The Samsung Galaxy Space is now open to the public, from now until March 12, 2023!
Take a look at what it is offering, and check it out yourself!
Samsung Galaxy Space : Open To Public Till March 12!
Samsung Galaxy Space is an experiential space created by Samsung Malaysia Electronics to offer visitors the chance to experience the power of Nightography with the latest Galaxy S23 devices.
It has four experiential zones – The Alley, The Ballie, The Escape, and Splash Art – each offering a different and unique opportunity to explore your photographic creativity.
Take a stroll through The Alley and snap amazing photos of its neon-lit features, before taking a dive in the ball pit of The Ballie. Then The Escape takes you on a video journey through KL’s coolest nightscapes. Finally, Splash Art lets you unleash your inner artist by literally making a splash!
After enjoying all four experiential zones, don’t forget to pick up a free cup of coffee at the barista van!
The Samsung Galaxy Space also features Pingmin Market – the latest trend in cultural and creative market, which supports local F&B and handicraft vendors. There, you can take your creativity to the next level in trendy workshops and daily activities like Busker jamming, k-pop dance battles, and more!
Tantalise your taste buds with the mouth-watering Daifuku workshop or unleash your inner artist at the Fluid Pouring workshop. And DIY enthusiasts out there should not miss out on the Tufting Coaster workshop, where you’ll learn how to make some cool coasters using tufting techniques.
If you’re a K-Pop fanatic, get hyped for the K-Pop Dance battle where you can learn the hottest Korean dance routines and show off your moves! On top of that, you will have the opportunity to also meet Hakken, the famous Malaysian cosplayer from Sarawak, at a fan meet session at 2 PM, 4 March 2023.
Samsung Galaxy Space : Some Photos Inside!
Here are some photos from inside Samsung Galaxy Space, to show you what you could be missing out if you don’t go!
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
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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.
The new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) :
Adaptive : Get smoother animation and scrolling by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate between 1 Hz and 120 Hz
Standard : Get longer battery life with a 60 Hz screen refresh rate
By default, the Galaxy S23 Ultra uses the Adaptive mode for smoother graphics, but you can choose to switch to the Standard mode for longer battery life.
In addition, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has three display resolution options (Settings > Display > Screen resolution) :
WQHD+ : 3088 x 1440 pixels
FHD+ : 2316 x 1080 pixels
HD+ : 1544 x 720 pixels
By default, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra uses the FHD+ resolution, but you can switch to the full WQHD+ resolution for sharper graphics, or drop down to HD+ for a longer battery life.
Those five display settings affect battery life. Even though the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with a large 5,000 mAh battery, it won’t last forever. So which display resolution and refresh rate should you choose?
Many people and even some experts will recommend that you switch to the best possible settings – you paid for those features after all! But how much will they suck your new smartphone’s battery life?
To find out, I ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and these were the best results I obtained:
Display
Resolution
Standard
Refresh
Dynamic
Refresh
WQHD+
15 hours 9 minutes
12 hours 7 minutes
FHD+
15 hours 18 minutes
13 hours
HD+
16 hours 46 minutes
14 hours 34 minutes
Best Display Resolution : WQHD+
Switching to the WQHD+ resolution will definitely give you the sharpest and best possible display on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Normally, this would suck up a significant amount of power, which is why Samsung set the Galaxy S23 Ultra to use the FHD+ option by default.
But as my tests show, using the maximum display resolution of WQHD+ barely dents its battery life!
At the Standard 60 Hz refresh rate, you lose just 9 minutes – which is a drop of just under 0.11% – practically imperceptible.
If you switch to the Dynamic Refresh Rate mode, you lose 53 minutes or 6.8% of battery life. That sounds like a lot, but you still have just over 12 hours of battery life.
So unless you must have the longest-possible battery life, I recommend you switch to the WQHD+ resolution.
The low resolution of HD+ definitely increases your battery life, but not as much as you might think. You gain about 1.5 hours longer battery life. Not worth putting up with soft-looking images and text IMHO.
Best Display Refresh Rate : Up To Your Preference
The change in refresh rate affects the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s battery life far more than changing its display resolution.
At the WQHD+ resolution, switching to Dynamic Refresh cuts your battery life by 3 hours, or about 20%.
At the FHD+ resolution, switching to Dynamic Refresh cuts your battery life by 2 hours 18 minutes, or about 15%.
At the HD+ resolution, switching to Dynamic Refresh cuts your battery life by 2 hours 12 minutes, or about 13%.
If you are fine with a 12 hour battery life, and most would be, you should definitely turn on Dynamic Refresh Rate.
But if you want a longer battery life (like if you’re on a trip), you can always turn on the Standard refresh rate for a 15%-20% boost in battery life to about 15 hours.
I highly recommend that you try both refresh rate options, and see if you can feel a noticeable difference. People who play mobile games will probably find it noticeable, while non-gamers might not appreciate the difference in refresh rate.
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.
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!
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!
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.
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. We will have battery benchmarks up shortly!
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.
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 : 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra boasts a super-high resolution 200 MP main camera, built around a new ISOCELL HP2 sensor used in the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
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°.
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.
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, against 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!
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.
Take a look at the camera performance of the new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and find out why it’s such an awesome smartphone for photographers!
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : 200 MP Camera FTW!
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is their flagship smartphone for the year 2023, and it boasts the best cameras money can buy.
Headlining its top-of-the-line quad-camera system is a new Adaptive Pixel camera, which is built around the 200 MP ISOCELL HP2 (S5KHP2) sensor, and improved optically-stabilised lens with a larger f/1.7 aperture.
You can seamlessly switch to its ultra-wide camera, with a 12 MP sensor and a f/2.2 aperture; or optically zoom up to 10X with its dual telephoto and periscope cameras.
In this review, we are going to take a look at the photography capability of Galaxy S23 Ultra, and show you just how well its cameras perform!
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : 200 MP Camera Review!
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra boasts a super-high resolution 200 MP main camera, built around a new ISOCELL HP2 sensor used in the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
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°.
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 : 200 MP Camera 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.
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.
The new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) :
Adaptive : Get smoother animation and scrolling by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 120 Hz
Standard : Get longer battery life with a 60 Hz screen refresh rate
The Galaxy S21 Ultra also has an Adaptive mode, which dynamically refreshes between 10 Hz and 120 Hz
The new Galaxy S23 Ultra and last year’s S22 Ultra improved on that, with an Adaptive mode that dynamically refreshes between 1 Hz and 120 Hz.
By default, the Galaxy S23 Ultra uses the Adaptive mode for smoother graphics, but you can choose to switch to the Standard mode for longer battery life.
In the next section, we will look at how the two refresh rate options affect the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s battery life.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
We got our hands on a golden sample of the new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone, so let’s take a look at what’s inside the box!
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : A Quick Primer!
Samsung just launched the Galaxy S23 Ultra, with a 200 MP camera, and here is a quick summary of its key features!
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)
200 MP Main Camera
Arguably 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°.
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!
Colour Options
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphones will come in four colour options:
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 : 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!
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.
Here are some photos I took earlier in my hotel room in Singapore:
Do note that this is a golden sample – the first examples of the final, customer-approved device manufactured at the Samsung factory. While the device itself is “final”, there may be some differences in its packaging.
For example, in the video above and the following photos below, you will see that the box was not sealed. Rather the two security stickers are inside the box.
In addition, the box lacks the usual label at the back which lists a summary of its key specifications, as well as the storage capacity of the device inside.
The actual retail box in your country may also include additional pamphlets, although you should not count on getting any additional accessories.
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.
Samsung just launched three Galaxy S23 flagship smartphones, and here are the price list and pre-order offers for Malaysia!
Samsung Galaxy S23 : Models + Colours In Malaysia
Samsung will offer these models in Malaysia:
Galaxy S23 : 128 GB / 256 GB
Galaxy S23+ : 256 GB / 512 GB
Galaxy S23 Ultra : 256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB
The Samsung Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphones will be available in four main colours with a matte finish :
Phantom Black
Green
Lavender
Cream
Before the new Samsung Galaxy S23 series smartphones were launched, 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 three videos comparing the new Samsung Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+ and Galaxy S23 Ultra in all four colour options.
While the increased prices 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!
To take advantage of these offers, you can pre-order here! Note : the mini-site isn’t up yet…
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.
Samsung just launched the new Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone, and here is our comparison of all four main colours!
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : 4 Main Colours Compared!
Samsung just launched the new Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone, and it will be available in four main colours with a matte finish :
Phantom Black
Green
Lavender
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!
In addition to the four main colours, Samsung will also make these four special colours available exclusively through online orders on the Samsung.com website:
Lime
Sky Blue
Graphite
Red
However, I have no idea if these four special colours are readily available for the pre-order, or will be held back until after the pre-order period.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Same Price For All Colours!
Regardless of the colour you prefer, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will only vary in price according to storage capacity.
Here are the official launch prices for the three available storage capacities:
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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!
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.
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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.
