On paper and in person, the Galaxy S23 Ultra doesn’t seem to alter all that much from the Galaxy S22 Ultra from the previous year. Due to the floating design of the rear cameras, it has the same display, the same overall appearance, and generally very identical specifications to those of the previous year.
But it would be inaccurate to suggest that Samsung accomplished nothing novel this year. We have the newest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset from Qualcomm, the new HP2 camera sensor on the back, and a small hardware modification that has radically altered my attitude of large phones. I wouldn’t try to spin the fact that the Galaxy S23 Ultra is really simply a Galaxy S22 Ultra that has been refined as a negative.
Display – The Galaxy S22 Ultra from a year ago has a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X (1440 x 3088) panel with a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz and a maximum brightness of 1750 nits. Literally, the only difference between it and last year’s specifications is the glass covering it. With the S23 Ultra, Samsung is utilizing Corning’s brand-new Gorilla Glass Victus 2, which should boost the phone’s security against scratches and breaks in the display. It’s there, but I’m not suggesting that you test it. Who cares because it’s the same panel simply because? This display is excellent, producing extremely easy-on-the-eyes levels of low light performance along with incredible levels of brightness and superior colors.
Since I didn’t evaluate the S22 Ultra last year, I’ve never used this display before, and in all honesty, I believe it to be the best one I’ve ever used. As usual, Samsung doesn’t cut corners while making adjustments to the settings. The changeable refresh rate, adaptive brightness, white balance, preset screen modes, and resolution adjustments are all toggleable. If I had to compare it to the display on my Pixel 7 Pro, I wouldn’t say there is a noticeable difference between the two for my eyes, but the higher peak brightness does make it more effective in direct sunlight.
