Why the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Is the Best Big-Screen Android Phone Money Can Buy
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Last year, Samsung merged the premium Galaxy S and Galaxy Note into one groundbreaking smartphone with the launch of the Galaxy S22 Ultra — a device that completely blew consumers away. Samsung’s new Galaxy S23 Ultra is a follow-up to the best big-screen Android phone in the business — and its subtle design and major hardware — particularly camera — upgrades do not disappoint.
Galaxy S23 Ultra
$1199.99
amazon.com
Despite design tweaks of the S23, the Ultra model is super easy to tell apart from the rest of the lineup, thanks to its distinct rectangular shape, an extra camera sensor on the back, and the onboard S Pen stylus. That said, the new Ultra is hard to tell apart from the S22 version. Save for minimal tweaks to its metal frame and camera rings and new color options, it looks almost identical.
I spent more than a week testing Galaxy S23 Ultra — and I can genuinely say that it’s today’s finest, most feature-packed big-screen Android phone by a massive margin. It met my high expectations with its premium design and build, a bright and captivating AMOLED display perfect for the S Pen, and fantastic battery life. Look no further if you want the best smartphone on the market if it's within your budget, as it has the same steep $1,200 starting price as its predecessor.
Given the design and hardware similarities it shares with the S22 Ultra I switched from, I scrutinized the follow-up's novelties, especially the monstrous 200MP camera and the new Qualcomm chip. While invisible at a glance, the new bits make the S23 Ultra a worthy heir. Here’s why:
Incredible Camera
Samsung changed the high-end smartphone camera game in 2020 with the Galaxy S20 Ultra. Simply put, its 108MP primary snapper set new standards for resolution and performance, making it a rock-solid contender for the best camera phone money can buy.
Developed in-house by Samsung, the 200MP-wide camera sensor of the Galaxy S23 is a new industry benchmark. Its ability to capture and combine millions of pixels into beautiful photos is in a league of its own. The same goes for the creative opportunities such a high-resolution camera brings.
The S23 Ultra's camera sensor allows the phone to capture superb 12MP photos in any lighting by combining the data from an eye-popping 16 pixels into one. Remarkably, there’s also the option to snap insanely sharp 50MP photos by pooling four pixels into one. In real life, this tech delivers beautiful images regardless of the scene — from day and night cityscapes to indoor gatherings with friends and family.
Of course, you can also capture 200MP photos with the Galaxy S23 Ultra if you wish. The images have a mind-blowing resolution of 16,320 x 12,240 pixels — that's more than four 8K monitors linked together into a single panel! While I wouldn’t share such ginormous photos frequently (the files hover around 30MB), the opportunities to create content by zooming and cropping into them are astounding.
The optical zoom capabilities of the Galaxy S23 Ultra cameras have remained unchanged from the previous generation. The duo of telephoto units with 3X and 10X optical zoom offer the product category’s best range. Photographing wildlife in New York City’s Central Park was easy and fun during my testing.
Samsung continued treating its Ultra smartphones to 100X digital zoom and 8K video recording capabilities. The features, although gloriously excessive, are probably unnecessary since 8K resolution is a long way from becoming mainstream, and 100X zoom shots are frequently blurry. Still, having them at your service makes the S23 Ultra a more versatile tool for capturing memories.
For comparison, camera phones with a proven track record of excellence, like the iPhone 14 Pro and the Google Pixel 7 Pro, have 48- and 50MP main cameras, respectively. Their zoom and video recording capabilities are behind those of Samsung’s latest. Comparing premium camera phones is often a game of numbers, which the Galaxy S23 Ultra wins convincingly.
As expected, the 12MP front-facing camera of the S23 Ultra snapped excellent selfies. The device’s intuitive camera interface makes using advanced features like portrait and night mode, to name a couple, a breeze.
Unrelenting Power
Samsung collaborated with Qualcomm in the development of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip that powers the Galaxy Galaxy S23 series. The chip upgrade brings increases in processing power and graphics over the previous Gen 1, guaranteeing the phones will be among the most powerful to hit the shelves in 2023.
How does this impact your user experience with this device? Well, these upgrades are essential for delivering fast and smooth everyday interactions like opening and switching between multiple apps and making the device’s multi-megapixel camera trickery seamless. Instead of taking its time to process them, the Ultra made high-resolution photos ready to view and edit almost instantly.
An upgraded vapor chamber cooling system is as consequential to the next-level performance of the Galaxy S23 Ultra as the new chipset. The new hardware allows the smartphone to sustain peak hardware performance longer than past iterations. Excessive heat frequently leads to power throttling in smartphone (and computer) chips, so this is a welcome improvement, especially if you are into gaming.
Speaking of gaming, the Ultra’s powerful chip and smooth display result in a best-in-class experience with local and cloud gameplay at 120 frames per second. Together with the camera prowess, these capabilities are also a reason to upgrade.
Wrap-Up
If you own a big-screen Samsung Galaxy older than the S22 Ultra, you should jump at the opportunity to upgrade to this new release for its superior camera and integrated S Pen alone. Owners of the previous Ultra — and other premium smartphones, regardless of platform — should have the S23 Ultra on their radar for its outstanding camera setup.
The infinitely customizable Android interface of the Galaxy S23 Ultra perfectly complements its hardware. Most importantly, you will get timely platform updates between phone upgrades. Samsung will treat the device to 4 and 5 years of Android releases and monthly security patches, respectively.
Samsung crafted the front and back panels Galaxy S23 series using Gorilla Glass Victus 2 — a tougher version of an incredibly durable material. Considering the products’ glass/metal build is still not invincible, you should always opt for a protective case. There are tons of original and third-party ones to consider.
The starter Galaxy S23 Ultra has 8GB of RAM and an ample 256GB of storage. I suggest you opt for a version with 512GB of storage and 12GB of RAM — the device’s camera and chip deserve the spec bumps. Thankfully, the upgrade is currently free of charge. You can order the device in black, cream, green, and lavender; more colors and higher-capacity storage options are available exclusively from Samsung.
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