I’m one of those who mourned the end of the Note line after the Note20, which was swallowed up by the regular Galaxy S line with the suffix “Ultra.” Although it doesn’t say a Note, there’s no doubt that the successor, especially the S22 Ultra, is a Note. Some might say it’s a joke, but the usage and design just stand out, and once you get used to using the S Pen and the particularly sturdy and no-nonsense camera, it’s hard to let go.
There’s a big trade-in discount for the first few weeks, and a deal to double the storage – not exactly if you opt for the 512GB model, with 1TB costing around £200. Starting at £1249.00 depending on storage, 256GB sounds like a lot, and it is, but if you’re shooting in 8K, that’s over 10MB per second of video. All models have 12GB of RAM, and the 256G version is also available in 8GB if you want to save a little extra.
The camera part is clearly overkill. The five lenses range from 10-200 megapixels, and the one with the 10x optical zoom in particular is commendable. The camera supports RAW format, and since almost every phone these days has to be able to fully compete with a DSLR, I have to admit the quality hits the mark too. The selfie camera has a 12-megapixel primitive, 12-megapixel ultra-wide, an insane 200-megapixel standard wide-angle, 3x and 10x optical zoom with dual telephoto, and 100x digital zoom — or, it actually It is a combination of 10x optical and 10x digital zoom with AI, and then provides “space zoom”. The latter doesn’t matter, there’s too much noise to be useful, like 200 megapixels should only be used for giant photos. It does a great job. If that’s too much, you can also settle for 50 megapixels.
I’ve always been a big proponent of optical zoom. While a couple of lenses are good 3x lenses, the 10x lens on the S23 Ultra will at least work too, even if it’s a bit dark or, like me, you’re mostly shooting your cats and nature. Things are also getting better for night photography, with better black/gray distinction and especially less image noise. Being able to see sharp outlines is important in my opinion, and while it’s not perfect, we’re getting closer to something that’s always usable. This is an upgrade in itself. Plus, the colors are better.
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In keeping with the modern world the whole thing is of course filled with recycled glass, plastic and even aluminium, to the limit otherwise you lose structural integrity, but they’ve pushed it to the limit, even the boxes are made with soy based ink and 100% Made from recycled materials. In addition, plastic parts such as the S-pen are made from as much recycled material as possible, and Samsung’s Danish press officer told us in a briefing that he strongly hopes that every year they will have a larger and larger percentage of recycled material because they Just becoming more proficient at recycling over time without losing the strength of the material is a major factor.
It comes in five colors, each with a matching integrated S-Pen. That’s not quite right, because there are four more colors, including pillarbox red, which you can order directly from Samsung. The phone tested was “Cream” – but I’d call it Marble White. It’s pretty, but it’s immediately hidden behind the lid.
Besides the new camera, there’s also new stuff inside, including that Samsung is now using their own built-in Snapdragon processor. Well, on a license, but they still make it themselves now. This is the Snapdragon 8, 2, and it’s definitely a ferocious thing.
While the battery is still at 5,000mAh like many other phones, after a few days, you’ll notice that the battery isn’t charging as fast as most other phones. It doesn’t come with a charger, though, but it can handle wired charging at 65 watts, wireless charging, and PowerShare. As far as I recall, this equates to about 15 watts wireless. I do think a wired charger could be included, though, since a cable does. Also, it wouldn’t cost too much to have a small wireless charger and a cover, because there isn’t, and I think an expensive phone should be used so people can start using it right away. I can’t quite quantify the slow drain on the battery, and there’s no battery saving of any kind to this as the test time was unfortunately too short, but I can currently get a full two days out of the phone without using battery saver.
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The screen is very bright. It’s a Dynamic AMOLED 2X at 120Hz, measures 6.8 inches, offers 3088×1440 and 1750 NITS and HDR1200. I’ve tried cranking it up to full level, not recommended unless you want a quick cataract fix or just melt your retina. It’s super smooth and responsive, but it should have 240Hz touch sampling.
There are also many small but not insignificant updates; Gorilla Glass Victus 2, IP68 certification and an aluminum frame. It’s not very light at 234 grams, and it takes up the entire hand, so it’s not a small phone. Even in moderate use, the cooling remains good at 27 degrees, with the room temperature centered at 21 degrees. It didn’t exceed 37 degrees even when pressed, which is impressive. Connectivity is common, including WIFI 6E – actually Bluetooth 5.3 – and there aren’t many of them. In terms of security, like the Ultra, there’s Samsung Knox and Knox Vault.
The speaker by the way is one of the best speakers I’ve ever heard easily on par with cheap bluetooth speakers which really means not just a hint of bass but a real midrange and less distortion and Virtually no disc management.
And then for some benchmarks – they pull teeth, so doing 37 degrees over half an hour under full load benchmarks does a good job.
3D Benchmark Wild Life Extreme
Score 3753
22, 5 frames my snitch
Slingshot Extreme
Maximum frame rate: 126 frames per second
Graphics Test 1: 112.2fps
Graphics Test 2: 69, 4fps
Geekbench 5
1495 single core
4692 multi-core
PC Mark Work 3.0
15247
OK, let’s wrap things up. Honestly there’s not much new under the sun but if you can look sober there’s a nice screen great camera at least beats most of the others and also in stills, 4K video, night and zoom aspect. In fact, when the old one dies, instead of buying a new DSLR, I’ll probably buy an S23 Ultra. There’s plenty of room, Samsung’s UI works great, easy to transfer and control gears, the S Pen is better to use than before – yes, once you get used to it, it’s hard not to, plus a particularly impressive battery life , even heavy gaming, on a bright and colorful AMOLED screen.
As you all know, I’ve been a huge Note fan for years, and while the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra isn’t a revolution, it’s still a marked improvement over last year’s model, so much so that I’m actually strongly considering upgrading from the Note20. But even with launch deals, the price is at a level that many can’t compete with, which is a shame. And it’s not exactly a discreet or subtle phone.