Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs S23 Plus

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 Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus, which is powered by the same chip. 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
  • 27% higher pixel density (500 vs 393 PPI)
  • Comes with 300 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 4700 mAh
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus
  • Weighs 38 grams less

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and S23 Plus 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:
Connectivity:
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 Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.8 inches 6.6 inches
Resolution 1440 x 3088 pixels 1080 x 2340 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.3:9 19.5:9
PPI 500 ppi 393 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes Yes
Max rated brightness 850 nits 800 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1750 nits 1750 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus 2 Gorilla Glass Victus 2
Screen-to-body ratio 89.5% 88.9%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 96.9% 97.4%
PWM 240 Hz 240 Hz
Response time 2 ms 1 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
1263 nits
1195 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 163.4 mm (6.43 inches) 157.8 mm (6.21 inches)
Width 78.1 mm (3.07 inches) 76.2 mm (3 inches)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) 7.6 mm (0.3 inches)
Weight 233 g (8.22 oz) 195 g (6.88 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber Vapor chamber
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Gray, Blue, Green, Red, Purple White, Black, Gray, Green, Purple, Yellow
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy
Max clock 3360 MHz 3360 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3)
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
- 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
L3 cache 8 MB 8 MB
Lithography process 4 nanometers 4 nanometers
Graphics Adreno 740 Adreno 740
GPU clock 719 MHz 719 MHz
FLOPS ~3481 GFLOPS ~3481 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
1245329
1173891
CPU 266470 259318
GPU 530016 503359
Memory 245971 239818
UX 204051 173966
Total score 1245329 1173891
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 34.8 °C 36.2 °C
Stability 64% 65%
Graphics test 73 FPS 72 FPS
Graphics score 12200 12166
Web score 15313 13394
Video editing 7784 7789
Photo editing 33888 34127
Data manipulation 12574 12103
Writing score 19878 20356
AnTuTu 9 Results (15th and 22nd place)
Sources: 3DMark [3], [4]

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8, 12 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 256, 512, 1024 GB 256, 512 GB
Storage type UFS 4.0 UFS 4.0
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 13 Android 13
ROM One UI 5.1 One UI 5.1
OS size 39.9 GB 42.5 GB

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 4700 mAh
Max charge power 45 W 45 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) Yes (10 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) Yes, (wireless)
Fast charging Yes (68% in 30 min) Yes (57% in 30 min)
Full charging time 0:59 hr 1:05 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 15:33 hr 14:38 hr
Watching video 19:27 hr 17:37 hr
Gaming 06:26 hr 06:25 hr
Standby 123 hr 127 hr
General battery life
41:50 hr
40:14 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 200 megapixels 50 megapixels
Image resolution 16320 x 12240 8160 x 6120
Zoom Optical, 10x Optical, 3x
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording Up to 30FPS Up to 30FPS
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 960 FPS (1080p) 960 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 120° 120°
Lenses 4 (200 MP + 10 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP) 3 (50 MP + 10 MP + 12 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/1.8
- Focal length: 23 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.57", Samsung S5KGN3 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- 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
- 10 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Focal length: 70 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.94", Samsung S5K3K1 (ISOCELL 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)
- 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)
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra from DxOMark Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 4000 x 3000
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm 26 mm
Pixel size 1.12 microns 1.12 microns
Sensor type ISOCELL CMOS ISOCELL CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.24" 1/3.24"
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 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 MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.3 5.3
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 20 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

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced February 2023 February 2023
Release date February 2023 February 2023
SAR (head) 0.96 W/kg 0.57 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.4 W/kg 1.4 W/kg
Sensors - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Not included Not included
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

These smartphones have a lot in common, but we would recommend the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. It has a better display and camera.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
247 (49.3%)
254 (50.7%)
Total votes: 501

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