My Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Review: A Lavender Dream with an Amazing Camera and Stylus

Hello everyone!

I recently received a surprise gift from my husband - the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. To be honest, I was happy with my old phone, but my husband knew I'm a Samsung fan, so he got me the new one.

I had the phone shipped from abroad through a friend, but I'm not even sure how much he paid for it. What I do know is that he overpaid for the color and memory because at the time, there weren't many of these phones available in our city.

The design of my little lavender beauty is quite large, and at first, it was a bit awkward to hold in my hand. But now I'm used to it, and I can even use it with one hand. It looks super stylish, cool, and definitely expensive. The phone itself is really thin.

The back of this phone is just as bold - that gorgeous lavender color is seriously eye-catching. In my opinion, it's the most beautiful color in the lineup. It's made of metal, which feels really nice to the touch. My only gripe is that it's not glass like my old S9+, but on the plus side, it's not slippery.

The buttons are now all on one side: the volume buttons and the Bixby button, which I sometimes accidentally press.

On top, there's a speaker grille, and at the bottom, there's a hole for the stylus, speaker, microphone, and charging port. No headphone jack, which is a bit of a bummer if you don't have wireless headphones.

Contents:

I'm not going to go on too much about the packaging, but it does look pretty stylish, so I'll just show it to you and show you what came with the phone.

Camera:

Okay, let's take a look at the photos. I took these back in the spring when I was on a photography kick. To be honest, the camera is a real highlight. With a bit of skill, the photos are amazing, but I'm not exactly the next Ansel Adams, so I just snap away and hope for the best.

I was expecting a macro function, but it's not here. My old camera had it, and even my own camera has a macro button. But this one doesn't, and with so many cameras, it's hard to figure out which one is responsible for focusing. I'd get the shot, but then another camera would refocus and I'd lose it. I was trying to take a close-up of this fly, but it kept moving out of frame.

I've got to say, the camera is a total game-changer, and I'm still blown away by how they managed to pack it into a phone and make it perform like a dedicated camera. Even with zoom, it's on par with my standalone camera. Now, I know the quality can be a bit hit-or-miss, depending on lighting and stabilization, but let's take a look at some photos taken in the same spot, with different zoom levels.

For me, these shots are amazing. If I had an extra pair of hands, they'd be even better. The camera's color reproduction is top-notch, and on a sunny day, the shots come out looking way more vibrant and stunning. But that's true for any phone.

And of course, I had to take some moon shots. There was a lot of debate about this, but I didn't go into details - I just couldn't resist. I put the camera on 100 ISO and it was a wild ride. It's hard to focus, everything shakes, but you can still manage to get a shot. And get this - I took these photos in the evening, it wasn't completely dark yet, you can see that in the top photos, but for some reason, the moon ended up on a black background.

I also had to observe our neighbors - it turns out they have a homemade still in the house across the street.

I tried out the portrait mode and compared it to a regular camera with a 3x zoom. The portrait is sharper in the middle and blurry on the edges. I don't really use this mode, or any of the other modes for that matter. I'm just more comfortable with the regular photo setting.

I was missing a proper macro mode, but I'll show you the other modes on the phone.

Front-facing camera:

It's seriously amazing, and the quality of photos is top-notch. Of course, lighting plays a big role, but I haven't had any subpar photos in terms of quality. Taking a selfie for this review was a breeze – you can literally see every pore and lash.

I've experimented with various filters and skin smoothing, but I don't use them and have them all turned off. There are two modes: portrait and just a photo. In portrait mode, the background gets a bit blurred, and my face is more defined. Below are some photos taken in Photo mode.

Video Recording:

Picture and sound quality are top-notch. One of the coolest features is that you can take a screenshot while watching a video by just pressing the right button – the screenshot will automatically save to your gallery. You can also trim unwanted moments from your gallery photos, add effects, or even enhance the image quality.

Stylus:

I have to say, the camera is a major highlight of this phone, and if camera quality is your top priority, then the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is definitely worth considering. But its real star is the stylus. I've been wanting one since the S22 era, and I was actually considering getting it back then. My partner still doesn't get why I need it – I mean, the phone has a touchscreen, right? But sometimes, you just need that extra precision, especially when playing games or editing photos. The stylus makes it so much easier to tap on those tiny details, and it's also great for drawing or cropping images. I know I can do all this with my fingers, but there's just something about using the stylus that feels more intuitive to me.

Sound:

I've got to say, the sound on this phone is seriously impressive. The dual speakers - one at the bottom and one at the top - really make a difference. I was watching a show on the phone at full volume, and my partner commented on how good the sound quality was. He said it felt like I was watching a TV, not a phone. And the sound is smooth, without any harsh or unpleasant noises.

Battery Life:

Okay, let's get real – even with moderate use, the battery might not last till the evening. I'm talking about watching movies, browsing the internet, constantly turning Wi-Fi on and off, and gaming. By the evening, I'm usually plugging my phone in to charge, but if I'm just chillin' at home and using it for Instagram, I can get away with a single charge lasting till the next day. Honestly, even with a partial charge – let's say 75% – I can use my phone for over a day and a half without needing to recharge, but that's with moderate use. My kid's S9+ would drain to zero in a day, even if they didn't touch it, with a 100% charge. And the good news is that it doesn't drain on cold days.

The battery itself charges pretty quickly – about 1.5 hours and it's good to go. The phone supports wireless charging, but I don't have that feature.

Screen:

It's super bright and does a great job of showing off the colors in your photos – you can even adjust the saturation and set up a comfort mode. I hardly ever use the brightest mode, only on super sunny days or in the summer, but most of the time I stick with the middle setting and have the adaptive brightness turned on.

Biometric Lock:

I've got both fingerprint and facial recognition set up, and sometimes it even asks for a password. But honestly, it works like a charm – even when my finger's wet. On my old S9+, the fingerprint reader was on the back, but here it's right on the screen. I was worried it'd be a pain to use because of the phone's size, but you get used to it quickly. It's actually a pretty stylish "shovel," and the biometric lock works smoothly and quickly.

As for facial recognition, it's so fast it's almost annoying. Sometimes I just want to glance at the time or date, and it's already unlocked the phone. It works at various angles and is super responsive. My old phone wasn't nearly as quick.

Memory:

I'm not sure how long it takes for the phone to fill up, but so far, I've got plenty of memory left. My old phone started to slow down towards the end, though, and its memory was almost full – even though I didn't have many apps installed.

Day-to-day use:

I've gotta say, this phone is a beast - it doesn't slow down, it doesn't freeze, the sound is crisp, and it switches between apps lightning-fast. When I compare it to my husband's phone, which is also a Samsung but a different model, I'm amazed at how long it takes him to open apps compared to my phone. Even compared to my old S9+, this thing flies - I'm starting to wonder how I ever put up with that sluggishness. Honestly, I don't have any complaints when it comes to performance. It's a top-notch device in every way.

Transferring data:

Transferring all my data from my old phone was a breeze - all my apps, photos, everything, even the hidden folder with all my photos. It was convenient, but it took a while since I had a lot of stuff. Even my wallpapers transferred over.

Okay, I know it's not the phone's fault, but I do miss Samsung Pay due to the sanctions. I loved being able to add my cards to the phone and make payments with it. At first, I was really disappointed, but I installed another payment system and it works just fine now. I'm back to paying with my phone without needing to carry my card around. Interestingly, even on my S9+, I was still able to make payments with my phone after the sanctions were imposed.

Will I upgrade to S24?

No way - my phone is still relatively new, it gets software updates, it doesn't slow down, and I like its design. Plus, I'm not aware of any major changes in the new phone. I think I'll be sticking with my trusty sidekick for at least a couple more years.

Verdict:

I've got to say, this thing is stylish.It's got a ton of cool features.The front and main cameras are top-notch, and the photos and videos are seriously impressive.I love that I can pay for stuff using my phone.It charges super fast, and the wireless charging is a nice touch.It fits perfectly in my hand.The stylus is a great addition.Response time is lightning quick.It's pricey, but trust me, it's worth every penny. "