OVERVIEW

Pros

• Consistent camera performance in all features, making it a great smartphone imaging allrounder
• Very good photo rendering, providing a high level of details
• Very good autofocus in photo and video, allowing to capture the instant in most lighting conditions 
• Strong tele zoom performance at long range
• Good sound rendition with both the built-in speakers and the microphones
• Efficient audio zoom and wind noise reduction features
• Good readability in most lighting conditions
• Very good video experience overall
• Good color fidelity in most lighting conditions

Cons

• Loss of image detail in low-light situations
• Some shutter lag when shooting in low light
• Exposure and focus instabilities, particularly in backlit scenes
• Default recorder app doesn't offer the same audio quality as the main camera app
• Low flicker frequency and too-high brightness for night reading
• Under sunlight, colorful content lacks nuances
• Details and brightness lacking in indoor lighting conditions

We（dxomark team） put the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra through our rigorous DXOMARK Camera test suite to measure its performance in photo, video, and zoom quality from an end-user perspective. This article breaks down how the device fared in a variety of tests and several common use cases and is intended to highlight the most important results of our testing with an extract of the captured data.

Camera

Key camera specifications:

• Primary: 200MP 1/1.3″ sensor, 0.6 μm pixels, f/1.7-aperture lens, PDAF, AF, OIS
• Ultra-wide: 12MP 1/2.55″ sensor, 1.4 μm pixels, f/2.2-aperture lens, PDAF, AF, OIS
• Tele 1: 10MP 1/3.52″ sensor, 1.12 μm pixels, f/2.4-aperture lens, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom
• Tele 2: 10MP 1/3.52″ sensor, 1.12 μm pixels, f/4.9-aperture lens, PDAF, OIS, 10x optical zoom

Pros

• Very good detail
• Fairly wide dynamic range in all conditions
• Good detail across most zoom settings
• Very effective video stabilization
• Accurate autofocus in both photo and video

Cons

• Low contrast in backlit scenes
• Noise in low light and indoors
• Occasional local loss of detail on faces
• Fusion artifacts in all conditions
• Slight white balance casts
• Occasional underexposure of faces in low-light video

With a DXOMARK Camera score of 140, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra achieved a very good result in our camera tests. It offered good performance across pretty much all test attributes, without major drawbacks in any area, making it a great smartphone imaging allrounder. Still images featured excellent detail in bright light and a fairly wide dynamic range across all light levels. Please note that still-image testing was undertaken at the default 12MP resolution. The camera also allows for capture at higher image resolutions.

Tele zoom at very long range was a strength, thanks to Samsung’s dual-tele approach with a dedicated 10x camera. However, despite the sophisticated tele hardware, overall zoom results were slightly below competitors such as the Huawei Mate 50 Pro or Honor Magic 4 Ultimate, which provide more consistent tele zoom quality with only one higher-resolution tele camera module.

Effective stabilization and a fast and accurate autofocus meant that the Galaxy S23 Ultra also did well for video. White balance in low light left some room for improvement, though. Compared to the predecessor S22 Ultra, the Samsung engineers managed to achieve improvements in several areas, including video stabilization, slightly better zoom, noticeably better video exposure, and improved autofocus speed in bright light. Please note that all comparisons with the S22 Ultra in this review were made with the Snapdragon version of that device. The S23 Ultra only comes as a Snapdragon variant. Unlike for previous generations, there is no Exynos-powered version.

Friends & Family

Friends & Family is a new use case score, introduced with the latest version 5 of the DXOMARK Camera test protocol. It has been designed to represent the test device’s ability to capture technically good photos and videos in the most common consumer use cases (family, friends, pets). It is computed from data recorded during Photo, Zoom and Video tests that include people and moving subjects, a total of 60+ scenes both in the lab and real-life scenes with models.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is very capable of taking good quality portrait photos and videos in most lighting conditions. The device’s autofocus was very performant, managing to capture the decisive moment both in indoor and outdoor conditions. In low-light situations, however, our engineers observed a slight delay between the moment the shutter was triggered and the actual capture. Exposure in photo was generally well managed, except when it came to challenging backlit situations, where low contrast gave faces an unnatural appearance. While the S23 Ultra managed to keep the scene’s natural color atmosphere, skin tones were sometimes rendered inaccurate. When taking videos, face tracking was very efficient, keeping moving subjects’ faces in focus.

Lowlight

In low light, the S23 Ultra produced good exposure with a quite wide dynamic range, capturing decent detail in both the highlight and shadow regions of the frame. In terms of color, the engineers opted for maintaining some of the atmosphere that is produced by dim warm light sources, delivering overall nice color in low light. Many competitors tend to take a more neutral approach to white balance in low light, but what you prefer is pretty much down to personal taste.

Display

Key display specifications:

• 8 inches AMOLED, (~90.7% screen-to-body ratio)
• Dimensions: 163.4 x 78.1 x 8.9 mm (6.43 x 3.07 x 0.35 inches)
• Resolution: 1440 x 3088 pixels, (~500 ppi density)
• Aspect ratio: 19.3:9
• Refresh rate: 120 Hz

Pros

• Good readability in most lighting conditions
• Very good video experience overall
• Good color fidelity in most lighting conditions

Cons

Low flicker frequency and too-high brightness for night reading

Under sunlight, colorful content lacks nuances

Details and brightness lacking in indoor lighting conditions

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra turned in an excellent overall display performance, showing some marked improvements over its predecessor. Both the S23 Ultra and the S22 Ultra continue to lead the pack in providing the best user experience for video, with a refresh rate that adapts itself to the frame rate of the content being played.

Despite good progress in motion control and to a lesser degree, in color rendering, the S23 Ultra remained essentially at the same level as the S22 Ultra for readability, and showed the same visible aliasing as the S22 Ultra when playing video games.

Please note that all comparisons with the S22 Ultra in this review were made with the Snapdragon version of that device. The S23 Ultra comes only with a Snapdragon processor; unlike previous generations, there is no Exynos-powered version.

Audio

Key audio specifications include:

• Two speakers (1 top front under-screen, 1 bottom side)
• No jack audio output
• Dolby Atmos technology

Playback

Pros

• Very good overall performance
• Deep and powerful bass
• Fairly stable timbre and dynamic performance across all volumes

Cons

• Inconsistent volume steps
• Sound scene could be wider considering device dimensions

Recording

Pros

• Good timbre performance overall
• Good and very natural audio zoom
• Very effective wind noise reduction with main camera and selfie video

Cons

• Strong sensitivity to wind with memo app
• Slightly metallic treble with recorder app
• General lack of brightness across all use cases

With a DXOMARK Audio score of 139, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra performed very well in our tests and is a clear improvement over last year’s Galaxy S22 series. The built-in speakers delivered good overall sound quality with a nice timbre and a deep and powerful bass, making the Samsung a great option for listening to music, watching movies or gaming alike.

Recording results were best with the main camera, but the S23 Ultra also did a decent job with the selfie camera. Recordings with the memo app were limited by the default memo setting. Overall, the built-in microphones delivered good results, though. The audio zoom feature was capable of reducing background noise and focusing on the main subject. Wind noise reduction worked effectively as well. 

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