Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra debuts with 200MP camera, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, starting at $1199
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is now official, and it may be the least evident update in Samsung flagship phones ever. That is, it appears to be nearly identical to the Galaxy S22 Ultra, but it is not. The most noticeable difference is the colour – the Galaxy S23 Ultra now comes in three new hues, Green, Lavender, and Cream, in addition to the traditional Phantom Black. Let’s take a look at what’s new with the smartphone.
Features integrated with the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is powered by a custom-tuned Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy. Samsung chose Qualcomm’s newest SoC for the entire Galaxy S23 portfolio, and the Exynos-powered S23 will not be available in any markets this time. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for the Galaxy S23 Ultra includes a Cortex-X3 core that can run at up to 3.36GHz, up from the SD 8 Gen 2’s regular maximum of 3.2GHz. The Adreno 740 GPU is said to be clocked at 719MHz rather than 680MHz.
The primary camera is another significant upgrade. It’s a 200MP ISOCELL HP2 sensor from Samsung, and it’s adaptive. It can merge 16 pixels into one for an ultimate resolution of 12MP with 2.4m separately sized pixels. It can also combine its pixels 4-to-1, giving you a 50MP image with additional detail to work with.
Starting with the Galaxy S23 series, Samsung is integrating its Expert RAW software as a mode within the original camera app, allowing you to capture RAW photographs at up to 50MP with the benefits of multi-frame processing – greater levels of detail, HDR, and improved noise reduction.
A new Astro Hyperlapse movie option is also included with the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. The new primary camera features better video stabilization than the original 108MP main camera owing to Adaptive VDIS, which analyzes and subdivides motions and identifies lighting conditions, and the new sensor’s 2x larger OIS angle, which compensates for about 3° more than the S22 Ultra’s 1.5°.
The front-facing camera is a 12MP f/2.2 device with autofocus, which is shared with the Galaxy S23 series. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra’s other three cameras are virtually the same as those on the Galaxy S22 Ultra: a 10MP 10x f/4.9 periscope camera, a 10MP 3x f/2.4 shorter telephoto unit, and a 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera with autofocus.
Another item that hasn’t changed from the previous Ultra is the screen, which was already a work of art. The display is a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2x with a resolution of 1440x3088px and a brightness of 1,750 nits. The display can refresh at a rate ranging from 1Hz to 120Hz.
The inclusion of a smarter Vision Booster that can alter the colour tone and contrast of the display in three distinct lighting conditions is what has changed. The Galaxy S23 Ultra also gets a significant increase in terms of protection, with the new Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on both the front and back.
The battery is another major feature brought over by the Galaxy S22 Ultra. It has the same 5,000mAh capacity and 45W maximum charging speed. Samsung promised that the S23 Ultra would charge 65% in 30 minutes.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is available in four colours – Phantom Black, Green, Cream, and Lavender – as well as up to four configurations starting at 256GB this year – 8/256GB, 12/256GB, 12/512GB, and the top-tier 12/1TB. The entry-level Galaxy S23 Ultra costs €1,400 in Europe, $1,200 in the United States, and ₹115,000 in India.
