Samsung-Galaxy-S23_Ultra-S-Pen-Criticreviewer
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DuriniSSa
Samsung has been the forefront runner in the Android smartphone industry. Samsung introduces the new S23 Series of devices on 1st February 2023 and Samsung Gulf officials will introduce the S23 series for the UAE market on 15th March 2022.
I received the Samsung S23 Ultra for review within a few days of the launch.
The Review
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is the latest Flagship smartphone from the Samsung Galaxy S23 series of smartphones that will be released for the UAE market. The Galaxy S23 Series consists of S23, S23 Plus and S23 Ultra. The device came in a slim box like the earlier S22 series. The box contained the S23 Ultra phone, quick start guide, bar code and USB Type-C to USB Type-C cable.
Spec & Design
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (Model No – SM-S918B) comes with a dimension of 163.4 x 78.1 x 8.9 mm and weighs 234 grams. It comes with a 6.8″ flat FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display. The body has a Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus 2) and an Armor aluminum frame.
Samsung has a resolution of 1440 x 3088 pixels. It has ~500 ppi density with 120Hz refresh rate and is HDR10+ certified and 1750 nits (peak).
The front camera of the Samsung S23 Ultra has 12MP. It has F2.2 apertures with a 26mm lens. The main camera of the S23 Ultra has got Quad camera setup, which consists of a 200 MP Camera with f /1.7, 24mm (wide), 1/1.3″ F2.2 apertures. The second camera is 10 MP, f/4.9, 230mm (periscope telephoto), 1/3.52″ with OIS, 10x optical zoom. The third camera is 10 MP, f/2.4, 70mm (telephoto), 1/3.52″ with OIS, and 3x optical zoom. The fourth camera is 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚ (ultra-wide), 1/2.55″, Super Steady video. The cameras come with LED flash, auto-HDR, and panorama.
The right side of the body has the volume rockers and power button which also doubles for Bixby (voice assistant). The left side doesn’t have any buttons. The bottom side has a dual SIM Card Tray, the USB Type-C port with a mic, speaker and S-Pen (Stylus). On the top, you have the MIC and just above the display, you have the earpiece which doubles as a speaker when holding the phone horizontally.
The phones come with NFC and support Samsung Pay – supports MST and/or NFC Membership cards.
Testing the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra – Cameras
When I received the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone, the brand claimed the most powerful camera smartphone with the capacity of producing a 200MP image. I have used the smartphone to click images in daylight and at night. I also used the smartphone while travelling to Riyadh (KSA) for LEAP 2023. I used the smartphone to click images and videos and even tested for heating of the device which always has been an issue with Samsung phones.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has a 12MP Selfie camera which performed very well. The colours of the images were great and the selfies were good. There are two modes – 1x and wide angle. The wide angle is not very wide but captures a little bit more than the 1x mode. The camera has instant face detection and focus. You can click selfie motion image or video. You can use a timer to click a snap and use flash mode by which the screen brightens up as light. Under shooting mode, you can click images and videos by pressing the volume button, voice commands, floating shutter button and showing your palm (hand gestures). The selfie camera has video stabilization. The front camera can shoot videos at 4K@30/60fps, and 1080p@30fps.
Let us know talk about the main cameras which have Quad cameras. The main cameras of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra performed very well. But as a reviewer and heavy user of the smartphone camera. I always look forward to having images clicked by the smartphone camera to be as realistic as same as real surroundings. The AI technology and effects added in the software in the system produce the digitally reproduced images which we see on the smartphone screen or computer screen.
The primary camera can record 8K video recording at 24 fps & 30 fps (7680×4320) and 4K UHD video recording at 30 fps, 60 fps and 240 fps (3840×2160). The cameras can shoot 1080 at 960 fps. It supports HDR10+ recording, Digital zoom up to 100x and takes 200 MP and 50MP still photos while playing 8K video. The primary camera sensor captured the images and reproduced them with vibrant colours. Under the photo and video mode, you have preset of 0.6, 1x, 3x and 10x. Under the video mode, you have super steady ON/OFF mode and you can use it to record QHD & FHD mode which can record 60 fps and 30 fps. The camera with super steady ON can record 0.6x and 1x.
The camera clicks 200 MP which clicks 16320 x 12240 @72Dpi image and file size from 32MB to 45 MB. The phone can be used for astrophotography. Under the expert raw mode, click tap the constellation icon in the upper right corner of Expert RAW, point your camera to the night sky and shoot with up to 10 minutes of exposure. AI segmentation then boosts the clarity to bring out the clarity of the moon and stars.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra – Hardware Details
The Samsung Galaxy S23 series released in this region comes with the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor which performed with an excellent score. The transition and opening and closing of the apps happened with ease. It comes with a 5000 mAh battery which can last more than a day with heavy usage of calls, surfing on the internet and watching videos.
It supports Fast Wireless Charging supports 45W wired, PD3.0, 65% in 30 min and Wireless 15 Watt (Qi/PMA) charging. It also has 4.5 Watt PowerShare (reverse charging).
The device which I got for review is the 12GB RAM with 8GB RAM Plus and comes with 256GB ROM. The S23 series works on Android 13 OS with 5.1 UI. It has a Dual speaker setup for Stereo and comes with Bluetooth 5.3, A2DP, LE, NFC, and Zoom-in Mic which effective recording videos. The S23 Ultra supports Screen mirroring and can connect to Samsung Ecosystem’s “Smart Things” by which you can connect to your TV, computer, Projector, etc. It connects with Samsung DeX, and Samsung Wireless DeX and you can do multi-tasking and multi-control.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with an S-pen (Stylus) which continues the tradition from the predecessor of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. The S-pen can be removed and used by pressing the stylus from the bottom of the smartphone. The S-pen has Bluetooth integration, an accelerometer and gyro connectivity. The S-pen not only can be used to write, but you can also use it for drawing with pressure control. The S-pen can be used as an air command to control the smartphone from far away, including clicking snaps and videos.
As soon as you remove the stylus from the smartphone, automatically you have a pop screen which shows smart select, screen write, live messages, AR Doodle, and Translate and you can add more functions to the stylus. On double-clicking on the stylus button, you can capture images or record video from a long distance of at least 40 feet.
The S23 Ultra smartphone and S-pen are IP68-rated dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30mins) with an Ultrasonic Fingerprint sensor for protection, it has got a Knox platform: real-time monitoring and protection.
Who should buy the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone?
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone is a flagship mobile with Qualcomm SM8550-AC Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4 nm) which is the fastest processor currently available. The phone comes with 12GB RAM with 8GB RAM Plus with 256GB ROM. There are Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra models with more storage options – 512GB and 1TB.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone is the perfect mobile for Businessmen, engineers, architects, Fashion designers, Digital Artists, and Gen-Z for the latest feature required for Vlogging and a lot more.
The 200 MP camera can be useful for people who want to have Hi-Res images for big posters and even cropped photos from the same image. I have used the mobile to record videos continuously for more than half an hour and the phone was warm and functioned beautifully. You can use the smartphone for Samsung Pay which very well works with NFC and App.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is the perfect mobile for entertainment as the Samsung has powerful Stereo speakers with CPU, RAM and storage.
The powerful phone is also good for mobile gamers, I have played the Asphalt 9 game and the performance of the app and graphics is smooth and the phone has a Hi-quality 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED 2X display. I played for more than 30mins continuously and the mobile was just warm.
Benchmark Result
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (Model No – SM-S918B was tested on various benchmark tests. Geek bench: – Single-core score – 1580 and Multi-core score – 5057. 3DMark:- Wild Life Extreme – 3641. Wild Life Extreme Stress Test – Best loop score – 3669, Lowest loop score – 2376 & Stability – 64.8%. PCMark Score – 16498. GFX Bench score – 4K Aztec Ruins OpenGL (High Tier) 3840 x 2160 – 1553 frames 24 fps & 1080p Aztec Ruins OpenGL (High Tier) 1920 x 1080 – 6805 frames 106 fps. Al Benchmark score – 2032. During the benchmark testing the phone’s temperature exceeded 42.5 degrees.
Verdict
Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (Model No – SM-S918B) is a great flagship series smartphone with a lot of features. The camera performance was excellent. The video performance was good even during the low light time. There was little heating of the body of the smartphone during video recording for a more extended period, especially during the 4K and 8K videos.
“It is a good purchase for consumers, who wanted a branded and stylish smartphone with great features”
Price and Availability
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes in Phantom Black, Green, Cream, Lavender, Graphite, Sky Blue, Lime, and Red colours. The
It is available on Samsung Website for a pre-order of AED4,949.
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