Joined in 2023 
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The camera is sure an update on the previous generation, but the battery reads like a winning change, too.
In daylight, images are sharp and crisp offering great colours and vibrancy, with some reasonable versatility in what the S23 Ultra offers. We were able to capture solid shots at most times, with decent macros, albeit not as good as what Apple offers in its flagship models of late. About the only major issue we have is that the camera can also feel a touch slow to fire, which seems to be a consistent Samsung issue. We've seen it on what must have years worth of Samsung phones, and it's a bug that just doesn't seem to go away. Samsung hasn't made many changes to the S-Pen, which can still feel a touch flimsy, but isn't bad overall. It still does all the things you'd expect an S-Pen to do, such as writing and scribbling on the screen when the phone is on standby, doing more when the phone is actually awake, and using it as a presentation controller with the handy button on the inside. However, if you’re used to a smaller phone, using the S23 Ultra isn’t necessarily easy, and will become a two-hand phone. Glance at the Samsung S23 Ultra and you’ll see a phone that resembles much of the current focus of last year’s phone, the S22 Ultra. The camera feels slightly more flush and the whole thing is possibly a bit firmer, but Samsung’s design is largely the same.You might wonder why there's such a big camera in this phone, and that's fair. After all, megapixels don't always make for a better camera, something many a photographer learned over a decade ago when the term "megapixel myth" popped up. In general, high-end phones tend to capture at 12 megapixels, and with the S23 Ultra, you're effectively getting 16 times the photo data for every pixel in its images, a feature specific to Samsung's Isocell HP2 sensor, which this phone uses. It's a similar deal in the world of mobile performance, and because this is a 5G phone, you should be able to get solid 5G speeds out, as well.
For the most part, however, the camera delivers quite a bit of performance, and few will really have a reason to complain about it. BatteryPerhaps unsurprisingly, that starts with the system spec, which is upgraded from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. If that just reads like jargon, think of it as the latest and greatest fast mobile chip, because that’s exactly what it is. It's an idea Samsung has been pushing since the S20 Ultra popped up, and while the tech is getting better, close-up images at extreme limits on the S23 Ultra aren't a huge improvement. You can snap a decent picture of the Moon, but most pictures outside of this won't be super brilliant, and really undermine the best feature of the S23 Ultra camera: that impressive 200 megapixels.
Mind you, all of this is the same as last time, as is the in-screen fingerprint sensor and the hole-punch selfie camera working as a facial login. Samsung has switched the camera in that selfie camera, but it’s not the only place to see a shift. PerformanceClose-up images through the complex camera setup sees some interesting shots that are possible, but a slightly slower lens on each means you won't find as much light control. You'll still find four cameras to speak of in the Ultra, but strangely they're not evenly matched: there are also two 10 megapixel cameras for 3x and 10x telephoto and a 12 megapixel ultra-wide camera, alongside that massive 200 megapixel shooter. With all of that tech inside what is easily one of the biggest phones around, using the phone can be a bit of a mixed bag. Simply put, there is no conceivable reason beyond "owning the newest" to upgrade from the S22 Ultra to the S23 Ultra. The camera isn't a massive leap, and neither is the spec bump. That upgrade would be an upgrade for upgrade's sake. Pit the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra against Asus' high-end gaming phone from last year, the ROG Phone 6 Pro, and Samsung's phone is faster again, even when the Asus model is on its high-speed "X" mode.
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