Two powerhouses with very different purposes

• Source: Samsung

  Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

  The standard powerhouse

  The ultimate straightforward smartphone experience

  The Galaxy S23 Ultra is the powerhouse you’ve come to expect from Samsung. With a new 200MP primary camera, the most recent chipset, and the S-Pen inclusion, it is the best high-end smartphone for many people.

  Pros

  • Less prone to damage
  • Better camera system
  • More conventional design
  • Bigger battery

  Cons

  • Not as much screen real estate
  • Hard to use with just one hand

• Source: Samsung

  Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4

  The best foldable

  A less conventional titan of performance

  While it offers a less traditional phone experience, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is the best foldable on the market. It’s powerful, and thanks to its ability to fold out into a tablet, it offers an unparalleled productivity experience. This phone won’t let you down if you can swallow the incredibly high price.

  Pros

  • Foldable design
  • Incredible screen real estate
  • Still very powerful

  Cons

  • Selfie camera isn’t great
  • S-Pen not included
  • Extremely expensive

When Samsung puts out a premium phone, they don’t mess around. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 are considered the cream of the crop, and with good reason. Both phones have powerful processors, great cameras, impeccable displays, and present the best-of-the-best for their respective form factors. While the Galaxy S23 Ultra is a more standard phone, the Z Fold 4 represents the future of smartphones in many ways with its foldable design that lets you have a phone and a mini tablet in your pocket.

If you demand the latest and greatest, both these phones mark some of the best Samsung phones you can buy now, but which one is right for you? It will likely depend on how you want to use the phone, but let’s break down the differences so that you can decide.

Price, availability, and connectivity

The Galaxy S23 Ultra and the Galaxy Z Fold 4 are widely available on all the major carriers here in the states, and neither of them will come cheaply.

The Galaxy S23 starts at $1,200 for the model with 8GB of RAM at 256GB of storage and becomes even more expensive if you bump it up to 12GB of RAM with either 512GB or 1TB of storage. The Z Fold 4 is a whopping $1,800 for the lowest configuration, which comes with 12GB of RAM at 256 GB of storage.

The good news is both phones come with 5G compatibility (sub-6 and mmWave), so you should be able to take advantage of the highest speeds available in your area. That makes both these phones some of the most powerful 5G phones out there right now.

Hardware and design

In many ways, the biggest difference between the Galaxy S23 Ultra and Z Fold 4 is the design since both phones are entirely different form factors.

The S23 Ultra looks like your standard smartphone, albeit a massive one. The 6.8-inch AMOLED QHD+ display on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra feels enormous when you hold it in your hand, and thanks to its incredible vibrancy and contrast, it also looks impeccable. It even has an adaptive refresh rate that can go down from 1Hz all the way up to 120Hz, making it smooth and crisp when you need it and much more energy efficient when the phone’s screen is in a more idle state. It’s an impressive screen for a standard phone, likely one of the best out there right now, but it’s not nearly as innovative as the Z Fold 4.

The Fold 4 has two main displays, an outer display that you can use when the phone is folded up and resembles more of your standard smartphone screen, and of course, the inner display is like a small tablet. The outer display is only 6.2 inches and is a bit more narrow than the one you’ll find on the S23 Ultra, making it a little easier to use in one hand if you can get used to the thickness of the Z Fold 4.

It’s the inner display where the Fold really shines, as you can unfold it into a massive 7.6-inch display that looks like two phone screens slapped together side-by-side. It’s impressive and offers a ton of real estate for multitasking, but it is noticeably very delicate.

Being a foldable screen, it’s not made of that same Gorilla Glass Victus+ you find on the out display or the slightly newer Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, so you can’t expect it to hold up against nearly as much punishment. The inner display is prone to scratches and scuffs due to the softer material, and anyone choosing to buy one will want to be very mindful of that fact.

The Z Fold 4 is also a little less resistant to dust as it only has an IPX8 rating, while the S23 Ultra carries an IP68, which is not surprising given the giant hinge in the middle of the phone. Samsung has come a long way since its first folding phone; however, making this the best hinge design the company has put on the Z Fold.

Both phones support the S-Pen, Samsung’s signature stylus that you can use to make notes, navigate around your favorite apps, draw, or complete plenty of other tasks. The Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with an S-Pen that can neatly tuck into the phone, making sure you always have it with you, while the Z Fold 4 requires you to buy it separately. You’ll also need a real good case for the Galaxy Z Fold 4 that has an S-Pen holder.

Software and performance

The Galaxy Z Fold 4 uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, while the S22 Ultra uses the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. On paper, the Gen 2 powering the S23 Ultra seems like the clear winner. However, the chipsets are both so powerful that for the day-to-day task, you’re unlikely going to notice much of a difference between the two. In other words, both of these phones are beats that can handle anything you throw at it. Last year, the S22 Ultra did tend to run quite a bit hotter than the Z Fold 4 when performing intensive tasks. We haven’t had enough time with the S23 Ultra to know if this is the case on the new chipset, but we’re hoping that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 can handle its thermals a little better.

The Galaxy Z Fold 4 launched with Android 12L but has since been updated to Samsung’s One UI 5, the company’s skin on Android 13. The S23 Ultra launches with One Ui 5.1/ Android 13, so neither phone is really missing out on any big software updates right now. Both phones have been promised to receive four major OS updates and five years of security updates, so they will be supported for the next several years. Of course, the Galaxy S23 Ultra will get one more OS update than the Z Fold 4 since it just came out in 2023.

Cameras: Which is better?

The Galaxy Z FOld 4 marks the first time Samsung foldable has had a very good set of cameras, sporting a triple camera system on the back of the device. The 50MP primary camera on the back is the same as last year’s Galaxy S22+. It will take great quality photos for you in most lighting conditions, and thanks to being able to unfold the phone, you can even use the outer display as a selfie viewfinder, a neat but useful trick. The other cameras on the back of the Z Fold 4 — 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide and 10MP f/2.4 telephoto — do their jobs reasonably well, making the entire camera array a nice addition to the impressive hardware.

Of course, the best part of the Fold 4 camera is Flex Mode. The hinge has been designed to hold most angles; you can prop up the phone to use it hands-free regardless of where you might find yourself. Once you are done, you can easily use hand gestures to take snapshots of yourself, your friends, or your surrounds with ease.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra got a big camera upgrade this year since its main sensor is now 200MP (up to 108MP in last year’s model) which will take some massive photos. The camera on the Galaxy S22 Ultra last year was one of your favorite parts of using the phone, and the S23 Ultra seems to improve on that experience even more.

Of course, having two zoom lenses on the S23 Ultra does make the camera a little better at taking really nice portrait photos when compared to the Z Fold 4. The 3X lens gives your shots nice natural bokeh, but the 10X optical zoom can easily help you take some of the coolest shots you’ve ever taken with a smartphone camera.

All in all, very serious phone photographers will likely gravitate towards the S23 Ultra (rightfully so), but both phones have a pretty great camera system that most people will be happy to have with them.

Battery and charging

While the battery life of the Samsung S23 Ultra doesn’t look to be much different than the S22 Ultra from last year — it still has a 5,000mAh battery — that isn’t to say it’s bad. Most people with average use should be able to make it a full day in between charges, and considering how much power a big premium phone like this draws, it’s about all you can ask for.

Usage dictates what type of battery life you will see, making the Z Fold 4 hard to judge. In our review, we never found the battery to be lacking, even though it only has a 4,400mAh battery powering it. However, if you use that giant inner screen a lot throughout the day, it’s possible you may find it’s a bit on the low side. Our inclination is that most people will be satisfied with its battery life.

Charging up both devices work just a bit differently as the Galaxy S23 Ultra can get up to 45W when charging wired, whereas the Z Fold 4 can only get to 25W; however, wireless charging remains the same at 15W on both devices.

Which device is right for you?

Both phones will make an excellent daily carry for anyone who needs a powerhouse smartphone to get through their life. With plenty of power inside both devices, you won’t really find yourself wanting more with either device. So, what model you choose will come down to your preference and your budget.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra is the more affordable option, but it also offers a more straightforward experience. If you don’t feel like you’ll need a small tablet in your pocket or bag with you at all times, but you still want a massive powerful phone, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is a worthy pick.

On the other hand, if you can afford it, the Z Fold 4 might be worth it for you if you love the idea of having a tablet-like experience with you at all times. Whether you like multitasking with as much screen real estate as possible, or you just like the cool factor of the folding phone design, you may love the less traditional and frankly more fun, approach of the Galaxy Z Fold 4.

Source: Samsung

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra gives you that premium smartphone experience you’ve come to expect from Samsung and is once again equipped with the S-Pen. It’s powerful, has an amazing display, and the camera system really takes some excellent shots. If you just want a big powerhouse, this is the option you should pick.

Source: Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4

While it offers a less traditional phone experience, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is the best foldable on the market. It’s powerful, and thanks to its ability to fold out into a tablet, it offers an unparalleled productivity experience. This phone won’t let you down if you can swallow the incredibly high price.