Galaxy Unpacked 2023 brought a host of ideas and products to the table, but among them, the shining star of the show was undoubtedly the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. From the name itself, “Ultra,” you can understand that it is equipped with a large display, top-notch hardware and software providing blistering performance, and huge camera modules. The company has also tweaked certain areas of its new flagship and made required upgrades from its predecessor, the Galaxy S22 Ultra, to make it even more convenient. Apart from the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Samsung also launched its younger siblings, the S23 Plus and the S23, but the limelight was all taken by the flagship model. Continue reading to learn about the device’s specifications and performance.
Build And Design
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has an aluminum chassis and comes with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 in the front and rear. The device is a bit bulky, weighing 234 g and has sharp corners like its predecessor, which can become a bit uncomfortable. The company has though tactfully reduced the screen curvature by 30%, which makes it easier when using the stylus and also provides a premium look. The stylus is housed at the bottom of the device, while the power button, which seemed a bit small, and the volume rockers are on the right side of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. The device boasts an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, and the fingerprint scanner is present in the display. Available in soothing colors like Lavender, Cream, Phantom Black, and Green, the rear has a matte finish, which is extremely appealing. You can also check out other colors from Samsung’s official website, like Lime, Red, Sky, or Graphite if you are not satisfied with the given color palette.
Display
When it comes to smartphone displays, it’s difficult not to be impressed by Samsung’s ingenuity. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra features a 6.8-inch dynamic AMOLED 2X display, which supports a maximum brightness of 1750 nits. Along with this, you get a standard 120 Hz refresh rate, which can even get down to 1 Hz depending on the type of usage. With a resolution of 1440 x 3088 pixels and a pixel density of around 500 PPI, the device provides bright, colorful, and true-to-tone visuals. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra in Natural Mode hits 112% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, and on the Delta-E test, it registers 0.3 points. The screen can also automatically dim or brighten based on the light in the surrounding area, which is quite advantageous.
Technical
Samsung is among the first smartphone companies to ship its products with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. The device runs on Android 13, and on top of it is Samsung One UI 5.1, which makes the interface refined and enjoyable. Samsung has collaborated with Qualcomm and slightly modified its octa-core CPU and Adreno 740 GPU, and the device has become an absolute performance beast, providing a CPU clock speed of 3.36 GHz, which is higher than the standard setup. On the Geekbench, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra scored 1396 on the single-core and 4882 on the multi-core but surpassed the iPhone 14 Pro in the 3DMark Wild Life test with a score of 79.3 (unlimited FPS) and 20.9 (extreme unlimited FPS). In the Adobe Premier Rush test, it took only 40 seconds to transcode a 4K video into 1080p. When playing high-end games like Apex Legend or Aztec Ruins, the responsiveness and graphics are mind-blowing, and unnecessary heating, frame drops, and lag are things of the past. Internal storage options with UFS 4.0 are 256 GB/ 512 GB/1 TB, and RAM options are 8 GB/ 12 GB. Samsung has made some fine changes to the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s stereo speakers, which are tuned by AKG, so the audio sounds become more impactful and have decent clarity.
Camera
The Galaxy series has always had impressive camera modules, but this time Samsung has raised the bar even higher, outperforming the Google Pixel 7 Pro and Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max in certain areas of camera performance. In the quad camera setup, the main camera has been upgraded to a whopping 200 MP and has the ISOCELL HP2 sensor. Other than this, the setup consists of 10 MP (periscope telephoto) and 10 MP (telephoto), which are capable of 10X and 3X optical zoom, respectively, and 12 MP (ultrawide). The device can produce detailed and bright images in low light conditions, thanks to the pixel binning technology and the ability to convert to super-pixel using a 16-pixel combination. The portrait mode and the bokeh effect seem to be decent, and you also get the ExpertRAW mode inside the camera app. The 12 MP selfie camera may seem like a downgrade from the 40 MP of the Samsung Galaxy S22, but the new processor helps to take surprisingly beautiful selfies. The main camera can shoot videos in 8K at 24/30 FPS, while the selfie camera can shoot in 4K at 30/60 FPS. In the Galaxy Unpacked event, a short film was shown that was filmed by the renowned director Sir Ridley Scott with the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and that probably wraps up your knowledge about the camera module of the device.
Battery And Connectivity
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is equipped with a similar 5000 mAh battery as the Galaxy S22 Ultra, but with its latest Snapdragon chipset, which handles performance more efficiently, the device is able to milk out more battery life. An average smartphone user can get around 1.5 days of battery life from a single charge. But the inclusion of a 45 W charger is just serious blasphemy when companies like MI and OnePlus are providing 120 W and 100 W chargers, respectively. The device also supports 15 W wireless and 4.5 W reverse wireless charging and takes a little over an hour to get 100% charged. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with the latest WiFi 6, single-band GPS, NFC, and Bluetooth 5.3 for providing seamless connectivity.
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is available for pre-order and will hit the market on February 17. With a price tag of $1,199 for the base variant, the device will face stiff competition from the newly released OnePlus 11, Google Pixel 7 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max. If you want the latest and best of the lot, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has a slight edge over the other models with its latest processor, stunning camera, long-lasting battery, and stylus integration.
See more: ‘OnePlus Pad’ Specifications And Review: Everything We Have Known So Far
