Galaxy S23 Ultra vs S22 Ultra: 4 big differences

The wait was very long and interspersed with various leaks. It ends this Wednesday, February 1st, and Samsung has just unveiled three of its new smartphones: the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+ and Galaxy S23 Ultra.

The latter, the most high-end, completely spoils the screen. Still very impressive, it has a stylus like the S22 Ultra. The display also includes definition which allows you to display content in QHD+.

But that’s just one of the many details that set the S23 Ultra apart from its predecessors. To see more clearly, we return to the 4 main differences between these two smartphones.

Galaxy S23 Ultra vs. Galaxy S22 Ultra: redesigned

The first important detail, Samsung has decided to equip the S23 with a flatter screen. Why ? The South Korean tech giant says users find the S22 Ultra a bit too curved.

On the design side, the S23 Ultra (like the S23 and S23+) is available in four colors: black, cream, green and lavender. Watch for the arrival of two exclusive colors: Lime and Graphite. Colors are also offered exclusively for this model: sky blue and red. This was already the case of its predecessors.

The screen features a refresh rate of 120 Hz. Interestingly, the S23 Ultra can switch from 1 to 120 Hz unlike other models.

All the new phones launched by Samsung are IP68 certified, which ensures a certain level of protection against water. This is again the case with the S22 Ultra.

Finally, note that Samsung wants to showcase its ecological fiber by offering more components made from recycled materials than ever before (12 versus 6 years ago): glass, aluminum. Likewise, the packaging is 100% recycled, including the protective film. We are also promised materials that are more durable than in previous years.

New chip for S23 Ultra

This is another big change made by Samsung this year. For the first time since the Galaxy S6, Samsung is offering a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen2 chip. The latter is very well optimized to increase device performance, especially in terms of autonomy and performance.

We were also notified of improvements to the quality of photography, as we will see later. Last year, Samsung offered its own chips for its models distributed in Europe. The S23 Ultra needs to be tested in more detail to verify the manufacturer’s claims on the spot.

200 Mpxl Camera for S23 Ultra

Regarding the photo, overall, Samsung hasn’t revolutionized its smartphones compared to its previous models. So, the Galaxy S23 and S23+ are exactly the same as their predecessors with 12 Mpxl selfies (f/2.2 with DualPixel AF).

However, The Galaxy S23 Ultra changes the game with a 200 Mpxl main sensor (f / 1.7) and the new 12 Mpxl selfie (f / 2.2). As for the S22 Ultra, it offers a wide-angle lens (f/1.8 – 85°) with a 108 Mpxl sensor (1/1.33” – 0.8 µm photosites and an ultra-wide lens-angle (f/2.2 – 120°) with a sensor 12 Mpxl (1/2.55” – 1.4 µm photosites).

The S23 Ultra is (significantly) more expensive than the S22 Ultra

This is bad news this year. The price of the Galaxy S23 Ultra is much more expensive than the Galaxy S22 Ultra when it was released. It is offered from €1,419 (256 GB) and is available in 512 GB versions for 1,599 euros and 1 TB for 1,839 euros. Compared to the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the S23 Ultra 128 GB costs 60 euros more (with only 8 GB of RAM), the 512 GB and 1 TB versions are 140 and 180 euros more expensive respectively than the previous generation.

Galaxy S23 Ultra vs S22 Ultra: what hasn’t changed

As we can see, the difference is subtle but not necessarily big between the S23 Ultra and S22 Ultra. At certain points, the two smartphones are even identical and this is mainly due to their very similar design (except for the S23’s slightly flatter screen). The same goes for RAM which is 8GB and goes up to 12GB on some models, just like on the S22 Ultra.

Understandably, the S23 Ultra isn’t necessarily a revolution compared to its predecessor, even if it does include some welcome new features that should be tested over time.