This year, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has definitely lived up to its Ultra title. With a new 200MP sensor that captures 8K video and an Expert RAW mode to capture images like a real camera, the phone has undergone a significant photographic improvement. This is in addition to the phone’s very long list of capabilities, which also includes a built-in stylus, multitasking, and a desktop mode that enables you to use your phone with any large-screen TV or monitor by just attaching it via USB-C.
Really, there isn’t another Android phone that offers this amount of functionality at this cost. The Galaxy S23 Ultra has an outrageous starting price of $1,198, making it unaffordable for most consumers. But for those who are willing, it is the best Android phone and the most expensive phone available.
You can choose to take pictures with the S23 Ultra at a resolution of 12 megapixels, 50 megapixels, or 200 megapixels by adjusting the settings on the camera’s viewfinder. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 CPU powering the Galaxy S23 Ultra is not surprising given that Samsung normally adopts the most recent Qualcomm chip for its new phones.
What is unexpected, though, is that Samsung chose to further tweak this technology for the S23 series. It is essentially a modified version of the processor that has been tweaked for better performance and power efficiency. Samsung refers to it as the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy. Competing devices like the OnePlus 11 5G feature a normal Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor.
The S23 Ultra continues to enable cable-based 45W charging. Additionally, much like in prior years, only a wire is included in the box rather of a charger. These speeds are great, but they are a little disappointing when you realise that some providers support double the speeds. While those other competitors can now do that task in less than half an hour, or even quicker, the S23 Ultra will still take more than an hour to charge fully.
Also keep in mind that the Samsung 45W charger must be used in conjunction with a special 5A USB-C connection to achieve those 45-watt speeds (thicker than the average USB-C cable). The S23 Ultra can reverse wirelessly charge other devices when you put them on its back and supports wireless charging at up to 10W rates (you could top up wireless headphones, a smartphone or another phone for example). It’s odd that Samsung chose to lower down the wireless charging rate as earlier Samsung phones enabled quicker, 15W wireless charging speeds.