At first glance, the top model of Samsung’s flagship line has changed even less, but this is not entirely true. The protective glass of the Galaxy S23 Ultra screen is not rounded so much on the sides, which made it possible to make the side edges flatter.

This had a positive effect on the feeling of use, because the smartphone is trivially more comfortable to hold, not to mention the actual increase in the usable area of the display.

At the same time, the design of the S23 Ultra has not changed: the front and back panels are covered by GorillaGlass Victus 2 protective glass, and they are connected by an aircraft aluminum frame. The body of the smartphone is also protected against water and dust according to the IP68 standard.

Despite updating the specifications, the dimensions of the S23 Ultra have not changed much, the device has become only a little wider and heavier: 163.4 x 78.1 x 8.9 mm, 233 grams.

The smartphone received a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X touch display with a resolution of 3080×1440 pixels, a brightness of 1750 nits, as well as an adaptive refresh rate, which, depending on the content, can go up to 120 Hz and go down to 1 Hz. This reduces battery drain when the screen shows a static image.

Image quality is at a very high level, the display can provide 100% of the DCI-P3 color space, and it’s VDE certified to prove it.

Another feature of the S23 Ultra screen is a built-in ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. It works quite quickly and does not affect image quality.

Last year, Samsung significantly improved the S Pen, reducing the input delay from 9 to 2.8 milliseconds and increasing the accuracy of the coordinates from 360 to 480 cycles per second. The same version of the S Pen with support for 4096 degrees of pressure is used in the Galaxy S23 Ultra. The pen, like in the Note models, is hidden in the smartphone case and is therefore always at hand.

The top model uses the same platform with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, as well as younger versions. Therefore, the advantages here are the same, I will not list them again.

I’d rather talk about another big update in the S23 Ultra, which concerns the camera unit. Samsung used its latest 200-megapixel wide-angle module for the first time. And in general, the smartphone has a set of four cameras:

200 MP wide-angle, 1/1.3 inch, f/1.7, laser autofocus, optical stabilization;
10 MP periscopic telephoto, 1/3.52 inch, f/4.9, PDAF, optical stabilization, 10x zoom;
10 MP telephoto, 1/3.52 inch, f/2.4, PDAF, optical stabilization, 3x zoom;
12 MP ultra-wide, 1/2.55 inch, f/2.2, 120˚, PDAF, electronic stabilization.

Why 200 megapixels? The whole point of the new camera is that it allows you to combine pixels and thereby reduce the resolution of the image to provide higher quality, especially in low light. So, in addition to the full 200 megapixels, you can get 50-megapixel photos or 12.5 megapixels from this camera. Moreover, in the latest version, the size of the pixels in the camera will reach 2.4 micrometers, which is a lot and should provide a lot of light. Also, the 200-megapixel matrix allows you to support 8K video recording at 30 frames per second without any problems.

All of this makes the S23 Ultra a pretty versatile tool for mobile photography enthusiasts.

The smartphone also received stereo speakers that were tuned by AKG specialists and supports Dolby Atmos technology. It sounds very loud, at first glance, a little louder than last year’s models.

A headset can be connected to the S23 Ultra wirelessly via Bluetooth 5.2, or you can buy an adapter with USB Type-C for leading models.

The device is equipped with a 5000 mAh battery, and also supports fast wired charging up to 45 W and wireless up to 15 W. As before, the smartphone can be used to charge accessories such as smart watches or headphones.

This was just the first look at the Galaxy S23 Ultra. The model really turned out to be interesting and I hope that we will be able to tell you more about it shortly in a full review.