I have used the Galaxy S23 Ultra long enough to evaluate whether you should buy it or not

The Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event that just took place seems to be an exclusive event for the S23 Ultra, although there are also other products such as the Galaxy S23, S23 Plus and Galaxy Book 3 Series. This is also understandable when this is the company’s most high-end (traditional) smartphone line, a pioneer in many technologies and certainly has high expectations in terms of sales.

To be fair, this is not a “makeover” product compared to last year’s Galaxy S22 Ultra, it seems to be an upgraded version with the latest components of 2023 only. What are these upgrades, enough for owners of the Galaxy S22 Ultra to “sell out” and upgrade? I tested this device right before the official product launch on the morning of 2/2, enough time to help you feel why this machine is worth upgrading if you are using a flagship. Some Android.

Straight beveled edge, less “afraid” to hold

In the search for a replacement for my Galaxy S10 Plus last year, the two products that I considered from Samsung “home” were the Galaxy S22 Plus and the S22 Ultra. One factor, although small, but also made me choose S22 Plus over the Ultra version is ergonomics, when the S22 Ultra has a large size (6.8 inches) and has beveled edges that make it smooth and difficult. hold.

Holding an expensive smartphone but not being able to hold it firmly in your hand, using it on the street just afraid of falling is “lost” a lot of money. That’s not to mention if you lie down to watch a movie at night, the camera hand falls in your face, it’s a disaster!

The Galaxy S23 Ultra has had a slight change in the exterior design, with both the front screen and the back glass being less beveled, creating a thicker and flatter edge than the previous generation. Although it is still a reinforced aluminum border, it is still quite slippery, but a slight change in the grip angle also helps this machine to be less “fearful” than its predecessor.

Powerful configuration and better heat dissipation

As mentioned, the Galaxy S23 Ultra seems to be the Galaxy S22 Ultra that has been changed “gut” with components of 2023. In which the biggest upgrade for many people, directly affecting the daily use experience is processor inside. The transition from Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 to 8 Gen 2 is only a few seconds apart, but the difference in performance is also worth mentioning.

We will send you a more in-depth review of the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s performance, especially in gaming. But in quick benchmark tests, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (special edition for Galaxy devices) has 24% higher Antutu performance, multi-core Geekbench increases 42% and 3DMark Wild Life Extreme increases 53% compared to Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. The device will operate cooler because Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 itself is a chip that works with higher performance, giving off less heat than the previous version; Plus, the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s own vapor chamber cooling system is also introduced by Samsung as having a significant upgrade.

Another feature that is also talked about by the company is the Ray Tracing feature, which allows real-time light analysis to create more beautiful, “eye-catching” game scenes. This feature will take time for game publishers to apply to their products, but when widely deployed, it will open up new visual experiences for gamers – especially in combination with capable screens. The ability to automatically change brightness and contrast according to the environment and content displayed on the S23 Ultra.

Shoot at night as clear as day

When talking about the camera system of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Samsung spends a lot of time talking about Nightography capabilities. In fact, this is not a new feature because it is already present in the S22 Series, but now the algorithm is more complete, the anti-vibration ability continues to be upgraded to capture more light without shaking, as well as applying on a new camera sensor.

The night shooting ability of this machine can be encapsulated in one word, “Confident”. No matter how dark it is, “dark” or completely dark at 3-4 am, the camera does not make me afraid to go out to the street to take pictures. The Nightography algorithm is smart enough to expose but still doesn’t make moving objects (passers, cars) blurred.

Another point worth mentioning is that the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s nighttime portrait mode cropping algorithm is commendable. In complex lighting conditions, bright and dark, but the subject in the portrait is still accurately cut, without the hair or the glasses – the former is often the most recognizable feature of a portrait photograph. dark from smartphone.

Zoom as far as the eye can see

Talking about the ability to zoom far, the market has to “take off” with the Galaxy S Ultra series! Whether the zoom image quality of the Galaxy S23 Ultra is stronger than that of the S22 Ultra, it will take more time to experience it in reality, but to say it is the best on the market or not is “naturally possible”!

In the 50-100x zoom photos, the device has very good anti-shake ability, even sometimes when you want to move to another place to take another, there is a slight delay because the device is still “aiming” at the subject. before. Shooting at these far thresholds, the device will have to “compensate” for more details from other cameras as well as by algorithms, so when you click to take a photo, it will break, but when you go to the photo folder, there will be a sharper image.

I still maintain the view that the “super-telephoto” zoom of the Galaxy S Ultra series is not an “urgent” feature, used every day. But again to confirm: This is a top-of-the-line device, so anything is a must, especially the features to make a difference with the mid-range device or even with other Galaxy S23 Series lines.

Is a 200MP camera really necessary?

As expected, Samsung still does not want to give up the resolution race and equip the S23 Ultra with a sensor up to 200MP from 108MP of the S22 Ultra. In contrast to the processor, the image sensor resolution sounds really different, but in fact the difference is not “one heaven”.

As in article comparing the main camera of Galaxy S22 Ultra and S23 Ultra, we have found that the 200MP camera is only “a little bit sharper”more importantly, the post-processing is somewhat more natural, so there is no noise when zooming large, the details are also a bit less “artificial”.

This is still quite an upgrade worth mentioning, helping the Galaxy S23 Ultra get closer to the camera’s image quality. But to realize it, you will also have to “look” a lot, not something that can be immediately recognized. The product is currently still in its early stages, Samsung could still launch a software upgrade to take full advantage of this still new 200MP sensor.

S Pen – “The Unbreakablebody” of many people

Although not a new feature, when talking about Note products or now the Galaxy S Ultra, we cannot ignore talking about the S Pen. For those who are “lazy to write, lazy to draw” like me, this is not an urgent feature, but on the contrary, it has become an inseparable object for many people.

I have a brother who is a business owner and often has to sign documents electronically, so I use a Galaxy S Ultra, can use a pen and write on digital documents. On the contrary, when I have to sign something, I have to print the document on paper and then sign it with a pen, then take a picture with the camera and send it back like an “old man”!

Having used another device, but having touched the Galaxy S Ultra products, I found all sorts of ways to use the S Pen – from writing characters on screenshots before sending them to you to using them as buttons. Press the remote shutter to avoid having to connect Bluetooth with external devices. If you don’t use it, you put it inside the device, it doesn’t affect the other experiences at all.

Do you love the environment?

Going to buy a phone, 10 people have to 9 people, regardless of how it is manufactured, how it affects the environment! But the truth is this is an urgent issue and directly affects anyone’s life. Not to mention: The hotter summers and colder winters are making a “citizen” like me feel tired; Eating fish also worries about whether there are microplastic particles in the meat that affect health or not.

As a large label with a huge sales volume, it is commendable that Samsung is more concerned about the environment by using recycled materials from paper, plastic, and aluminum on its Galaxy S Ultra products. sustainability for the Green Planet has no effect on users at all.

Perhaps the most effective way to protect the environment is… keep using your smartphone and don’t change to the Galaxy S23 Ultra! But for those of you who have spent money to upgrade this product, you will also be satisfied with the fact that it has twice as many recycled components as the Galaxy S22 Ultra and certainly more than products from other brands.

Is it worth upgrading from the Galaxy S22 Ultra?

For Galaxy S22 Ultra users, the upgrades I mentioned above have been arranged in the correct order of how they affect the daily use experience. Grip feeling, ergonomics are on top, then processing performance, camera upgrades are also valuable, but nothing is far superior to the S22 Ultra.

Holding the Galaxy S22 Ultra in your hand, balance what’s important to you to see if the upgrade is worth it. And if “money is not a problem”, you just need to have the most advanced and “Ultra” model, then no one will stop you from spending money to change the device!

Looking more broadly to those of you using other models, consider the Galaxy S23 Ultra as the most “safe” Android flagship choice today. It may lose to other models in a few small points: The sensor is not as big as 1 inch, the charging is not as fast or there is no hidden camera … but it offers the most advanced, comprehensive experience and Sustainability over a long period of time is indisputable.

In addition, this machine now has the Great deals on Samsung’s own online store and other resellers. There are those who are quick to “catch the bottom” of the 8/256GB version for only 22 million VND, at that price to get a flagship from a big label with full warranty, why not buy it?