Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs. Galaxy S23+: Large or larger?

• Source: Samsung

  Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

  No nonsense pro

  A behemoth that can tackle any task

  The Galaxy S23 Ultra is the king of large smartphones and makes excellent use of its size, packing in a massive battery, incredible cameras, and an S Pen. The phone remains largely the same as last year, but with a brand-new primary camera and a less curved display than last year’s.

  Pros

  • 1440p display
  • 1-120Hz variable refresh rate
  • S Pen
  • Dual telephoto lenses

  Cons

  • Curved display
  • Sharp corners dig into the palm
  • Heavy
  • Expensive

• Source: Samsung

  Samsung Galaxy S23+

  King of the middle ground

  Lacks many of the cons in its two siblings

  The Galaxy S23+ is a minor upgrade over the S22+ it replaces, adopting the camera design from its Ultra-sized sibling and increasing the size of the battery. If you want one of the best Android phones on the market and don’t care about an S Pen, this is the Samsung flagship to choose.

  Pros

  • Flat display
  • Rounded corners are more comfortable

The Galaxy S23 series is the latest and greatest from Samsung. While they’re an iterative progression compared to the Galaxy S22 from last year, they’re a significant upgrade over older models like the Galaxy S20. If you’re eyeing up one of the new phones, the two that stand out are S23+ and S23 Ultra. Many of the specs are the same, but there are some significant differences, so you’ll want to make sure you pick the right one. Let’s take a look at how they stack up.

Price and availability

Source: Samsung

Samsung’s flagship phones are available in dozens of countries unlocked and through most major carriers. The S23+ starts at $900 for the 256GB variant, and the S23 Ultra starts at $1,200 for the 256GB model.

Design and build quality

Source: Samsung

The S23+ has a lot more in common with the S23 Ultra than its predecessor did, inheriting the stove-top design for the cameras, which replaces the much-beloved camera bump that wrapped into the frame. While the camera design is now the same, there are still plenty of differences between the two devices.

The S23+ has a flat display and rounded corners, while the S23 Ultra uses a boxy design with razor-sharp corners and a screen that spills over the phone’s sides. The Ultra also features an S Pen in the bottom left of the phone.

Build quality is the same between both devices, using Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and back and Armor Aluminum from the frame. As we’ve come to expect from Samsung in recent years, both devices look and feel exceptional.

Software and performance

Source: Samsung

Both phones ship with One UI 5.1 based upon Android 13, and this version of One UI is only a 0.x update. As an incremental update, the software updates here are much smaller than they’d be with a full version update, the way we saw with One UI 5.0 on the Galaxy S22 last year. Regardless, there are a lot of new features here. For example, the battery widget displays the battery level of your phone and any connected Bluetooth accessory; the media notification has been replaced with the standard Android 13 design; there’s quick Expert RAW access from the camera app, and more.

We won’t know about the performance side of things until we get the phones in hand, but they are both great on paper. Both come with 8GB of RAM, although the Ultra is also available with 12GB if you get the 512GB model. Samsung’s modified Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 should be an absolute unit.

Battery and charging

Source: Samsung

The Galaxy S23+ benefits from a 200mAh increase this year, with a total capacity of 4,700mA. The S23 Ultra remains unchanged and has a 5,000mAh battery like its predecessor. We can’t comment on battery life properly until we’ve put these phones through their paces, but we can make some educated estimates comparing them to the S22 series.

The S22+ and S22 Ultra were equipped with either a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or Exynos 2200, based on where you live. Unfortunately, both of these chips had questionable thermal performance, which led to inconsistent battery life for the Snapdragon model and insufferable battery life on the Exynos variant. However, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 that shipped later in the year rectified these issues in the devices it shipped with and is known to have excellent battery life.

Every Galaxy S23 will ship with a Samsung-modified Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, regardless of region. At the very least, all customers will have the same experience now that Exynos is out of the way; and at best, we hope this new chip builds upon the efficiency of the 8+ Gen 1.

Charging speeds remain the same for the S23+ and S23 Ultra, with 45W wired charging and 15W wireless charging. Neither phone comes with a charger in the box.

Display

The displays are unchanged from last year. The S23+ has a 6.6-inch, flat 1080p display that can vary its refresh rate from 48-120Hz, and reach a peak brightness of 1,750 nits. The S23 Ultra has a 6.8-inch, curved 1440p display that can vary its refresh rate from 1-120Hz, and reach a peak brightness of 1,750 nits. The S23+ has symmetrical bezels, while the S23 Ultra has a slightly larger bottom “chin.” While the S23 Ultra still has a curved display, it isn’t as drastic a curve as the S22 Ultra, so it should be more comfortable to hold.

Cameras

Source: Samsung

The S23+ and S23 Ultra both have a new 12MP selfie camera, up from 10MP on the S22+ and down from 40MP on the S22 Ultra. The rear cameras on the S23+ are the same as last year, with a 50MP primary, 10MP 3X telephoto, and 12MP ultrawide. Even if the camera hardware is the same, Samsung has likely made changes to the Image Signal Processor (ISP) and the software processing, so we’ll need to reserve judgment on whether the photos are better or not when we have one.

So far, every Ultra phone Samsung has made has used a 108MP primary sensor. This year, the S23 Ultra uses a new 200MP primary sensor that should allow for sharper images and better low-light performance, but we’ll see how that works out once the phone arrives. The other rear sensors remain the same, with dual 10MP telephoto lenses at 3X and 10X, and a 12MP ultra-wide that doubles as a macro lens.

Which should you buy?

Source: Samsung

To answer that question, you need to answer another: are the S Pen and improved cameras found on the Ultra worth an extra $300 to you? For that $300, you get a larger battery, a bigger and sharper display, an S Pen, and more versatile cameras. For some, just one of those upgrades is worth the extra money, but for others, they might not be as important.

The cameras on the S23+ are more than you’ll need for capturing moments and memories for Instagram, while S23 Ultra has cameras geared toward people who care more about photography and setting up the perfect shot.

Source: Samsung

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

The Galaxy S23 Ultra is the king of large smartphones and makes excellent use of its size, packing in a massive battery, incredible cameras, and an S Pen. The phone remains largely the same as last year, but with a brand-new primary camera and a display that’s less curved than last year.

Source: Samsung

Samsung Galaxy S23+

The Galaxy S23 Ultra is the king of large smartphones and makes excellent use of its size, packing in a massive battery, incredible cameras, and an S Pen. The phone remains largely the same as last year, but with a brand-new primary camera and a display that’s less curved than last year.