Waiting for the next generation of mobiles with a folding screen that will succeed the Galaxy Fold and Flip in 2022, Samsung has already put its new top-of-the-range in stores for this 2023. The family Galaxy S23 comes with the same SoC, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2for its three variants, S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra, contrary to what happened last year with an Exynos 2200 chip for the S22 in Europe and a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in the rest of the world. The first, designed by Samsung, with worse performance than Qualcomm’s SoC, which earned the Korean company some criticism.
There is no difference in terms of power between the S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra, but there are quite a few in other aspects between the first two models and the Ultra, which has taken the place of the Galaxy Note since last year. So the more than 600 euro difference between the price of the basic S23 and the S23 Ultra are not justified in performance but in other features. We review what each model offers and what its advantages and disadvantages are.
S23, better buy than an S23+
We group them in a single section because it is the same mobile with different screen size and battery capacity. pass from 6.1 inches to 6.6 and of 3,900mAh to 4,700 It supposes an increase in the price of 250 euros that is difficult to justify in only these characteristics, which leaves the S23 + a bit in no man’s land. The 200 euros difference between this and the Ultra spread more and better justify the purchase of the superior model.
That being said, the sister models in the S23 range are premium phones in many ways but not all. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC is accompanied by meager ones, for phones that start at almost a thousand euros, 8GB RAM and both terminals are available with various storage capacities UFS 4.0: 128/256 GB for the S23 and 256/512 for the S23+.
Curiously, Samsung has both variants of each model on its website at the same price: 959 euros the first and 1,209 euros the second, so buy an S23 of 128Gb or an S23+ of 256 It is absurd when for the same price you have a higher capacity. In any case, it is assumed that it is a temporary offer.
So far the differences that justify the price between one model and the other. For the rest, these siblings share screen technology Dynamic AMOLED 2X, refresh rate up to 120Hz, HDR10+, resolution of 1,080 x 2,340 pixels and maximum brightness of 1,750 nits that makes it one of the best for outdoor use.
He too design with rounded corners, completely flat screen, glass back with the latest protection from Corning, Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and aluminum frame. This premium finish is complemented by a triple camera system that is another of the great differences with the Ultra model that has the camera with the most megapixels on the market. In the case of the 23 and 23+, 50 MP main, 10 MP telephoto and 12 MP wide angle while the front camera is 12 MP.
Surprisingly, phones in this price segment do not include a charger, not even the Ultra, which the user must purchase separately. The S23 supports 25W fast charging, the S23+ 45W, and both 15W wireless and 4.5W wireless reverse.
As a last resort the S23 is the best mobile in a compact format that can be found. The screen may be somewhat small for some users, but the few differences it presents with the S23+ make it a much more attractive model for its price. The buyer of an S23+ is likely to prefer to stretch a little further and reach up to the Ultra model that offers much more for a lower price difference than the one between the S23 and the S23+.
S23 Ultra, expensive but with something that very few offer
We arrived at Samsung’s most premium mobile. Comparing it with the S23 and S23+, is the price jump justified? The characteristics that differentiate it are found mainly in five aspects: screen, battery, stylus, RAM and camera.
The screen increases not only in size, to 6.8 inchesbut in resolution, 1,440 x 3,088 pixels, and in the refresh rate that is adaptive between 1 Hz and 120 while those of the S23 and S23+ cover it from 48 to 120 Hz. That is, it offers a better energy efficiency.
It also changes the form factor and stops being completely flat to be slightly curved at the lateral edges, but very little so that accidental touches on the screen are avoided when picking up the phone. Despite sharing design lines, also with an aluminum frame and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the rear, the S23 Ultra looks and feels different from the S23 and S23+. This perception is helped by the fact that the corners go from being rounded to straight and that it is the heaviest terminal in the series, 2. 3. 4 grams vs. 196 of the plus and 168 of the S23.
It has the highest capacity battery 5,000mAh and the same charging capacities as the S23+, but above all with a camera of which there are few on the market. It is a quadruple system in which the main camera uses a sensor ISOCELL HP2 of 200 MPa resolution that until now has only been seen on mobiles like the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra or the Xiaomi 12T Pro 5G and that logically has the ability to capture images with an overwhelming detail.
To this we must add two 10 MP telephotos and a 12 MP wide angle along with a 12 MP front camera, like the one on the S23 and S23+. The S23 Ultra has one of the best cameras on the market, but it only makes sense for those who know how to take advantage of that extra capacity that is not common for users.
Although all S23 are powered by the same SoC and offer the same performance, the Ultra model has an advantage in its configuration with 12GB of RAM. Again, in this strange samsung pricing policythe model with 512 GB of storage and 12 GB of RAM is at the same price as the 256/8 GB model, €1,409 on your website, so deciding on the basic configuration is nonsense. The top model with 1TB of storage and 12 GB of RAM is located in €1,589.
Finally, we must remember that the Ultra is a Note with the name changed and as such incorporates a Stylus to write and draw on the mobile with the corresponding applications.
Is the S23 Ultra worth it? If you are a user of the Galaxy Note and its Stylus, what Samsung offers you will not find it anywhere. And if you are able to get the most out of the 200 MP sensor, in very few places, although at a better price than with this S23 Ultra. If you don’t need any of those features, the most reasonable price/performance option is the S23 taking advantage of Samsung’s current offer.
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