Review of Galaxy S23 Ultra: The latest Samsung flagship today

The Galaxy S23 series was recently launched, with the Ultra model of this product line receiving special attention and attention as far as many new features and innovations are concerned: Sophisticated and instantly striking design, the the rear camera looks better than on the S22 Ultra; Great screen as expected of a Samsung flagship; Qualcomm's exclusive Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor will please everyone.

Let's review this phone in more detail through the following article!

Specifications

1. Screen: 6.8-inch AMOLED with 120Hz (LTPO)
2. Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
3. RAM/Storage: 8GB/12GB, plus 256GB, 512GB, 1TB options
4. Battery: 5,000 mAh with up to 45W wired charging or 25W wireless charging
5. Camera: 200MP wide, 12MP ultra-wide, dual 10MP telephoto, 12MP front camera
6. Connectivity: (sub-6 GHz and mmWave)
7. Color: Phantom Black, Cotton Cream, Botanic Blue, Lilac Purple
8. IP rating: IP68 water and dust resistance
9. Reference price: About 32 million VND

Design

For a company that isn't afraid to introduce never-before-seen phone designs, this latest batch of Samsung phones doesn't offer much in the way of innovation. This year's S23 Ultra is no different from the S22 Ultra from a distance. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

It's a classic tick-tock strategy, where Samsung continues to iterate on designs for cost savings, research and development, etc. at a micro-economic scale, while still gaining a phone that scratches the consumer's itch.

 

The S23 Ultra retains the best design features of its predecessor, such as the attractive, square, bright 6.8-inch AMOLED display, while eliminating some drawbacks such as overly curved edges that make writing difficult. Using the S Pen becomes uncomfortable on the S22 Ultra. Samsung didn't completely ditch the curved-edge display this year, but there has been moderation. It looks like the Ultra will be the last Galaxy model with a curved screen.

 

The funny thing is that the S Pen writing experience is still affected, but not by the curved screen but by the new larger camera module. This year, Samsung added a larger ring design to protect the quad-camera setup on the back. When placed on a surface, the phone will move as you hover the S Pen over the screen.

The Ultra's buttons, internal modules, and ports are made of recycled materials. They all feel great and perform well. The company also enhanced the durability of the S23 Ultra's screen with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, which is more durable than the previous version.

Efficiency

Samsung has had some smart partnerships over the years, the brightest being its most recent one with Qualcomm - the custom Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip for the Galaxy on the S23 Ultra. This may be the highest performance chipset ever tested on any smartphone, surpassing the performance of the A16 Bionic on the iPhone 14 Pro.

The chipset, an overclocked variant of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (3.36 GHz CPU instead of 3.2 GHz) manufactured by TSMC, perfectly meets the most common tasks such as email management, web surfing and video streaming, while also being capable of handling the "harder" stuff, such as playing 60 FPS games (Genshin Impact, Fortnite, Real Racing 3), editing 4K video, and GPS navigation in background.

To be fair, last year's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and Apple's A16 Bionic are both capable of handling those tasks. The difference with the S23 Ultra is that the new chipset is much more efficient - no issues with banking or social media apps, good heat management in all apps.

 Clearly, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy is the right decision for Samsung, bringing meaningful improvements to the Galaxy phone experience. You'll get a phone powerful enough for all types of users, including mobile gamers.

New camera

After all the design and performance advantages mentioned above, the real reason why people should consider choosing the S23 Ultra lies in the camera.

Samsung is going strong this year, with its new Isocell HP2 image sensor that can shoot at a staggering 200 megapixels, leaving the 108-megapixel sensors of some phones in recent years in the dust. That's never happened to any smartphone camera and makes the megapixel race hot again. But remember, a higher megapixel count doesn't always equate to a higher quality image.

This is a photo taken in low light on the Galaxy S23 Ultra. The S23 Ultra does an impressive job of retaining high detail for most elements.

This is another photo sample demonstrating the 3X telephoto capabilities of the S23 Ultra (left), on the right is a similar photo taken with the 3X telephoto lens of the iPhone 14 Pro for comparison. While the answer to which photo looks better depends on personal preference, it's fair to say the S23 Ultra does some things better than the iPhone.

The most obvious difference is how the S23 Ultra renders the colors of the subject. Although the colors of the image on both devices look similar, Samsung applies additional saturation to make the flower a little brighter. If you want to take a quick photo and share it on social networks, you'll feel better shooting with a Galaxy device.

 Second, the S23 Ultra excels in detail (check out the yellow anthers in the pistil), keeping much of the flower in focus while smoothly blurring the background. Overall, the telephoto lens on Samsung is really excellent.

However, there is one drawback with the S23 Ultra's camera that you should keep in mind: Shutter lag. It's a problem that has been plaguing Galaxy phones for a long time now. The delay between when I pressed the shutter button and when the photo was taken was still a few milliseconds longer, noticeably longer than competitors like the iPhone 14 Pro and Google Pixel 7, which makes a difference. large when you are trying to take a quick photo of a moving subject. However, this isn't a big deal if you're shooting static subjects like a soccer field or flowers like the one above.

Advantage

1. Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Chipset
2. The 6.8-inch AMOLED screen is flatter
3. The most versatile camera on the phone
4. S Pen is still unique to Ultra
5. 256GB RAM could become the new standard

Defect

1. Expensive
2. There is still shutter speed lag
3. Wired charging needs to be faster