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Samsung / Pocket-lint
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Our top choice
$999.99 $1199.99 Save $200
The Galaxy S23 Ultra offers top-level performance. It’s slick and fast, the display is fantastic and the cameras really deliver. Samsung is offering long software support and loads of features. It’s an expensive phone, but it’s one of the best out there.
Pros- Display is fantastic
- Camera impressive in all modes
- Fast and fluid performance
Cons- Some of the software changes muddy Android
- Charging could be faster
- Expensive
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Samsung / Pocket-lint
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
A good alternative
$800 $1200 Save $400
The S22 Ultra was a total departure for the Galaxy S22 series, integrating an S Pen stylus for the first time. There’s a lovely punchy curved edge display and distinctive (and excellent) rear camera arrangement, but only buy it over the S23 Ultra if you can find it significantly cheaper.
Pros- Bright and punchy screen with adaptive refresh rate
- Distinctive and capable camera
- Integrated S Pen stylus is great
Cons- Battery life is questionable
- No microSD card expansion
- Expensive
Samsung announced the Galaxy S23 lineup at the beginning of February 2023, with three phones in the portfolio for 2023. These consist of the standard Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+ and the top-of-the-range Galaxy S23 Ultra.
We’ve covered off how the Samsung Galaxy S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra compare to each other in a separate feature, but here we are looking at how the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra compares to its predecessor – the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Is it worth the upgrade amd which should you choose if you’re in the market for a Samsung Galaxy Ultra device?
Price, availability and specs
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra starts at $1199 in the US and £1249 in the UK, so it’s not a cheap handset. There are a couple of different storage and RAM configurations to choose from and there are a couple of different colour options too. The S23 Ultra comes in four colours including Phantom Black, Green, Lavendar and Cream. There are also a few extra colours available exclusively on Samsung Online, which include Graphite, Lime, Sky Blue and Red.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra, meanwhile, now starts at $949 in the US and £1149 in the UK, so it’s a little cheaper than its predecessor. Like the S23 Ultra though, there are a couple of different storage and RAM configurations with several colour choices. The four colour options for the S22 Ultra are Phantom Black, Green, Burgundy and Phantom White.
If you want a quick rundown of how these two handsets compare, you can take a look at the spec table below. We have dived into a little more detail further down though as specs only tell part of the story.
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Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Display 6.8in, Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 3088 x 1440, 1-120Hz 6.8-in, Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 3088 x 1440 pixels, 1-120Hz Battery 5000mAh, 45W wired, 15W wireless 5000mAh Operating System Android + One UI Android + One UI Front camera 12MP, f/2.2 40MP, f/2.2 Rear cameras 200MP f/2.2 main, 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide, 10MP f/2.4 3x optical telephoto, 10MP f/4.9 10x optical telphoto 108MP f/1.8 main, 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide, 10MP f/2.4 3x telephoto, 10MP f/4.9 10x telephoto Dimensions 78.1 x 163.4 x 8.9mm, 234g 163.3 x 77.9 x 8.9mm, 228g Colors Phantom Black, Green, Lavender, Cream, Graphite, Lime, Sky Blue and Re Green, Phantom Black, Burgundy, Phantom White IP Rating IP68 IP68 RAM and Storage 8/256GB, 12/256GB, 12/512GB, 12/1TB 8/128GB, 12/256GB, 12/512GB, 12/1TB
Design and build
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra shares a very similar design to its predecessor, though the company has reduced the curved edges slightly for more screen real estate. Otherwise, a premium build is present, along with rounded edges and the rear camera lenses positioned in the top left corner, outside of the housing.
Like the S22 Ultra, the S23 Ultra also features a built-in S Pen, retaining its place as the Galaxy Note successor and as we now expect from flagship phones, there’s an IP68 water and dust resistance.
The S23 Ultra measures 163.4 x 78.1 x 8.9mm, which is pretty much identical to the S22 Ultra, which measures 163.3 x 77.9 x 8.9mm, though slightly wider and it’s heavier too. You wouldn’t notice this in use though. The S22 Ultra comes in a multitude of colours and the S23 Ultra does the same, with Black, Cream, Green and Lavender colour options as standard for the newer device, as we mentioned. The S22 Ultra comes in a range of colours too, slightly different to the S23 Ultra though, and there are no online exclusives anymore as there are with the S23 Ultra.
The S22 Ultra comes with a centralised punch hole camera on the front of the device, which the S23 Ultra also offers, and the in-display fingerprint sensor makes a reappearance for 2023 too. Most of the changes this time around are therefore internal rather than external, though that’s not necessarily as bad thing as both these devices deliver excellent build quality.
Display
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has a lovely 6.8-inch display that offers a Super AMOLED panel and a 3088 x 1440 resolution. It offers an adaptable refresh rate up to 120Hz and there’s a peak brightness of 1750nits.
The edges of the S22 Ultra’s display are also curved, making for a lovely premium design. While it was initially rumoured the S23 Ultra might see curved edges at the top and bottom of the display in addition to the sides, differentiating it slightly from its predecessor, that isn’t the case.
You’ll therefore find the same 6.8-inch display with a 3088 x 1440 resolution and a 120Hz adaptable refresh rate as the Galaxy S22 Ultra on the latest model and once again, it is superb The peak brightness also remains the same at 1750nits, which is slightly lower than the Apple iPhone 14 Pro that saw a jump to 2000nits in 2022.
Hardware
Samsung
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra runs on either the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or the Exynos 2200, depending on the region, but the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra ditches Exynos and runs exclusively on Qualcomm’s latest chip – the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. It’s a custom version of the chip called Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy, and it has a slightly higher clock speed and excellent performance overall. That said, the S22 Ultra is a great performer too.
Supporting the chip, there is a choice of 8GB of RAM with 256GB storage, or 12GB RAM with 512GB or 1TB of storage for the Galaxy S23 Ultra. The S22 Ultra is offered with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, or 12GB of RAM and a choice of 256GB, 512GB and 1TB storage options, so you get double the base storage for the 2023 model. The S22 Ultra doesn’t have microSD support, which the S23 Ultra doesn’t offer either.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with a 5000mAh battery, which is the same as what the S22 Ultra has under its hood so there’s not much change here. The S22 Ultra has 45W fast charging and 15W wireless charging, which is also the case for the S23 Ultra. The charging speeds could certainly be faster, but the battery performance on both models is good so it’s not too much of an issue.
Cameras
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has a quad rear camera made up of a 108-megapixel main sensor, 12-megapixel wide sensor, 10-megapixel zoom lens with 3x zoom and a second 10-megapixel zoom lens with 10x zoom. It had the same resolutions as the S21 Ultra, though Samsung did make the main sensor 23 per cent larger and the overall experience of the S22 Ultra’s camera is exceptional in general use, whether in daylight or darkness.
The S23 Ultra changes things up slightly in terms of resolution compared to its predecessors though, with a 200-megapixel main sensor, which Samsung is made the big story of this device. It’s fantastic in use too so it’s not just a numbers game here.
Along with the 200-megapixel main sensor, there’s a 12-megapixel ultra-wide angle sensor again, as well as two 10-megapixel telephoto lenses. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is capable of 3x and 10x zoom, like its predecessor, as well as 100x Space Zoom. There is also a 30fps option for shooting 8K video, as well and a couple of new features including AstroHyperlapse that lets you take photos of moving stars and ExpertRAW can give you a 50-megapixel RAW file instead of 12-megapixel like the S22 Ultra. The latter two will come to the S22 Ultra too though so that’s worth keeping in mind.
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra offers a virtually identical design to its predecessor, with only some minor changes. It also offers the same display size and specifications, as well as the same battery capacity.
As you would expect though, there are some differences. These come in the form of double the base storage, along with a chipset upgrade and an upgrade to the main camera sensor.
Samsung / Pocket-lint
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Our top choice
$999.99 $1199.99 Save $200
The Galaxy S23 Ultra delivers superb camera performance, though there is still certainly an argument to wait to upgrade this year if you already have the S22 Ultra. The S22 Ultra also probably makes more sense for those looking to save a little bit of money too, though the S23 Ultra of course is the winner on paper if you have the budget. You can read our Galaxy S23 Ultra review for a full rundown of what we thought, and we of course have a full review on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra too.
Samsung / Pocket-lint
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
A good alternative
$800 $1200 Save $400
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