Tag Archives: Qualcomm Adreno 740

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Review : Just A Better Flip 4!

Here is my comprehensive review of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 foldable smartphone!

Find out why this foldable smartphone is just a better version of the Galaxy Z Flip 4!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Colour Options + Price

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes in four main colour options – Graphite, Lavender, Mint, and Cream.

In addition, Samsung will offer these four colours exclusively on their online store – Gray, Blue, Green and Yellow.

Samsung will not offer the Galaxy Z Flip 5 in the Bespoke Edition, which will be replaced by the new NFC-enabled Flipsuit Case.

Recommended : The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Colour Comparison!

Samsung is making all four main colours options, as well as the four exclusive online colours, available for purchase at launch, at these price points :

  • 8 GB + 256 GB : US$999.99 / £1,049 / A$1,649 / RM4,499
  • 8 GB + 512 GB : US$1,199.99 / £1,149 / A$1,849 / RM4,999

Here are some online per-order and purchase options for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 :

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Specifications

Here are the key specifications for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphone :

Specifications Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 5G
Main Display 6.7-inch Infinity Flex Display
Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel
1080 x 2640 pixels, 425ppi
120 Hz adaptive refresh rate
Cover Display 3.4-inch Super AMOLED display
720 x 748 pixels, 306 ppi
Protection Gorilla Glass Victus 2 (front + back)
IPX8 Water Resistance
No Dust Resistance
OS Android 13 with One UI 5.1.1
Platform Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 5G (SM8550)
CPU 1 x Cortex-X3 core (3.36 GHz )
2 x Cortex-A715 (2.8 GHz)
2 x Cortex-A710 cores (2.8 GHz)
3 x Cortex-A510 cores (2.0 GHz)
GPU Qualcomm Adreno 740
Memory 8 GB
Storage 256 GB / 512 GB UFS 3.1
Front Camera 10 MP camera (f/2.2)
Main Cameras 12 MP Dual Pixel camera, f/1.8
12 MP ultra-wide camera, f/2.2
Audio Stereo speakers tuned by AKG
Surround sound with Dolby Atmos
UHQ 32-bit and DSD64/128 support
Connectivity Network : 5G / 4G
Wi-Fi : 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6E
Bluetooth : BT 5.3
USB : USB-C 3.2
Fingerprint Sensor Capacitive, Side-Mounted
Other Sensors Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyroscope,
Geomagnetic, Hall, Proximity, Light
GPS GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BDS
NFC Yes
Battery 3,700 mAh Li-Po battery
Charging Wired : 25 watt
Wireless : 10 watt
Reverse wireless : 4.5 watt
Folded
Dimensions
71.9 mm wide
85.1 mm tall
15.1 mm thick
Unfolded
Dimensions
71.9 mm wide
165.1 mm tall
6.9 mm thick
Weight 187 grams

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Unboxing + Contents!

As a Samsung ultra-premium smartphone, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes in a premium black box, with these items inside :

  • Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphone
  • Set of documents – quick start guide in two languages, and a warranty card
  • USB Type C to Type C cable
  • SIM card extractor pin

As the unboxing video shows, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 does not come with any charger, or earphones. Not even a TPU case to hold you over until you get a better case.

Next Page > Galaxy Z Flip 5 Key Features

 

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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Key Features!

6.7-inch Foldable Display

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 boasts the same large 6.7-inch Infinity Flex display as the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and the Galaxy Z Flip 4. This foldable display has a Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel that has a 120 Hz refresh rate and a resolution of 1080 x 2640 pixels.

The difference this year lies in its No-Gap Flex Hinge and improved Ultra Thin Glass with a droplet fold, allowing the Galaxy Z Flip 5 to fold completely flat.

In case you are wondering – the crease is still visible if you view it from an angle, and you can feel it if you run your finger over it. But after using it some time – you will forget it’s even there.

The display is large and really beautiful – with excellent resolution, colour gamut and brightness. And it folds into a really compact device about the size of a pager – if you are old enough to remember what that is!

Like previous Flip models, its foldable display comes with a protective film made from stretchable PET, so you should never stick any screen protector on it!

If you are new to foldable phones, you will be really tentative about folding it. But over time, it will become really natural – you won’t even think twice about folding it before shoving it down your pocket.

The Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) is rated for at least 200,000 folds, so even if you fold it 100 times a day, it should last at least 5.5 years!

But while the display can withstand a lot of folding, you must still take care not to SCRATCH it. Avoid putting it together in your pocket or handbag with hard objects like coins, another phone, etc.

3.4-inch Cover Display

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5’s biggest upgrade is, arguably, the much larger 3.4-inch front display, which is now called the Flex Window, instead of the cover screen.

Thanks to its 3.4-inch Super AMOLED panel with a resolution of 720 x 748 pixels, the new Flex Window is much more useful. Not only can you check notifications, and send quick replies to text messages, it comes with 14 essential widgets out of the box!

You can customise the Flex Window with widgets, video wallpapers, clock faces and styles. And the larger display makes it so much easier to take selfies with its awesome rear cameras!

Performance + Storage

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 runs on the most powerful mobile SoC available for Android devices – the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy is a specially-binned and slightly-overclocked version that Qualcomm created for Samsung Galaxy flagship smartphones.

Fabricated on the latest 4nm TSMC process technology, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy boasts a powerful Adreno 740 GPU, as well as eight processor cores in a quad-cluster architecture :

  • a Cortex-X3 prime core running at up to 3.36 GHz (instead of 3.2 GHz),
  • two Cortex-A715 cores running at up to 2.8 GHz,
  • two Cortex-A710 cores running at up to 2.8 GHz, and
  • three Cortex-A510 cores running at up to 2.0 GHz.

Our review sample came with 8 GB of memory, and 256 GB of fast UFS 3.1 storage. It is also available with 512 GB of storage. There is no option to increase storage, but generally 256 GB of storage is more than enough for most people.

Dual SIM Support

The Galaxy Z Flip 5 has a SIM card tray that supports a single nano SIM card. It also supports an eSIM, so technically, you can use up to two SIMs at the same time.

Buttons

The only buttons you will find are on the upper right side of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 – the Volume control buttons and the Power button, which doubles as the fingerprint sensor.

Pressing the Power button twice activates the Quick Shot mode, which lets you take selfies using the rear cameras with the Flex Window for preview and control.

Only One Port

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes with a USB Type C port, which supports USB 3.2 connectivity. It does not come with a 3.5 mm audio jack, or a USB-C to 3.5 mm adapter in the box.

Protection

The Galaxy Z Flip 5 is water-resistant in up to 1.5 metres of freshwater for up to 30 minutes, but is not dust-resistant due to its foldable display and folding mechanism. Hence, it is IPX8-rated.

In addition, its chassis is made with Armor Aluminium, and the Flex Window is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. Its Dual Pixel main camera is also protected by Gorilla Glass with DX.

Recommended : Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Preview In All 3 Colours!

Battery + Charging

Powering all that is a 3,700 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery, which supports 25 watt fast charging, and 10 watt wireless charging. It can even wireless recharge other devices, albeit at just 4.5 watts.

However, it does not come with an in-box charger. So you will have to use your old charger, or buy a new one.

Next Page > Z Flip 5 Cameras + Photo Samples

 

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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Cameras

Front Camera

Samsung flagship smartphones are notable for featuring cutting-edge cameras, but the Galaxy Z Flip 5 stayed with older cameras, albeit slightly enhanced.

In the front, it uses a 10 MP punch hole camera, built around the Samsung ISOCELL 3J1 (S5K3J1) sensor, which has a 1.22 µm pixel size. This isn’t a new sensor though, being first used in the Galaxy S20 series.

This camera now has a slightly wider f/2.2 aperture, so you can expect it to perform slightly better in low-light conditions. This camera can also record video at up to 4K resolution at 60 fps.

In most cases though, you will end up using this selfie camera only for video calls, and use the better cameras at the back for your “selfies”!

Dual Cameras At The Back

In the back, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 has a dual-camera system, which consists of :

  • a 12 MP main camera, with f/1.8 aperture
  • a 12 MP ultra-wide camera, with 123° field of view, and f/2.2 aperture

The main camera is built around the Samsung ISOCELL 2LD (S5K2LD) sensor, which dates back to the Galaxy S20 series as well. This sensor, however, boasts a large pixel size of 1.8 µm, and it has a 24 mm lens with a wide f/1.8 aperture.

The ultra-wide angle camera is built around the Sony IMX258 sensor, which dates back to 2017. It also has rather small 1.12 µm pixels.

Most Galaxy Z Flip 5 users will eventually realise that it’s better to use these two 12 MP cameras for better selfies. Just double-press the Power button with the Galaxy Z Flip 5 folded to activate these cameras.

These cameras are still good, but I really wish Samsung would have at least upgraded their sensors.

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Photo Samples

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5’s rear cameras may be dated, but they are still excellent cameras with good low-light performance, thanks to the wide f/1.8 and f/2.2 apertures. But the wide aperture also creates creates a narrow depth-of-field, so there is the risk of ending up with an out-of-focus photo.

When used in the selfie mode, the rear cameras deliver Instagram-friendly square 9 MP photos with a resolution of 2992 x 2992 pixels, and a file size of about 1.3 MB (HEIC format).

When used unfolded, the rear cameras deliver can be used to take 12 MP photos with a resolution of 4000 x 3000 pixels, and a file size of about 3 MB (HEIC format).

Here are eight unedited photo samples for you to check out.

Next Page > Battery Life + Recharging

 

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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Battery Life

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes with a relatively small 3,700 mAh battery, which is the same size as last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 4.

To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, fix the brightness level, and make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.

We also set its display brightness to 50%, which is slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day.

We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with the Standard and Adaptive refresh rates :

With the same battery capacity, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 had the same battery life of just over 9 hours using its default Adaptive refresh mode, like the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

But when we switched to the Standard refresh mode, it surprisingly delivered over 11 hours of battery life – 49 minutes longer than the Galaxy Z Flip 4!

Let’s compare its battery life at 60 Hz and 120 Hz, against the Z Flip 4, S23 Ultra, and S22 Ultra smartphones.

Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 naturally has the best battery life with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz (Standard) – lasting just over 11 hours.

But what’s really important to note here is that it is about 5% more power-efficient than the Galaxy S22 Ultra, and about 7.5% more power-efficient than the Z Flip 4.

Work 3.0 S23 Ultra S22 Ultra
Z Flip 5 Z Flip 4
Battery Capacity 5,000 mAh 5,000 mAh 3,700 mAh 3,700 mAh
Battery Life 15 hrs 18 mins 14 hrs 15 mins 11 hrs 4 mins 10 hrs 14 mins
Utilisation
per min.
4.36 mAh 4.68 mAh 4.46 mAh 4.82 mAh

Adaptive Refresh Rate (120 Hz)

Even with the same battery size, and fundamentally the same foldable display, we expected the Galaxy Z Flip 5 to deliver a slight improvement in battery life due to its more efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. Unfortunately, this was not the case, and it pretty much delivered the same battery life of just over 9 hours.

What this means is that if you don’t need smoother graphics, it is worth turning off the Adaptive refresh rate to reduce power consumption by a very significant 21% / 2 hours!

Work 3.0 S23 Ultra S22 Ultra Z Flip 4 Z Flip 5
Battery Capacity 5,000 mAh 5,000 mAh 3,700 mAh 3,700 mAh
Battery Life 13 hrs
0 mins
10 hrs
38 mins
9 hrs
12 mins
9 hrs 9 mins
Utilisation
per min.
5.13 mAh 6.27 mAh 5.36 mAh 5.39 mAh

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Battery Recharging Speed!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 supports up to 25 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.

So we tested it using the standard 15 watt Samsung fast charger that shipped with their previous smartphones, which is what we believe most users will end up doing.

Work 3.0 S22 Ultra S23 Ultra Z Flip 4 Z Flip 5
Battery Capacity 3,300 mAh 5,000 mAh 3,700 mAh 3,700 mAh
Charger Output 15 watts 15 watts 15 watts 15 watts
Battery Life 64.5 minutes 88.8 minutes 98.75 minutes 129.5 minutes
Recharging Speed
(per minute)
62.0 mAh 45.0 mAh 30.0 mAh 22.9 mAh

As we reported earlier, Samsung appears to intentionally reduce the charging speed for their foldable Z Flip 3 and Z Flip 4 smartphones, probably to avoid producing excessive heat. That’s why they both recharge twice as slowly as the S22 Ultra, even using the same 15 watt charger!

But this is a bit of a shocker – the Galaxy Z Flip 5 recharged even slower – it took more than 2 hours to fully recharge it from 20%! That’s a whopping 31% slower than the Z Flip 4, with the same battery!

That gives us a battery life to recharging time ratio of about 4.24:1, which is rather dismal. You get about an hour’s worth of battery life for every 14 minutes you recharge.

Perhaps Samsung is now trying to encourage users to purchase its optional 25 watt USB-C super fast charger…

Next Page > Work + Gaming Performance

 

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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 : Work Performance

We first tested the Galaxy Z Flip 5 using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browsing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.

Work 3.0 S23 Ultra Z Flip 5 Z Flip 4 Z Flip 3 S22 Ultra
Mobile Platform SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8+
Gen 1
SD
888
SD 8
Gen 1
Performance Score 16408 14655 14429 13317 12860
Web Browsing 15680 11404 12097 11637 10442
Video Editing 7879 7943 7387 7762 7444
Writing 22257 19525 17593 15316 15471
Photo Editing 35533 324420 31762 25357 30177
Data Manipulation 12171 11788 12523 11938 9691

Interesting, isn’t it? The Galaxy Z Flip 5 uses the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip as the Galaxy S23 Ultra, but it is 12% slower.

I should point out that these are peak performance results. You are unlikely to be able to actually feel the difference between the two in normal usage. In fact, these benchmark results really surprised me!

What likely happened is that the Galaxy S23 Ultra has better cooling, and is thus, better able to maintain the processor’s peak performance for longer. But if you are upgrading from a Galaxy Z Flip 4, and hoping for a performance boost, you are out of luck.

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 : Storage Performance

PCMark also has an Android Storage 2.0 benchmark that measures the smartphone’s storage I/O performance.

Storage 2.0 Z Flip 5 S23 Ultra S22 Ultra Z Flip 4
Mobile Platform SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 8+
Gen 1
Storage Score 48435 41647 27808 27271
Sequential Read (MB/s) 2676.53 2592.42 1457.68 1350.51
Random Read (MB/s) 49.95 38.25 37.73 33.94
Sequential Write (MB/s) 2631.38 603.29 856.21 256.81
Random Write (MB/s) 76.66 81.44 47.20 50.29

Will you look at that! The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 received a very big boost in sequential write performance for its internal flash storage!

The Galaxy Z Flip 5 was about 6% slower than the Galaxy S23 Ultra in random write performance, but was an astounding 4.4X faster in sequential write!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 : Gaming Performance

For gaming, we tested the Galaxy Z Flip 5 using 3DMark, with these results :

3DMark Z Flip 5 S23 Ultra Z Flip 4 S22
Ultra
Z Flip 3
Device SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8+
Gen 1
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 888
Sling Shot Unlimited 16661 16344 10690 11094 9248
Wild Life Unlimited 14823 14554 11144 9106 3952
Wild Life
Extreme
Unlimited
3705 3814 2636 2220 1174

When it comes to less strenuous games (Sling Shot), the Galaxy Z Flip 5 was surprisingly faster than the Galaxy S23 Ultra, even though they both use the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, and the S23 Ultra has better cooling.

Even in the more strenuous game (Wild Life), the Galaxy Z Flip 5 continues to surpass the Galaxy S23 Ultra at lower resolutions.

It was only with the Wild Life Extreme 4K benchmark where the Galaxy S23 Ultra‘s better cooling performance allowed it to beat the Z Flip 5 by 3%.

Simply put – you don’t really need expensive “gaming smartphones”. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 will easily handle any game you want to play.

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Overall Performance

We then tested the Galaxy Z Flip 5 using AnTuTu, yielding these results :

AnTuTu S23 Ultra Z Flip 5 S22 Ultra Z Flip 4 Z Flip 3
Device SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 8+
Gen 1
SD
888
AnTuTu Score 1212174 1187296 889167 856357 696767
CPU 261886 393404 203090 205939 206228
GPU 538823 282780 402617 362669 242573
Memory 236163 291048 146002 135707 133586
UX 175302 220064 137458 152042 114380

The AnTuTu benchmark tells a slightly different story. According to its tests, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is about 38% faster than the Galaxy Z Flip 4. A very nice boost in performance.

On the other hand, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is slightly slower – just 2%, than the Galaxy S23 Ultra. But note that its temperature jumped by over 12°C! At peak performance, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 can get quite toasty!

Next Page > A Quick Wrap, Verdict + Award!

 

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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 : A Quick Wrap

Let’s do a quick wrap of what I really like, and don’t like, about the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5.

It Now Folds Completely

The 6.7-inch foldable display finally closes completely. This may seem like a minor point, but a complete closure helps prevent things slipping in between the display to damage it while it’s in your pocket or handbag.

Large Flex Window

The 3.4-inch Flex Window is so much better for taking selfies, and much more functional! You can realistically do a lot more with this display, including shooting off quick replies to messages.

Great Performance

Even though it looks real sleek, it is powered by the incredibly powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile SoC.

It will easily handle EVERYTHING you throw at it – even graphics-intensive games. It gets toasty when you game, but hey, at least it doesn’t feel like a brick!

Decent Cameras

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 cameras are good but unremarkable frankly. Samsung obviously wants mobile photographers to focus on the Galaxy S23 Ultra instead.

That is most unfortunate, especially for selfie-lovers. I like how the large Flex Window  lets you easily use the rear cameras for really good selfies.

Slower Charging

Unfortunately, Samsung did not manage to improve the Galaxy Z Flip 5’s battery life at 120 Hz. It has longer battery life at 60 Hz, but I don’t think anyone who paid a premium for 120 Hz would want to stick to 60 Hz…

It doesn’t help that it recharges slower than the Galaxy Z Flip 4 with a standard 15 watt charger… and don’t get me started on the lack of an in-box charger!

Zilch In-Box Freebies

For a premium product, it comes with zilch freebies in-the-box. As mentioned before, there is no fast charger.

There is also no USB-C to 3.5 mm audio jack, not even a pair of USB-C earphones. Neither did Samsung provide even a cheap TPU case.

Incredible New Price Point

On the other hand, Samsung kept the price at highly-attractive price points:

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is an incredibly great deal for a foldable smartphone. I fully expect to see it flying off the shelves.

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : My Verdict + Award

It must be said that the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is more than just a smartphone. It is a fashion statement – a sleek, light smartphone that catches eyes, and folds away to fit even small pockets!

Granted, it still has a short battery life with the 120 Hz refresh rate, and a slow recharging speed. And Samsung did not equip it with new cameras.

However, it is much more usable now, thanks to the large 3.4-inch Flex Window; and it now folds completely flat. Think of it as an improved Galaxy Z Flip 4.

Overall, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is an incredibly good deal for a flagship smartphone, with a large foldable 120 Hz display and a top-of-the-line processor!

This is why we believe it deserves nothing less than our Reviewer’s Choice Award! Great job, Samsung!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 : Where To Buy

Here are some online per-order and purchase options for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 :

 

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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Performance Review!

Take a look at the performance of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, and find out why it is a foldable computing + gaming powerhouse!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Flagship Class Performance!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 runs on the most powerful mobile SoC available for Android devices – the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy is a specially-binned and slightly-overclocked version that Qualcomm created for Samsung Galaxy flagship smartphones.

Fabricated on the latest 4nm TSMC process technology, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy boasts a powerful Adreno 740 GPU, as well as eight processor cores in a quad-cluster architecture :

  • a Cortex-X3 prime core running at up to 3.36 GHz (instead of 3.2 GHz),
  • two Cortex-A715 cores running at up to 2.8 GHz,
  • two Cortex-A710 cores running at up to 2.8 GHz, and
  • three Cortex-A510 cores running at up to 2.0 GHz.

On paper, this is about as powerful as it gets in 2023, but let’s take a look at how it actually performs!

Recommended : Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Battery Life + Charging Speed!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Work Performance

We first tested the Galaxy Z Flip 5 using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browsing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.

Work 3.0 S23 Ultra Z Flip 5 Z Flip 4 Z Flip 3 S22 Ultra
Mobile Platform SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8+
Gen 1
SD
888
SD 8
Gen 1
Performance Score 16408 14655 14429 13317 12860
Web Browsing 15680 11404 12097 11637 10442
Video Editing 7879 7943 7387 7762 7444
Writing 22257 19525 17593 15316 15471
Photo Editing 35533 324420 31762 25357 30177
Data Manipulation 12171 11788 12523 11938 9691

Interesting, isn’t it? The Galaxy Z Flip 5 uses the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip as the Galaxy S23 Ultra, but it is 12% slower.

I should point out that these are peak performance results. You are unlikely to be able to actually feel the difference between the two in normal usage. In fact, these benchmark results really surprised me!

What likely happened is that the Galaxy S23 Ultra has better cooling, and is thus, better able to maintain the processor’s peak performance for longer. But if you are upgrading from a Galaxy Z Flip 4, and hoping for a performance boost, you are out of luck.

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Storage Performance

PCMark also has an Android Storage 2.0 benchmark that measures the smartphone’s storage I/O performance.

Storage 2.0 Z Flip 5 S23 Ultra S22 Ultra Z Flip 4
Mobile Platform SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 8+
Gen 1
Storage Score 48435 41647 27808 27271
Sequential Read (MB/s) 2676.53 2592.42 1457.68 1350.51
Random Read (MB/s) 49.95 38.25 37.73 33.94
Sequential Write (MB/s) 2631.38 603.29 856.21 256.81
Random Write (MB/s) 76.66 81.44 47.20 50.29

Will you look at that! The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 received a very big boost in sequential write performance for its internal flash storage!

The Galaxy Z Flip 5 was about 6% slower than the Galaxy S23 Ultra in random write performance, but was an astounding 4.4X faster in sequential write!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Gaming Performance

For gaming, we tested the Galaxy Z Flip 5 using 3DMark, with these results :

3DMark Z Flip 5 S23 Ultra Z Flip 4 S22
Ultra
Z Flip 3
Device SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8+
Gen 1
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 888
Sling Shot Unlimited 16661 16344 10690 11094 9248
Wild Life Unlimited 14823 14554 11144 9106 3952
Wild Life
Extreme
Unlimited
3705 3814 2636 2220 1174

When it comes to less strenuous games (Sling Shot), the Galaxy Z Flip 5 was surprisingly faster than the Galaxy S23 Ultra, even though they both use the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, and the S23 Ultra has better cooling.

Even in the more strenuous game (Wild Life), the Galaxy Z Flip 5 continues to surpass the Galaxy S23 Ultra at lower resolutions.

It was only with the Wild Life Extreme 4K benchmark where the Galaxy S23 Ultra‘s better cooling performance allowed it to beat the Z Flip 5 by 3%.

Simply put – you don’t really need expensive “gaming smartphones”. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 will easily handle any game you want to play.

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Overall Performance

We then tested the Galaxy Z Flip 5 using AnTuTu, yielding these results :

AnTuTu S23 Ultra Z Flip 5 S22 Ultra Z Flip 4 Z Flip 3
Device SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 8+
Gen 1
SD
888
AnTuTu Score 1212174 1187296 889167 856357 696767
CPU 261886 393404 203090 205939 206228
GPU 538823 282780 402617 362669 242573
Memory 236163 291048 146002 135707 133586
UX 175302 220064 137458 152042 114380

The AnTuTu benchmark tells a slightly different story. According to its tests, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is about 38% faster than the Galaxy Z Flip 4. A very nice boost in performance.

On the other hand, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is slightly slower – just 2%, than the Galaxy S23 Ultra. But note that its temperature jumped by over 12°C! At peak performance, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 can get quite toasty!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Performance Summary

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is a svelte smartphone when unfolded, and yet super compact when folded. You would not expect performance to be a key selling point.

In fact, I expected Samsung to tune down the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 for better battery life. It also lacks the better cooling found in the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

In the end, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 turns out to perform better than the Galaxy Z Flip 4, with better battery life to boot. Not a spectacular improvement, grant you, but it lets you have your cake and eat it too.

What you need to know is this – the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 is not just a fashion statement in your hands. It is also a computing and gaming powerhouse in a compact form factor.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Galaxy Z Flip 5 turns out to be Samsung’s best-selling foldable smartphone for 2023!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 Price + Availability

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes in four main colour options:

  • Graphite – legacy colour
  • Lavender – similar to Bora Purple, their signature colour for the Z Flip 4
  • Mint – new colour
  • Cream – new colour

In addition, Samsung will offer these four colours exclusively on their online store:

  • Gray
  • Blue
  • Green
  • Yellow

These are the available models and launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 :

  • 8 GB + 256 GB : US$999.99 / £1,049 / A$1,649 / RM4,499
  • 8 GB + 512 GB : US$1,199.99 / £1,149 / A$1,849 / RM4,999

Here are some online per-order and purchase options for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 :

Read more : Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Colour Comparison!

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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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.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Preview In All 3 Colours!

Samsung just launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5, and here is my hands-on experience of its latest foldable behemoth in all three main colour options!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 : My Hands-On Experience!

I was one of the few who had the rare opportunity to get my hands on not one, but three Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 smartphones, which allowed us to do a proper colour comparison.

And now, I present to you – my own hands-on experience with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 smartphone… in all three main colours!

I apologise for the shaky video – Samsung still insists that I do not take photos or record videos with a smartphone, even though it’s their own Galaxy S22 Ultra!

When folded, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 looks like a rather tall and chunky smartphone. Its 6.2-inch Cover Screen is large but has a tall aspect ratio. You can use it like any regular smartphone, without opening the foldable display.

The hinge mechanism, which occupies its entire left side, has been improved, allowing the Galaxy Z Fold 5 to fold completely flat, reducing its folded thickness by 15% to just 13.4 mm! It is also 10g lighter at 253 grams.

At the bottom, you will find the USB port, together with a row of speaker ports and a microphone port; while at the top are another row of speaker ports with what looks like three more microphone ports.

On the right side, you will find the Power button, with a built-in fingerprint sensor; and the volume buttons. You will also find the SIM tray near the top. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 supports two physical nanoSIM cards, and an eSIM.

The Cover Display itself features a 10 MP punch hole camera with an f/2.2 aperture, while at the back, it features the same triple camera setup, which consists of:

  • a 50 megapixels Dual Pixel camera
  • a 10 megapixel telephoto camera, and
  • a 12 megapixel ultra wide angle camera

When unfolded, you will get a massive 7.6-inch display with a squarish 5 by 4 ratio, which offers about twice the screen space as a regular smartphone.

This super large display is what makes the Galaxy Z Fold 5 such a productivity powerhouse. It also features a hidden 4 megapixel camera under this large main display.

When unfolded, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is about as thick as a regular smartphone, like the Galaxy S23. And from the back, it actually looks like two smartphones welded together!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 is protected all around by a tough Armour Aluminium frame. Incredibly, it is IPX8 water-resistant, even though it is not dust-resistant due to its hinge mechanism.

What may put some people off is how tall and thick it is when folded. It is quite hard to fit the Galaxy Z Fold 5 in most pockets. That’s probably why the Z Flip design is more popular, despite having a much smaller display.

But what people who have tried it out will realise – its large display is incredibly hard to give up, because you can do so much more on it.

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 : Specifications

Here are the key specifications for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 smartphone :

Specifications Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 5G
Main Display 7.6-inch Infinity Flex Display
Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel
1768 x 2208 pixels, 374 ppi
120 Hz refresh rate
1000 nits (HBM), 1300 nits (peak)
Cover Display 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display
816 x 2260 pixels, 387 ppi
120 Hz refresh rate
1200 nits (HBM), 1750 nits (peak)
Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection
Protection IPX8 Water Resistance
No Dust Resistance
OS Android 13 with One UI 5.1.1
Platform Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 5G (SM8550)
CPU 1 x Cortex-X3 core (3.36 GHz )
2 x Cortex-A715 (2.8 GHz)
2 x Cortex-A710 cores (2.8 GHz)
3 x Cortex-A510 cores (2.0 GHz)
GPU Qualcomm Adreno 740
Memory 12 GB
Storage 256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB UFS 3.1
Cover Camera 10 MP camera, f/2.2 aperture
Front Camera 4 MP under-display camera (f/1.8)
Main Cameras 50 MP Dual Pixel camera, f/1.8
10 MP 3X telephoto camera, f/2.4
12 MP ultrawide camera, f/2.2
Audio Stereo speakers tuned by AKG
Surround sound with Dolby Atmos
UHQ 32-bit and DSD64/128 support
Connectivity Network : 5G / 4G
Wi-Fi : 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6E
Bluetooth : BT 5.3
USB : USB-C 3.2
Fingerprint Sensor Capacitive, Side-Mounted
Other Sensors Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyroscope,
Geomagnetic, Hall, Proximity, Light
GPS GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BDS
NFC Yes
Battery 4,400 mAh Li-Po battery
Charging Wired : 25 watt
Wireless : 11 watt
Reverse wireless : 4.5 watt
Folded
Dimensions
67.1 mm wide
154.9 mm tall
13.4 mm thick
Unfolded
Dimensions
129.9 mm wide
154.9 mm tall
6.1 mm thick
Weight 253 grams

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 : Price + Availability

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 comes in three main colour options:

  • Phantom Black
  • Cream
  • Icy Blue

Samsung is also offering two other colour options exclusively on its own online store:

  • Gray
  • Blue

These are the available models and launch prices for the Galaxy Z Fold 5 smartphone :

  • 12 GB + 256 GB : US$1,799.99 / £1,749 / A$2,599 / S$2,398RM6,799
  • 12 GB + 512 GB : US$1919.99 / £1,849 / A$2,799 / S$2,578 / RM7,299
  • 12 GB + 1 TB : US$2,009.99 / £2,049 / A$3,149 / S$2,938 / RM8,299

Just in case you are wondering, the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is the same as the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Fold 4. There was no price increase year-on-year.

Here are some online per-order and purchase options for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 :

Read more : Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 : Colour Comparison!

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

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.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Preview In All 4 Colours!

Samsung just launched the Galaxy Z Flip 5, and here is my hands-on experience of its latest compact foldable smartphone in all four colours!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : My Hands-On Experience!

I was one of the few who had the rare opportunity to get my hands on not one, but four Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphones, which allowed us to do a proper colour comparison.

And now, I present to you – my own hands-on experience with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphone… in all four main colours!

I apologise for the shaky video – Samsung still insists that I do not take photos or record videos with a smartphone, even though it’s their own Galaxy S22 Ultra!

Samsung maintained the same design from last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 4, so you may not be able to distinguish between the two models… until you turn it on.

Then you will realise that it has a much larger 3.4-inch front display, which is now called the Flex Window, instead of the Cover Screen. It is now much more useful. Not only can you check notifications, and send quick replies to text messages, it comes with 14 essential widgets out of the box!

The Galaxy Z Flip 5 has the same large 6.7-inch foldable display as the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and the Galaxy Z Flip 4, which supports a Full HD+ resolution, and a dynamic refresh rate of up to 120 Hz. The difference this year lies in its No-Gap Flex Hinge and improved Ultra Thin Glass with a droplet fold, allowing the Galaxy Z Flip 5 to fold completely flat.

Like the previous models, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is IPX8 water-resistant, even though it is still not dust-resistant due to its hinge mechanism. It is protected on all sides by a tough Armour Aluminium frame, and on the back by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2.

Recommended : Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Preview In All 3 Colours!

On the left side, you will find the SIM card tray, which only supports a single nano SIM card. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 also supports an eSIM, so you can use up to a total of two SIMs.

At the bottom, you will find the USB port, as well as the speaker and microphone ports. On the right side are the Power button with a built-in fingerprint sensor, and the Volume control buttons.

In the front, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 has a punch hole camera hidden at the top of its foldable display. This is the same 10 MP camera from Galaxy Z Flip 4, albeit with a slightly larger f/2.2 aperture. So you can expect it to perform slightly better in low-light conditions.

At the back are the same two 12 MP cameras from the Galaxy Z Flip 4 – a main camera with f/1.8 aperture, and an ultra-wide angle camera with a 123° field of view, and f/2.2 aperture.

The Galaxy Z Flip 5 also comes with the same 3,700 mAh dual battery as the Galaxy Z Flip 4. But it now supports 25 watt fast wired charging, with a suitable charger.

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Specifications

Here are the key specifications for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphone :

Specifications Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 5G
Main Display 6.7-inch Infinity Flex Display
Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel
1080 x 2640 pixels, 425ppi
120 Hz adaptive refresh rate
Cover Display 4.2-inch Super AMOLED display
720 x 748 pixels, 306 ppi
Protection IPX8 Water Resistance
No Dust Resistance
OS Android 13 with One UI 5.1.1
Platform Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 5G (SM8550)
CPU 1 x Cortex-X3 core (3.36 GHz )
2 x Cortex-A715 (2.8 GHz)
2 x Cortex-A710 cores (2.8 GHz)
3 x Cortex-A510 cores (2.0 GHz)
GPU Qualcomm Adreno 740
Memory 8 GB
Storage 256 GB / 512 GB UFS 3.1
Front Camera 10 MP camera (f/2.2)
Main Cameras 12 MP Dual Pixel camera, f/1.8
12 MP ultra-wide camera, f/2.2
Audio Stereo speakers tuned by AKG
Surround sound with Dolby Atmos
UHQ 32-bit and DSD64/128 support
Connectivity Network : 5G / 4G
Wi-Fi : 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6E
Bluetooth : BT 5.3
USB : USB-C 3.2
Fingerprint Sensor Capacitive, Side-Mounted
Other Sensors Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyroscope,
Geomagnetic, Hall, Proximity, Light
GPS GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BDS
NFC Yes
Battery 3,700 mAh Li-Po battery
Charging Wired : 25 watt
Wireless : 10 watt
Reverse wireless : 4.5 watt
Folded
Dimensions
71.9 mm wide
85.1 mm tall
15.1 mm thick
Unfolded
Dimensions
71.9 mm wide
165.1 mm tall
6.9 mm thick
Weight 187 grams

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Price + Availability

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes in four main colour options:

  • Graphite – legacy colour
  • Lavender – similar to Bora Purple, their signature colour for the Z Flip 4
  • Mint – new colour
  • Cream – new colour

In addition, Samsung will offer these four colours exclusively on their online store:

  • Gray
  • Blue
  • Green
  • Yellow

These are the available models and launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 :

  • 8 GB + 256 GB : US$999.99 / £1,049 / A$1,649 / RM4,499
  • 8 GB + 512 GB : US$1,199.99 / £1,149 / A$1,849 / RM4,999

Just in case you are wondering, the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 only went up by RM100 (~US$22 / £17 / A$33 / S$29) over the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

Here are some online per-order and purchase options for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 :

Read more : Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Colour Comparison!

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

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.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

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Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Review : Tech ARP Editor’s Choice!

Read our comprehensive review of the new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and find out why it won our Editor’s Choice Award!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Model + Colour Options

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes in four main colours – Phantom Black, Green, Lavender, and Cream.

Ahead of the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s official launch, we were given special access to all four main colours it will be offered through retail stores, including Samsung Experience Stores.

So I was able to record this video comparing the new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone in all four colours. Take a look at all four colours, and let us know which you prefer!

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Colour Options Compared!

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)

Here are online purchase options for your convenience:

 

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 : What’s Inside The Box?

We got our hands on a golden sample of the new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone at the official launch in Singapore. Let’s take a quick look at the box before we check out what’s inside!

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : What’s Inside The Box!

Once you fully unbox the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, this is what you will find inside:

  • the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone
  • a Quick Start Guide
  • a USB Type C to USB Type C data and charging cable
  • a SIM tray extraction pin

That’s it! While the Galaxy S23 Ultra supports 45 watt fast charging, it does not come with the charger. You will need to purchase it separately. Neither does it come with a TPU bumper case to tide you over until you get a better one.

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Key Features

 

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Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Key Features

Now, let us go through its key features, and show you why the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is worthy of our Editor’s Choice Award!

Boosted Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Performance!

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)

The new processor feels very snappy, and appears to be more power efficient – the Galaxy S23 Ultra last longer than our Galaxy S22 Ultra on typical use.

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Colour Options Compared!

200 MP Main Camera

The biggest upgrade in the Galaxy S23 Ultra is its new Adaptive Pixel 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 can combine up to 16 pixels to form a single large pixel for much better low-light performance.

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!

We tried using the front camera, and found that it was superior to the front camera of the Galaxy S22 Ultra. More of this later in our review.

Buttons

The only buttons on Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra are all located on the right side – volume control buttons and a Power switch.

S Pen

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with the same S Pen as the Galaxy S22 Ultra. It too boasts a very quick 2.8 ms latency.

We tried swapping them and both S Pens appear to fit both devices. From what we can tell – they are physically and functionally similar, if not exactly the same.

USB Type C Port

At the bottom of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, you will find a SIM card tray, next to the USB port, as well as the S Pen in its slot.

The USB port is, of course, the new bidirectional Type C port, which is now the EU standard.

Read more : EU Orders All Brands To Use USB-C, Including Apple!

SIM Tray Without SD Card Slot

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra supports two physical SIM cards, as well as a single eSIM. The SIM tray is located at the bottom, next to the USB port.

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!

Armoured Aluminium

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is also protected on all four sides by an Armoured Aluminium frame.

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.

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Battery + Charging

 

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Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Battery Life Comparison!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with a 5,000 mAh battery, which is the same size as Galaxy S22 Ultra and the Galaxy S21 Ultra.

To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, and set its display brightness to 50%.

Why 50%? That is actually slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day, and is what we usually use in all our mobile battery life tests.

It is important to fix the brightness level, to make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.

We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with 60 Hz and 120 Hz refresh rates :

Will you look at that!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has a battery life of 13 hours with Adaptive refresh rate enabled, and a whopping 15.3 hours with the Standard refresh rate – 24% and 7.5% better respectively than the S22 Ultra!

But let’s also compare its battery life at 60 Hz and 120 Hz, against the S21 Ultra and Z Flip 3 smartphones.

Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra really shines with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz. It used 7% less power per minute, which delivered 7% longer battery life than the S22 Ultra.

Work 3.0 S23 Ultra
(60 Hz)
S22 Ultra
(60 Hz)
Z Flip 3
(60 Hz)
S21 Ultra
(60 Hz)
Battery Capacity 5,000 mAh 5,000 mAh 3,300 mAh 5,000 mAh
Battery Life 15 hrs 18 mins 14 hrs 15 mins 8 hrs 11 mins 11 hrs 22 mins
Utilisation
per min.
4.36 mAh 4.68 mAh 5.38 mAh 5.87 mAh

Adaptive Refresh Rate (120 Hz)

While the Galaxy S23 Ultra certainly used less power than the S22 Ultra, that advantage was greatly diminished with the Adaptive refresh rate enabled.

This is where we see the greatest improvement in the power efficiency of the S23 Ultra. Its display used 18% less power per minute, and delivered 22% (almost 1.5 hours) longer battery life than the S22 Ultra.

Work 3.0 S23 Ultra
(120 Hz)
S22 Ultra
(120 Hz)
S21 Ultra
(120 Hz)
Z Flip 3
(120 Hz)
Battery Capacity 5,000 mAh 5,000 mAh 5,000 mAh 3,300 mAh
Battery Life 13 hrs 0 mins 10 hrs
38 mins
10 hrs
26 mins
6 hrs
44 mins
Utilisation
per min.
5.13 mAh 6.27 mAh 6.39 mAh 6.53 mAh

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Battery Recharging Speed!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra supports up to 45 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.

So we relied on the standard 15 watt Samsung fast charger than shipped with their previous smartphones – something we believe most users will end up doing. But we used the 25 watt charger for the S21 Ultra, because it came with that charger.

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Battery Life + Charging Speed!

Work 3.0 S21 Ultra S22 Ultra S23 Ultra Z Flip 3
Battery Capacity 5,000 mAh 3,300 mAh 5,000 mAh 3,300 mAh
Charger Output 25 watts 15 watts 15 watts 15 watts
Battery Life 64 minutes 64.5 minutes 88.8 minutes 88.5 minutes
Recharging Speed
(per minute)
62.5 mAh 62.0 mAh 45.0 mAh 29.8 mAh

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra fully recharges from 20% to 100% in just under 1.5 hours hour with the standard 15 watt Samsung charger. Oddly enough, this is significantly (38%) slower than the S22 Ultra.

It’s hard to know whether this was an intentional design decision to reduce the thermal output while charging, or to drive the adoption of the 45 watt chargers (sold separately).

Fortunately, the Galaxy S23 Ultra has a significantly better battery life, which should offset the slower recharging speed. Frankly, I don’t see a real need to splurge on a new 45 watt fast charger.

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Performance

 

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Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Performance Summary

Samsung has done it again – raised the performance bar yet again with the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Built around the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy – a boosted variant of the fastest mobile SoC that exists for Android devices – it offers a tremendous boost in GPU performance, which should make gamers and mobile content creators happy.

The benchmark results amply demonstrates that you can count on the Galaxy S23 Ultra to easily handle anything and everything you throw at it.

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Performance Examined!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Work Performance

We first tested the Galaxy S23 Ultra using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browsing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.

Work 3.0 S23 Ultra S22 Ultra S21 Ultra Note20
Ultra
Galaxy
A52
Mobile Platform SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
Exynos
2100
Exynos
990
SD
750G
Performance Score 16408 12860 12535 10523 7874
Web Browsing 15680 10442 10185 8865 7021
Video Editing 7879 7444 6336 6232 5693
Writing 22257 15471 15247 11112 7454
Photo Editing 35533 30177 37847 30789 15812
Data Manipulation 12171 9691 8310 6825 6424

Will you look at that! The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy is 27.5% faster than Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 from last year.

That’s a surprisingly significant boost in performance that people upgrading from the Galaxy S22 Ultra or the S21 Ultra will notice.

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Gaming Performance

For gaming, we tested the Galaxy S23 Ultra using 3DMark, with these results :

3DMark S23 Ultra S22 Ultra Z Flip 3 Note20
Ultra
Galaxy
Note10+
Device SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 888 Exynos
990
Exynos
9825
Sling Shot Unlimited 16344 11094 9248 8026 3327
Wild Life Unlimited 14554 9106 3952 4504 3288
Wild Life
Extreme
Unlimited
3814 2220 1174 1387 528

Look at that! The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 was a head above the competition when it comes to gaming!

It was 47% to 72% faster than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, and 77% to 468% faster than the Snapdragon 888!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy is undoubtedly the gaming smartphone to beat!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Overall Performance

We then tested the Galaxy S23 Ultra using AnTuTu, yielding these results :

AnTuTu S22
Ultra
S22
Ultra
S21
Ultra
Note20
Ultra
Galaxy
A52
Device SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
Exynos
2100
Exynos
990
SD 750G
AnTuTu Score 1212174 889167 624411 522735 341908
CPU 261886 203090 166290 146783 105098
GPU 538823 402617 258995 215205 88068
Memory 236163 146002 120805 89376 60642
UX 175302 137458 78321 71371 88100

The AnTuTu benchmark confirmed that the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is truly a performance beast in every way!

The new Galaxy S23 Ultra is 36% faster than the S22 Ultra, and a whopping 94% faster than the S21 Ultra!

Its CPU was 29% faster, and its GPU was 33% faster than the S22 Ultra. When compared against the S21 Ultra, the Galaxy S23 Ultra has a 57% faster CPU and 2X faster GPU.

Thanks to its improved cooling system, its temperature jumped by about 7°C. That is noticeable, but significantly lower than the 10°C we saw with the S22 Ultra.

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Camera Performance

 

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Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Camera Performance

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra boasts a super-high resolution 200 MP main camera, built around a new ISOCELL HP2 sensor.

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 can combine up to 16 pixels to form a single large pixel for much better low-light performance.

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°.

Here are six shots I took in Singapore, using the 200 MP main camera, and the 12 MP ultra-wide angle camera.

They are 4000 x 3000 pixels in size, with a JPEG file size of between 4 MB and 8 MB – it all depends on the amount of detail in the picture. To save space, I definitely recommend that you enable HEIF – the High Efficiency Image Format.

By default, the 200 MP camera takes 12 MP photos, combining sixteen pixels into one super-large pixel. Coupled with the improved lens and wider aperture, the final photos are not only much brighter, but have significantly lower noise.

Here are six night shots to show you just how bright the Galaxy S23 Ultra photos are, taken at night handheld without flash.

Here are six shots to show you the incredible amount of detail you can capture at just 12 MP. If you need greater detail, you can always increase the resolution to the full 200 MP, but frankly – these pictures should show you that you don’t really need to.

Of course, the 200 MP capability is not there for marketing purposes. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra can truly take 200 MP photos, with a resolution of 16,320 pixels x 12,240 pixels, with each file at about 13-15 MB!

To demonstrate both the 200 MP capability and its ability to take bright photos at night, I took this 200 MP photo at Marina Bay Sands.

From that single photo, I could zoom in to make out individuals within the dome-shaped Apple Store hundreds of metres away – all unbeknownst that they were being captured on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra at night!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Camera Performance Summary

If you want the best cameras on a smartphone money can buy, you should definitely consider the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Don’t put too much stock into the 200 MP marketing spiel. Yes, the Samsung Galaxy S23 is breaking new resolution groups with its 200 MP photography capability. But most of us will probably never use it, except in special circumstances.

What you are really getting is an awesome 12 MP camera with super-large pixels for really great noise-free images, and better low-light photos.

I am especially impressed with its low-light night photography capabilities. The photos I took in Singapore look like they were well-lit by moonlight. That was not the case at all, and it was all the more impressive because I took it handheld.

The photos turned out great – bright, sharp and with much less noise than I dared to hope! There is no doubt that the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has some of the best smartphone cameras I’ve tried this year.

Next Page > Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Summary + Award

 

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Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Summary + Award

It is tough for Samsung to keep touting radical improvements in smartphone technology every year, so I was not surprised that the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is an evolutionary upgrade of the excellent Galaxy S22 Ultra.

Samsung didn’t even bother to hide that, reusing the same design almost to the millimetre! It even reuses the same S Pen from last year. Its improvements are almost entirely internal or at least not readily visible to the user.

Its display, for example, is the “same” as the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s display on paper. But improvements in its design makes it a more efficient display, improving battery life.

Its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 CPU and GPU are not only significantly faster than last year’s Gen 1 CPU and GPU, they are also more efficient, again improving battery life.

Even though it comes with the same battery capacity as the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the new Galaxy S23 Ultra boasts 22% longer battery life with its Adaptive Refresh mode enabled!

Samsung added a new 12 MP front camera, which offers better image quality at a higher resolution than the Galaxy S22 Ultra‘s 40 MP shooter that defaults to 10 MP).

But the killer feature this year is arguably the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s Adaptive Pixel main camera, which not only boasts a new 200 MP sensor but also improved lens, a slightly wider f/1.7 aperture, and better optical image stabilisation.

While its ability to take great photos in good light carries on from the Galaxy S22 Ultra‘s 108 MP Dual Pixel camera, where it really shines is in low-light, night photography. As my photo samples show, they are truly amazing.

If you really love photography, and especially like taking photos at night, or in low-light conditions, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will surely impress you.

Finally, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is tougher this year. It has the same Armor Aluminium frame, but is protected in the front and back by best-in-class Gorilla Victus 2 glass.

For these reasons, we gladly award the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra our Editor’s Choice Award! Great work, Samsung!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Price + Pre-Order Offer!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes in four main colours – Phantom Black, Green, Lavender, and Cream.

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!

Here are online purchase options for your convenience:

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

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.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

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Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Performance Examined!

Take a look at the performance of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and find out how well it performs against the competition!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Flagship Class Performance!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra runs on a boosted variant of the most powerful mobile SoC available for Android devices – the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

Fabricated on the latest 4nm TSMC process technology, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 boasts a powerful Adreno 740 GPU, as well as eight processor cores in a quad-cluster architecture :

  • a Cortex-X3 prime core running at up to 3.36 GHz (instead of 3.2 GHz),
  • two Cortex-A715 cores running at up to 2.8 GHz,
  • two Cortex-A710 cores running at up to 2.8 GHz, and
  • three Cortex-A510 cores running at up to 2.0 GHz.

On paper, this is about as powerful as it gets in 2023, but let’s take a look at how it actually performs!

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Hands-On Preview!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Colour Options Compared!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Work Performance

We first tested the Galaxy S23 Ultra using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browsing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.

Work 3.0 S23 Ultra S22 Ultra S21 Ultra Note20
Ultra
Galaxy
A52
Mobile Platform SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
Exynos
2100
Exynos
990
SD
750G
Performance Score 16408 12860 12535 10523 7874
Web Browsing 15680 10442 10185 8865 7021
Video Editing 7879 7444 6336 6232 5693
Writing 22257 15471 15247 11112 7454
Photo Editing 35533 30177 37847 30789 15812
Data Manipulation 12171 9691 8310 6825 6424

Will you look at that! The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy is 27.5% faster than Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 from last year.

That’s a surprisingly significant boost in performance that people upgrading from the Galaxy S22 Ultra or the S21 Ultra will notice.

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Gaming Performance

For gaming, we tested the Galaxy S23 Ultra using 3DMark, with these results :

3DMark S23 Ultra S22 Ultra Z Flip 3 Note20
Ultra
Galaxy
Note10+
Device SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 888 Exynos
990
Exynos
9825
Sling Shot Unlimited 16344 11094 9248 8026 3327
Wild Life Unlimited 14554 9106 3952 4504 3288
Wild Life
Extreme
Unlimited
3814 2220 1174 1387 528

Look at that! The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 was a head above the competition when it comes to gaming!

It was 47% to 72% faster than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, and 77% to 468% faster than the Snapdragon 888!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy is undoubtedly the gaming smartphone to beat!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Overall Performance

We then tested the Galaxy S23 Ultra using AnTuTu, yielding these results :

AnTuTu S23
Ultra
S22
Ultra
S21
Ultra
Note20
Ultra
Galaxy
A52
Device SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
Exynos
2100
Exynos
990
SD 750G
AnTuTu Score 1212174 889167 624411 522735 341908
CPU 261886 203090 166290 146783 105098
GPU 538823 402617 258995 215205 88068
Memory 236163 146002 120805 89376 60642
UX 175302 137458 78321 71371 88100

The AnTuTu benchmark confirmed that the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is truly a performance beast in every way!

The new Galaxy S23 Ultra is 36% faster than the S22 Ultra, and a whopping 94% faster than the S21 Ultra!

Its CPU was 29% faster, and its GPU was 33% faster than the S22 Ultra. When compared against the S21 Ultra, the Galaxy S23 Ultra has a 57% faster CPU and 2X faster GPU.

Thanks to its improved cooling system, its temperature jumped by about 7°C. That is noticeable, but significantly lower than the 10°C we saw with the S22 Ultra.

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Performance Summary

Samsung has done it again – raised the performance bar yet again with the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Built around the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy – a boosted variant of the fastest mobile SoC that exists for Android devices – it offers a tremendous boost in GPU performance, which should make gamers and mobile content creators happy.

The benchmark results amply demonstrates that you can count on the Galaxy S23 Ultra to easily handle anything and everything you throw at it.

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Prices + Pre-Order Offer!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes in four main colours – Phantom Black, Green, Lavender, and Cream.

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!

Here are online purchase options for your convenience:

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

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.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Hands-On Preview!

We got our hands on the new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, so here are our hands-on preview, and our first impressions!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Hands-On Preview!

Samsung just launched the Galaxy S23 Ultra, and here is our hands-on preview and first impressions of this flagship smartphone with a 200 MP camera!

Boosted Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Performance!

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)

The new processor feels very snappy, and appears to be more power efficient – the Galaxy S23 Ultra last longer than our Galaxy S22 Ultra on typical use. We will have battery benchmarks up shortly!

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Colour Options Compared!

200 MP Main Camera

The biggest upgrade in the Galaxy S23 Ultra is its new Adaptive Pixel 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 for much better low-light performance.

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!

We tried using the front camera, and found that it was superior to the front camera of the Galaxy S22 Ultra. More of this later in our review.

Buttons

The only buttons on Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra are all located on the right side – volume control buttons and a Power switch.

S Pen

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with the same S Pen as the Galaxy S22 Ultra. It too boasts a very quick 2.8 ms latency.

We tried swapping them and both S Pens appear to fit both devices. From what we can tell – they are physically and functionally similar, if not exactly the same.

USB Type C Port

At the bottom of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, you will find a SIM card tray, next to the USB port, as well as the S Pen in its slot.

The USB port is, of course, the new bidirectional Type C port, which is now the EU standard.

Read more : EU Orders All Brands To Use USB-C, Including Apple!

SIM Tray Without SD Card Slot

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra supports two physical SIM cards, as well as a single eSIM. The SIM tray is located at the bottom, next to the USB port.

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!

Armoured Aluminium

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is also protected on all four sides by an Armoured Aluminium frame.

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!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes in four main colours – Phantom Black, Green, Lavender, and Cream.

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!

Here are online purchase options for your convenience:

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

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.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : All 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!

 

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!

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

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.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy S23 Series : All The Leaks So Far!

Take a look at the key details and specifications that has leaked ahead of the official launch of the Samsung Galaxy S23 series smartphones!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Series : All The Leaks So Far!

Ahead of the official launch of the Galaxy S23 series, key details and specifications of Samsung’s upcoming flagship smartphones have leaked!

Boosted Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

The Samsung Galaxy S23 smartphones will use 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 series:

Specifications Galaxy S23 Series Galaxy S22 Series
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.

On top of that, the new Samsung ISOCELL HP2 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.

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Everything Leaked So Far!

Similar Telephoto + Wide-Angle Cameras

The Samsung Galaxy S23 series will reuse the same 3X and 10X zoom cameras from the Galaxy S22 series, 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.

Colour Options

The Samsung Galaxy S23 series smartphones will come in four colour options:

  • Botanic Green
  • Cotton Flower
  • Misty Lilac
  • Phantom Black

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Specifications Leaked So Far!

French specifications for the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (SM-918B) smartphone have leaked!

Specifications Samsung Galaxy S23 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 (front and back)
Water Resistance IP68
OS One UI 5.1 (Android 13)
Platform Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
CPU 1 x Arm Cortex-X3 core (3.36 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)
GPU Qualcomm Adreno 740
Memory +
Storage
8 GB + 128 GB / 256 GB
12 GB + 256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB
External Storage NA
Front Camera 12 MP camera, f/2.2
Main Cameras 200 MP Dual 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
Connectivity Wi-Fi : Wi-Fi 6E
Bluetooth : BT 5.3
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
10 watt wireless charging
Wireless PowerShare
Dimensions 78.1 mm wide
163.4 mm tall
8.9 mm thick
Weight 233 grams

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Series : Prices + Offers Leaked So Far!

Higher Prices

This is the only dampener amongst the leaks – be prepared to pay more for the Galaxy S23 smartphones! Here are the leaked prices for Europe:

Models Variant Launch
Prices
Premium Over
S22 Models
Galaxy S23 8 GB + 128 GB
8 GB + 256 GB
€949/959
€1019
+ €99/109
+ €119
Galaxy S23+ 8 GB + 256 GB
8 GB + 512 GB
€1209
€1329
+ €159
+ €229
Galaxy S23 Ultra 8 GB + 256 GB
12 GB + 512 GB
€1399/1409
€1589
NA
+ €139

Pre-Order Offer

While the increased price may be disappointing, Samsung will potentially boost pre-order sales by offering a free upgrade to the next storage variant.

For example, if you pre-order the Galaxy S23 with 128 GB storage, you will get the 256 GB variant instead. This is based on a leak on the Samsung UK Business portal that states:

Pre-order from Samsung.com by 16.02.23. Operates as a price discount:

Pre-order the larger storage variant (S23 256GB, 523+ 512GB, 523 Ultra 512GB) by 16.02.23 and pay the future price of the smaller storage variant (523 128GB, S23+ 256GB, S23 Ultra 256GB).

This free upgrade will only be offered for the pre-order period, and is essentially a 10% discount on the price of the higher-capacity model.

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

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.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Everything Leaked So Far!

Take a look at the key details and specifications that has leaked ahead of the official launch of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Everything Leaked So Far!

Ahead of the official launch of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, key details and specifications of Samsung’s upcoming flagship smartphone have leaked!

Boosted Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will use 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.

On top of that, the new Samsung ISOCELL HP2 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.

Similar Telephoto + Wide-Angle Cameras

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will reuse 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.

Colour Options

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphones will come in four colour options:

  • Botanic Green
  • Cotton Flower
  • Misty Lilac
  • Phantom Black

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Series : All The Leaks So Far!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Specifications Compared!

The specifications for the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (SM-918B) smartphone have leaked, and in this table, we compare it 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
8 GB + 256 GB
12 GB + 512 GB / 1 TB
8 GB + 128 GB
12 GB + 256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB
External Storage NA
Front Camera 12 MP camera, f/2.2 40 MP camera, f/2.2
Main Cameras 200 MP Dual 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
10 watt wireless charging
Wireless PowerShare
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 233 grams 229 grams

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Prices + Offers Leaked So Far!

Sadly, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will be significantly more expensive than last year’s Galaxy S22 Ultra!. Here are the leaked prices for Europe:

Models Variant Launch
Prices
Premium Over
S22 Models
Galaxy S23 Ultra 8 GB + 256 GB
12 GB + 512 GB
€1399/1409
€1589
NA
+ €139

While the increased price may be disappointing, Samsung will potentially boost pre-order sales by offering a free upgrade to the next storage variant.

For example, if you pre-order the Galaxy S23 Ultra with 256 GB storage, you will get the 512 GB variant instead. This is based on a leak on the Samsung UK Business portal that states:

Pre-order from Samsung.com by 16.02.23. Operates as a price discount:

Pre-order the larger storage variant (S23 256GB, 523+ 512GB, 523 Ultra 512GB) by 16.02.23 and pay the future price of the smaller storage variant (523 128GB, S23+ 256GB, S23 Ultra 256GB).

This free upgrade will only be offered for the pre-order period, and is essentially a 10% discount on the price of the higher-capacity model.

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

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.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!