We went hands-on with the new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra! In our early preview with the device we tested the whopping 200-megapixel camera, a powerful exclusive Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip and a more S-Pen friendly design. Plus, there's some handy One UI 5.1 upgrades.
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00:00 I'm here with the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and this promises to be one of the best camera
00:03 phones of the year if not ever with a 200 megapixel camera, an exclusive Snapdragon
00:08 HN2 processor, and a design that is more S-Pen friendly.
00:12 Let's go take a look.
00:13 There's a couple of things I noticed about the Galaxy S23 Ultra's design right off the
00:17 bat.
00:18 The cameras on the back are even bigger compared to the Galaxy S22 Ultra and the display is
00:22 flatter.
00:23 There's a gentler curve to the 6.8 inch panel and a flatter surface area which makes using
00:28 an S-Pen a bit more comfortable as you get to the edges.
00:31 The Galaxy S23 Ultra should be tougher too as it's the first phone with Corning Gorilla
00:35 Glass Victus 2 which promises to protect the front and back better from scratches and drops.
00:40 The Galaxy S23 Ultra comes in four colors including Phantom Black, Cream, Green, and
00:45 Lavender.
00:46 I'm partial to the green as it pops the most out of all the hues, followed by lavender
00:51 which is subtle and elegant.
00:53 The S23 Ultra is the same size as the last model but it's a bit heavier at 8.2 ounces
00:58 versus 8 ounces for the S22 Ultra.
01:01 It's hard to improve on something that's almost perfect.
01:04 Like the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the S23 Ultra features a 6.8 inch Quad HD OLED screen and a peak
01:11 brightness of 1750 nits.
01:14 You also get the same 120Hz refresh rate as before which can scale down to 1Hz.
01:20 During my hands-on time I was impressed with the overall image quality from the S23 Ultra.
01:24 When watching the trailer for The Mandalorian Season 3, the shiny helmets popped off the
01:28 screen and I enjoyed wide viewing angles.
01:31 The Galaxy S23 Ultra includes an advanced Vision Booster feature which is designed to
01:36 automatically adjust color and contrast of the image based on ambient lighting conditions.
01:41 And there's an eye comfort feature to make viewing the display easier for longer stretches.
01:45 Is it overkill or a game changer?
01:47 The Galaxy S23 Ultra is the first flagship phone in the US to pack a 200MP camera.
01:53 And Samsung says this sensor can deliver poster-sized prints.
01:56 But that's not the only benefit of having a mean wide camera this powerful.
02:00 The adaptive pixel sensor can combine 16 pixels into one larger pixel for brighter and more
02:05 detailed photos, especially in low light.
02:08 Shooting in 200MP mode also gives you the option to reframe the image after you shoot.
02:13 The software on my unit wasn't final, but I was impressed how I could crop in on Samsung's
02:17 laptop and a plant without losing much sharpness.
02:21 The Galaxy S23 Ultra has a new 12MP front camera, which is technically a downgrade versus
02:26 the S22 Ultra's 40MP selfie shooter.
02:29 But Samsung promises better portraits overall thanks to better AI.
02:33 The selfie I took looked very good indoors with a compelling bokeh effect.
02:37 You still get dual 10MP telephoto lenses with 3x and 10x optical zoom and a very strong
02:43 30x digital zoom option.
02:46 I could easily make out text on books from across the room.
02:49 The 100x space zoom option is still available, though the results can be shaky.
02:54 On the video front, the S23 Ultra offers improved video stabilization, and video recording now
02:59 goes up to 8K at 30fps with a wider angle of 80 degrees.
03:05 The Galaxy S23 Ultra packs an exclusive version of Qualcomm's new chip called the Snapdragon
03:09 8 Gen 2 mobile platform for Galaxy.
03:12 That's a bad name, but the good news is that Samsung promises that this processor can deliver
03:16 even higher clock speed than the standard version of the chip, going as high as 3.36GHz.
03:22 In my hands-on testing, I wasn't allowed to run any benchmarks yet or play third-party
03:26 games, but I can say that this phone was very responsive when using the app switcher and
03:31 popping in and out of open apps.
03:33 The only lag I noticed was when attempting to edit a 200MP photo, though that might be
03:38 due to the unfinished software or just the sheer size of the image file.
03:42 Stay tuned for our own benchmark testing and comparisons versus the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
03:48 Running on top of Android 13, the new OneUI 5.1 software for Galaxy S23 Ultra offers a
03:54 number of handy improvements.
03:55 For example, with Bixby Text Call, Samsung's assistant can answer incoming calls for you,
04:00 and then can pass on messages by texting.
04:03 It's actually pretty cool to see and hear it in action, though callers might be freaked
04:07 out the first time.
04:08 There's also a new modes option that lets you create customized settings based on what
04:12 you're doing, whether it's exercise, driving, work, or sleep.
04:17 There's also more personalization features in OneUI 5.1, such as improved stack widgets
04:22 and recommended apps and actions for different times of the day.
04:26 The Galaxy S23 Ultra has a release date of February 17th and is available for pre-order
04:31 now.
04:32 The starting price is $1,199, the same as last time, but you get 256GB of storage.
04:37 That's double the S22 Ultra, which is good news.
04:41 The S23 Ultra is also available with 512GB or 1TB of storage.
04:46 The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra offers only a handful of meaningful upgrades over its predecessor,
04:52 including the 200MP camera, flatter display, and more powerful processor.
04:56 So it doesn't look like there's enough reasons to upgrade from the S22 Ultra.
05:00 But if you have an older S21 Ultra or other flagship from a few years ago, the S23 Ultra
05:05 could be the premium Android flagship to beat.
05:07 We'll just have to test out the cameras versus the Pixel 7 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max to see
05:12 just how far Samsung has come.
05:14 But if you're willing to pay top dollar for the S23 Ultra, it could be the phone for you.
05:19 Overall, I think the Galaxy S23 Ultra has a ton of potential, but it should at $1,200.
05:24 We're going to have to see if this measures up to the hype.
05:26 Stay tuned for our full review at TomsGuide.com.
05:28 This is Mark Spunauer.