Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review

11 February 2023


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jiyen235, 13 Feb 2023why is the basic aptx not good enough tho like is it becaus... moreYes, low latency, bit rate (apt-x adaptive can support 24hz signals) and general performance around connection.

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    • gos
    • Myi
    • 13 Feb 2023

    gos, 13 Feb 2023Hello, For everyone bothered of the "over-sharpening&... moreIf you are unhappy with the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s shutter lag in the 200MP mode, you can use the Camera Assistant app to set the phone to prioritize speed. This will drastically reduce the shutter lag
    https://www.sammobile.com/news/camera-assistant-galaxy-s23-ultras-200mp-reduce-shutter-lag-camera-assistant/

      • g
      • gos
      • Myi
      • 13 Feb 2023

      Hello,
      For everyone bothered of the "over-sharpening" of images:

      https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4696416

        Not sure, 13 Feb 2023I went into a Samsung store ready to buy the new S 23 ultra... moreSame. Cash was in the pocket, ready to buy right there in the store. But then I played around with the camera. Shutter lag is just as bad as on my s21u. People still get blurry even with holding the phone firmly. 200 mp photos take 15-20 seconds to process.
        Not worth 1440 euros, sorry. But it is a gorgeous phone, I love Note design

          jiyen235, 13 Feb 2023why is the basic aptx not good enough tho like is it becaus... moreSlightly lower noise floor with AptX HD vs regular AptX and decisively superior to SBC

          I can tell a distinct difference between AptX and AptX HD in the frequency response for treble and mids.

          But like everything when it comes to sound, you need good earphones/headphones to discern the difference. You cannot expect to hear any differences with a 5USD pair of earphones.

          Use some higher end multi-driver (amrature) or high end dynamic driver or planar magnetic drivers and you will definitely hear the difference.

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • x}J
            • 13 Feb 2023

            jiyen235, 13 Feb 2023why is the basic aptx not good enough tho like is it becaus... moreBoth.

            Apt-x adaptive not only allows higher bit rates, but improves general connection performance, reduces latency and allows for playback of higher res sources.

            The point here is that other manufacturers with a Qualcomm chipset have apt-x adaptive. Samsung does not allow this functionality, either because it uses a different modem or because it decides not to. Either way, the consumer loses out. It would be a simple upgrade to make and would be another incentive to upgrade or purchase a S23U. Sadly, that is clearly not the way Samsung is going, as they appear to be basing their business model on the widely successful, walled garden approach that is Apple.

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              • Carlos
              • mQm
              • 13 Feb 2023

              I'm missing a section for pets and childrens on the camera section. One of the best things on Pixel it's to take a picture of a dancing children and have a nice face, and not a blurry one.

              Daytime pictures are great on all high end phones, but for many people, those daily shoots with family and friends, make the difference!

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                • Anonymous
                • nyc
                • 13 Feb 2023

                I think Samsung has put itself in kind of a difficult position with this masterpiece.
                This is basically a smartphone solved entirely and peaked.
                So when it comes to classic form factors, they will have a very tough task to entice customers again..save for the punch hole, there's just nothing left that can be improved noticeably.

                I think the S23 series will mark a turning point for Samsung's business..a point beyond a shift to foldables will start to take place.

                  • Y
                  • Yo
                  • iEH
                  • 13 Feb 2023

                  What's the difference between an Ultra review and a regular review?

                    AcademicBarzo, 13 Feb 2023Premium wireless headphones are one of the biggest growth a... morewhy is the basic aptx not good enough tho like is it because of the bitrate or because of the connection problems/latency?

                      jiyen235, 13 Feb 2023tbh not many headphones are there that properly use those c... morePremium wireless headphones are one of the biggest growth areas in the last few years, with virtually every manufacturer producing headphones with aptx adaptive. Few include LDAC.

                      For example:
                      Sennheiser Momentum 4 and True Wireless 3 earbuds
                      Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2, PX8, Pi7 S2
                      Focal Bathys
                      Beyerdynamic Amiron Wireless (apt-x hd only)
                      B&O H9

                      The list goes on. Point is these are more premium options, which Samsung's flagship hobbles in use by only providing basic apt-x support. That's just not good enough, especially when cheap as chips phones from Motorola and others have aptx adaptive support.

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                        • fro0st
                        • nyf
                        • 13 Feb 2023

                        Why GsmArena doest measure the PWM in the Display test, very sad. :(

                          RayVone, 13 Feb 2023No cons? - Very high price - The smartphone is big and h... moreThe phone being big and heavy is the point lol, also samsung's one handed mode is killer and i use it a lot. Dunno about the sound tho, best to hear it in person and then judge it I'd say. The photos aren't bad in daytime. Idk what you'd consider as good then. The photos are indeed overprocessed tho, and samsung does a very weird thing by always going for a higher iso than needed, resulting in very coarse noise. Then they use aggressive noise reduction and then use aggressive amounts of sharpening to "attempt" to get back the detail. HOWEVER, they do deserve some props for allowing you to reduce the sharpening in the Camera Assistant app. I'm just mad they didn't at all improve their other 3 lens in the back. The part about SD card is indeed frustrating and makes me think that naming this an "ultra" phone which is basically like a note now, is an insult to its legacy. The reviewer could have also talked about the increased prices in regions other than the US for a phone that's not a HUGE upgrade. Mid phone but tbh all other phones are also kinda mid as well so it's like choose the lesser evil

                            • K
                            • Kontol
                            • tZk
                            • 13 Feb 2023

                            Good

                              dazed1, 13 Feb 2023Have you seen this "8bit display" in person, espe... moreIf you don't understand the difference between these premium features then why get the ultra/defend it? I mean if you're just a normal user get a normal midrange phone then. This phone costs 1200 dollars and much more in other regions. It doesn't even have dolby vision and its display is 8 bit which is less than chinese mid rangers. Gradients would look much worse especially in movies that are in 10 bit containers, unless you apply debanding which can and most likely WILL scrub away details.

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                                • Anonymous
                                • t7X
                                • 13 Feb 2023

                                I find gsmarena's review of the S23 Ultra 'interesting' to say the least. It seems the review was 'sanitized' or 'euphemized' to avoid any clear mention of the S23 Ultra's glaring faults or weaknesses.

                                No comment on the S23 Ultra's oversharpening and overprocessing? I'm sure the gsmarena team reviewing can see it from the photos. The S23 ultra photos look overprocessed. It's like they were edited with Google photos with the 'pop' slider moved all the way to 100% resulting in extremely dirty looking shadows that overemphasized details that are not normally seen in real life. Tree branches with white outlines / halos. Smooth textures that weirdly become rough looking due to overcooked post-processing. Plain flat uniform surfaces that suddenly acquire faux/fake textures that to the inexperienced eye looks 'lots and lots of detail' with 'added noise'. It's all clearly visible in gsmarena's photo compare tool. And after all that, no 'Cons' at all other than nothing has changed. But the fact is, Samsung's processing is a lot worse in the S23 ultra than in the S22 ultra.

                                Samsung really needs to fix this overprocessing so people won't sideload GCam and stop using the default Samsung camera. The S22 ultra photos are more pleasant and realistic and not much different from the S23 ultra in terms of detail retention.

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                                  • Not sure
                                  • vCL
                                  • 13 Feb 2023

                                  I went into a Samsung store ready to buy the new S 23 ultra and when I took about five pictures identical to ones I shot on my iPhone 13 promax the pro max left the S 23 ultra for dead.
                                  It was in the Samsung store, so for example I took a photo of the new S 23 poster and the lilac phone looked like baby blue on the S23 and was blurry also. I’m not capping. I’d even picked out accessories for my new ultra.

                                  Trust me I was deflated and left speechless. I really don’t know how much I believe all these “reviews”

                                    AcademicBarzo, 12 Feb 2023Correct. Virtually every other Snapdragon phone has somethi... moretbh not many headphones are there that properly use those codecs and are good quality headphones. Most are just consumer oriented v-shaped ugly ahh headphones/earphones.

                                      Anonymous, 13 Feb 2023Does said PC contain a sim card in it and fits into your po... moreomg bro didn't know that, thanks a lot! I know the difference between a pc and a phone now

                                        McKinley, 12 Feb 2023What world are you living in where you can buy a good PC fo... moreI said "nice enough", it doesn't have to be particularly good just nice enough to run games at 1080p and have fun.

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