Samsung just launched the Galaxy S23 Ultra, with a 200 MP camera, and here is everything you need to know about its latest flagship smartphone!
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Everything You Need To Know!
Samsung just launched the Galaxy S23 Ultra, with a 200 MP camera, and here is everything you need to know about its latest flagship smartphone!
Boosted Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is powered by a specially-boosted variant of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile SoC, which features a quad-cluster architecture:
- 1 x Arm Cortex-X3 core (3.36 GHz, instead of 3.2 GHz)
- 2 x Arm Cortex-A715 cores (2.8 GHz)
- 2 x Arm Cortex-A710 cores (2.8 GHz)
- 3 x Arm Cortex-A510 cores (2.0 GHz)
Here is a quick comparison between the boosted Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 mobile SoC used in the Galaxy S22 Ultra:
Specifications | Galaxy S23 Ultra | Galaxy S22 Ultra |
Mobile SoC | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 |
CPU Clusters | 4 | 3 |
CPU Cores | 1 x Cortex-X3 (3.36 GHz) 2 x Cortex-A715 (2.8 GHz) 2 x Cortex-A710 (2.8 GHz) 3 x Cortex-A510 (2.0 GHz) |
1 x Cortex-X2 (3.0 GHz) 3 x Cortex-A710 (2.5 GHz) 4 x Cortex-A510 (1.8 GHz) |
GPU | Qualcomm Adreno 740 | Qualcomm Adreno 730 |
200 MP Main Camera
Arguably the biggest upgrade in the Galaxy S23 Ultra is its new main camera, which is built around the 200 MP Samsung ISOCELL HP2 (S5KHP2) sensor, and features a slightly wider f/1.7 aperture.
This is a large 1/1.3-inch sensor with 200 million pixels, each of which is 0.6 μm in size. The Galaxy S23 Ultra camera will be able to combine up to 16 pixels to form a single large pixel – a pixel binning technique called Tetra2pixel.
The number of pixels binned will vary according to the photography conditions. In low-light conditions, up to 16 pixels can be combined to create a large 2.4 μm pixel, for a 12.5 MP photo. Samsung is calling this sensor an Adaptive Pixel sensor.
This new Adaptive Pixel sensor also offers better auto-focus performance in low-light conditions through Super QPD autofocus. By using all 200 million pixels, which are physically grouped as four pixels under a single microns, the sensor can detect patterns in both vertical and horizontal directions for faster low-light focusing.
I had the opportunity to test its 200 MP camera’s Nightography capabilities before the launch, and came away very impressed. Forget about the 200 MP number. Its night photography capabilities is where it really shines!
Video capabilities also got an upgrade, thanks to this new sensor. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra can now record 8K videos at 30 frames per second, instead of just 24 fps previously.
It also boasts better Adaptive VDIS capability, and improved optical image stabilisation (OIS), delivering silky smooth videos by doubling the angle to ±3°, from the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s camera‘s ±1.5°.
Similar Telephoto + Wide-Angle Cameras
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra reuses the same 3X and 10X zoom cameras from the Galaxy S22 Ultra, right down to their Sony IMX754 sensors.
The ultra-wide angle camera gets a newer sensor – the Sony IMX564, which appears to be an incremental upgrade of the S22 Ultra’s IMX563.
12 MP Selfie Camera
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra also features another camera upgrade in the front. Instead of a 40 MP sensor in the Galaxy S22 Ultra, it now features a new 12 MP camera, with the same f/2.2 aperture.
While this may seem to be a downgrade, it is actually an upgrade as the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s 40 MP sensor defaults to 10 MP. On top of that, it features a Dual Pixel sensor for faster and more accurate auto-focus!
I recently tested the front camera in an exclusive media preview session in Singapore, and found it to be significantly better than the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s front camera!
Colour Options
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphones will come in four colour options:
- Phantom Black
- Green
- Lavender
- Cream
Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Colour Options Compared!
Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is protected in the front and in the back by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
Gorilla Glass Victus 2 is not just tougher, it is also made from 22% pre-consumer recycled content!
5,000 mAh Fast-Charging Battery
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with a large 5,000 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery, which supports 45 watt fast wired charging, and 15 watt fast wireless charging.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Specifications Compared!
I created this table to compare the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s specifications to last year’s Galaxy S22 Ultra!
Specifications | Galaxy S23 Ultra | Galaxy S22 Ultra |
Display | 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display – 1440 x 3088 pixels (500 ppi) – 120 Hz dynamic refresh rate (1~120 Hz) – 1750 nits peak brightness |
|
Protection | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 | Gorilla Glass Victus+ |
Water Resistance | IP68 | |
Platform | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 |
CPU | 1 x Cortex-X3 (3.36 GHz) 2 x Cortex-A715 (2.8 GHz) 2 x Cortex-A710 (2.8 GHz) 3 x Cortex-A510 (2.0 GHz) |
1 x Cortex-X2 (3.0 GHz) 3 x Cortex-A710 (2.5 GHz) 4 x Cortex-A510 (1.8 GHz) |
GPU | Adreno 740 | Adreno 730 |
Memory + Storage |
12 GB + 256 GB 12 GB + 512 GB 12 GB + 1 TB |
8 GB + 128 GB 12 GB + 256 GB 12 GB + 512 GB 12 GB + 1 TB |
External Storage | NA | |
Front Camera | 12 MP camera, f/2.2 | 40 MP camera, f/2.2 |
Main Cameras | 200 MP Adaptive Pixel camera, f/1.7 12 MP ultra-wide camera, f/2.2 10 MP 3x zoom camera, f/2.4 10 MP 10x zoom camera, f/4.9 |
108 MP Dual Pixel camera, f/1.8 12 MP ultra-wide camera, f/2.2 10 MP 3x zoom camera, f/2.4 10 MP 10x zoom camera, f/4.9 |
Connectivity | Wi-Fi : Wi-Fi 6E Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Bluetooth : BT 5.3 USB : USB Type C |
Wi-Fi : Wi-Fi 6E Bluetooth : BT 5.2 USB : USB Type C |
S Pen | Yes, 2.8 ms latency | |
Fingerprint Sensor | Yes, Under Display | |
Other Sensors | Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyroscope, Geomagnetic, Light, Proximity |
|
GPS | GPS, Beidou, Galileo, Glonass | |
NFC | Yes | |
Battery | 5,000 mAh Li-Po battery | |
Charging | 45 watt wired charging 15 watt wireless charging Wireless PowerShare |
|
Dimensions | 78.1 mm wide 163.4 mm tall 8.9 mm thick |
77.9 mm wide 163.3 mm tall 8.9 mm thick |
Weight | 234 grams | 229 grams |
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Prices + Pre-Order Offer!
Sadly, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will be significantly more expensive than last year’s Galaxy S22 Ultra!
Here are the official launch prices for the three available storage capacities:
- 256 GB : RM5,699 (about US$1,336 / £1,083 / A$1,888 / S$1,755)
- 512 GB : RM6,199 (about US$1,453 / £1,179 / A$2,052 / S$1,910)
- 1 TB : RM7,199 (about US$1,688 / £1,369 / A$2,388 / S$2,218)
While the increased price may be disappointing, Samsung is offering some great pre-order offers:
- you get a free upgrade to the next storage option!
- if you buy from the Samsung Online Store, you get an RM400 e-Voucher
- you get 30% off Samsung accessories, Samsung Care+, Galaxy tablets, Watch, and Buds earphones!
- you get to save up to RM600 more when you trade in!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
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Recommended Reading
- Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus : All You Need To Know!
- Samsung Galaxy S23 : All You Need To Know!
- Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Colour Options Compared!
- Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus Colour Options Compared!
- Samsung Galaxy S23 Colour Options Compared!
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