Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review: Photo and video take center stage

Samsung’s Extremely branding is often reserved for units that pack as many high-end options as you’ll be able to slot in a single gadget. The Galaxy S23 Extremely begins at $1,200 and has an enormous, lovely OLED display screen, a brand new chip with even higher efficiency, improved cameras and a few revamped software program. And, after all, there’s a built-in S Pen for all of your drawing and notetaking wants. So whereas that sentiment nonetheless usually rings true for the brand new S23 Extremely, the corporate’s newest flagship cellphone does not look or operate all that otherwise from final 12 months’s.

Show and design: You will must squint to identify the adjustments

Whereas the usual S23 and S23+ received a facelift this 12 months, the Extremely seems to be a carbon copy of its predecessor — until you look actual shut. You get an enormous 6.8-inch AMOLED show with a 120Hz adaptive refresh fee and a 3,088 x 1,440 decision. And it seems to be superior, even when these specs have not modified a lot from the earlier mannequin. Colours are dazzling and brightness tops out a surprising 1,750 nits, with a typical max brightness of round 1,000 nits in my testing.

The remainder of the cellphone is a pleasant combo of Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and Samsung’s sturdy Armor Aluminum. There are just a few minor tweaks to the chassis, together with barely much less curved edges on the display screen to assist forestall unintended touches. That stated, I by no means actually had a difficulty with that on final 12 months’s cellphone. The S23 Extremely’s body can also be a bit flatter, which makes the entire thing really feel boxier. And due to Samsung’s continued deal with sustainability, small parts of the cellphone just like the lock button are constituted of ocean-bound plastic. However that is about it. So, until you are already conversant in the S23 Extremely’s new coloration choices (which embrace cream, lavender, inexperienced and black), even once you have a look at the S22 Extremely and S23 Extremely side-by-side, it is nearly not possible to inform them aside.

Efficiency: New chip means extra velocity

The S23 Extremely is without doubt one of the first telephones available on the market to characteristic a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip. Nevertheless, Samsung did not cease there. It labored with Qualcomm to create a customized model of the processor only for Galaxy telephones. So what does that get you? Merely, a wealth of velocity. In exams, the S23 Extremely posted multi-core scores in Geekbench 5 that have been 40% increased than what we received from final 12 months’s cellphone. That is an enormous soar, so it in all probability is no surprise once I inform you that all the pieces feels clean – apps, video games, you identify it.

Now I ought to point out that the customized Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy platform that Samsung makes use of has a clock velocity that is solely round 150 MHz increased than the usual chip, which truthfully, is not a distinction most individuals (together with me) can discern in regular use. Nevertheless, one of many largest adjustments for 2023 is that each model of this 12 months’s Extremely will characteristic a Snapdragon chip, so individuals outdoors North America will not be saddled with a much less highly effective Exynos processor like in earlier years. The bottom mannequin options 8GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage, however should you soar to the 512GB or 1TB storage choices you get 12GB of reminiscence.

Software program: One UI 5.1 is sweet, however not important

Alongside the debut of the Galaxy S23 line, Samsung can also be introducing One UI 5.1 which options some useful tweaks and customizations. That stated, various additions like the brand new personalization choices on the lock display screen or a wider palette for the UI’s accent colours are form of issues we have seen earlier than in iOS 16 or Android 13’s Materials You. You’ll be able to even do issues like add data to the lock display screen so it is simpler for individuals to return your gadget to you should you lose it. Nevertheless, out of the field, our evaluate unit got here with a message that stated “Hello assist me” which appears extra like a cry for consideration than an try to offer help.

Samsung can also be making it simpler to create customized stickers out of your images, which you are able to do by merely lengthy urgent on an object after which dragging it to a different app for simple sharing. Sadly, some topics are simpler to clip than others. Faces and animals are inclined to work comparatively effectively, however different issues like flowers can usually find yourself trying a bit off, so your outcomes could differ. There’s additionally a brand new Modes and Routines part within the menu that lets the cellphone regulate a number of settings for particular actions like exercising or enjoyable. However apart from the Sleep mode choice, I did not discover this new performance all that helpful. After I work out, all I must do is locate some good music and I am able to go.

Sadly, whereas the S23 Extremely comes with an S Pen and a useful storage slot, there aren’t actually any new notetaking or drawing options, which is form of a disgrace. Samsung’s top-end handset continues to be unmatched in terms of stylus help on telephones, so I want there was one thing, something new to fiddle with. However I need to admit even I am struggling to think about a significant characteristic I would actually wish to see added.

Cameras: Extra pixels higher?

The largest improve on the S23 Extremely is its new 200MP primary sensor, which options twice as many pixels as earlier than. At Samsung Unpacked, the corporate confirmed off snippets of brief movies from not one, however two, big-name administrators to essentially drive dwelling the cellphone’s new cinematic capabilities. It sounds spectacular, however in apply, it takes a little bit of effort to essentially profit from that new sensor.

In regular use, the S23 Extremely makes use of 16-to-1 pixel-binning to assist collect extra gentle and produce sharp, colourful photos with out the necessity for extra-large file sizes. And in most conditions, it produces better-looking pics too. After I used the S23 Extremely to shoot images of some pizza (which was extraordinarily tasty would possibly I add), photos taken utilizing the default 12MP mode featured extra correct colours and higher particulars than these captured with the sensor’s full 200 megapixels. In the suitable circumstances activating the sensor’s full decision could help you seize finer textures on some topics, however you’ll must zoom in to see them.

Now a part of it’s because it appears Samsung’s object detection and optimizer does not work in 200MP mode, however there have been additionally noticeable variations in white stability and sharpness. On one hand that is sensible as a result of professional photographers usually desire photos with flatter coloration profiles which makes post-processing a bit simpler. However that additionally means until you are modifying all the pieces you shoot in an app like Lightroom or Photoshop, you are higher off sticking with the common 12MP setting. That is what I imply once I say you should work to get essentially the most out of the S23’s new digital camera, and it applies to different stuff like Samsung’s Knowledgeable Uncooked app too.

Designed for extra superior photographers, Knowledgeable Uncooked has a a lot wider array of settings and instruments to tweak each facet of your shot, from shutter velocity, to publicity compensation and extra. You additionally get a brand new astrophotography mode so you’ll be able to take higher pics of the night time sky, that’s until you reside within the metropolis like I do. That is as a result of between gentle air pollution and cloudy skies, I could not get a single photograph with the astrophotography mode that I used to be actually happy with. And I even used a tripod to ensure issues have been tremendous secure.

It is a related story in terms of video, the place the S23 Extremely’s improved OIS is a welcome addition for lowering shakes and vibrations whereas recording. However then there’s the brand new 8K/30 fps mode (up from 8K/24 fps final 12 months) which is sweet as a result of there is not any extra 2X crop such as you received on the S22 Extremely. However on the identical time, who information dwelling films in 8K, not to mention has the correct show to observe these clips at full decision? Positive, it is good to have the ability to crop in once you need some further element. However this seems like overkill, particularly when you think about that the file measurement for a two-minute 8K/30 FPS video is over one gigabyte, which implies you are gonna run out of storage actual quick.

At the least in terms of selfies, the cellphone has a brand new 12MP digital camera with twin pixel autofocus, and its pics look nice regardless of a sensor that really encompasses a decrease decision than on the earlier mannequin. The 12 MP ultrawide cam and the 2 telephoto lenses (3x and 10x) are largely the identical, which seems like a missed alternative as a result of that 10x optical zoom continues to be my favourite lens on the cellphone.

Battery life: Simply nice

Whereas the S23 Extremely’s smaller siblings each received upgrades in battery capability, Samsung’s flagship stayed pat at 5,000 mAh. However that is okay as a result of there’s loads of juice to go round. On our video rundown check, the S23 Extremely lasted a formidable 19 hours and 26 minutes, which is analogous to the OnePlus 11 (19:45), although not fairly nearly as good because the iPhone 14 Plus’ 21:17. And that was with the cellphone’s adaptive refresh fee turned on.

In the actual world, you are taking a look at greater than all-day battery life. Even on a day once I was doing heavy benchmarking and enjoying NBA All-World (which actually gulps electrons as a consequence of fixed use of GPS), I nonetheless had 25% battery left on the finish of the day. And on days with extra average utilization, I usually had 40% or extra within the tank when midnight rolled round.

All this implies you do not actually need to fret in regards to the cellphone dying in the course of the day, which is an efficient factor as a result of that provides the S23 Extremely leeway to donate some cost to different units through Samsung’s Energy Share characteristic (aka reverse wi-fi charging). And with 45-watt wired charging, you’ll be able to refuel the cellphone in a jiffy too.

Wrap-up

The tough factor about recommending the S23 Extremely is that it is all the pieces a brilliant premium cellphone must be. It is received a stunning show, an important construct and extra energy than you already know what to do with. Nevertheless, beginning at $1,200, it is also actually costly and it isn’t that significantly better than final 12 months’s providing. I’ve little question you’ll be able to movie Hollywood-grade films utilizing its new 200MP sensor. But it surely’s vital to do not forget that even in Samsung’s promos, we’re speaking a couple of crew with many years of expertise, to not point out extra gear like exterior mics, digital camera cages, gimbals and extra. The S23 Extremely’s digital camera has tons of potential, nevertheless it takes greater than only a informal familiarity to make these options glow.

For these questioning if they need to commerce of their present handset after solely a 12 months: No, it is simply not price it. If you happen to’re merely in search of a premium gadget and do not care about taking notes with a stylus, I would argue that the Pixel 7 Professional is a greater worth. However when you have an older cellphone and are in search of a significant improve, the S23 Extremely is in contrast to some other Android cellphone on sale right now. And with its fancy new sensor, Samsung’s newest flagship is likely to be the closest factor you may get to a pro-grade digital camera in a cellphone, simply so long as you are prepared to shine your content material in put up.