We have our Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review, and we think Samsung has one phone on its hands. But is it the right flagship for you?
Certainly, no one will argue that the Galaxy S23 Ultra is the best Samsung phone, let alone the best Android phone overall. This phone packs a massive 200MP camera and the Galaxy chip’s exclusive Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset for incredible performance. But at $1,199, it’s also one of the more affordable models out there. So it is useful to weigh the pros and cons.
This is where we come in. After testing the Galaxy S23 Ultra, we are aware of all its strengths and weaknesses. We can help you decide whether the Galaxy S23 Ultra is a must-buy or a must-skip.
Reasons to buy the Galaxy S23 Ultra
This 200MP camera is as good as advertised
The main reason to turn to the Galaxy S23 Ultra is as obvious as the large camera lens staring into the back of Samsung’s new phone. It’s a 200MP main camera sensor — the easily talked about new feature among the many Samsung introduced with the S23 family. And after taking many photos with this camera, we think it lives up to the hype.
We like the flexibility of the 200-megapixel lens, which allows you to shoot at full resolution and then crop out a specific part of the image without losing too much detail. You can also combine 16 pixels to produce a 12.5MP image to invoke more colors in low-light settings. Quad Pixel stabilization results in some great 50MP stills.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max and Pixel 7 Pro have dominated best camera phone conversations for a while now, but when we pitted those phones against the Galaxy S23 Ultra in our live test, Samsung held its own, even producing better shots in many cases.
Check out the Galaxy S23 Ultra vs iPhone 14 Pro Max face-off for our photo comparisons. If you’re a serious photographer, the Galaxy S23 Ultra better be near the top of your short list when it comes time to buy a new phone.
Breathtaking astrophotography
The 200MP main camera may be making headlines, but don’t sleep on the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s ability to shoot the night sky.
iPhone can’t do that. Space enlargement on Galaxy S23 Ultra. 🔭 1x / 10x / 30x / 100x pic.twitter.com/aYcBXqetzEFebruary 6, 2023
When Mark Spoonauer tested the S23 Ultra as part of his review of that phone, he was able to shoot the full moon at 1x, 10x, 30x, and 100x using the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s pair of telephoto lenses that support Space Zoom. (The Space Zoom is totally real in this case.) The results—an elaborate moon hanging in the night sky—speak for themselves. Trying to produce similar shots with the iPhone 14 Pro Max turned the moon into a blurry blob.
The bottom line? If you like to capture the stars with your smartphone, you’ll want to have the Galaxy S23 Ultra close to you.
Amazing performance
Since we first ran the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 tests on a reference device late last year, we’ve been eager to see what Qualcomm’s new chipset did in the charging device. The custom version powering the Galaxy S23 Ultra did not disappoint.
Normally, we see a wide gap in benchmark numbers between Apple chips and Qualcomm silicon. While the iPhone 14 Pro models powered by the A16 Bionic chip still finished ahead of the Galaxy S23 Ultra in most of our tests, the gap isn’t as wide as it used to be. In fact, our Galaxy S23 Ultra benchmarks saw Samsung best the iPhone 14 Pro in 3DMark’s Wild Life Unlimited test. It also produced a better multi-core score in Geekbench than the iPhone 14 powered by the A15 Bionic.
When reviewing Galaxy S phones, we used to praise performance as “very good for an Android device.” With the Galaxy S23 Ultra, we don’t need to include this caveat anymore.
Excellent battery life
One of the weaker aspects of last year’s Galaxy S22 family was how long the phones could last on a charge. Yes, the Galaxy S22 Ultra can outlast the average smartphone in our battery test, where we have phones surfing the web via cellphone until they run out of juice. But to get this result, we had to disable the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s adaptive refresh rate.
| Row 0 – cell 0 | battery size | Battery life (hrs: min) |
| Galaxy S23 Ultra | 5000 mAh | 13:09 (60 Hz) / 12:22 (adaptive) |
| Galaxy S22 Ultra | 5000 mAh | 10:18 (60 Hz) / 9:50 (adaptive) |
| iPhone 14 Pro Max | 4323 mAh | 13:39 |
| Pixel 7 Pro | 5000 mAh | 9:21 |
No such trickery was needed with the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which lasted 12 hours and 22 minutes with the display rate set adaptively (up to 120Hz). This puts the Samsung phone in the top 10 of our best phone battery life list. And if you turn off the adaptive refresh rate feature, you can play the phone for 13 hours in our test. In terms of daily usage, this will allow you to use your phone from dawn to dusk without needing a charge.
Since the Galaxy S23 Ultra has the same size batter as the previous one, this is another reason to give credit to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform to the Galaxy device. It’s very clear that Qualcomm’s chipset manages power a lot better than what we got last year.
Very bright and colorful screen
The 6.8-inch display on the Galaxy S22 Ultra was one of the standout features of this phone. With the Galaxy S23 Ultra essentially using the same panel with the same 1,750 nits maximum brightness and the same adaptive refresh rate that jumps between 1 to 120Hz as your phone activity dictates, we didn’t expect to be as impressed with the new phone’s display as we are. It was last year.
Well, we were wrong — the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s screen remains one of this phone’s strongest selling points.
It’s not just that you get all that screen real estate or that the phone is bright enough to see outdoors in direct sunlight. (We measured 1225 nits, which isn’t quite 1750 nits but it’s still plenty bright.) Not even that the Galaxy S23 Ultra delivers more color than the iPhone 14 Pro Max, at up to 112% DCI- P3 is normal. (The iPhone gets it to 83%.) That’s what the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s display does everyone these things. If you’re upgrading from any older model, you’ll be amazed at what this monitor can do.
New One UI 5.1 features
Like the rest of the Galaxy S23 lineup, the Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with One UI 5.1, which is an updated version of Samsung’s overlay interface to Android 13. That means new software features, and it really adds something to the party.
We particularly like Bixby Text Call, the onboard assistant that finally pulls its weight by answering calls for you and letting you text responses. The new Modes option may look a lot like the focus modes Apple introduced on iOS 16 devices, but it’s still a welcome addition to the Galaxy’s bag of tricks.
Reasons to skip the Galaxy S23 Ultra
Frustrating curved edges on the screen
Samsung may be in a “damned if you do this, damned if you don’t” situation with what the Ultra model’s screen looks like. On the other hand, the presence of a curved screen helps set this model apart from the rest of the Galaxy S range, making it feel like a premium phone. On the other hand, that curved screen wasn’t always so handy, especially now that Samsung has added S Pen support to the Ultra.
To Samsung’s credit, the curve is less prominent on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which made using the S Pen easier on this version. But there’s still enough curve that the icons and buttons on the edge of the screen are hard to touch. It’s a minor complaint in the larger scheme of things, but if you find curved screens frustrating to use, the Galaxy S23 Ultra offers only the bare minimum in terms of comfort.
No change in charging speed
It may sound annoying to complain about the Galaxy S23 Ultra maintaining its predecessor’s 45W charging speed wired, especially when the iPhone 14 Pro Max is still charging at a pokey 20W pace. But this apple to… um… apple comparison isn’t particularly appropriate. You have to look at how the Galaxy S23 Ultra compares to competing Android phones that benefit from fast USB-C speeds, and if you do, you’ll see that Samsung’s premium phone comes close to falling short.
This month, the OnePlus 11 will also hit stores outside of China. This flagship Android product supports charging speeds of up to 100W. Even with that being limited to 80W in the US, the OnePlus 11 should still charge much faster than the Galaxy S23 Ultra, the main contender for the title of best Android phone until the Pixel 8 arrives this fall.
It also doesn’t help that the Galaxy S23 Ultra didn’t live up to Samsung’s shipping claims. Samsung says a drained S23 Ultra should be able to get up to 65% charge after 30 minutes of charging. We only got it to 57% in our tests.
$1,199 is a lot to pay for a phone
The good news, for American consumers anyway, is that the Galaxy S23 Ultra doesn’t cost more than its predecessor. (UK shoppers, by contrast, will have to pay £100 more than what the Galaxy S22 Ultra cost a year ago.) The bad news is that $1,199 is still a lot to pay for a flagship phone, especially in this economy, even though you get double your starting storage now at 256GB.
If you’re interested in Samsung’s more moderately priced option, we’ve already broken down reasons to buy and skip the Galaxy S23 after our initial hands-on review of the Galaxy S23.
It also doesn’t help these competing phones, whether it’s the $1,099 iPhone 14 Pro Max or the $899 Pixel 7 Pro, they all cost less than the S23 Ultra. The best Galaxy S23 deals can bring those costs down somewhat, especially if you place a Galaxy S23 pre-order. But there’s no hiding the fact that if you want this phone, you’re going to have to pay to get it.
Galaxy S23 Ultra overview
There are plenty of reasons to get the Galaxy S23 Ultra, especially if you’re looking for great camera features and a long-lasting device. But while these features are notable, they come at a cost. If you’re willing to overlook some minor inconveniences about the screen’s curve and charging speed, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is worth it, especially for someone who wants the best possible phone no matter the cost.
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