Getting started with the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: 200 Mpx photo sensor, Qualcomm chip and sturdy design

Like every year at the same time, Samsung is organizing its Galaxy Unpacked event today, the first “big” conference before the ballet at the MWC in Barcelona (end of February) dedicated to mobile telephony. The Galaxy S23, smartphones expected for months, are obviously the stars of the moment, alongside the new Galaxy Books in the PC segment.

The most anticipated, but also the most expensive and imposing of the lot, is therefore the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which oversees a range also including the S23 and S23+. This smartphone sports practically unchanged dimensions, since it measures 163.4 x 78.1 x 8.9 mm for a weight of 233 g, against 163.3 x 77.9 x 8.9 mm and 228 g for the Galaxy S22 Ultra. It also remains IP68 certified.

The integration of the photo modules on the back of the device is identical, as is that of the S Pen stylus on its lower edge. In short, only connoisseurs will be able to tell the difference between the two products. These are still massive smartphones that won’t fit all hands. We note, however, that the South Korean has less curved edges of the screen of his S23 Ultra to improve grip and, no doubt, facilitate the use of the side shortcut bar included in One UI. A change altogether tenuous for a pleasant product in hand and whose weight is not too much felt.

There is a Dynamic Amoled 2X screen with a diagonal of 6.8 inches, with a definition of 3088 x 1440 pixels and a refresh rate varying from 1 to 120 Hz, LTPO requires. Characteristics therefore unchanged. The panel retains a maximum brightness of 1750 nits – identical to that announced last year – except that it is no longer necessary to activate a parameter to unlock it. Finally, this screen is protected by a Gorilla Glass Victus 2, and no longer Victus +.

The Exynos gives way to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

The changes under the hood concern neither the S23 Ultra’s battery, maintained at 5000 mAh and flanked by 45 W charging, nor its under-display fingerprint reader, nor its lack of a microSD port. On the other hand, the storage space of the device starts at 256 GB, and no longer at 128 GB, which partly explains its rising starting price.

Above all, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is here at the controls. Exit therefore the Exynos, whose version integrated into the Galaxy S22 had struggled to convince, makes way for the Qualcomm chip that Samsung indicates optimized for its devices in order to ensure better autonomy and suitable photo processing. We therefore hope for real gains on this point.

Note that the chipset is accompanied by 8 GB of RAM in the smartphone with 256 GB of storage, but that 12 GB of LPDDR5 are included in the 512 GB and 1 TB versions. hand.

Always more pixels

Last, but not least, is photography. The main sensor of the Galaxy S22 Ultra displayed 108 megapixels on the counter, for final shots in 12.5 Mpx. Its successor uses the Isocell HP2, a 200 Mpx in-house sensor (f / 1.7 optics) which delivers images of 50 or 12.5 Mpx, at the user’s choice.

The promise is therefore that of ever more detailed photos during the day – they seemed successful to us –, but also of even more advanced processing for ever more efficient night results. We were unable to assess this point during our daylight tests; the passage of the Galaxy S23 Ultra in our laboratory will be an opportunity to compare its performance to that of the S22 Ultra.

The other modules of the S23 Ultra claim 12 Mpx (ultra wide-angle f / 2.2 optics) and 10 Mpx (telephoto lenses equivalent to 69 mm and 230 mm for x3 and x10 zooms). The Dual-Pixel autofocus, which promises rapid focusing over the entire surface of the sensor, is available on all modules, and no longer only on the main one. Storage-intensive 8K video at 60 fps is also making its debut this year.

Let’s add pell-mell that the Galaxy S23 Ultra benefits from a design comprising a little more recycled elements than in 2022, that it supports two nano-SIM cards and an e-SIM, and that it will benefit from four years of software updates, backed by a luster of security patches.

At first glance, it leaves aside the compromises observed last year, but with general inflation and increased storage for its basic version, the price of the device is affected: count 1419 € at least (8/ 256 GB), €1,599 for the 12/512 GB model and €1,839 for the 12 GB/1 TB version. Everything is now available for pre-order for delivery from February 17.