The new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra edges even closer to just being the new Galaxy Note with flatter edges on its curved display and sides. On top of this, Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone elevates its photographic abilities with a ludicrous 200MP sensor and expanded RAW camera mode to take advantage of the said camera.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has gone through a minor facelift in that the curved screen is a tiny bit flatter now. Samsung tells me it made this decision so users can write notes and draw to the very edge of the display using the phone's stowable stylus. Additionally, with a slightly less curved display, the S23 Ultra features slightly flatter sides that make it easier to hold with a firmer grip.
Despite the tweaks made to the screen, it’s still the same pocket stretching size as last year at 6.8 inches. The display’s other specifications remains the same as last year including its 3,200 x 1,440 pixel resolution, 1750 nit brightness, and 120Hz refresh rate. The other slight tweak is the adaptive refresh rate can drop as low as 1Hz to help conserve battery life.
Beyond the specs, the S23 Ultra’s Super AMOLED display looks astounding with saturated colors and dark-as-night blacks. According to Samsung, the phone has been upgraded with a third level of vision booster to make the display easier to see in broad daylight, but I’m skeptical considering the phone features the same peak brightness as its predecessor. This is something have to put to the test in my forthcoming full review.
Of course, the Galaxy S23 Ultra features the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile chip. This APU gives the phone plenty of muscle to make switching apps fast and snappy. More impressively, it allows the phone to take and process 200MP in seconds, plus display footage from four different cameras simultaneously in the Director video mode.
Speaking of cameras, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra’s other headlining feature is its ludicrous 200MP camera – a significant resolution bump over the S22 Ultra’s 108MP snapper. I took a few full resolution shots and it definitely gives you images you can just keep zooming into to find more details. That said, I was only able to take photos in a brightly lit room, so its hard to say if the photos will stand up to scrutiny in dimmer conditions.
While you can shoot full-resolution photos, the camera defaults to pixel-binning 16 pixels into one so you usually capture 12MP images with higher dynamic range and detail. As for the other cameras, the phone has a 12-megapixel Ultrawide, a 10-megapixel 3x optical telephoto, and a 10MP 10x optical telephoto lens.
The selfie camera perhaps has seen the biggest upgrade with autofocus, 60fps for videos, and a Super HDR capture mode.
As for other specs, the Galaxy S23 Ultra still sports the same 5,000mAh battery as its predecessor. Samsung’s new flagship also comes with a base of 8GB RAM with 256GB internal storage, and there are two more configurations above that.
- 12GB RAM with 512GB internal storage
- 12GB RAM with 1TB internal storage
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will start at $1,199, with preorders opening on February 1st and units will ship on February 17th
Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.
Kevin Lee is IGN's SEO Updates Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam.
