The time of the year when we get to check out the new Samsung Galaxy S series arrived a lot earlier and we are greeted with the S23 Series. In this article, we will share our Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Hands-on and how much it has improved from its predecessor. Get this: even Samsung doesn’t expect S22 Ultra users to upgrade to this one. If you want to read about the S23 and Plus, click here.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Hands-on
Looks the Same but it’s fine-tuned
The “note” has always held a special place in my heart and it goes without saying that the S22 Ultra was one of my favourites last year. This year, from afar, the design looks pretty much the same as the S22 Ultra. But there’s more to it than meets the eye. For one, the display on the front is a lot flatter with less curvature on the display itself. This also makes the phone somewhat a lot wider than the S22 Ultra. You can immediately notice the more cuboidal shape from the bottom versus the curved S22 Ultra design.
Samsung has also increased the usage of recycled parts with the phone from 4 to up to 15 recycled parts. We don’t have a proper percentage of recycled parts but for what it’s worth, we doubt it would top what Nokia did with their X30 5G. But nonetheless, it still is a step forward. What intrigued me is the recycled Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 – which is pretty cool, not something we have encountered with any other brands.
Yes, it has the 200MP camera and some other Changes
The leaks were true and yes, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra gets a 200MP camera on the back, which replaces the 108MP that was equipped on the S22 Ultra. Samsung’s idea to equip such a big sensor is simple, at least to them. The Adaptive Pixel combines 16 pixels into one big pixel (in other words, it does pixel binning) to give a better low-light experience. A lot of technical jargon like Super Quad Pixel, which is what they are calling the entire binning process, might overwhelm the end users.
But to put it simply, it’s a proper granularly upgraded camera system. On top of that, Samsung has switched to a wider OIS, from x1.5 to x3. The Telephoto sensor still remains to be the 10MP sensor and the Ultra-Wide is a 12MP sensor.
The front camera gets a downgrade in the right direction – the 40MP sensor is gone for a 12MP sensor which is genius, as you don’t need too much processing power for a simple front-facing camera. After all, we have seen 12MP shooters from the brand in the past which has amazed us in more ways than one.
Gets the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, but… it’s specifically meant for Galaxy
Now here’s the bizarre part of this entire product. Samsung went for the Snapdragon route, which is no secret. But what seems to be a big secret which we didn’t get an answer from Samsung is about the processor of this Samsung Galaxy S23 series feature. This phone uses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy. Now, what the “for Galaxy” stands for is uncertain but what we believe it would be – is a specially nitpicked processor from the waffle – which ASUS did with their ROG Phone.
But we will write more about it when we do know about it.
Comes in 4 Peppy Colours, and now there’s a Pink one too
Not a feature but a nice touch. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra loses that “professional” look for much peppier-looking colours. The Black and Cream is something we have kind of seen before but the colour that I genuinely love this time around are Green and Lavender.
Seeing a Lavender (call it pink if you want to) S23 Ultra is such a sight for sore eyes as we don’t see such colours on a proper flagship. So, it’s safe to say this time, you can pick a colour you really like. On top of that, Samsung has 4 exclusive colours made available through their Samsung Malaysia store.
Pre-order Information
We did an entire article on the pricing, availability, pre-order and the Samsung Exclusive colours made available for all the Samsung Galaxy S23 Series here – so check that out.
So…
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is definitely gearing to feel more like an iPhone-like Android Smartphone – and it’s ironic, coming from a brand that does diss at the Cupertino brand, with questionable ads. But this is really it. Samsung is now focusing on making the software a whole lot better, and that plays a big role in terms of playing the long game. So, as excited as I am to see what they are going to do, I really do hope that the whole “insulting Apple” stops.
We will be reviewing the S23 Series soon, so follow us on our socials.
