There will soon be even more flip phones to choose from locally, with the Oppo Find N2 Flip now officially confirmed for an Australian release.
The news comes after its global reveal late last year, and it will be the company’s first foldable phone to make it to Australia. One of its biggest selling points is the large 3.26-inch cover screen capable of showing up to six notifications at once when closed. For comparison, the Motorola Razr 2022’s cover screen measures 2.7 inches, while the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 has an even smaller 1.9-inch cover display.
Major features
Arguably the biggest bugbear with any foldable screen technology is the visible crease on some devices. To combat this, Oppo claims the Find N2 Flip has a near-imperceptible crease you can barely see or feel, and that the device has been tested to over 400,000 folds using its second-gen Flexion Hinge technology.
Another flip phone advancement Oppo touts is its 4,300mAh battery, bigger than the Razr’s 3,500mAh and the Flip4’s 3,700mAh batteries. Plus, the N2 Flip features Oppo’s 44W Supervooc fast charging, said to fully charge a near-depleted battery to 100% in under an hour.
From a software perspective, the Oppo Find N2 Flip employs the company’s custom Android wrapper, ColorOS. This operating system reportedly takes full advantage of the flip format and the phone’s large cover screen. You can quickly reply to messages, access settings, take calls and more while the phone is closed. There’s also support for the long haul, too: Oppo promises four years of ColorOS updates – the longest OS support from the company to date – and five years of security updates.
Some of the cover screen widgets available with ColorOS
After the phone launched in China last year, overseas reviewers indicate that we’ve got plenty to look forward to. Early looks from the likes of The Guardian and The Verge suggest there’s plenty to like about the N2 Flip thanks to its good build quality and display.
MediaTek Dimensity 9000+
8GB RAM
ColorOS 13.0 based on Android 13
Display
Main screen: 120Hz 6.8-inch AMOLED with LTPO, 21:9, 2520 × 1080, 1-120Hz dynamic refresh rate with up to 240Hz touch sampling rate, 1,600 nits peak brightness, HDR10+
Cover screen: 3.26-inch AMOLED, 17:9, 720 × 382, 900 nits peak brightness
Biometric sensors
Side-mounted fingerprint scanner, face unlock
Camera
50MP main camera: Sony IMX890, 23mm f/1.8 lens
8MP ultrawide camera: Sony IMX355, 16mm f/2.2 lens
32MP selfie camera: Sony IMX709 RGBW, 21mm f/2.4 lens
Battery
4,300mAh, 44W Supervooc charging
Connectivity
Dual SIM, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3, 5G, Wi-Fi 6,
Colours
Astral Black, Moonlit Purple
Oppo Find N2 Flip release date and price
Available to pre-order starting from 2 March, Oppo’s new flip phone costs $1,499 from retailers including JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman. There’s no word yet on the expected shipping date, although it shouldn’t be too long after the initial pre-order date.
We still don’t know if the horizontally-folding Oppo Find N2 phone – a competitor to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold range – will come to Australia. In the meantime, it’s exciting that the local flip phone competition gains another entrant to push the technology forward. On paper, the N2 Flip impresses in a lot of areas, so we’re looking forward to testing it out.
Peter Adderton, the founder of Australian telco Boost Mobile, has come out swinging against Optus, labelling the company’s actions as “scrambling to create relevancy”. It comes amid a tumultuous past year for Optus involving a large-scale data breach that had far-reaching security implications for many Australians.
“Just when I didn’t think Optus could embarrass themselves any further, they once again surprise us all,” Adderton said in a media statement. “Earlier this week, Optus launched products under the BOOST brand which Boost Mobile considers must be a deliberate attempt to trade off our valuable BOOST brand and success.”
“Boost Mobile has not authorised Optus to use our BOOST brand, and we are definitely not collaborating with Optus. Boost Mobile is focused on customer experience through great everyday value and access to the full Telstra network.”
What does this mean for Optus and Boost Mobile?
For starters, the new features announced by Optus include “Mobile Boost” and “Internet Boost”. Essentially, they are short-term speed increases you can pay for via the telco’s app. For $5, you can increase your NBN internet speed for 24 hours, while $2 prioritises your mobile data connection for an hour.
However, the naming convention of the new features bears a striking resemblance to the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that uses the Telstra network. As a result, legal action is allegedly on the cards.
Boost Mobile founder Peter Adderton. Image: supplied
“Boost Mobile will not tolerate Optus’ behaviour and we have demanded that Optus stop using our BOOST brand immediately,” Adderton said. “Optus has this morning received legal correspondence giving them until 5pm today to respond and stop using BOOST in its marketing, or otherwise legal proceedings will commence for trademark infringement.”
“Our six different Australian trademarks, including the word BOOST, cannot be so easily traded off by an organisation scrambling to create relevancy with consumers.”
At the time of writing, Optus’ announcement is still live on its website, and no further public communication has been made. According to Adderton, the fallout will likely continue.
“While no further comment will be made for now, what I can say is – watch this space.”
Virtual reality headsets have been all the rage since TV companies realised no one wanted to wear 3D glasses. While I’m still not 100% sold on the idea of needing to wear a bulky headset to have more immersive entertainment, the tech in the PSVR 2 blew me away.
Every aspect of the technology has been overhauled from the first attempt at a PlayStation VR headset back in 2016, with the team clearly taking all the criticism on board. The original PSVR 1 seemed like a novelty, a nice idea, while the PSVR 2 seems more like something people will actually use and enjoy long term, and that’s an exciting prospect for the evolution of gaming. If Sony can nail the next crucial part, that is…
I remember the launch of the original PlayStation VR headset. The year was 2016, and VR still seemed like such a novelty. People didn’t yet know what to expect or what to really do with VR, other than that it was a big screen strapped to your face and that was good for some reason. As a result, the first generation had a terrible 1080p resolution screen, an uncomfortable headset, and truly terrible controllers. I still have a box of those Move controllers and the accessories, like the big plastic guns, and the PlayStation Eye cameras required for the headset to work.
The original PlayStation VR headset felt like a hastily thrown-together first draft, made out of random accessories PlayStation developers found around the office and cobbled together. While it sold well enough, it never really took off because it didn’t properly scratch the itch of virtual reality in the way Oculus and other premium PC VR headsets did.
In that way, the new PlayStation VR2 headset is the complete opposite of the original. The thought and care that has gone into it is apparent. While it still needs to be plugged into the console, it now has cameras built into the headset, doing away with the need for a separate camera, and making the setup more intuitive and immersive.
The headphones that come with the headset can be properly tethered to the headband, so they don’t distract the wearer. There’s lots of padding around the headband, and the whole thing is very adjustable to fit a range of head shapes. Plus, the controllers are a joy to use. The panel is OLED with a 90Hz/120Hz refresh rate and 2000×2400 resolution per eye. I can still make out the pixels, but they’re smaller and more pleasant than the previous monstrosity. The lens separation is adjustable to better suit different faces.
On the head shapes thing, though, it does look like it’s not great for those with smaller heads. I have what I would consider to be a pretty medium-sized head. I have to adjust headphone headbands to be a bit bigger, but I don’t have to extend them all the way, if that helps you visualise the size.
My wife, on the other hand, is tiny, and because of that, she experienced more blur on the headset while playing than I did. That could be because she had trouble adjusting it to properly fit her head because it’s not designed for smaller heads, or perhaps because her eyesight isn’t as good as she thinks it is. Either way, it’s something for people with smaller heads to consider and perhaps test out before purchasing.
In all, it’s good. Very, very good. On paper, the specs are significantly better than comparable headsets like the Oculus Quest 2 and Valve Index. Plus, it hits just about everything on my wish list, though I would like a higher resolution panel and some kind of solution for those of us with poor eyesight who are too chicken to use contacts.
Eye tracking: ridiculously cool
The best new feature of PSVR 2 is eye tracking. Its eye tracking is extremely accurate, which seemed spooky at first, but is so much more natural for choosing dialogue options, browsing menus and selecting things in-world. It’s only going to be utilised by games made by first-party PlayStation developers for now, but the possibilities for this technology are almost endless.
This is also a premium feature that isn’t available in even the more expensive PC VR headsets, and to find that in a headset this reasonably priced (yes, I know it’s expensive, but this is actually pretty cheap for a VR headset this good), is incredible.
It’ll be really interesting to see how future developers use eye tracking in games, I suspect games like Horizon Call of the Mountain have barely scratched the surface.
The controllers: thank God Move is dead
Confession: the first thing I said as I unboxed the PSVR 2 was “Thank Rao Move is dead”.
The old Move Controllers on PSVR 1 served their purpose (making the most of a previous accessory that wasn’t as popular as PlayStation had hoped), but they were never great. The original aim of Move when it was first launched in 2010 for PS3 was to replicate the movement controls of the Nintendo Wii, they were never designed to feel natural in a VR situation.
In comparison, the new Sense controller is purpose-designed for VR and it shows. They feel natural to hold, they’re easy to use without looking at them, and they have so many sensors that they can be used for so many different things in-game. It’s going to be years before developers find every way to take advantage of these controllers, and that’s really exciting.
They achieve their aim of keeping you in the game and helping you navigate through it. They’re frankly the best VR controllers I’ve ever used.
But will there be games?
The problem with accessories like PSVR 2 is that it doesn’t really matter how good they are. It just matters that good games are made for them to get people to buy them.
There were a lot of problems with the original PSVR, and one key one was that there weren’t enough great, must-have games for it. Because of that, not enough people bought it to make it worth investing in creating big games for the headset, so then more people didn’t buy it.
There are more PC VR titles available now and, presumably, they can be ported to PlayStation with relative ease, so there is less of a barrier. But the expectations of console gamers can be different to PC gamers, so it’ll be interesting to see how that translates.
At launch, there is a pretty decent slate, including Horizon Call of the Wild (set in the same universe as Horizon Forbidden West), a Gran Turismo 7 VR mode (which is excellent), Jurassic World Aftermath, Resident Evil Village, Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge, Tetris Effect, and Moss 1 & 2 (one of my favourite PSVR 1 games). Highlights coming soon are No Man’s Sky and The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners: Ch 2: Retribution. But launch games tend to be more tech demos than experiences that fully and subtly utilise the power of a new device, so it’s the batch of games that come out later in the year that will be extra interesting to see.
The good news is that there are lots of games for early adopters to play. It’s just that the Christmas line-up will be the true test of how mainstream PSVR 2 will be.
Would I buy the PSVR 2?
This is the headset that finally made me “get” VR. I’ve tried fancier, more expensive headsets that have better quality technology (like multi-directional treadmills) and show a more idealised version of what virtual reality can be, but they’re not something that will be accessible to most people, probably ever. PlayStation VR 2, while expensive, is the first truly mainstream headset that seems worth the effort.
Considering I already own a PS5, if I had room in my budget for it, and was interested in spending a lot of time in PSVR 2 games, I think I would buy it. The set-up cost of getting a PS5 and a PSVR 2 headset, while high, is certainly lower than buying a PC VR headset with an appropriately powerful PC to use it with. It now just comes down to the games.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra sits at the top of the South Korean Electronics giant’s S-series range. Each year, the smartphone arms race continues to amp up capabilities, especially when it comes to the camera, which is what the S range is all about. The Galaxy S23 Ultra is also the successor to the productivity-focused and now-defunct Galaxy Note, and gains the Note’s ‘S-Pen’ stylus.
So this year’s Galaxy S23 range follows on from the critically acclaimed Galaxy S22, and includes three variants: the S23, S23+ and top-of-the-range S23 Ultra reviewed here. Visually speaking, you might have a tough time distinguishing between these new models and last year’s S22 range. However, a deeper inspection reveals there’s a lot more going on than meets the eye. I’ve been testing the S23 Ultra for the past couple of weeks, and had a chance to put it up against the S22 Ultra as well as Apple’s flagship camera phone, the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
What are the new S23 Ultra features?
In a nutshell, the most notable Galaxy S23 Ultra updates versus the older S22 Ultra include:
A more powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile chip system
Higher resolution 200-megapixel main (wide) camera
Improved but lower resolution 12-megapixel selfie camera
Double the standard storage space (256GB vs 128GB)
20% longer battery life thanks to the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip
New, harder Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front screen and rear cover
Less curved screen edges
New Green, Cream and Lavender colours
Starting price is $100 more (but you get double the base storage)
Positioned as Samsung’s top-tier phone for photography enthusiasts, the S23 Ultra camera system is at the bleeding edge with a new 200-megapixel (MP) sensor for the f1.7 main (wide) camera. You can read more about what we love about the S23’s camera here. The remaining cameras haven’t changed all that much compared to the S22 Ultra, and include a 12MP f2.2 ultrawide, 10MP f2.4 3x telephoto and 10MP f4.9 10x telephoto. Flip the camera over and the selfie camera has gone on a diet and slimmed down to a 12MP f2.2 system versus the 48MP version on the S22.
The 200MP camera is designed to capture a vast amount of detail, while at the same time providing a 12MP mode that is more sensitive to light and colour. This is possible thanks to Samsung’s Super Quad Pixel technology, which essentially reduces the total amount of megapixels by grouping the sensor’s tiny pixels into four larger blocks of 16 or ‘Quad Pixels’. In theory, these fewer and larger pixels have more surface area for greater sensitivity. This also reduces the total photo file size, as there are fewer pixels included. (All the other cameras including the front selfie, use Dual Pixel technology.)
The S23 Ultra camera allows you to zoom in and reveal hidden detail captured in photos. Notice how the max zoom-in level of our smart speaker test image is considerably greater on the 200MP (far right) sensor vs the 50MP and 12MP cameras.
High-resolution photos
With the main camera, you can switch between 12MP, 50MP and 200MP resolution modes, and even access 50MP RAW image data if you wish thanks to a Pro RAW setting. The key benefit to the 200MP mode is that you can take a shot and zoom right in to see loads of detail and make a new, cropped image, or otherwise reproduce the photo as a large A4 print without pixelation.
In practice, snapping the huge 200MP and slightly smaller 50MP photos require a 1-1.5 second processing delay after pressing the shutter button, but the images display a striking amount of sharpness and detail. However, I was surprised at how much more contrast the 12MP version had, while the higher megapixel modes appeared flatter. The 12MP images were slightly brighter too in dimly lit scenes, which makes sense as the 12MP pixel-binned sensor is capturing more light. I’m not sure I’d use 200MP or 50MP modes all that much for day-to-day shooting, as they also limit your zoom to 6x, whereas in the 12MP mode, you can switch up to 10x.
The S23 Ultra is a fantastic, versatile camera that creates memorable photos of your travels
Telephoto shots
In terms of telephotos, there’s still the same 100x digitally enhanced mode to play with. I tried this out and compared it to the S22’s version. It was difficult to discern any differences at maximum zoom, however. I would have expected to see a slight improvement given the S23’s more powerful AI post-image processing, but there doesn’t seem to be much more that can be squeezed out of this mode.
The 100x zoom reveals an amazing amount of detail but there is a noticeable colour shift compared to the main (wide) camera
With Macro photography, the S23 produced some impressively clear and sharp results. However, I found that the iPhone 14 Pro Max could still get a little closer to the subject, with a 2-centimetre minimum distance.
Selfie camera
Otherwise, the remaining rear cameras are very similar to the S22’s already excellent versions, so no complaints there. On the front, the 12MP selfie camera does appear to create a more realistic image in terms of skin tones. However, it couldn’t match the detail on the S22’s, in both 40MP or 12MP modes. As mentioned earlier, S22’s camera is 48MP versus the S23’s 12MP, so it doesn’t have the physical pixels, although the results were not dramatically different.
The S23 Ultra performed admirably in full sun with dazzling colour and detail along with good backlight compensation
Nightography
The S23 does deliver on its low light performance or ‘Nightography’, with some very impressive results. The S22 Ultra was quite good but it’s clear that the S23 Ultra’s camera sensor and more powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, with added post-processing, can really tune up the low light sensitivity. Samsung says that the S23 Ultra can operate in 0.1 Lux conditions, which is near pitch black. We shot some photos in a nearly black room and the S23 made it look much, much brighter. The front selfie camera night test destroyed the S22, with more accurate skin tones in low light and a lot more detail. I suspect that this performance is thanks to the larger pixels used by the 12MP sensor.
Samsung’s ‘Nighography’ in action at a car launch revealing lots of detail in a very low light setting
Portrait mode
Thanks to its Dual Pixel sensor and AI Object aware engine, Portrait Mode has seen some fine-tuning, especially in areas where previous versions struggled to separate foreground images from the background. During our tests compared to the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which has a very accomplished Portrait Mode, the S23 Ultra showed that it could resolve my glasses’ arm near my face, keeping it in focus, whereas the iPhone confused it with the background.
The S23 Ultra’s Dual Pixel Selfie Camera (left) can recognise thin objects such as eyeglass edges or hair
to deliver the best Bokeh effect versus the iPhone 14 Pro Max (right)
Astro photography
We love the new Astro-photography mode, called ‘Hyperlapse’ which helps you take long-exposure starry sky shots without the streaks caused by the earth’s rotation. This clever mode actually figures out where you are in the world and compensates for the rotation, leaving you with pin-sharp star shots. There’s also a sort of opposite mode called Star Trails that creates a cool ‘star streak’ effect of the night’s sky. Check out the 6 things we love about the S23’s camera for more details about this and other camera modes.
For a very deep dive into the S23 Ultra’s camera, highly respected testing organisation DXOMark rated Samsung’s flagship smartphone 10th in its global rankings for the best smartphone camera. Ultimately, many of the camera tests are subjective, as they depend on what kind of look a person prefers. When using the S23 Ultra, you certainly won’t be left wanting, and have a huge amount of creative options and capabilities at your fingertips.
What’s different about the S23 Ultra design?
While the S23 doesn’t have major visual differences, it does have a few minor tweaks. The one I appreciate the most is that the previously rounded screen edges are now slightly more squared off. I find this easier to grip the phone while picking it up, and it’s good that the overall design language is more consistent with the S23 and S23+ models in the range.
Otherwise, there are fractional size changes, and a tiny bit more weight, plus slightly larger rear camera cutouts. We have new colours too, including an attractive Green, Cream, along with Lavender and Phantom Black.
We have the Cream for our test unit, and it has a slight matte finish to it, making it easier to grip, and it’s a stylish, if a bit conservative, choice. On the plus side, you won’t need to worry about it going out of style.
What’s new with the S23 Ultra screen?
The S23 Ultra comes with the same excellent 6.8-inch QHD+ display as the S22. This has a dynamic OLED 2X panel with impressive colour vibrancy, contrast and a 3088 x 1440 resolution and 1750 peak nits brightness. Compared to the S22, the new Vision Booster really brightened up the screen, making it easy to review the beach scene test photos I took in direct mid-day sunlight.
Overall, the screen is a cracker and wonderful to use, in terms of its size, colour quality, brightness and 120Hz smooth scrolling capability. Whether you’re watching movies, browsing the web, watching TikToks or doodling with the S-Pen, this is one of the best out there.
The S23 Ultra’s screen (right) is noticeably brighter than the S22 Ultra’s (left) in direct sunlight
Both the front and back glass is now Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2, which is meant to be harder so it will resist damage and scratches better than previous iterations, and also has improved drop protection when not landing flat. We didn’t get to test this, so will need to take Samsung’s word for it, but good to have it nonetheless. This new glass also benefits from being made from 22% recycled glass, which is a great thing for the environment.
For those that have a use for recording mega-high resolution 8K videos, the S23’s added processing power and memory bandwidth means that you can record up to 30 frames per second, which increases from the S22’s 24 frames per second. Still, this will create massive file sizes but if you have an 8K TV to play videos back on, they’ll look amazingly sharp.
What I do love about recording video on the S23 is the much-improved image stabilization. Called ‘Super Steady Mode’ it’s actually more stable than the excellent ‘Action Mode’ on the iPhone 14 Pro Max, so you can put this to use when walking, running, mountain biking, driving and much more. I stomped around the house while recording video, and it did a great job of cleaning up the jitters that would be otherwise noticed for each footfall.
Interestingly, the S23’s speakers sound fuller and richer than those on the S22. I played a variety of tunes and found that there was an improvement in bass along with clarity and overall balance.
Rating the S23 Ultra performance
Given that the S23 Ultra has its most powerful processor ever, we expected to see some impressive performance. This is also compounded with the fastest-ever memory used in a smartphone, which really helps keep things snappy when sending the massive photos and 8K videos captured with the upgraded cameras.
GeekBench 6 testing saw big improvements to both CPU and graphics (GPU) scores versus the S22 Ultra. There was a 40% improvement on the single-core CPU tests and 51% on multi-core. With graphics and neural processing, Samsung’s version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is meant to be more than 40% faster, with special optimisations for the Galaxy family of handsets. With Geekbench’s GPU test, l saw a nearly double (91%) increase versus the S22.
Note that I’ve included the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s results in the table below for reference. Apple’s homemade A16 Bionic chip still outclasses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, however, the gap is closing. At this level, the S23 is no performance slouch and can handle just about anything you can throw at it, with snappy app opens, fast autofocus, and fluid gameplay. Gaming is further helped by a new cooling architecture, including a vapour chamber, along with dedicated Ray Tracing hardware for accelerated in-game lighting effects that make gaming worlds look more realistic than ever.
Galaxy S23 Ultra
Galaxy S22 Ultra
iPhone 14 Pro Max
Single Core
1912
1369
2504 (OpenCL)
Multi-core
4966
3290
5738 (OpenCL)
GPU Compute
8901
4625
22436 (Metal)
GeekBench 6 test results
Thermal throttling
I also tested out how much thermal throttling the phone experiences when running at maximum CPU and GPU load. This provides an indication of how overall performance gets reduced to keep it at a safe operating temperature while it’s trying to do a lot of things at once.
The test showed that the S23 Ultra was throttled to 71% of its max performance, compared to the S22 Ultra’s 78%. However, the S23 Ultra did a lot more work during the 15-minute test – averaging over 308,000 instructions per second, compared to the S22’s 220,000 giga instructions per second (GIPS), so while the S23 Ultra does get reigned in more, it still accomplishes about 40% more work.
S23 Ultra (left) has more thermal throttling but does more work overall than the S22 Ultra (right)
As this test runs for 15 minutes with the CPU and GPU cranked up to the maximum, we compared the heat of both units and found them to be about the same to the touch, with no excessive hot spots along their bodies.
Software
Samsung’s UI 5.1 comes installed on the S23 Ultra, which has a few new features. Things like Bixby Text call, for example, will answer incoming calls with its own voice and then send a text message to you, relaying what the person said.
Another feature is Routines, which starts a sequence of actions on your phone, sort of like a macro. There are new Modes too, which let you set up specific settings for work, sleep, exercise, driving, etc.
Other UI 5.1 features, according to Samsung:
Greater flexibility to create professional quality photos and new navigation improvements for a more engaging photo gallery
More customisation options for a unique mobile experience personalised for every Galaxy user
Greater connectivity throughout Galaxy Ecosystem
It’s also fantastic to see Samsung’s commitment to fast software updates and support for 4 years of major Android updates – all the way up to Android 17.
There’s also a new Modes option that lets you create customized settings for different aspects of your life, whether it’s sleep, exercise, driving or work. (Think iOS 16’s Focus mode feature, but on a Samsung device.) There are also more personalization features in One UI 5.1, such as an improved stacked widget system and recommended apps and actions for different times of the day.
Charging
On the power front, there’s a huge 5000mAh battery, which should provide a 20% bump over the S22 Ultra and more than a day’s charge during regular use. I got two full days during testing. The S23 Ultra also gets 45-Watt SuperFast Charging 2.0, along with 10W Fast Wireless Charging 2.0, and there’s Wireless PowerShare for topping up other phones, smartwatches and earbuds directly from your handset.
Charging with the SuperFast adapter will give you a 65% fill in about 30 minutes according to Samsung. Unfortunately, you don’t get the 45W SuperFast charger in the box and will need to either rely on what you have lying around or buy one.
A new era of sustainability
It’s also worth mentioning that Samsung’s latest flagship is made with sustainability in mind. While there’s always more that can be done, the S23 Ultra makes a great start, reusing materials such as PET bottles, recycled aluminium and glass, and even helps remove about 15 tonnes of fishing nets from the ocean. Samsung also uses 100% recycled paper for its packaging and has removed the box’s plastic sealing sticker.
GadgetGuy’s take
While the S23 Ultra does resemble its predecessor on the outside, it’s clear that there are plenty of new and improved bits as well, especially when it comes to the 200MP camera system and top-of-the-range Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform. Its camera is one of the best on the market, producing stunning photos in a wide variety of lighting conditions. The 100x digital zoom, Expert RAW and Hyperlapse modes give you all sorts of creative options too, along with quite a bit of control over your final photos.
Otherwise, building on an already excellent S22 Ultra platform is no bad thing, with a wonderful display, the versatility of the S-Pen, long battery life and loads of other sound design choices and features. Yes, price-wise it’s not a bargain, however, like most flagships, you need to pay a premium to access cutting-edge features. While the Google Pixel 7 Pro has a more competitive price point and somewhat comparable features, at the time of writing, there are few, if any phones in the Android camp that can rival the S23 Ultra, leaving it to take its rightful place at the top.
Valens Quinn travelled to Galaxy UnPacked S23 launch event in San Fransisco as a guest of Samsung Australia.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra packs in class-leading camera features, along with the latest and most powerful hardware ever in a Galaxy smartphone. It's as good as you can get in an Android smartphone, as long as you can afford it.
Features
9.5
Value for money
7.5
Performance
9.5
Ease of use
9
Design
8.5
Positives
Amazing detail captured by 200MP main camera
Excellent display that is visible in direct sunlight
Fun and creative Astro photography modes
More processing power that you'll probably ever need
Negatives
Design is attractive but could be a little more distinct than the older S22 Ultra
Google Pixel 7 Pro is cheaper while offering a competitive feature set
No major advances apparent with 100x zoom in terms of clarity vs the S22 Ultra
