Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs S23 Ultra
92
out of 100
VS
75
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.9-inch Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5) that was released on February 25, 2026, against the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, which is powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy and came out 3 years and 1 month before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
- 2.2x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (3939K versus 1762K)
- Delivers 119% higher peak brightness (2809 against 1282 nits)
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Shows 11% longer battery life (28:50 vs 26:01 hours)
- Has 50% more RAM: 12GB versus 8GB
- Newer Bluetooth version (v6.0)
- The phone is 3 years and 1 month newer
- Compatible with the latest Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
- Supports higher wattage charging (60W versus 45W)
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
- The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
Review
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
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 6.9 inches | 6.8 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3120 pixels | 1440 x 3088 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.3:9 |
| PPI | 500 ppi | 500 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (1-120 Hz) | Yes (24-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 1500 nits | 1200 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 2600 nits | 1750 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Touch sampling rate | 240 Hz | 240 Hz |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Armor 2 | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 91.4% | 89.5% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | - | 96.9% |
| PWM | - | 240 Hz |
| Response time | - | 2 ms |
| Contrast | - | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 163.6 mm (6.44 inches) | 163.4 mm (6.43 inches) |
| Width | 78.1 mm (3.07 inches) | 78.1 mm (3.07 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 214 g (7.55 oz) | 233 g (8.22 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Silver, Blue, Pink, Purple | White, Black, Gray, Blue, Green, Red, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy |
| Max clock | 4740 MHz | 3360 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 6) | 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) |
| Architecture | - 6 cores at 3.63 GHz: Oryon Gen 3 Performance - 2 cores at 4.61 GHz: Oryon Gen 3 Prime |
- 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 | 12 MB | 8 MB |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 3 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Hexagon |
| Graphics | Adreno 840 | Adreno 740 |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 1536 |
| GPU clock | 1200 MHz | 680 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~3686.4 GFLOPS | ~2089 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 28391 | 9254 |
| Single-core score | 3624 | 2010 |
| Multi-core score | 11049 | 5245 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 1168602 | 556398 |
| GPU | 1520337 | 445907 |
| Memory | 448779 | 285085 |
| UX | 801526 | 474949 |
| Total score | 3939244 | 1762339 |
| Samples | [32 tests] | [31 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 67% | 81% |
| Graphics test | 20 FPS | 8 FPS |
| Graphics score | 2737 | 1098 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Stability | - | 77% |
| Graphics test | 46 FPS | 20 FPS |
| Section 1 | 58 FPS | 23 FPS |
| Section 2 | 42 FPS | 20 FPS |
| Section 3 | 37 FPS | 18 FPS |
| Graphics score | 11990 | 5383 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | - | 69% |
| Graphics test | 42 FPS | 22 FPS |
| Graphics score | 7123 | 3723 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 23390 | 17072 |
| Video editing | 8217 | 7852 |
| Photo editing | 37389 | 33655 |
| Data manipulation | 18322 | 13329 |
| Writing score | 32854 | 19857 |
AnTuTu 11 Ranking List (#22nd place)
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-05 (Pavel) | AnTuTu | 3959848 |
| 📘 2026-08-29 -> szymon-bonkowski | AnTuTu | 4220521 |
| 📘 2026-08-25 (Edwin3q) | AnTuTu | 3855646 |
| 📘 2026-08-13 (Jovan Čamagić) | AnTuTu | 3848536 |
| 📘 2026-08-08 (Nan01) | GeekBench CPU | 3569 / 10336 |
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-08-07 (Turtle tech) | AnTuTu | 1789039 |
| 📘 2026-07-21 (Jedidiah) | AnTuTu | 1621561 |
| 📘 2026-07-20 (Khải) | GeekBench CPU | 1642 / 5251 |
| 📘 2026-07-20 (Khải) | AnTuTu | 1796597 |
| 📘 2026-05-14 (Trizer) | AnTuTu | 1763324 |
Memory
| RAM size | 12 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Memory clock | 5300 MHz | 4200 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | UFS 4.0 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 16 | Android 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) |
| ROM | One UI 8.5 | One UI 8.0 |
| OS size | 33.2 GB | 39.9 GB |
| OS updates | 7 years | 4 years |
| Security updates | 7 years | 5 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 60 W | 45 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (25 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes, (wireless) |
| Bypass charging | Yes | Yes |
| Fast charging | Yes (84% in 30 min) | Yes (68% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 0:43 hr | 0:59 hr |
| Web browsing | 10:12 hr | 09:57 hr |
| Watching video | 21:39 hr | 15:38 hr |
| Gaming | 06:42 hr | 06:22 hr |
| Standby | 130 hr | 130 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (66th and 138th place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 200 megapixels | 200 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 16320 x 12240 | 16320 x 12240 |
| Zoom | Optical, 5x | Optical, 10x |
| Flash | LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| 4K video recording | Up to 120FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 240FPS | Up to 120FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 960 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 200 MP 2) Telephoto: 50 MP 3) Telephoto: 10 MP 4) Ultrawide: 50 MP |
1) Standard: 200 MP 2) Telephoto: 10 MP 3) Telephoto: 10 MP 4) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 200 MP | 200 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.4 | f/1.7 |
| Focal length | 23 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung ISOCELL S5KHP2 | Samsung ISOCELL HP2 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.3" (≈ 0.77 inch) | 1/1.3" (≈ 0.77 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.6 micron | 0.64 micron |
| Autofocus | Laser autofocus | Laser autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 10 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.9 | f/4.9 |
| Focal length | 111 mm | 230 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX854 | Sony IMX754 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.52" (≈ 0.4 inch) | 1/3.52" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.7 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung ISOCELL S5KJN3 | Sony IMX564 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.5" (≈ 0.4 inch) | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.7 micron | 1.4 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 165 | 70 |
| Preview | - | 73 |
| Zoom | 141 | 141 |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra from DxOMark | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 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 | 23 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung ISOCELL S5K3LU | Samsung S5K3LU |
| Sensor size | 1/3.2" (≈ 0.31 inch) | 1/3.24" (≈ 0.31 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
DxOMark front camera
| Photo | - | 139 |
| Video | - | 145 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) | 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 | 6.0 | 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 |
| DisplayPort | Yes | Yes, DP 1.2 |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | 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
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | February 2026 | February 2023 |
| Release date | March 2026 | February 2023 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1299 | $1199 |
| Successor | - | - Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra |
| SAR (head) | 1.28 W/kg | 0.96 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.35 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
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 308
