Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Motorola Edge 40

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy) that was released on February 1, 2023, against the Motorola Edge 40, which is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 8020 and came out 3 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
  • The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom
  • 2x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1519K versus 764K)
  • Shows 23% longer battery life (41:06 vs 33:31 hours)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • Comes with 600 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 4400 mAh
  • Delivers 21% higher peak brightness (1278 against 1052 nits)
  • Has 2 SIM card slots
  • 24% higher pixel density (500 vs 402 PPI)
Reasons to consider the Motorola Edge 40
  • Higher display refresh rate – 144 Hz
  • Supports higher wattage charging (68W versus 45W)
  • Weighs 66 grams less
  • Better grip in hands – the body is 6.11 mm narrower

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Motorola Edge 40 crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Choose the importance of each parameter to more accurately identify the smartphone that best meets your particular needs.
Adjust priorities
Feature
Priority (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery Life:
The higher the priority, the more it will affect the final NanoReview score.

Value for money

You can enter your local prices of these phones (in USD or other currency) and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money.
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Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED POLED
Size 6.8 inches 6.55 inches
Resolution 1440 x 3088 pixels 1080 x 2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.3:9 20:9
PPI 500 ppi 402 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 144 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes No
Max rated brightness 850 nits 500 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1750 nits 1200 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus 2 Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Screen-to-body ratio 89.5% 90.8%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming
Display tests
RGB color space 96.9% 97.1%
PWM 240 Hz 144 Hz
Response time 2 ms 1 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
1278 nits
1052 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 163.4 mm (6.43 inches) 158.43 mm (6.24 inches)
Width 78.1 mm (3.07 inches) 71.99 mm (2.83 inches)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) 7.49 mm (0.29 inches)
Weight 233 g (8.22 oz) 167 g (5.89 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber -
Rear material Glass Plastic
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Gray, Blue, Green, Red, Purple Black, Blue, Green, Red
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio
Edge 40 +1%
90.8%

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Motorola Edge 40 in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy MediaTek Dimensity 8020
Max clock 3360 MHz 2600 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) 8 (4 + 4)
Architecture - 3 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A710
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A715
- 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X3
- 4 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 4 cores at 2.6 GHz: Cortex-A78
L3 cache 8 MB 8 MB
Lithography process 4 nanometers 6 nanometers
Graphics Adreno 740 Mali-G77 MP9
GPU shading units 2560 576
GPU clock 719 MHz 850 MHz
FLOPS ~3481.6 GFLOPS ~979.2 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
1986
1110
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
5255
3570
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
1519070
764792
CPU 377732 214468
GPU 604184 211997
Memory 272107 156087
UX 262144 179138
Total score 1519070 764792
3DMark Wild Life Performance
12153
4464
Max surface temperature 34.8 °C 49.6 °C
Stability 64% 98%
Graphics test 72 FPS 26 FPS
Graphics score 12153 4464
PCMark 3.0
16032
15792
Web score 15683 14972
Video editing 7790 7876
Photo editing 33992 46515
Data manipulation 12997 9747
Writing score 19802 18773
Sources: 3DMark [3], [4]

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8, 12 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR4X
Memory clock - 2133 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 256, 512, 1024 GB 128, 256 GB
Storage type UFS 4.0 UFS 3.1
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 13 Android 13
ROM One UI 5.1 My UX
OS size 39.9 GB 22 GB

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 4400 mAh
Max charge power 45 W 68 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) Yes (15 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Fast charging Yes (68% in 30 min) Yes (58% in 15 min)
Full charging time 0:59 hr 0:40 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 14:50 hr 10:56 hr
Watching video 19:27 hr 16:18 hr
Gaming 06:21 hr 04:43 hr
Standby 123 hr 111 hr
General battery life
41:06 hr
33:31 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 200 megapixels 50 megapixels
Image resolution 16320 x 12240 8192 x 6144
Zoom Optical, 10x Digital
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording Up to 30FPS No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 30FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 960 FPS (1080p) 960 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 120° 120°
Lenses 4 (200 MP + 10 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP) 2 (50 MP + 13 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 200 MP
- Aperture: f/1.7
- Focal length: 23 mm
- Pixel size: 0.64 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.3", Samsung ISOCELL HP2 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS)
- Laser autofocus
- Optical stabilization
- 50 MP
- Aperture: f/1.4
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.55", Omnivision OV50A (CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
Telephoto lens - 10 MP
- Aperture: f/4.9
- Focal length: 230 mm
- Pixel size: 1.12 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.52", Sony IMX754 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
-
Ultra-wide lens - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Focal length: 13 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX564 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- 13 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Pixel size: 1.12 micron
- Phase autofocus
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra from DxOMark -
Selfie camera
Megapixels 12 megapixels 32 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 -
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.4
Focal length 26 mm -
Pixel size 1.12 microns 0.7 microns
Sensor type ISOCELL CMOS CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.24" -
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS

DxOMark camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.3 5.2
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby -
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 20 -
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
91.8 dB
89.4 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced February 2023 May 2023
Release date February 2023 May 2023
SAR (head) 0.96 W/kg -
SAR (body) 1.4 W/kg -
Sensors - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Not included Yes, 68 W
Further details
Notes on Edge 40:
    - The back cover could be made of eco-leather (optionally).
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

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