Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra long-term review

03 November 2023


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  • K
  • Krillo
  • mrr
  • 03 Nov 2023

Samsung Note 10 is Samsungs best phone as of yet. It's a compact and lightweight note. I have no idea why they don't make this phone anymore. A compact Note is what we want!

    • b
    • borp
    • ngB
    • 03 Nov 2023

    What it is, 03 Nov 2023Expert RAW plus Lightroom saves the S23U. For point and s... moreYou mean Pro Mode DNG saves it.

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • nMc
      • 03 Nov 2023

      one of the best phones ever, no contest with the overrated Apple ones

        • N
        • Nameless
        • 0xQ
        • 03 Nov 2023

        Shamrock Sean, 03 Nov 2023I sold my Ultra found the cameras to be over sharpened, ove... moreWith native "Camera assistant" app you can customise sharpening (off, medium, high), auto HDR and many other things..

          • N
          • Nameless
          • 0xQ
          • 03 Nov 2023

          I've switched tu S23U from long used S10. Everything is great with S23U, but the size and shape is only thing I will never get used to. I don't think I will keep it for 5 years. It's too big, too fat, but the most annoying and pockets damaging are squared sharp corners.

            Have tested various conditions in standard shooting conditions (200 mp and 50 mp) plus in Pro mode (though not raw!) The standard result was oversharpened, bad lighting, skies often just white instead of structured clouds with some blue and worst: some texts were just cryptical signs... In addition blue was often rather turqoise.
            In pro mode I was able to manage with changes to the focus, whitebalance and saturation to get the same good result I had with our pixel 8Pro in standard! Rediculous.
            I have only noticed those differences after getting the pixel lately. I would post the pix, but cannot find a way here.

              I sold my Ultra found the cameras to be over sharpened, over saturated, mushy and noisy. The 10x zoom on Pixel 8 Pro is more detailed than the 10x on Ultra. Images are also overly bright on Ultra too

                Xperience, 03 Nov 2023Please don't forget, Ultra name started with Xperia a ... moreI think there was a Motorola before the Sony with the name Ultra, but right now it doesn't come to mind

                  What it is, 03 Nov 2023Expert RAW plus Lightroom saves the S23U. For point and s... moreHow? ExpertRAW saves DNG with sharpening already applied. It does not do the job that it should. It is far from being "expert" as the name suggests. Also, HDR applied to ExpertRAW files is far more extensive than from a regular app, so JPGes are useless as well. Every update I try to use ExpertRAW and the regular camera app, but after 2-3 days I just give up and return to GCAM.
                  With rest, I agree. Processing is just bad.

                    • W
                    • What it is
                    • mnF
                    • 03 Nov 2023

                    Expert RAW plus Lightroom saves the S23U.
                    For point and shoot this is too good of a hardware sadly set up for dummies without good options, as mentioned in the review, to customize the photography preferences. The default cam settings are way too bright, oversharpened and colour balance is off in many scenes, often too much green is in nature scenes is the worst.

                      • X
                      • Xperience
                      • pRA
                      • 03 Nov 2023

                      Please don't forget, Ultra name started with Xperia a decade ago. The first ever mobile phone that has ultra name on it. Xperia Z Ultra

                        You don't need to download any app to reduce sharpening. Camera assistent is found in the settings. Since OneUI6 there's also some AI setting to reduce shutter lag.

                        In my opinion it's the best phone allround. I like the iPhone 15 Pro camera a little bit more but other than the camera the S23Ultra is amazing. I don't think the Pixel is comparable because it has too many downsides.

                          Ouifuf, 03 Nov 2023"so you could install an Ad Blocker and go through poo... moreNot a thing. Also that's the mobile version of GSMArena ;)

                            • B
                            • Brop
                            • ngB
                            • 03 Nov 2023

                            Also these would make things a lot more pleasant:

                            https://www.reddit.com/r/GalaxyS23Ultra/comments/112upou/community_help_needed_lets_improve_the_camera_app/

                              "so you could install an Ad Blocker and go through poorly-written and ad-ridden websites"
                              *Shows a photo of GSMArenas front page*

                              Mr reviewer what are you trying to imply?

                                walkman8, 03 Nov 2023GSMArena, you might wanna take a deeper look at Ine UI 6 up... moreIt really hasn't, at all.

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • LGg
                                  • 03 Nov 2023

                                  saw the title and don't know if it's an "ultra long term review of the S23" or a "long term review of the S23 ultra" hahaha

                                    walkman8, 03 Nov 2023GSMArena, you might wanna take a deeper look at Ine UI 6 up... moreAfter updating to One UI 6 I cannot see any difference in this regard. Still, processing of small details and oversharpening is very, very bad.

                                      GSMArena, you might wanna take a deeper look at Ine UI 6 update in regards to photo quality.
                                      From what I am seeing, oversharpening issue has been reduced massively after OneUI/Android upgrade.
                                      It's not iPhone 15 or Pixel 8 level, but it's definitely usable even while cropping original photo.

                                        Even more Samsung glazing.

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