Smartphones are an incredibly personal thing. We carry them everywhere, interact with them hundreds of times a day, and our choice in ecosystems instantly says a lot about us. If you want to boast to the world, “I have the phone with everything,” then the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is for you.

Wait. Hold on a second. That’s exactly how I started last year’s Galaxy S22 Ultra review. Last year I called that phone the “total package,” and for a second, I guess I forgot which phone I was reviewing. That’s probably because, at first glance, they look nearly identical.

But this is another case of, “it ain’t broke, so don’t fix it.” When Samsung debuted the revamped S22 Ultra form factor last year, it was darn near perfect. And while this year is all about refinement, that means what’s great about it remains great. And some things are even better, like the cameras and the way the phone feels in the hand.

Hardware And Display

Last year one of the biggest compliments I could give the S22 Ultra is that it looked nothing like the S21 Ultra. It was one of the few phones that year to truly get a redesign and a fresh look. This year, I can’t say the same. If you put the Galaxy S23 Ultra next to the S22 Ultra, you might not be able to tell which is which.

Stare closely enough, and you’ll see the S23 variant has larger camera bumps and a slightly reduced curve to the display. I want to commend Samsung for reducing the display curved, as I will endlessly preach that curved displays are the worst displays, but it’s not much. And whether it’s good or bad is totally subjective. Holding phones together, I can’t feel the difference. My wife says the S22 model feels better in her smaller hands, while I’ve seen others say the S23 is an improvement.

I’d rather Samsung just finish the job and ditch curved displays altogether. But I’ll admit, with a phone this size, it probably does help some with holding the thing. The Galaxy S23 Ultra is, after all, pretty huge. It needs to be to fit an S-Pin inside the phone when you’re not using it.

Speaking of the S-Pen, it’s basically just like last year’s entry. A quick push on the edge will spring it out, and it tucks away nicely. Fair warning, I have pulled my phone out of my pocket and found the pen slightly ejected a few times, but it’s infrequent and hasn’t harmed anything. The corners continue to be a sharp boxy affair that digs into your hands slightly.

As for how the display looks, Samsun stuck with the same hardware as last year. Did I mention you’ll have to play spot the difference? Well, here’s one area where you literally can’t. And honestly? That’s fine. The S22 Ultra’s display is pretty fantastic, which means, by default, that the S23’s screen is pretty fantastic. Sometimes it’s better to stick with something than change for no good reason other than to say you made a change. The colors are great, it gets plenty bright, and I never once found myself wishing for more. Just get rid of the curved display entirely, Samsung, and I’ll be ready to call it perfect.

As for the rest, you get the usual mix of forward-thinking and powerful specs. In the past, Samsung either offered a Qualcomm or an in-house processor, depending on where in the world you bought your Galaxy. But the S23 series departs with that, opting solely for a “Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy” processor. Other phones already have a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, but this one is “specially tuned” for the phone, hence the name. This variant gets a higher clock rate, but let’s be honest: you probably won’t know what the difference is. We’ll get more into speeds with the software, but it’s buttery smooth, and that’s all that matters.

And, of course, Wi-Fi 6E, 5G, and Bluetooth 5.2 continue to be appreciated features. Chances are you don’t have a Wi-Fi 6E router yet, but I do, and on my network, the phone screams. The biggest bottleneck is, of course, my internet. But I pay for superfast speeds, and the phone keeps up with no issues.

My only complaint is entirely subjective. I don’t like this year’s green color as much as last year’s. It comes off as something very close to grey to my eye. Last year’s green variant is beautiful. This year is drab. A step back. But you might like it better. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, after all.

Oh, and as usual with modern phones, while the S23 Ultra is technically made out of Gorilla Glass and an Aluminum “Armor Frame,” it feels like it’s made out of wet soap. As in, this thing will practically hop out of your hands faster than the One Ring looking for a new master. Get yourself a case sooner than later.

Software and Battery Life

Every year, I grow to like Samsung’s take on Android more. This time around we have Android 13 with One UI 5, and Samsung has continued to trend of steering away from useless overhauls while adding some useful features. If you’re coming from a stock Android phone, like a Pixel, you’ll certainly see that it’s different, but nothing will trip you up.

And Samsung’s additions are actually useful, like the (brazenly stolen from iOS) ability to tap on the subject of an image and copy it elsewhere. Samsung’s integration into Windows with Phone Link continues to be the best Android experience on PC as well, too, short of buying a Surface Duo (don’t buy a Surface Duo). With a Samsung phone, you can screen mirror—something you just can’t do with a Pixel or OnePlus phone.

I wish, though, Samsung didn’t keep trying to duplicate already perfectly good Google apps. We don’t need Samsung Messages when we have Google Messages, nor do we really need Samsung Wallet at this point or Samsung Files. We definitely don’t need Bixby. Let’s be honest; the phone wouldn’t be any worse off without the Samsung app store. It’s just an additional place to maintain and update apps that don’t do much good for anyone. I know I’m really going out on a limb here, but a future where Samsung fully embraces the Wear OS app and dumps Galaxy Wear feels fine to me. I doubt it will happen, but a man can dream. A man can dream of fewer ads in a flagship phone, for that matter.

But all that aside, using the software and the phone is great. Tuning or not, the processor can handle Android 13 and One UI 5 with ease. Forget stuttering or even the implication of a hesitation. Everything is snappy and instant, from opening apps to changing settings. It’s the smooth experience you should absolutely get with a phone called “Ultra.”

And as for the battery life? Yeah, that lives up to the Ultra name as well. Some of that’s likely down to the large battery, but also, the new processor does a good job of keeping down the heat and not murdering the battery. In a nutshell? For all but most hardcore users, the S23 Ultra should make it to the end of the day with juice to spare. On my particularly light days, I found myself looking at an 80% battery meter when I went to bed. On my rough days, I typically saw something in the 30% area. That’s plenty good enough for someone who wakes up at 7 AM and goes to bed at midnight or later.

If you’re looking for a single reason to buy this phone, the battery might actually be it. This is the phone that you won’t have to worry about making it through a long day, or a hard trip. You can take all the photos, play the games, check the emails, and survive without a charger through the day. It won’t hurt to have one, but no sweat if you forget it at home. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has ridiculously good battery life.

Cameras

Can a big change feel minor? We’re finally to the first real big changes with this phone, and honestly, at first glance, it feels minor. OK, that may feel like a bit of an exaggeration, but let’s tackle this by avoiding the biggest change first. The Ultrawide and Telescopic cameras are almost identical to last year’s model. Were those good? Yeah, they were pretty good. So this year’s are “pretty good,” too.

Yes, that means you can take crazy 100X zoom shots. And those are impressive. Not because they’re clear as day, mind you. They can be fuzzy as dryer lint if I’m being honest. But the fact that Samsung’s stabilization software is good enough to zoom in that far and actually take a passable photo of your intended target is pretty darn impressive. I took some pictures from a small plane as we flew over Kings Island, which you can see above. Scroll through, and you can see a zoomed-in shot of the park’s Eifel Tower replica, and the 100X zoomed-in photo is pretty clear for something taken in a small plane.

And like last year’s Ultra, you can take clear photos of the Moon, something most smartphones can’t make happen. That’s a combination of zoom and software processing. No, this isn’t some trick where the software replaces the real moon with an image of the moon, its just a crazy set of filters to work through the lighting difficulties. But whether you’re talking 100X zoom or Moon pictures, you’ll won’t take many photos with those options beyond showing off what the camera can do.

So that takes us to the Main camera. The Galaxy S22 Ultra has a 108-megapixel lens, which is already an incredibly high number. So what can Samsung do but turn up the count even more? The Galaxy S23 Ultra, therefore, went with a souped-up 200-megapixel lens. To be perfectly honest, to a certain amount, the reasoning is down to “because we can.” In theory, the higher-pixel count has advantages, like better low-light photos and more detail for pixel binning.

But you won’t be taking 200-megapixel photos on the regular. Samsung bins the images down to 12-megapixel images filled to the brim with detail. You could, in theory, force the phone to take a 200-megapixel camera, but unless you’re printing giant posters, there’s no good reason to do so.

So how are the photos? Like last year, they’re pretty OK. I’d like to heap praise on them, but the truth is beyond Moon photos, Samsung’s software processing just isn’t as good as Google’s or even Apple’s. It’s a solid third place and has been for a while. Some photos come out fantastic. Others less so. Take plenty of shots and hope one falls into the amazing bucket.

I’m not saying you’ll be disappointed with Galaxy Ultra S23 photos on the whole. But it’s an inconsistent performer and not “best in the field.” For this price, I wish it were more consistent. But Samsung continues to chase after whizbang camera lens hardware without stepping up in the software department. And if modern smartphones have taught us anything, its that the software is almost more important than the hardware at this point. You can’t skimp on it and expect to compete.

I suspect Samsung will continue to fine-tune things, as it has done in the past. But it’s a bad idea to buy a gadget based on what could be, go in accepting it as is.

As for the selfie camera, Samsung made an interesting choice this time around. At first glance, the 12-megapixel camera might seem like a step down from last year’s 40-megapixel shooter, but as we’ve already established megapixels aren’t everything. Overall this is an improvement of what came before it. You get better detail, lighting is handled better in most (but not all) cases. And you can record video at 4K 60fps, which is a first for Samsung’s selfie cameras. It does the job, but it won’t work miracles.

Still The Best Big Phone Around

Here’s the thing about smartphones. If you’re looking for perfection, you’ll never find it. All of them, yes even iPhones, are flawed in some way or another. So it’s just a matter of finding the one that ticks the most boxes for you. So you might be wondering, should you buy the Galaxy S23 Ultra?

If you already have a Galaxy S22 series, you probably should hold off. Especially if you have an Ultra. Only step up if you don’t have an Ultra and for some reason are convinced you need the bigger display, longer battery life, and pen. But realistically, it’s not enough of a change to be worth the dollars.

But what if you have anything else at all? Well, if you want a great “big” phone, than this is the one to get. No other oversized phone competes, though the Pixel 7 is pretty up there in size. But the Pixel series doesn’t come with the Pen, and the battery life isn’t quite as good. So this is the winner.

And do you want a pen? Then again, this is your phone. And if you want something that just ticks as many boxes as possible, and has pretty passable cameras, then again, you want the Galaxy S23 Ultra. It lives up to the name in all but maybe photo consistency.

But if you don’t need ALL that and can settle for a smaller display and don’t need the giant 200-megapixel camera or the super 100x zoom, maybe save some money and get the Galaxy S23+. This isn’t the phone for people who need “good enough for most things.”

This is the phone for someone who wants it all. Just like last year, it’s the total package.