The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is finally official, and it might be the least obvious upgrade in Samsung’s flagship phone history. This means that it looks almost identical to the Galaxy S22 Ultra, but it really isn’t.
The most obvious difference is the color – the Galaxy S23 Ultra comes in three new colors – Green, Lavender and Cream – alongside the old Phantom Black.
So what’s new? Inside the Galaxy S23 Ultra is a custom Galaxy-specific Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform. Samsung used Qualcomm’s latest SoC for the entire Galaxy S23 series and this time you won’t get the Exynos-powered S23 in any market.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for the Galaxy S23 Ultra features a Cortex-X3 core clocked at up to 3.36 GHz, compared to the usual maximum of 3.2 GHz for the SD 8 Gen 2. The Adreno 740 GPU is reported to be clocked at 719 MHz, while not 680 MHz.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra in phantom black, cream, green and lavender colors
Another big improvement is the main camera. It’s Samsung’s 200MP ISOCELL HP2 sensor and it’s adaptive. It can combine 16 pixels into one for a final resolution of 12 MP with 2.4 µm individual pixel size. Alternatively, it can combine pixels 4 to 1 for a 50 MP shot with more detail.
Starting with the Galaxy S23 series, Samsung is bringing its Expert RAW app as a mode to its camera app, giving you the ability to shoot RAW images with the benefits of multi-frame processing – higher levels of detail, HDR and better noise. reduction – up to 50 MP.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra also introduces a new Astro Hyperlapse video mode. The new main camera has improved image stabilization compared to the old 108MP main camera, thanks to Adaptive VDIS, which analyzes and categorizes movements and recognizes lighting conditions, and the new sensor’s 2x wider OIS angle, which compensates by around 3° compared to the S22’s 1.5° Ultra.
New 200 MP camera with Astrophoto function
There’s a new front-facing camera that’s shared with the Galaxy S23 series, a 12MP f/2.2 unit with autofocus. The other three cameras on the back of the Galaxy S23 Ultra are essentially the same as the Galaxy S22 Ultra, with a 10MP 10x f/4.9 periscope camera, a 10MP 3x f/2.4 shorter telephoto lens, and a 12MP f/2.2. ultra wide camera with auto focus.
The display is another thing that is almost untouched from the previous Ultra, but it was already a masterpiece. The panel is a 6.8-inch dynamic AMOLED 2x with a resolution of 1440x3088px and a brightness of 1750 nits. The display can adaptively refresh from 1Hz to 120Hz.
What has changed is the addition of a smarter Vision Booster that can adjust the display’s color tone and contrast in three different lighting conditions. Another meaningful upgrade is protection, with the Galaxy S23 Ultra introducing the new Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on both the front and back.
Another important specification carried over from the Galaxy S22 Ultra is the battery. It has the same 5000mAh capacity with the same 45W maximum charging speed. Samsung claims the S23 Ultra will reach 65% charge after 30 minutes on the charger.
Starting today, you can get the Galaxy S23 Ultra in four colors – Phantom Black, Green, Cream and Lavender – and in up to four configurations starting at 256GB this year – 8/256GB, 12/256 GB, 12/512 GB and the top-of-the-line 12/1 TB.
The base Galaxy S23 Ultra starts at €1,400 in Europe, $1,200 in the US and ₹115,000 in India.