Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Long-Term Review: The Ultimate Flagship Experience!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra price is Rs.1,04,990 for the 12GB RAM and 256GB variant. Furthermore, the 12GB and 512GB variants costs Rs.1,14,99.

It is available in Green, Phantom Black and Cream colors.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra packs the following items inside the box:

• Phone
• Cable
• Manual
• SIM Ejector

Before we talk in detail about the device, let’s see what the on-paper specs look like:

• Display: 6.8-inch Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x with 120Hz
• Chipset: Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
• RAM & ROM: 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM, 1TB 12GB RAM
• Software: Android 14 based on One UI 6
• Rear camera: 200MP+10MP+10MP+12MP
• Selfie camera: 12MP
• Battery: 5,000mAh with 45W charging
• Weight: 234 grams
• Dimensions: 163.4 x 78.1 x 8.9 mm

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has an armour aluminium build with pointed edges and a brick slab-like design. You get a slightly curved edges on the back and a similar curved screen on the front.

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Samsung hasn’t changed the design of the phone compared to the S22 Ultra which looks similar to the S24 Ultra. You get the traffic light camera design on the back with a quad camera setup and a minimal Samsung logo at the bottom.

I have the Titanium Blue colour variant of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra for my long-term review, and the phone has held up pretty well despite being released a year ago. However, I found the pointed edges make the phone uncomfortable to hold after a while, so I highly recommend using a case with it.

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Despite its massive footprint, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra fits comfortably well in my hands, and I found its form factor to be perfect for someone like me who prefers larger devices. It weighs 234 grams and is 8.9mm slim, which is pretty considering you get a 5,000mAh battery and S-Pen inside.

Coming to ports and placements, you get the volume rocker and the power button on the right, while the left and top remain relatively clean. At the bottom, you will find the USB-C port for charging, speaker grille, S-Pen and SIM Tray.

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Talking the S-Pen it is perfect for jotting down notes on the go, signing documents and taking group photos. It is one major feature that sets the S23 Ultra apart from the rest of the Android phones.

On the durability front, Samsung has done a pretty good job as you get IP68 rating, armor aluminum frame and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front as well as the back.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has a quad camera setup on the back with a 200-megapixel primary sensor. It also has a 10-megapixel telephoto lens with 3x zoom, a 10-megapixel periscope lens with 10x zoom, and a 12-megapixel ultrawide-angle sensor. On the front, there is a 12-megapixel selfie camera.

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During the day, the 200-megapixel Samsung HP2 sensor can take fantastic shots with plenty of detail and contrast. The photos have plenty of saturation, resulting in social media-ready images. Furthermore, the 12-megapixel ultrawide angle lens can take great photos with the same color-science consistency as the main lens.

The main highlights are two 12-megapixel telephoto lenses with 3x zoom and 10x zoom, respectively. It is one of the few phones available and perhaps the only one with 10x zoom capability. It is not just a mere party trick but astonishing how much the phone can zoom in.

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For instance, I was able to zoom in on a plane flying in the sky and still see the details thanks to the 100x digital zoom, although the image becomes unusable and unstable at 100x.I really enjoyed the camera of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra during my long-term review.

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I also liked the ability to use the button on the S-Pen as a shutter when taking group photos or selfies.During low-light shots, the phone can take great photos with plenty of detail and dynamic range.

When it comes to selfies, the phone can take amazing photos with accurate skin tones and details. You can record videos up to 8K at 30 FPS from the primary camera and 4K at 60 FPS from the front camera. Overall, the S23 Ultra still remains a versatile camera beast even a year after its debut.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra packs a 5,000mAh battery, the biggest among the S series. The phone can easily last a day on casual and moderate usage. My usage included playing games, taking photos, scrolling through Instagram reels and watching TV shows.The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is one of the few phones that can easily a last a day after an year during my long-term review.

However, Samsung does not include a charger in the box as part of the “flagship experience”, and you will need to buy one separately. It charged in 1 hour and 15 minutes using a 100W PD charger.

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Although I wish Samsung would add at least 67W charging in future flagships, the possibility seems unlikely in the foreseeable future. There is also 15W wireless charging support for those looking to get rid of those pesky cables.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra boasts a massive 6.8-inch Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. It has a sharp resolution of 3088 x 1440 pixels and a pixel density of a whopping 500ppi.

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For those unaware, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra remains the last Samsung flagship with a curved panel, and the company switched to flat ones, starting with the S24 series.I certainly enjoyed using the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra during my long-term review as I found the massive screen perfect for my huge hands.

You get the Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for protection, which is the best possible protection possible next to the Corning Gorilla Armor on the S24 Ultra. The phone has a centre punch hole cutout and slim bezels surrounding the screen with a sizeable chin at the bottom.Since this is a Quad HD+ display, you can choose between 720p, 1080p and 1440p in the Settings.Moreover, you can also choose between Natural and Vivid color modes depending on your preferences.

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Regarding content consumption, I enjoyed watching Season 2 of Tulsa King. The large display gives an immersive experience, and you do get HDR 10+ support, although Dolby Vision support is missing as usual on Samsung devices.

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Thanks to the 1750 nits of peak brightness and 1200 nits of HBM brightness, I was easily able to view the phone under bright sunlight. There is also a Vision Booster mode if you need more brightness, and boy, oh boy, is the display really bright! Make sure to turn this feature off indoors; otherwise, you risk harming your eyes with blindly high brightness.

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The 120Hz panel makes navigating the user interface smooth. LTPO support dynamically adjusts the refresh rate based on the content. In the Settings, you can choose between Standard (60Hz) and Adaptive (LTPO).

For security, you get an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor that is fast and accurate. Furthermore, the phone has stereo speaker setup that is loud enough to fill an entire room. There is also NFC support with Samsung Pay apart from UWB and dual SIM connectivity.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is powered by last year’s flagship chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy. It uses a custom version of the 8 Gen 2 with higher CPU and GPU clock speeds than the normal version.

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I have the 12GB+256GB variant of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra for review, and you get UFS 4.0 storage across all variants. During day-to-day tasks, the phone remains smooth, with no lags or stutters, which is no surprise given that it’s a flagship phone.

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When it comes to more demanding tasks like gaming, you can BGMI at 90 FPS (Smooth and Extreme+) and CODM at Smooth and Ultra (120 FPS). The phone did not get warm even during extended gaming periods, and the frame rates remained stable. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is one of the few flagship phones that has managed to hold up well even after a year of its launch.

Regarding benchmarks, the phone scores were 2029 on the single-core test and 5204 on the multi-core Geekbench test. Furthermore, the phone throttles to 56 per cent of its peak performance and has a 3D Mark Wildlife Stability score of 51.3 per cent.

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In addition, the phone has an AnTuTu score of 1141642 and a score of 120534 on the AnTuTu storage test. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra remains a blazing fast performer and I did not face any issues with it during my long-term review.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra originally arrived with Android 13 based on One UI 5 and has received the Android 14 update based on OneUI 6.1.1. The phone will receive another three years of OS updates until Android 17, and I enjoyed the software experience during my Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra long-term review.

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The S23 Ultra offers the cleanest Samsung experience to date, with no bloatware, just like you would expect from a flagship phone. There are plenty of features, including Samsung Dex, that allow you to turn your phone into a portable computer once you connect it to a display.

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Other features include a multi-window, one-hand mode, gesture support, a gaming hub, cool S-Pen capabilities, and intelligent suggestions. The phone has also received all the Galaxy AI features via software update, including Live Translation, AI Summarizer, Note Assist, Generative Edit, and more. The Circle To Search feature, which debuted on the S24 Ultra, is now available on this phone.

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With three years of more OS updates left, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra still remains a viable option for many users. It has a clean software experience and has received the same Galaxy AI features as its successor.