The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is currently, technically, and practically, the world’s best Android phone offering near-perfect performance, battery life, camera quality and a premium user experience.
But, and there is always one, it should be at $1,949/2,249/2,649 for 8/256GB, 12/512GB and 12GB/1TB. Samsung has a reasonably generous trade-in program (of course, the best price will be for late-model Samsung and Apple iPhones), no-interest finance/subscription upgrade programs and Samsung Care+. Some Telcos are offering $0 upfront on 24/36-month plans (effectively no interest), and there are some remnants of the pre-order incentives (but hurry).
Compared to the 2021 S21 Ultra, the S23 Ultra has a slightly brighter screen and a 2023 Flagship processor.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is not a revolution but a gradual evolution using the latest processor and tech. There is little compelling reason to upgrade from S21/S22 Ultra.
Do not buy Model 918, followed by E/EDS (Latam), N (South Korea), 0 (China), U/U1 (USA), and W (Canada).
The B/DS is the only model for Australia, and it will also have some letters after the model for RAM/Storage and Colours.
If tempted, ask for the exact model number and compare it to the Australian extensions for S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra here, and Samsung has more information at Made for Australia.
It is now in two parts – a summary and a separate 300+ line database-driven spec, including over 70 tests to back up the findings. It also helps us compare different phones and features.
We use Fail (below expectations), Passable (meets low expectations), Pass (meets expectations), Pass+ (near Exceed but not class-leading) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. You can click on most images for an enlargement.
The Samsung S23 Ultra follows the S21 and S22 Ultra design ques but with flatter (slightly curved edge) glass and a thicker frame.
I am not a great fan of the three prominent rear camera rings that grate horribly when placed on my sand-blasted glass desktop. You are going to need a case to protect them.
Buttons on the right side; hidden earpiece grill and one mic on top; down-firing speaker, USB-C, sim slot, and two mics on the bottom.
Samsung has joined the eco-warrior clan using post-consumer recycled materials in the aluminium frame and packaging.
It is currently the best, most powerful Qualcomm SD8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, Android smartphone with a full feature set. Some people want that.
If you want everything except the S-Pen and 100X Space Zoom, the Galaxy S23 or S23+ are lower-cost, no-compromise alternatives.
The screen is 8-bit/16.7 million colours – the same specs as the 2022 S22 Ultra. Most competitors now have 10-bit/1.07 billion colour screens. It would be reasonable to expect the S23-series, the most expensive Android phones, to have that too. That is why it earns a Pass.
In summary, the evident difference is in its lower image quality when playing HDR/10/10+/Dolby Vision content and a distinct mismatch between the video screen preview and the finished shot. You can read more detail at 8-bit versus 10-bit screen colours. What is the big deal?
Technically it is a 3088 x 1440, 500ppi, 19.3:9, 8-bit/16.7M colour, Adaptive 1-120Hz refresh, 1750 nits/peak, AMOLED 2X display with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection and S-Pen compatibility.
Summary: Undoubtedly, it is a good screen – it is just not the best. For 90% of the time, you won’t notice the 8-bit colour. But professionals wanting to make the most of the 200MP camera and videophiles wanting to record and play HDR/10/+ (it does not support Dolby Vision content) will be disappointed.
CyberShack is not a gaming expert. But with an Adaptive 1-120Hz display, the power of the Qualcomm SD8 Gen 2 Pro and Samsung’s Game Booster Settings/GOS (Game Optimizing Service), this should be a good gaming device. Gaming experts have said that it is best to use it on mains power (there is a setting to bypass charging to deliver power directly to the device).
We don’t think it is up to the dedicated gaming ASUS ROG standard with its range of clip-on coolers and gamepads, but it is pretty good. Note that it presents Dolby Vision mobile games in vastly inferior HDR10. Why? Samsung refuses to pay for Dolby Vision licences on TVs, monitors and smartphones.
The S-Pen is a 4096-pressure level .7mm diameter tip (same as #2 pencil) suitable for general writing. By comparison, a Staedtler colour pencil is about 1.3mm, and 2mm is considered an artist’s pencil.
Removing it from the internal dock activates the Air Command menu to create a note, cut, paste, screen write (when off), Translate and much more (see table below). It also acts as a remote camera shutter button. Replacement pens are $92.
Samsung DeX – Pass+ if you use it
DeX (DesktopEXperience) is an Android Desktop on a monitor, PC, or TV. The only other company offering this style experience is Motorola ReadyFor.
You can connect via a USB-C to HDMI cable or Dongle (preferably with pass-through upstream power – see Comms later) or over Wi-Fi to Miracast-compatible (not Chrome) TVs. There is also a PC mode (download Windows App). You can use a BT keyboard and mouse as well.
The processor is a slightly tweaked 3.36GHz version made by Samsung for Qualcomm. The standard SoC runs at 3.2GHz, and we expect Samsung’s vapour chamber cooling assists in overclocking this chip. We have a full rundown at Enhanced Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 powers the Samsung Galaxy S23 series.
Standard mode uses the full 3.36GHz Light mode throttles to 2.84GHz. There does not appear to be significant performance loss in Light mode; typical users should select that.
The new ADRENO 740 is, on average, 30% faster than the Adreno 730 and uses less power.
The GPU supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing and a game post-processing accelerator (for bloom, depth of field and motion blur). You can read more in-depth tests and a comparison with the S22 Ultra Adreno 730 here. OpenCL score was 9132, but Vulkan would not run.
8GB is more than enough for typical users, but it is penny-pinching to offer the premium flagship with this when it has two 12GB options. It makes no difference to typical users.
It comes with 256/512GB/1TB of UFS 4.0 (next-gen and faster). Buy as much storage as possible, as there is no microSD or external mountable active storage.
We could not test speeds for Samsung T7 Shield Portable SSD – fast and tough (storage review). It was seen in ‘My Files’ as external storage (not live mountable for direct video recording) and could not be speed tested.
Samsung claims it has bought the unchecked throttling of the S21 and S22 under control, but our tests show otherwise.
Gamers may be concerned that it drops considerably after 8 minutes of a 15-minute test.
The SoC is Wi-Fi 7 capable, but this is not enabled as the standard is not ratified. It performs well as Wi-Fi 6E AX (and earlier) with a good strong signal out to 10 metres from our reference Netgear Orbi RBKE963 Quad-band Wi-Fi 6E AX 11000 mesh (network review).
It has BT 5.3 LE, multi-point, and you can connect two devices and play audio (requires approved Samsung earphones). It has SBC, AAC, aptX, LDAC and Samsung Scalable Codec (ditto). Read What is a Bluetooth aptX codec, and should you care? (Sound guide).
It is a dual GPS with an accuracy of <4 metres and is acceptable for in-vehicle navigation at speed.
An Ultra-wideband chip may allow it to be used as a future digital car/home key.
USB-C is 3.1 Gen 1 with alt DP audio and video streaming to 4K@60fps. This is perfect for DeX (mentioned earlier), screen mirror and eliminates issues with casting if you use a USB-C to 4K@60Hz HDMI cable, preferably with power-passthrough for viewing/charging.
Again, we express our disappointment (as we did with S21/22) with Samsung’s stance not to allow mountable external SSD for live storage for videographers and vloggers. It can be used for cut-and-paste storage only.
While the review model has a dual SIM and eSIM, we understand that the Australian model has a single SIM and eSIM. A single ringtone may be an inconvenience if you use two SIMS.
It uses the Qualcomm X70 modem and is a world phone. Samsung Australia does not publish LTE and 5G bands, but Telstra has them on its site. It supports all Australian 4G and 5G/Low bands (not mmWave).
Interestingly maximum antenna signal strength is a little lower than the S22 (5pw versus 10pW), and we suspect the slight change in antennal location may contribute to this.
It finds all four towers with strong, usable signals and has Telstra Bluetick for regional use.
The 5000mAh (nominal) battery is rated for a 10V/4.5A/45W. This is significant because a) it does not come with a charger, and b) unless your third-party charger specifically has 10V/4.5A/45 PD charging, it will drop back to 9V/3A/27W – no more. We tested a 5W cable with the following:
So, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra needs its own $69 charger (includes USB-C to USB-C 5A cable) to reach full charge rates. We could not find any other brand that has full charge rate compatibility.
This represents about 20% better life than the S22 Ultra and will give at least one day for heavy users and two days for typical users (more if using light mode).
Summary: Shame Samsung does not provide a charger, especially as 45W charging only works on its charger. The Out of Memory error should not occur on a Qualcomm SoC, and we assume it is due to early firmware.
It has a stereo earpiece and a bottom-firing speaker. This has a slightly lower maximum volume at 79dB maximum than the S22 Ultra at 82dB. But the remainder of the system volumes are almost identical.
It has excellent Left/Right separation, and the sound stage is slightly wider than the phone. Dolby Atmos content does give a slight 3D height effect and a wider sound stage.
Hands-free is good with three mics (one for noise cancellation).
Bluetooth 5.3. It is disappointing that it only comes with SBC, AAC, aptX, LDAC and Samsung Scalable Codec (SSC allows for a multi-point connection of two Samsung devices). Apparently, Samsung refuses to pay aptX license fees to Qualcomm to get the full suite of aptX Codecs providing the SSC instead (the same as it refuses to pay Dolby Vision license fees, so it uses the royalty-free HDR10+).
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has a slightly more refined sound signature than the S22 Ultra. There is still no low-or-mid-bass. It has slowly building high-bass, and then it is pretty flat to 15kHz and drops to 20kHz.
If it only had a little more bass, it would be a neutral signature capable of responding to any EQ setting. As it is (without EQ), it is more Bright Vocal (bass recessed, mid/treble boosted) – for vocal tracks and string instruments.
You can read more: How to tell if you have good music (sound signature is the key – guide)
Samsung has an excellent build. Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and rear adds more drop protection, although the torture videos below say otherwise.
Samsung now has a 2-year warranty (it was 1-year), and we applaud it matching what Motorola and OPPO offer as standard (Now, if only we could get it to do that with its TVs).
PBK has a video teardown and durability test (the screen did not survive a waist height drop).
JerryRig has his usual torture test.
You get a 5W USB-C cable inbox but nothing else.
It has Android 13 and Samsung’s One UI 5.1. The device gets four OS and five years of security patches.
But there is considerable bloatware as Samsung replicates most core Google productivity apps and adds its Galaxy Store, Galaxy Shop, Facebook, LinkedIn, Spotify, Netflix and more.
In addition, there are many apps that you may or may not use. Many are uninstallable and account for much of the nearly 60GB of lost space.
DXOMark (February 17 with the latest firmware) has finished its in-depth camera review. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra rated 10th on the smartphone camera scale behind Google Pixel Pro 7, Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max, Apple iPhone 14 Pro, Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max, Apple iPhone 13 Pro, Google Pixel 7, and some others not sold in Australia. That is not the best result for Samsung and not a giant leap forward from the 2022 Galaxy S22 Ultra.
In summary, it was let down by a loss of detail, low contrast, noise, fusion artifacts, exposure variances, white balance, zoom and bokeh. The good news is that these are all issues that firmware updates for AI Post-processing should fix (if Samsung elects to fix and it usually does).
Its worst score was inaccurate previews where the screen (viewfinder) was not the same colour as the finished image. We noticed this, too, as Samsung only uses an 8-bit/16.7 million colour screen and 12-bit JPEG processing (up to 16-bit in 20MP RAW mode).
In our opinion, DXOMark ratings are technically accurate but not necessarily the best indicator of Joe and Jane Average’s camera use (if they could afford this). We test as a point-and-shoot device.
Samsung touts the 200MP .6um main sensor as the ultimate. It is good, but most will use the 12.5MP AI post-processed, 2.4um binned mode that produces a more appealing image. All our handheld 200MP shots were blurry – the tripod ones were not. You can read more What is the Samsung ISOCELL HP2 200MP sensor in the Galaxy S23 Ultra?
It also touts two telephoto lenses – one with 3X Optical Zoom and F/2.4 and the other a periscope design with 10X Optical Zoom and F/4.9. This can produce a 100X hybrid Space Zoom – a nice gimmick that needs a tripod, or you get a very blurry image.
Samsung has a few nice features:
If we rate this as a point-and-shoot camera with benefits, then Joe and Jane Average will be deliriously happy. Great day, office and night shots, excellent detail, good dynamic range, and it is hard to take a bad picture. You need a tripod if you use more than 10X Zoom or 50/200MP shots.
It has addressed many of the minor niggles we had with the S21 and S22 Ultra (still mighty good smartphones), particularly in areas such as battery life. It is evolution, not revolution, that we see here. Unfortunately, sales are driven by innovation, and despite bragging rights for a 200MP primary sensor, it still shoots at 12.5MP.
Despite all these issues, it is still the only Android uber-premium flagship game in town, and its great points outweigh its foibles (unless these are important to you).
Me, I would really suggest that Joe and Jane Average look more closely at the S23 or 23 Plus (these are identical apart from screen size) and really only miss the 100X Space Zoom (that you probably won’t use anyway).
Samsung’s premium glass slab offering with an S-Pen and DeX
200MP camera is about bragging rights but generally lives up to the promise
Fast processor, RAM and storage
2+4+5 warranty/OS upgrades/security patches
No charger inbox and only up to 30W charging from third-party chargers
Base model 8/256GB – this is supposed to be a premium phone.
An 8-bit/16.7m colour screen is not appropriate for a premium flagship
No mountable external SSD for videographers and vloggers use
No compelling reason to upgrade from S21 or S22 Ultra
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
CyberShack offers consumers a one-stop-shop for the most current information in the tech space, including news, lifestyle and products, as well as reviews on the latest gadgets and games. It also runs competitions and has links to the latest episodes of Cybershack TV.