The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra was launched with much fanfare last month, and while no groundbreaking changes or features have been introduced, using it feels like the pinnacle of smartphone engineering in 2023.
How much farther can the envelope be pushed when it comes to flagship smartphone performance and capability? Let’s find out.
Design
It would take a very keen eye to tell the difference between the S23 Ultra and its predecessor, as they are virtually twins upon first glance. Arriving in Malaysia in nGreen, Phantom Black, Lavender, and Cream shades, the S23 Ultra exudes a feeling of luxury and opulence.
It is solid to the touch, sporting an aluminium frame with a display that tapers around the edges. The secure grip thanks to the flatter display is something that needs to be experienced, especially if you are going to take full advantage of the included S Pen.
There are three memory configurations available, starting at 256GB and doubling to 512GB before maxing out at 1TB. All three come with 12GB of RAM.
The power button and volume rocker sit on the right side of the handset, while the left remains free. The bottom plays host to the USB-C port that is used for charging and data transfer, flanked by a SIM card tray on the right with a speaker and S Pen slot on the left.
If you are tired of looking for a SIM tool, there is always the option of getting an eSIM instead. Another speaker is located on top of the handset to provide stereo sound.
The S23 Ultra features an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, 5G support, wireless charging capability, reverse wireless charging, and 45W wired charging.
Display
Make no mistake: the Galaxy S23 Ultra is a large and heavy smartphone, retaining the 6.8-inch (17cm) 1440p LTPO Oled panel with a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz. With Samsung being one of the best when it comes to phone displays, it is not surprising there is no change in this department.
The fingerprint sensor located under the display works well enough, although you might want to opt for face unlock as an alternative.
Users will be able to rely on a dynamic refresh rate to conserve battery life – but frankly, why would you do that when this handset is clearly destined for maximum performance all the time?
Performance & software
The S23 Ultra runs on Qualcomm’s brand new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset worldwide, which is a wee bit faster compared with the vanilla Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which is no slowpoke in and of itself.
This means, for the first time, all S23 Ultra handsets are powered by the same chip, so you do not have to feel short-changed with Samsung’s in-house Exynos chipset, which has never measured up to Qualcomm’s similar offerings despite Samsung trying to convince you otherwise.
The S23 Ultra is extremely fast in all that it does, from simple photo editing and word processing, to gaming with all the bells and whistles turned on and video recording. Thermal throttling is much improved, with the device only slightly warm to the touch while playing games like “Genshin Impact”.
The brand has also taken the opportunity to sell its ecosystem. The S23 Ultra features an improved DeX for Windows PC integration, plays nice with Samsung’s SmartThings app for your smart home, and has a Smart View feature that mirrors your handset to a compatible Samsung TV at a single touch.
The SmartThings app also turns the S23 Ultra into a TV remote control. How convenient!
An embedded S Pen stylus lets you jot things down at your convenience: just pop it out from its silo, write, doodle, or create some pretty artwork, and place it back. It also has other useful features, such as a remote camera shutter for those moments when you want to take a group photo.
Powered by Android 13 right out of the box, the S23 Ultra runs on Samsung’s very own One UI 5 skin that boasts additional customisation options.
If this is the first time you are using a Samsung handset, getting used to it might take some time as you sort out its apps from Google’s, many of which have similar functions. For longtime Samsung users, getting started should be second nature by now.
Samsung currently leads the Android smartphone industry in terms of its support policy, offering four years of OS updates and five years of security updates. This means the S23 Ultra should receive Android 17 when it rolls out in 2026, with security updates continuing for a year after that.
If you do the math, an S23 Ultra that lasts you five years would translate to purchasing a middling midrange handset every single year. This is something you might want to take into consideration when weighing the initial cost and user experience in return.
Camera
The S23 Ultra offers five different lenses, and boasts one of the most powerful mobile camera systems in the market at the moment. You get a 3x and 10x telephoto lens, an ultrawide lens, and the brand new 200MP main camera.
Taking photos with 10x and 30x zoom offer unparalleled flexibility to exercise your creative juices, and those shots look good!
The 200MP main camera, 10MP 3x telephoto lens, and 10MP 10x telephoto lens all come with OIS, while the 12MP ultrawide camera and 12MP autofocus selfie camera in front make up the remaining draw.
There are moments, however, when the S23 Ultra’s camera app cannot decide how a photo should be taken, so be prepared for duds. Nevertheless, it is virtually flawless on most occasions.
There is also the digital 100x “Space Zoom” setting that lets you play voyeur, although the results of such photos practically harken back to the internet stone age.
The next big leap in smartphone photography would be churning out great shots in low-light conditions. The S23 Ultra works great in this department, although there are times when the camera may get confused and fail to yield decent results.
Still, this happens far less often than you might expect, and the software makes the best choices most of the time.
This is a device that can help you make full use of your 8K TV if you are looking for content, as the S23 Ultra can record video up to 8K/30p. There is a careful balance of colour and detail in the video, although bright colours look slightly oversaturated at times.
With such massive photo and video files due to the resolution, you might want to consider skipping the 256GB model and jumping right to the 512GB or 1TB model.
Battery
The S23 Ultra packs a similar 5,000mAh battery capacity as its predecessor but does not necessarily equate to similar performance, as Samsung claims the change in processor makes it more power efficient. Still, since everybody uses their handset differently, mileage may vary.
Putting the S23 Ultra through its paces of approximately four hours of screen-on time with the Always On-Display enabled, navigation using Waze, shooting some photos and videos throughout the day, replying a number of messages on social media and instant messengers, and listening to Spotify for a couple of hours, it still manages to last until evening with 20% of battery life to spare.
If you are going to use this as your primary gaming handset, then you should have a 45W charging brick handy. Bear in mind that Samsung continues to exclude the charging brick in an effort to save the planet.
Also note that, compared with other players in the market, 45W of wired charging is positively archaic. The reverse wireless charging feature will take forever to charge other compatible handsets, so do not bother with that as it works best with wireless earbuds that support this feature.
Conclusion
So, is this the best Android smartphone in the market at the moment? Yes, it is.
Admittedly, with an asking price of RM5,699 for the 256GB model that goes all the way to RM7,199 for 1TB of storage space, not everyone is able to afford the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. However, it truly deserves the suffix in its name for all it does – while looking elegant, to boot!
Sure, you can purchase a RM3,000 smartphone and change it every couple of years. However, the initial outlay for the Galaxy S23 Ultra might provide an unrivalled user experience for the next half a decade, which is something money cannot buy.
Edwin Kee dreamt of being a pro-gamer only to have circumstances mould him into a programmer in a past life. He has since moved on to write about consumer electronics and other topics.