Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Review: Truly deserved of the 'Ultra' label

Samsung launched the Galaxy S23 series earlier this month, bringing three new smartphones into the fray – Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23 Plus, and Galaxy S23 Ultra. While the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ brought marginal upgrades over their predecessors, the star of the show was undoubtedly the Galaxy S23 Ultra. But just how many upgrades did Samsung bring to the Galaxy S23 Ultra and is it worth the extra price? Let’s find out.

First, let’s address the elephant in the room, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra price in India. Lastly, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra price in India starts from Rs 1,24,999 for the 12GB/256GB configuration. Additionally, the Galaxy S23 Ultra also comes in 12GB/512GB and 12GB/1TB versions that will set you back Rs 1,34,999 and Rs 1,54,999, respectively. Now, back to the Galaxy S23 Ultra review.

Design and Build

In terms of its design, the fundamental design language of the S23 Ultra hasn’t changed from last year. It is a massive phone with a box-shaped design and what feels like the perfect level of curvature on the screen. One design improvement Samsung has made is soften the edges and corners, which makes the phone feel so much more comfortable in the hand than the Galaxy S22 Ultra. You don’t really need a case to comfortably use the phone, but I’d recommend getting one anyway for some added protection.

And since we’re on the subject of protection, the S23 Ultra has improved Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection on the front and back. This should help the phone survive a few drops, particularly because the new Gorilla Glass features improved protection against concrete drops. We might have not tested out the durability of the S23 Ultra, but here’s someone that did. Apart from the glass protection, Samsung’s new flagship also uses Armor Aluminum for the frame, which the company claims is tougher than the average aluminum, while the IP68 rating offers dust protection and water resistance up to a depth of 1.5 meters for 30 minutes.

Moving on to the colours and the Galaxy S23 Ultra comes in Phantom Black, Green, and Cream colours, although you can get four more colours on Samsung India’s website – Graphite, Sky Blue, Lime, and Red. We got the S23 Ultra in the Green colour, which looks quite elegant, and the matte back doesn’t attract fingerprints. The rest is pretty much the same with a unibody design, with the camera modules sitting individually on the back.

The power and volume buttons sit on the right, while the speaker grille, SIM tray, charging port, and stylus slot are all located on the bottom. The one downside is that the S23 Ultra is on the chunky side, weighing around 234 grams and measuring 8.9mm thick. Overall, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is tough, elegant, and stylish, everything you’d want in an ‘Ultra’ smartphone without sacrificing on comfort.

Display

Last year, the Galaxy S22 Ultra had the best display on a smartphone but let’s find out if Samsung upped its game with its latest Ultra smartphone. The S23 Ultra is equipped with a 6.8-inch QHD+ (1440 x 3088 pixels) Super AMOLED display with a pixel density of 500 ppi. The screen boasts an adaptive refresh rate and is capable of scaling between 1Hz to 120Hz. The panel also supports HDR10+ and an advertised maximum brightness of 1,200 nits with a peak brightness of 1,750 nits. The screen here is not quite as bright as the one on the iPhone 14 Pro but 1,250 nits gets the job done with flying colours under every possible lighting scenario.

Additionally, Vision Booster makes the screen easily visible under direct sunlight. However, brightness isn’t the only thing that makes a good display, as the deep blacks and saturated colours make picture quality pop. I defaulted to the Vivid mode while watching content on the S23 Ultra, although the Natural mode for regular usage. Moreover, the Widevine L1 support means streaming content from apps like Netflix can be enjoyed in Full HD.

Performance

For performance, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is powered by a custom version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, which Samsung calls the Snapdragon Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy. The chip is paired with 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage. The key highlight of this custom chip is that it improves CPU performance by up to 30 percent, NPU performance by up to 49 percent, and GPU performance by up to 41 percent. The S23 Ultra also has a larger vapour chamber for the cooling system. So let’s take a look at some real-world results.

We tested several games on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, including Call of Duty Mobile, Apex Legends Mobil, Diablo Immortal, Raid: Shadow Legends, and Asphalt 9: Legends. Throughout our testing, the S23 Ultra performed admirably. The phone did get hot after the 25-minute mark but not so hot that it felt uncomfortable in the hand. Call of Duty Mobile was able to max out at 90fps, although you’ll have to sacrifice graphics. When it comes to gaming, the S23 Ultra performed flawlessly, making this the best gaming experience I’ve had on a Samsung device to date. We also ran a few benchmark tests and here are the results.

In Geekbench 5, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra recorded a single-core score of 1461 points and a multi-core score of 4491 points. In the heavier Geekbench 6 test, the S23 Ultra hit a single-core score of 1631 points and a multi-core score of 4672 points. In AnTuTu’s overall test, the S23 Ultra managed an overall score of 1238770 points. These were easily some of the best scores we’ve seen on an Android smartphone to date. With these numbers and our experience with the device, we can safely say that multitasking or slowdowns weren’t really an issue no matter the task at hand. The Galaxy S23 Ultra performs like an absolute beast, which makes it worthy of that ‘Ultra’ title.

Cameras

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra features the same quad-camera setup from last year. However, there’s a new star of the show here, which is the 200 MP Samsung ISOCELL HP2 primary camera sensor. The main camera is paired with a 12 MP ultrawide unit with a 120-degree FoV, a 10 MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, and a second 10 MP telephoto shooter with 10x optical zoom. Additionally, OIS is present on the two telephoto shooters and the main camera. Up front, there’s a new 12 MP selfie camera with Dual Pixel PDAF and an f/2.2 aperture. So let’s take a look at some real-world camera performance.

The new 200 MP camera sensor on the S23 Ultra takes detailed shots in daylight. The camera uses a Tetra2pixel RGB Bayer Pattern colour filter, which Samsung says groups 16 pixels into 1 and effectively outputs 12MP images by default. Apart from the default 12 MP images, you can also capture images in full 200 MP resolution as well as 50 MP resolution. Shots taken on the main camera looked vibrant, amping up the colours by just the right amount while keeping saturation under control, which allows colours to pop without making shots look oversaturated. The camera also handles noise perfectly to the point where it was non-existent in shots.

The full 200 MP mode tends to capture a ton of detail, although image sizes are too large and there’s a noticeable dip in dynamic range, the latter is something we’ve come to expect when taking these full-resolution photos. The lower res 50 MP mode did fare better but, in most instances, I preferred defaulting to 12 MP shots, which got dynamic range spot on. The one critic I do have of the camera was its tendency to overexpose shadows.

The 12MP ultrawide camera isn't the widest out there but is reasonably wide. And while the ultrawide maintains its colour consistency with the main camera, you do tend to see a drop off in image quality, with softer details and distorted edges being the primary areas of concern. On the flip side, the ultrawide shots here retain a good amount of detail with noise reduction algorithms working even better than past generations. There are subtle improvements here, which make this arguably the best ultrawide camera I’ve seen so far. Let’s move on to the two telephoto cameras.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra also has two 10 MP telephoto cameras, one with 3x optical zoom and 30x digital zoom and the other that offers 10x optical zoom and 100x digital zoom. The phone also features a 100x Space Zoom, which hasn’t improved that much over the S22 Ultra. The Google Pixel 7 Pro’s 5x optical zoom can rival and, in many instances, surpass the zoom capabilities of the vanilla Galaxy S23.

However, up against the Galaxy S23 Ultra, there’s no competition. The Galaxy S23 Ultra is the undisputed king of zoom shots. Additionally, the Portrait mode on the Galaxy S23 Ultra work at both 1x and 3x magnification from the main and telephoto cameras, respectively. 3x portrait shots taken from the telephoto camera are detailed with just the right amount of sharpness with accurate colours. Low-light portrait shots also got some much-needed improvements with good colour reproduction, accurate edge detection, and solid detail.

The Expert Raw mode is now part of the camera app and must be downloaded to access. It is supported on both the rear and front cameras. There’s a new Astrophotography mode in the Expert RAW app that allows you to capture star trails and starry night skies. Expert Raw lets you capture shots in 12 MP or 50 MP RAW files and later edit them on a PC or the phone itself. Samsung’s new Expert RAW mode takes things one step further than the traditional ‘Pro’ mode. Additionally, Samsung also includes a ton of camera features, including Single Take and Director’s View.

Night Mode

In low light, the S23 Ultra’s auto Night mode (Nightography) kicks in and results on the main camera are stunning with a ton of detail. The noise reduction algorithm also works well to rid shots of unnecessary noise. Autofocus also works quickly and dynamic range was on point on most shots. So long as you have some ambient light, the 200 MP camera will deliver superb results at night, although it does struggle with a complete lack of light. Additionally, shots don’t look quite as natural as they do on the iPhone 14 Pro (Review), although most people I interacted with preferred the shots on the S23 Ultra.

Moving on to the ultrawide camera, which isn’t anything above the average at night. You still get better results than the Galaxy S22 Ultra, although there were some issues with detail in the darker areas of the scene. However, there were visible improvements in dynamic range and noise reduction. The ultrawide camera also handled colours well. The 3x telephoto camera is quite dependable in the dark when night mode kicks in, reducing noise and sharpening details. However, the same cannot be said of the 10x telephoto shooter as it tends to struggle at night, although manually using night mode will improve image quality.

Selfies

Coming down to a 12 MP selfie camera, from the 40 MP shooter on its predecessor may seem like a disadvantage, but that isn’t the case. This is simply a matter of specs on paper vs real-world performance. The new 12 MP selfie camera handles dynamic range excellently, while the skin tones look natural with good noise reduction. The camera also captures a fair bit of detail, a bit too much in some instances for my liking. Coupled with the software processing, the 12 MP selfie camera here feels like a solid upgrade over the previous generation.

Videos

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra can capture video in 8K up to 30fps and 4K video up to 60fps. It is nice to see Samsung finally offer stable 8K footage at 30fps. You will see a noticeable increase in quality when switching between 8K and 4K, although I defaulted to 4K 30fps throughout my usage on the phone. Stabilization here is top-notch as Samsung has added OIS on the main and both telephoto cameras. Additionally, the ultrawide and main cameras support Samsung’s Super Steady mode at QHD resolution in 30fps and 60fps. There are some big improvements in overall stabilization on the S23 Ultra.

I did notice a bump in colour saturation that made the footage look unnatural at times with HDR10+. However, there was an excellent level of detail, while dynamic range was good when recording 4K video at 30fps. Low light video quality has also been improved with algorithms hard at work to keep noise in check. There was a dip in low-light video quality when switching from the main to the ultrawide or either of the telephoto cameras. The front camera on the S23 Ultra can also capture 4K video at up to 60fps for vloggers. Samsung has stepped up its video game on the Galaxy S23 Ultra to the point where I was confident that the footage was better than what came out of the Pixel 7 Pro (Review).

Battery

When it comes to the battery not much has changed in terms of capacity and charging speed. The S23 Ultra packs a 5,000 mAh cell with 45W charging support and up to 15W wireless charging support. While the battery capacity remains the same as the S22 Ultra, the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip has some obvious advantages over its predecessor and runs a lot more power efficiently. Samsung has greatly improved battery longevity on the S23 Ultra, putting it well ahead of the Pixel 7 Pro and the Galaxy S22 Ultra in terms of battery life.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra almost managed to reach the day and a half mark under normal usage, which included around 14 hours of usage, where I used the phone to game for an hour, watch videos on YouTube for an hour, listen to music for three hours, and browse through the internet and other apps for the rest of the day. Samsung absolutely nails battery life on the S23 Ultra, although the same can’t be said of charging. Starting with the lack of an adapter in the box, especially considering the 100W or so adapters offered by OnePlus, iQOO, and Xiaomi among others.

The charging speed itself is decent but nowhere near the numbers, we’ve seen so far. You do get wireless charging support as well, but it will take at least a couple of hours to get a full charge. Getting a separate Samsung charging brick will be your best bet, although that would add another box to the mix, which in turn would create more waste. For a phone with a 120Hz QHD+ display and a top-tier flagship chip, the Galaxy S23 Ultra delivers the best battery life I’ve seen on an Android smartphone to date.

Software

On the software front, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra boots Android 13-based OneUI 5.1 out of the box. Samsung promise the usual four years of major OS updates and five years of regular security updates on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which is the best among Android phones. One UI 5.1 feels more refined than its predecessor, removing any jitters and delivering smooth animations and excellent transition between different areas of the UI. Modes and Routines have expanded to enable custom wallpapers, ringtones, touch sensitivity, and fonts that can personalize specific activities for even more convenience.

One UI 5.1 also improves the Smart suggestions widget by adding the ability to recommend Spotify tracks and playlists based on users’ activities. New navigation improvements also make it easier than ever to find photos within the Gallery app and create shared family albums. AI-based Photo Remaster automatically improves deteriorated details of images by improving brightness, fine-tuning details, and making color corrections. Link to Windows enables users to browse with Samsung Internet on their phones to continue browsing the same pages on their PC seamlessly.

Apart from the excellent software, you also get access to the S Pen. Here’s a detailed look at the S Pen’s capabilities on the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra doesn’t feel like a massive upgrade over its predecessor. However, that can be down to the fact that the S22 Ultra (Review) was undoubtedly the best Android smartphone of 2022, doing very little wrong, which makes one upping it extremely difficult. Even so, Samsung has done just that; maintaining the core experience of the Galaxy S22 Ultra, while making several quality-of-life improvements to one up its competitors.

The Good

Let’s starts with the ‘Good’! The use of Gorilla Glass Victus 2 in the build of the S23 Ultra, make it one of the toughest smartphones to date, although that doesn’t come at the cost of design. In fact, the more rounded frame might be a minor design update but makes the phone a lot more comfortable to use. Battery life has significantly improved from the previous generation.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra had the best display on a smartphone in 2022 and its successor continues that trend with marginal updates. Then there’s the performance, which has vastly improved, partly in thanks to the custom Snapdragon chip. While the new 200 MP main camera is undoubtedly the star of the show here, the new 12 MP front camera is the unsung hero here, showing the biggest improvements on the camera front.

The Bad

What about the ‘Bad’! For one, the obvious flaw is the slower charging speed when pitted against the competition, especially considering how much cooler the S23 Ultra runs than its predecessor. Apart from the charging there’s little to criticize here, it is more of the same and yet better at the same time. However, the ‘better’ part does come at a price hike, making it over 30K more than Samsung’s first Galaxy ‘Ultra’ smartphone, the Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G. This last one is a bit preferential, but the S23 Ultra is a large smartphone and is fairly chunky, so if you are used to smaller phones, then it might be best to look elsewhere.

Should you buy the Galaxy S23 Ultra?

If you are looking for the ultimate Android smartphone with the best set of cameras and a class-leading display, then the S23 Ultra will fit the bill. Everything about this phone spells ‘Ultra’, from the over-the-top specifications to the addition of the stylus and superb software support. If you want the ultimate smartphone experience, then we’d highly recommend the Galaxy S23 Ultra. But while the upgrades on the Galaxy S23 Ultra were noteworthy, it doesn’t quite step out from the shadow of its predecessor. Additionally, if you don’t quite want to drop Rs 1.25 lakhs on a smartphone, then the iPhone 14 Plus, Galaxy S23 Plus, and Pixel 7 Pro are perfect alternatives, albeit slightly lacking the ‘Ultra’ experience.