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Well, it happened. A long-time iPhone user purchased the newest Galaxy S23
Ultra. This will be an interesting day for sure since there’s a lot to unpack,
test, and, most of all set up since I come up from a world of iOS and Apple-exclusive apps.
Starting off with the very first struggles early in the morning and the night before,
the S23 Ultra comes with a USB-C port and doesn’t have MagSafe. All the accessories
around the house, studio, and car are MagSafe compatible which makes
me wonder how I’ll adjust to not being able to snap this massive phone to various places.
I picked the 512GB version of the S23 Ultra which apparently comes with 12GB of ram,
part of the worldwide Snapdragon 8 gen 2 for Samsung package - which according to
the materials is the most powerful chip on any Android device. I didn’t go for any accessories
or charging equipment since I have plenty of USB-C chargers around me, most of which can top it up at
a peak 45W. I do need to come up with a decent case for it at some point…because it’s massive!
Talking about size, the Ultra immediately made my 14 Pro feel like an iPhone mini. However,
I have to admit that it is a very comfortable phone to hold. Unlike the sharp edges of the
iPhone lineup, the Ultra comes with still angular yet much more comfortable rounded presence and,
to my surprise, feels lighter than the smaller 14 Pro. This makes it
less tiring when using it one-handed. If I have to compare it with the Pro iPhone, the Ultra is the
clear choice for me in terms of ease of hold - if that’s even a term. One thing that I find awkward
however is the location of the volume rocker. The power button is placed ideally, but the location
of the volume controls comes too high up for one-handed use, given the size of the phone.
BTW, I had forgotten that android has the Home Screen bar option in the UI, just like
the iPhone. I switched to it for now, but I am honestly unsure if I prefer the traditional
buttons on the bottom more. See, with a massive phone like this, if you have the home screen bar,
you rely on the UI to navigate back and forth, and in many occasions, the back experience ends
up being on the top. With the old- school 3 buttons on the bottom, you have a much more
ergonomic way to move back. BTW, if you end up enjoying this video, subscribe, because WHY NOT?!?
Getting into the car, I immediately realized that I can’t take advantage of my wireless
charging pad since it’s not made for Ultra phones. As a Waze user, I had to find a cable and test
Android Auto and Google Assistant, since those two components are vital for my daily commute.
Setting up Android Auto is dead easy if we ignore some funky permissions hiccups
and the interface is honestly nice. I do prefer larger app icons without having to
deal with an app drawer, but I digress since this has nothing to do with the S23 at all.
If anything, the 6.8-inch screen of the Ultra makes for a much better android auto display than
any car screen. BTW if you have a good car mount suggestion, let me know in the comments below.
Going back to the day I grabbed the Ultra, I went ahead to shoot a short
unboxing video. I have to be honest, unboxing the latest smartphones that don’t come with
anything besides a simple charging cable is becoming very boring and at this price point,
I find it a bit excessive omitting all sorts of accessories, including the USB-C adapter that
Samsung used to include. On the other side,
this black version of the Ultra looks like something Bruce Wayne might use. The frosted
back glass hides fingerprints perfectly, and the camera array and layout is much better than
those on the iPhone since the protruding rings are further apart which won’t be collecting as
much dirt and gunk. Out of all the colors I was only tempted by the new military green,
but I couldn’t resist the black. At one point during the day,
I remembered that Samsung keeps all new devices at FHD+ resolution and not at WQHD+,
which is the maximum. I did switch back and forth to see if I would notice the difference
and honestly, the 1080p defacto barely makes a difference to me, so I kept it in the middle.
I know running with max resolution might be taking a bit of toll on the battery yet overall I don’t
think it will make the phone bend the knee. The S23 is an absolute beast when it comes to
battery life. Even though I don’t use it for phone calls since my primary sim remains in the iPhone,
I can’t possibly kill it in a day. Throughout the day, I slowly filled up the usual apps that I use,
like Social Media, email and some streaming services, but even with that, the battery stays
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The more I use this huge phone the more I realize that I can easily rock it without a case. It is a
lot less slippery than my iPhone for some reason. Despite being an extremely big device, I barely
feel it in my pocket - it looks ridiculous I know, but I wouldn’t call it uncomfortable.
The weight of the phone itself and the rounded edges make it very manageable despite the size.
I know I said I can easily rock the S23 Ultra without a case, but this here is not just a case.
It’s Pitaka’s MagEZ Case 3 with the integrated PitaFlow System - put simply…this is like MagSafe
but for Android. Back to the day in the life. I do miss the silent switcher from the iPhone, but
that’s OK because this device will always stay on silent…unless I am watching something which on the
built-in stereo speakers sounds decently loud. I wouldn’t call them very punchy, because they lack
bass but are plenty good for content consumption. With Android, I realized how much I’ve missed the
simple swipe down to bring down the notifications panel, followed by a secondary swipe for the quick
controls and brightness leveler. It feels effortless and much easier than the iPhone where I
need to precisely touch the very top left portion of the screen to swipe down for notifications.
Samsung has always been king when it comes to smartphone displays, and the S23 Ultra is the
pinnacle as to what the company has to offer. This 6.8-inch 120hz LTPO display is an absolute
joy to spend time on. I love prepping and editing photos in Lightroom on it. BTW Lightroom comes
packed with the phone - it’s called Lightroom for Samsung Phones. Globally, Adobe Lightroom
is now the exclusive default photo editor for RAW photos taken with the Expert RAW app,
which can be accessed through the native Gallery app on the S23 series. The size of the display
is absolutely perfect to type on, although I find the Samsung keyboard a bit difficult to
get used to still. Nevertheless, even if it’s not for typing, this size is great for taking notes
and my favorite for sketching and playing with wallpapers. BTW, if you want to grab the wallpaper
that I’ve been working on on the S23, you can do so for free on my website, which I’ll link
below. There’s you’ll also be able to support the channel by grabbing some of my 8K wallpaper packs.
Despite the S23 having the ability to unlock via face recognition, this is not something
that I would comfortably rely on. For now, I am sticking with the ultrasonic fingerprint
reader placed under the display. It’s fast and fun to use, although it is not so convenient
for payments or authentication as Face ID. One thing that the S23 has that no other device
out there has is the built-in S-Pen. Now, I know this might not be a feature worth discussing with
many (and I am talking about people who will be perfectly fine with the regular S23), but to me,
this is a big deal for two reasons. Reason number one is the fact that it’s part of the phone,
and it’s always ready to use. This is massive because unlike the Z Fold for example or even
the iPad, you don’t have to worry about losing or leaving behind the pen. In fact,
the phone reminds you if you leave the pen behind, which is fantastic. Second, this tiny
2.8 ms latency pressure-sensitive pen is on the level of some of the Pro tablets and even the iPad
Pro - not the same in terms of angles and range, but hey…look at the size. Second, the immediate
availability of it allows you to sign documents, jot down or explain something no matter where you
are. Even browsing while fidgeting with it is awesome. Another feature that I can appreciate
is using it as a remote shutter, which if you are into video, is definitely something worthwhile.
The S23 Ultra cameras are awesome. I know some people were pointing out shutter lag,
but during my tests, I honestly didn’t see much of a difference compared to the 14 Pro.
What’s more noticeable is the skin tone difference, none of which is a concern
since it can be easily tweaked to my liking in post. When taking 50mp or 200mp photos,
there’s a post-processing moment which is completely normal, and it is magical to experience
the end result once the image clears out and you realize you just saw something that your own eyes
can’t even focus on. It’s kind of nice having this amazing zoom range, to be honest. Overall,
at a first glance, all cameras on the S23 are very impressive, including the front one.
What I am most impressed by this time around is the video capabilities and the overall
stabilization on the UHD 60 fps setting. It’s incredibly smooth, and the quality and natural
depth of field is amazing. 8K at 30 looks weird in the preview, but the actual shots are admirable
too. I will be testing this more in the future as I implement the S23U in my workflow. We did
some moody a-roll tests, and I’ll let you be the judge of the result in the comments.
Overall I am very impressed by the S23. Now, I didn’t expect any less from one of the best
smartphones of the year, yet I am impressed because the S23 Ultra is the ultra-refined
version of a Note that I’ve been missing for years. The overall experience is silky smooth,
the screen is the best there is, the size is manageable yet gorgeous to immerse in,
the battery is amazing, and the S-Pen is the cherry on top.