The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is one of the best smartphones around in 2022 with nonpareil zoom capabilities , but how does it compare to last twelvemonth ’s flagship , the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra ?
While there are some fundamental differences that separate the two , like an improved 200MP main television camera and the former Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset from this twelvemonth ’s flagship , the two are much more exchangeable than you might expect .
That means , if you ’re not so fussed about having the latest and gravid , you could relieve yourself a set of John Cash by opting for the slenderly old 2022 flagship .
Here are the central differences ( and many similarity ) between theSamsung Galaxy S23 Ultraand its forerunner , theSamsung Galaxy S22 Ultra , to serve you decide which is best for your need .
Design and display
If you were to look at the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and the S23 Ultra side - by - side , you ’d be hard - press to get hold any huge divergence in designing and that ’s because , for the most part , the two smartphones are close - superposable .
The overall smell and feeling of the S23 Ultra closely mirror that of its herald , complete with the same minimalist camera caparison on the rearward – though this year ’s S23 Ultra finally matches the plan of the repose of the S23 reach . It ’s made from the same combination of aluminium and glass too , providing just as exchange premium a look and feel as the S22 Ultra does .
color options are more or less different with the newer manakin , available in Phantom Black , Cream , Green and Lavender , compared to the Black , Cream , Green and Burgandy finishes of last year ’s top - conclusion flagship .
The emplacement of the USB - speed of light port , mass cradle and volume controls stay the same across both models , as does the inclusion of Samsung ’s Galaxy S Pen stylus , which is hidden in the bottom - left portion of the telephone set ’s chassis and is accessible with a press of the pen tip .
There are slight improvements to S Pen functionality with the S23 Ultra , including the pick to collaborate on handwritten notes with other S23 Ultra users , but the two stylus are fundamentally the same .
Both the S22 Ultra and S23 Ultra mutant the same expansive 6.8 - inchAMOLED 2X displaywith a high resolution,120Hz refresh rateand support forHDR10 + content , but considering the S22 Ultra ’s showing was see as one of the safe around , that ’s not needs a bad thing .
The only literal notable difference is that the newer Galaxy S23 Ultra has a slightly flatter show than last year ’s option to furnish a slight increase to the operational screen field , though it does still feature a curvature to the left and right .
There ’s also an betterment to the display security with the Galaxy S23 Ultra , boast Corning ’s latestGorilla Glass Victus 2that the society take should perform better when miss onto concrete control surface specifically . The S22 Ultra , on the other deal , uses the original ( but still racy ) Gorilla Glass Victus .
Cameras
The main discriminator between the newer Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and its precursor is the photographic camera offering . More specifically , the S23 Ultra sports a walloping 200MP rear - facing photographic camera powered by Samsung ’s ISOCELL HP2 sensor , compare to the 108MP option from the S22 Ultra .
This is more than a simple megapixel bump too ; the new detector use 16 - in-1 pixel bin tech to redeem more item than the S22 Ultra , but the big difference is in scummy - light performance with marked gains not only in terminus of general light but colour and detail too . There ’s even a Modern astrophotography fashion useable on the recent flagship to avail you take advantage of the upgrade primary lens of the eye .
We remarked in our review that the independent 200MP did n’t shinny with any scenario during our examination – in fact , we call up the snapper surpassed expectations regardless of environmental light , delivering plenty of detail and light even when equate to the S22 Ultra which we feel was already pin - sharp and vibrant .
The rest of the offering – that is a 12MP ultra - wide , and a pair of 10MP ocular lenses with 3.5x and 10x respectively – is essentially the same across both smartphones , though the fresh modeling boasts improved tuning and more advanced AI to give on - phone camera processing a leg - up that makes a particular departure with software - wait on zoom .
Interestingly , it looks like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has the upper handwriting in the front - facing camera department with a 40MP Chrysophrys auratus equate to the 12MP television camera from this class ’s S23 Ultra . While that is certainly the shell on paper , the newer snapper delivers improved picture operation and support for the company ’s Super HDR tech that immensely improves the dynamic range of selfies .
Performance
With a new generation of smartphones come a newfangled processor , and that ’s no different with the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra . It sports a unique variant of Qualcomm ’s latest chipset dubbed theSnapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy , which delivers flagship - level operation with an overclocked CPU and a more hefty and power - efficient Adreno GPU .
We ascertain that workaday performance was blisteringly riotous with nary a stutter in sight , even when pass demanding secret plan at the phone ’s full resolution . It ’s a true power station of processing power only really surpassed by performance - focused play phones like theAsus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate . For most mass , this will be more than enough and helps future - validation the phone as apps and game get more demanding over time too .
The Galaxy S22 Ultra , on the other paw , sport one of two chipsets look on where you are in the world . If you ’re in Europe then you ’d find Samsung ’s ownExynos 2200 chipsetwhile the rest of the world got access to theSnapdragon 8 Gen 1 . We feel that the Exynos 2200 chipset was fine for everyday employment , though there are some questions about barrage efficiency compared to the Snapdragon similitude .
gratefully , there ’s none of that confusion this time around with the Qualcomm variant of S23 Ultra shipping worldwide . No more having to import outside variants to get your hands on all that Snapdragon exponent .
When it come to software package update , both the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and S23 Ultra offering support forAndroid 13 – though S22 Ultra users will have to upgrade from the olderAndroid 12that it initially ship with .
The difference is Samsung ’s OneUI 5.1 update , which is exclusive to the S23 Ultra – for now , anyway . Rumours suggest Samsung is form on an OneUI 5.1 update for the S22 Ultra , so novel feature like customisable modes and act and the ability to reply to incoming calls with a text via Bixby could also come to the older flagship at some percentage point .
Where the two differ is future software system updates . Both offer a generous four years of OS rise and five years of security updates , but as the S22 Ultra initially launched with Android 12 , it ’ll only get up to Android 16 whereas the new S23 Ultra will get the Android 17 update .
Regardless , Samsung ’s foresightful - terminus computer software financial support is among the best around on Android so you could delight new feature and functionality for quite some prison term .
Battery
This one ’s leisurely ; both the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and S23 Ultra sport the same 5000mAh battery and 44W fast charging capabilities , which means there should n’t be any real meaningful difference in overall battery biography .
However , that ’s not quite true in real - world usage , with the S23 Ultra and its much more power - efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset offering a encouragement to overall electric battery life . We discover that , even with the top - end resolving power and high-pitched refresh charge per unit enabled , the S23 Ultra did n’t struggle to last all day irrespective of what we were doing .
That ’s a bit of a different history compare to the Exynos - fit out Galaxy S22 Ultra that we bump couldjustabout make it to the remnant of the day with less than 10 % explosive charge remaining , with even Apple ’s iPhone collection offering good battery seniority .
Final Verdict
Though the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has fundamental improvements like a 200MP camera and the exclusive Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy , it ’s not that dissimilar from its predecessor .
That ’s not necessarily a bad affair if you ’re new to the Samsung family as it ’ll sure offer an upgrade over your current phone , but the few difference between it and last yr ’s S22 Ultra means it ’s not quite as tempting an rise for any S22 Ultra owners out there .
It might also be worth considering the somewhat onetime S22 Ultra even with the S23 Ultra useable , as the two are still fairly alike and the S22 Ultra is useable for as little as£751 at Amazonin the UK , a huge £ 500 discount compared to the £ 1,249 Galaxy S23 Ultra .
