Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra - Subtlety is King
Review Unit Provided by Samsung Canada, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is the latest addition to Samsung's flagship lineup. While it may not be a groundbreaking departure from its predecessor, the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the device’s refinement and polish are almost unheard of on Android.
Having used the device for 2 weeks, I want to touch on the two major things that stood out to me: Camera and Battery life.
📸 Camera
📸 Camera
The Galaxy S22 Ultra's new 200MP camera sensor has been generating quite a bit of buzz in the smartphone photography world, and for good reason. The camera system on the S23 Ultra is one of the most powerful available on a smartphone, featuring a main 200MP camera, 3x and 10x 10MP telephoto lenses, and a 12MP ultrawide lens.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra is capable of capturing stunning images, and what’s more impressive is the device’s ability to keep the viewfinder very stable when zoomed in past 10x; this yields some very sharp and usable photos if you’re capturing photos within the 30-40x range.
Generally speaking, you’ll be getting very consistent results out of this phone where Samsung delivers vibrant and punchy photos that are perfect for posting straight from the camera, however, the device can occasionally produce oversaturated or HDR-heavy photos and that’s especially true when you’re under harsh lighting conditions or using Portrait Mode.
During my testing, I found that the device tends to oversaturate skin tones that make them appear warmer than they appear in real life, but this quirk only tends to occur when you present the camera with very sunny or low-light scenes.
The main sensor’s 200MP count is impressive, but where you’ll get the most benefit is what Samsung is able to do software-wise which makes it worthwhile. Under bright lighting, Samsung is using a “re-mosaic algorithm” to emulate a traditional colour filter that enables you to capture much more detail, even when the sensor is downsizing to its 12MP default.
Compared to the competition, notably the Pixel 7 Pro, the device is generally able to keep up, though I think Google has better colour science and more refined computational capabilities. That said, no device on the market can come close to the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s camera hardware.
With its four cameras on the back and an updated selfie camera with autofocus on the front, you’ll be hard-pressed to find another device that is able to match the versatility of the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
If you’re comparing it to the S22 Ultra or even the S21 Ultra, the camera upgrades here aren’t purely just within the new sensor, but to the camera experience as a whole; I don’t think anyone with those devices should consider the Galaxy S23, but for the sake of comparison, you’re going find the new device provides you with a hint of more polish and ceiling room in terms of detail you otherwise wouldn’t be able to get from the older models.
Battery ⚡️
Battery ⚡️
When it comes to battery life, I will unapologetically say that this was by far my favourite feature. The Galaxy S23 Ultra features the same capacity of 5,000 mAh as the Galaxy S22 Ultra and the S21 Ultra before it but with this new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Chip for Galaxy, the leap this device makes in efficiency rivals that of the iPhone.
At 120Hz, 1440p, and adaptive brightness turned on, I couldn’t kill the phone within two days. Even on the heaviest usage with web browsing, social media, and extensive camera usage, I would still end the day with 40-50% left.
It’s genuinely impressive how well-optimized Samsung was able to make this phone, because, for the first time, I felt comfortable leaving the house not having charged my phone, and still having the confidence that I would be able to make it through the day.
When it does come time to charge, you can fast charge the Galaxy S23 Ultra at up to 45W wired charging, and up to 15W through wireless charging. At 45W, I was able to charge the device from 10% to full in just under an hour, but what I found myself doing often was just waiting until it reached 60 or 70% before taking it off because truly, that’s all I needed to make sure the device was able to last for that day.
Unfortunately, Samsung still doesn’t include a charger in the box, and to utilize its fast charging capabilities, you’ll have to invest an additional $65 for Samsung’s 45W brick.
Overall, I’m taken away by how efficient and consistent the battery life on this phone has been. I believe it’s a testament to how far Samsung’s hardware and software integration has come from its early days, and for any end-user, whether you’re a casual scroller or a heavy gamer, you’ll be quite happy with how the Galaxy S23 Ultra handles itself.
Everything Else
When looking at the other aspects of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, it’s almost too easy to say that it’s boring, and that’s in part due to how great its predecessor, the S22 Ultra was.
Samsung chose to deliver a safe and incremental update this year, and that’s not a bad thing; I want to quickly touch on some of these aspects. In terms of design, the slightly reshaped side rails and screen of the S23 Ultra make it feel more secure in the hand, especially when using the included S Pen.
While it maintains the same 6.8-inch 1440p LTPO OLED panel as the S22 Ultra, the embedded fingerprint sensor has been improved for faster and more consistent performance.
OneUI 5 offers a slight improvement over OneUI 4, but the software selling point for this year’s flagships is the promise of four years of software updates and five years of security updates, which is something, not even Google is providing for its Pixel phones.
Honestly speaking, there’s not much to say about anything else about the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s other aspects, because, on the surface level, the phone builds on the success of the Galaxy S22 Ultra down to its design. I think more broadly, Samsung approaching their flagships with this level of caution is a good thing because for the first time in a long time, we’re getting a level of hardware and software consistency that isn’t found anywhere else, and for users, trusting your phone to always be ready and reliable is a quality of life advantage that I haven’t seen this extensively on Android for a long time.
My overall impression of the Galaxy S23 Ultra is this: the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is a fantastic choice for those who want a high-performance, feature-packed smartphone. The small improvements over the S22 Ultra make it a worthy upgrade for those looking to increase the ceiling of the versatility of their smartphone, and the robust software support and impressive camera system make it a top contender in the premium smartphone market.
I don’t think you should even consider looking at this phone if you’re coming from the Galaxy S22 or S21 Ultra, but if you’re looking to use the best of what Android has to offer, I think it’s safe to say you won’t find another device that can cover as many bases (and cover them well) as the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
