This post is brought to you by Samsung.
Samsung’s Galaxy S series needs no introduction. For many years now, it has been one of the best, if not the best smartphone Android has to offer. Every generation of the Galaxy S series pushed the boundaries of design, hardware, performance, and software to new lengths.
And that’s no different with the latest Galaxy S23 series, particularly the Galaxy S23 Ultra which has repeated history by setting a new benchmark in the mobile space. Starting with the design, the Galaxy S23 Ultra keeps things minimalistic with a sleek angular design that is easy on the eyes. Samsung has made the aircraft-grade strength Armor Aluminum frame a tad flatter, making the phone more comfortable to grip.
You won’t find an obnoxious camera island protruding out from the frosted Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 panel on the back. Instead, there are individual bumps for each of the cameras, keeping things simple. On the subject of cameras, the Galaxy S23 Ultra packs a 200MP sensor for its primary shooter. Photos taken at this resolution capture a higher density of detail, allowing you to crop into the photo to admire them.
Alternatively, you can choose to output a 12MP image where the Galaxy S23 Ultra will use computational photography algorithms to pixel bin up to 16 adjacent pixels into a single pixel, combining light data to produce a final image that is sharper, clearer, and brighter. This is more apparent in low light shots, where photos come out brighter without blowing out the highlights while still preserving details in the shadows.
Helping with night time photography is the 2x wider range of compensation of the optical image stabiliser (OIS). With up to 3-degrees of motion, the sensor can hold still while it collects light in dimly lit environments, producing a sharper image.
Shooting videos benefit from the new OIS system, and videos recorded while walking or even running will have less shakiness. Pairing the OIS with video digital image stabilisation (VDIS) allows you to toggle super steady video mode which keeps the footage as stable as possible when doing activities with a lot of moments like extreme sports.
With the Galaxy S23 Ultra, you are now able to capture Astrophotos of the stars and Astro Hyperlapses video of the star trails in the night sky. The primary camera is accompanied by a 12MP ultra-wide-angle lens, 10MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, and 10MP periscope telephoto with 10x optical zoom.
You can then view your photos and videos on the gorgeous 6.8-inch QHD Dynamic AMOLED 2X with an adaptive refresh rate between 120Hz and 1Hz. Sporting a peak brightness of 1750nitts, viewing content under the hot Malaysian sun is just as vivid as viewing it indoors. The display is also protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 just like the rear panel.
That display is also how you interact with Samsung’s One UI 5.1 operating system which introduces a couple of new features. Starting with an improved setup wizard that imports your data you’re your previous phone by just scanning a QR code. You also now get a new battery widget where you can view the battery life of all supported Samsung accessories in one place.
All these features are on top of what One UI already allows you to do like making your lock and home screen truly yours with smart widgets with video and dynamic wallpapers. Choose from up to 16 system theme colours or let One UI choose a system theme colour based on your wallpaper. With Call Background, you can set a different call background for each contact so you can easily see who’s calling with just a quick glance.
If you don’t want to use your fingers to navigate One UI 5.1, just pull out the S-Pen from the bottom of the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Furthermore, you can use the S-Pen to jot down notes quickly without waking the phone, sketch on screenshots, and use it as a remote control for the camera. But more than that, you can use the S-Pen to write on text input fields, like the URL bar in a web browser, and it will be converted to text.
You can also look forward to experiencing new features as Samsung has committed the Galaxy S23 series to 4 years of Android OS upgrades and 5 years of security updates.
Keeping One UI 5.1 running as smooth as butter is the most powerful processor Qualcomm has ever made – the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy. The 8-core Kryo CPU has its Cortex-X3 prime core running at a whopping 3.36GHz, up from the previous 3.2GHz and the Adreno GPU is also clocked at a higher 719MHz. Apps and games on the Galaxy S23 Ultra and its siblings should just fly with almost no lag or stutters.
Paired to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy is 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM with up to 1TB of the new UFS 4.0 storage standard. Supplying power to all this impressive hardware is a massive 5000mAh batter with support for 45W Power Delivery (PD) fast charging. As a result of Qualcomm and Samsung working together on the processor, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is said to deliver some impressive battery life.
With these new features and refinements on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, it just might be the one phone to rule them all.
Get to know the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and its siblings, the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ at the Samsung E-Store, or visit the nearest Samsung Experience Store or Samsung Authorized Dealers.
