortex-A715 & 2×2.8GHz Cortex-A710 & 3×2.0GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 740.
  • Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM; UFS.
  • Operating system/software: Android 13, a 5.1 user interface.
  • Rear camera: Broad (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 23mm, 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.4, 70mm, 1/3.94″, 1.0µm, PDAF, 3x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚, 1/2.55″ 1.4µm, Super Steady video.
  • Front camera: 12MP, f/2.2, 25mm (wide), PDAF.
  • Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@24/30fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+, stereo sound recording, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30fps.
  • Battery: 3900mAh; 25W wired, PD3.0, 10W wireless (Qi/PMA), 4.5W reverse wireless.
  • Various: Fingerprint reader (under display, ultrasonic); NFC; stereo speakers; Samsung DeX, Samsung Wireless DeX (desktop experience support), Bixby natural language commands and dictation, Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified).

The rest of the Galaxy S23/S23+ specs read similar to their predecessors. You get a mostly unchanged triple-camera setup: wide, 3x and ultrawide on the back, and a 12MP selfie on the front, shared between all three models.

The 6.1-inch and 6.6-inch 1080x2340px Dynamic AMOLED 2X 120Hz displays are also straight out of last year’s Galaxy S22 and S22+.

Samsung has made the decision to remove the contoured camera island on the Galaxy S23 and S23+. It brings the pair in line with the flatter, more minimalist look of the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Samsung calls it a linear design on all models. Some might call it overly simple, even boring.

All three models are available in four colors: Phantom Black, Cream, Green and Lavender. All three are also covered by the new Gorilla Glass Victus 2 – these are the first devices to use the material.

That’s it for the overall outline of the new Galaxy S23 series. It paints a similar picture in 2022: the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ aren’t compelling upgrades for previous-generation owners, while the Ultra model may be, depending on your needs. There’s no addition quite as big as last year’s inclusion of an S Pen, but sometimes sophistication is as important as innovation.

We’ll look at the hardware in detail over the next couple of pages.

Let's talk about "Hands-on review of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, S23+ and S23" with our community!
Start a new Thread

Philip Owell

Professional blogger, here to bring you new and interesting content every time you visit our blog.