The Samsung S23 Ultra has made significant strides in software tuning, resulting in a little more dynamic range than last year's model, but still maintains a top-of-the-line performance while mostly avoiding HDR-y characteristics. Photos taken with these Samsung phones tend to be warm and have a slightly punchier, more contrasty look that aligns with the company's preference for colorful and saturated visuals.

The new sensor and optical stabilization (OIS) capabilities in the S23 Ultra enable users to capture 200-megapixel photos when needed, which is particularly beneficial for landscape photography or situations where zooming in on a shot later is required. However, it's essential to note that this feature is only effective in excellent lighting conditions with ample light hitting every individual pixel. In suboptimal lighting, the resulting noise can be quite high.

Additionally, the S23 Ultra features a 50-megapixel mode, which offers still very detailed images that rival those from iPhone ProRAW shots across various lighting conditions. Although this mode results in smaller file sizes (5 megabytes) and reduced shutter lag compared to the ultrahigh-resolution 200-megapixel mode, it's essential to understand that this feature is more of a compromise for flexibility.

The standard mode on the S23 Ultra is likely to be sufficient for most shots most of the time. However, when users need more flexibility, they can rely on the camera's ability to adapt and provide optimal results in a variety of lighting conditions. This adaptability also extends to the zoom capabilities, where anything past 10X yields superior performance compared to other phones.

The S23 Ultra's video recording capabilities have been significantly improved, with enhanced processing, new sensors, and better stabilization (thanks to OIS). This results in some of the best super-steady mode videos ever seen on a smartphone. The benefit of this is that it works well across various lighting conditions, unlike some electronic image stabilization methods that rely heavily on sufficient light.

Furthermore, the S23 Ultra offers 8K video recording at 30 frames per second, which can be compared to previous phones that were limited to 24 FPS in 4K. This enables users to capture sharp images and see noticeable improvements when zooming in. A sample of this is available in the latest "Auto Focus" video shot on the S23 Ultra, which can be viewed at full resolution by clicking on the link provided below.

Last but not least, the new selfie camera on the S23 Ultra boasts a 12-megapixel sensor with improved software processing. Despite having fewer megapixels compared to its predecessor, this selfie camera provides sharp, detailed images, and doesn't flare too much. The wide-angle capabilities of this camera are more than sufficient for most users, although not ultra-wide.

It's worth noting that one area where the S23 Ultra falls short is in shutter lag. This phenomenon refers to the time gap between hitting the shutter button and capturing the photo. Although it can be frustrating for some users, it's particularly noticeable when taking ultrahigh-resolution photos with 200 megapixels or 50 megapixels. However, with most standard shots, the camera still delivers crisp images without significant lag.

Overall, the improvements made to the S23 Ultra's camera system make it one of the best smartphone cameras available today, offering a wide range of flexibility and excellent image quality in various lighting conditions.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(upbeat techno music)- Matte black glass, aluminumrails, massive specs,quad cameras, a hidden stylus,oh wait, wait, hang on a sec.Yeah, no, that was the wrong phone, sorry.Let's start that over.(upbeat techno music)Matte black glass, aluminum rails,massive specs, quadcameras, a hidden stylus.You get the plan.(upbeat techno music continues)Hey, what's up, MKBHD here,and this is the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.So, when this first cameout, when it got revealed,it was the easiest thing to doto just write it off asan incremental upgrade,because I mean, look at it.Aesthetically speaking, it'sbasically the same phone.The side radii are squared off more,so it feels a bit betterin the hand, sure,much more boxy like the notes of the past.They're also slightly biggerrings around the cameras,and it's Gorilla Glass Victus2 instead of Victus Plus,but as far as size, industrialdesign, button placement,ports, the layout, it'sbasically the same phone.But there are two realupgrades to this phone.Now keep in mind, this isreplacing the Galaxy S22 Ultra,which was already my bestbig phone of the yearfrom last year, great battery,great screen, great performance,all of it was rock solid across the board,so there's not a lot that Iwould naturally want to change.But, there are two things,and they're two of arguablythe most important thingsyou can actually change in a phone,the chip that runs it all and the cameras.So you might have heardabout the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.It's been a really good chipin the other phones that it's been in,excellent CPU and GPU performanceand really efficient whichtouches battery life.Now, this phone, actuallythe whole S23 lineup,has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy,a customized version of the chip,specifically for these Samsung phones.So if you watched the last videoabout how Apple's taking back the iPhone,then you know already that optimizationand customization for parts inside phonesis a good thing, generally.But the only thing that we've really seenthat is customized forthis chip for Galaxyis a slightly higher max clockspeed on the performance coreand slightly higherclock speed on the GPU.So to be exact, 3.36GHz instead of 3.2on the performance core and719MHz versus 680 on the GPU.So yeah, it does scoreslightly better on benchmarksthan the regular Snapdragon8 Gen 2, and that's nicefor a little extra headroomfor high performance stuff,light gaming and for future-proofing,but that's not the whole story.There's two main things that matter here,one is efficiency gains.So, obviously performance is awesome,but because efficiency is better,these phones get someserious battery life gainsthat we'll talk in a second.But also too, is bye-bye Exynos,because they're not making anExynos version of this phoneas far as I can tell anywhere else.They're shipping every S23Ultra with a Qualcomm chip,so everyone gets the efficiencyand performance gainsfrom the Qualcomm version.So lemme tell you, thebattery life on this phoneis actually, it's been incredible,like it's really, really good.So it's the 5,000 million power cell againshouldn't be a surprise,but with this huge screen,I guess it kind of is actually a surprise.I had a two-day period at 120Hz but 1080P,where the only time I charged itwas on the wireless charger in my caron the way to and from the studiofor like the 40 minutesthat that drive is.I didn't charge it overnightor anything like that.Two full packed days of high brightness,high intensity, normal use for me,has something like eight and ahalf hours of screen-on time.I'm in bed at like 11:00 PMat the end of the second daystreaming on YouTube livewatching LeBron break Kareem's record,it's still got like 10%left, it just won't die.So combine this excellent battery lifewith a pretty solid 45 watt chargingthat can go zero to 100 in anhour, plus wireless charging,and you've got yourself abattery monster, it's super good.I don't think enough people are talkingabout how much better the battery got.Maybe someone will do one ofthose crazy long runtime demosversus the past phone, butyeah, it's really good,probably better than you think.You kind of don't everneed to switch to 1080Pto save batteries, matter of fact,when you take it out of the box,immediately just go inand switch it to 1440P,'cause you spent 1200 bucks on this phone,and it lasts forever, treat yourself.Okay anyway, that's the chips,that's what that enables,but there's also a new set of cameras,hardware and software across the boardthat also is better than you think.Now, the fundamentals are mostly the same,which is why thisprobably gets written offso quickly a lot.The layout, the aesthetics,the focal lengths,the arrangement, it'sall practically the same,but we have a new200-megapixel primary camerawith double the optical imagestabilization range as before.That's hugely important.And then new sensorsacross the ultra wide,the 3X telephoto, and the10X periscope cameras.This new primary sensor setup though,I know we keep sayingcameras are mostly software,and as far as the lookand style of the photos,it absolutely stillis, but the improvementto the stabilization is so important here.So when you go from a normal sensorto a super-high resolution200-megapixel sensor,the fact is, in thesetiny smartphone cameras,the individual pixels areso small that individually,they physically can'tbring in that much light.So the camera does thisthing called binning,where it combines the informationfrom a bunch of adjacent pixelsto form larger more accuratepixels in your image.So you're not shooting200 megapixels by default,it's actually binning 16 pixels into one,so you end up taking a 12.5 megapixel shotfor normal photos, but each photois theoretically moreaccurate thanks to its makeup.And then like I said, thestabilization performanceon this new primary camera has doubled.(phone rattles)Still rattles a little bit,but that means it'll correctup to three degrees of shakenow versus the 1.5 from before,so here's an example of what's happening.If you get a lenswith really good opticalimage stabilization,(lens rattles) like this one,that means it cancorrect from the movementin your hand much more,which means you can hold thecamera stable for much longer,so it can leave the shutter opento collect more light andstill get a sharp photo.So, all of this is to sayGalaxy S23 Ultra photos,most of the time, in most lighting,look pretty similar to last year.So if that's all you're looking at,just normal side by sides,this is mostly gonna come downto the different software tuning,and there's a little bit moredynamic range than last year,but yeah, still top of the linewhile mostly avoiding looking to HDR-y.Photos are typically prettywarm from these Samsung phones,and they have a slightly punchier,more contrasty look than before,still very much up the Samsung alleyof colorful and saturated,but it's an aestheticthat I can get behind, I really like.But, on top of that,having this new sensorand optical stabilization means one,you can shoot literally200-megapixel photos nowif you really want to.Now, this does accomplishthe intended purposeof capturing much more of the finer detailin things like landscapes,so if you plan on zoomingin on the shot later,or if you're one of thethree people on earthwho will actually printa smartphone photo,this should work, butyou should also be awarethat it's only really ableto give you these types ofresults in excellent lightingwhere a ton of lightis hitting every individual little pixel.Anything short of that,and you're gonna get alot of noise really quick.And there's also areally solid shutter lagas it turns out these massive40, 50 megabyte files,granted this mode is mostlyfor things sitting still,like a landscape or a photoshoot but worth noting.I think the better compromiseis you actually alsoget a 50-megapixel mode,which kicks out still very detailed imagesthat hang right with the iPhone's48-megapixel ProRAW shotsin a variety of light, but nowthe files are five megabytes,and there's a lot of less shutter lag.But there's still that improved detailover the normal binge shotsand not as much noise.It's all about flexibility.The standard mode is gonna be the bestfor most shots most of the time,but you can always turnit up if you want to,and that's very much thesame thing with the zoom.You see all the cameras on the back.Any phone with twodifferent telephoto camerasis gonna have the biggestrange of good zoom performance.On this phone, anything past 10Xis where it really shinescompared to others.And you might have evenseen my recent clipof taking a photo ofthe full moon recently,which seems to blow people'sminds every time they see it.Wow, but you also can'tforget about video too.This is improved video across the boardwith better processing, the new sensors,and the much better stabilization,thanks to the better OIS.So this might be thebest super steady modeI've ever seen in smartphone video,and the beauty of it beingfrom optical stabilizationis it works great ina variety of lighting,unlike some electronicimage stabilization,which relies on having a ton of light.And on top of all of that,the 8K video on thissmartphone is very usable.There are previous phonesthat have had 8K video,it's not the first,but I remember when theyfirst got that capability,they'd always be at like 24 FPS,'cause that's the mostthat they could churn out,which is not the right framerate, so 8K/30 really good.And if you put itside-by-side with the 4K,you can actually seethe sharpness differenceif you really punch in.If you want a sample of this,the latest Auto Focusvideo I shot in my caris in 8K from this phone,and you can actually go watchit 8K on YouTube right nowfrom the link below, hit thatlike button if you want to.Oh yeah, and also,don't forget about the better selfies too.There's a new 12 megapixel selfie camerain all these S23 phones.And while that number is lower on paperthan the 40 megapixel selfie camerathat came before it, it's better.It's just better, rock solid proofthat the megapixels don't matter.This selfie camera, with thebetter software processing,is very sharp, detailed, has nice color,doesn't flare too much, andalso has a decently wide angle.It's not ultra-wide but not bad.So across the board, this is significant,an extensive improvement to the camera,especially the primary camera.That feels overlooked to mewhen people have been reviewing the phone.The one thing I still will complain aboutis there is still shutter lag,which is different fromslow shutter speed.So the time gap betweenhitting the shutter buttonand actually capturing thephoto, it's still real,and it can still be kind of annoying,even if you capture a crispphoto of the wrong moment.So, like I said, it's more pronouncedwhen you take the ultrahigh resolution 50-megapixelor 200-megapixel photos.You can't exactly do those in rapid fire.But if the question is,\"Did they make a meaningful improvement\"to last year's phone to end up here?\"I would say between the new chipand the better overall performance,and much better efficiency,which gets you hugebattery life improvement,and the new cameraswith the better sensors,better processing, but alsomuch better stabilization,I would say yes, not upgradefrom last year's phone, yes,but they've actuallymade a real improvement.And then, I don't really needto say too much about the restbecause it's the same as before,which, in the case of thebest big phone of last year,is kind of a good thing.All the other things thatmade this the best big phoneare still here, and they'renot minor things either.I haven't even talkedabout the A+ display,1440P, 120Hz LTPO, 1,750nits peak brightness,it's still awesome,still has great speakers,still has very reliable softwarewith a pretty good track record nowof delivering software updatesin a timely fashion for a while.The base storage hasalso actually jumped upfrom 128 to 256 gigs, and it'sfaster UFS 4.0 storage now.It still has the best stylusin a smartphone in the world,which might mean a lot moreto you than it does to me,but, honestly, if I ever use it,it's nice knowing I can at any timemark up a screenshot or sign a PDF.And the list goes on, great haptic motor,nice clicky buttons, it's all still here.This thing sets the standard pretty high.My analogy that I was makingis that it feels like theportion 9/11 of smartphones.If you're gonna charge1200 bucks for a phone,it better set high marks allthe way across the board,but it does, and it's pretty underrated,kind of boring, but it does.Now, if you want the S23 Ultrato look as improved as it actually is,I would recommend a skin fromchannel sponsored, dbrand,maybe something like this Damascus skin,which adds a lot of character,where it would ordinarily be pretty blank.My favorite one is the Triple Black.It is actually included for freewhen you pick up any ofthe holographic colorways,so you can check 'emout at the link below.I say this phone is boring,and I think maybe understatedis the better word.Are there gonna be otherphones that come out this yearthat do one up this phone incertain single categories?Yeah, 100%, there's probably gonna bea phone with 120X zoom.There's probably gonna be aphone with crazy fast charging.This is only 45 watt charging.Do I wish this was better?A little bit, sometimes.Is there gonna be a phone probablywith a much bigger, better,faster fingerprint reader?(soft bright music)Yeah, probably.But as far as just nailing allthe marks across the board,yeah, this does it.Just as far as overall package,Samsung's software is settled,the screen is sublime,it's still the sickest stylus,and it's snaps significantlysmoother shots, sick.Thanks for watching, catch youguys in the next one, peace.(bright music continues)\n"