Posted at 4:00 p.m
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To paraphrase a La Presse columnist who used that pretty phrase more than a decade ago: What do they need to do to get attention in the next century? juggling elephants?
Here is the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which offers photos with a resolution of up to 200 megapixels. If Motorola and Xiaomi have already done this, Samsung is the first to be offered by major Canadian suppliers.
What do we do with so many pixels? First of all, we get huge photos of about 35 MB in JPEG format. The most obvious interest, and this is what Samsung is frothing about, is being able to zoom in on a section of a large panorama afterwards. We made the comparison, the demonstration is pretty convincing.
PHOTOS KARIM BENESSAIEH, THE PRESS
On the left, the greatly enlarged section of a photo that was taken with a resolution of 200 megapixels
However, it would be unfair to reduce the Galaxy S23 Ultra to this one-upmanship of pixels. We have on our hands a device that is clearly destined for photography enthusiasts with its four rear lenses, including two telephoto lenses that offer optical zoom at 3x and 10x. The front camera has fewer pixels than the previous model, 12 instead of 40, but the improved artificial intelligence should help recognize faces better and achieve better colors.
The colors delivered by the Galaxy S23 Ultra are indeed richer, as shown by our comparisons with the iPhone 14 Pro Max. However, it has an odd tendency to fill out bland colors, giving us bluish photos on a number of occasions.
As for the management of contrasts, they are more pronounced on Samsung, more faithful on Apple.
Low-light photography is clearly to Samsung’s advantage, with crisp detail and color.
As far as comparisons go, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is one of the few androids with the REDMAGICs that lags behind the iPhones in terms of performance. When it comes to graphics processing, Apple is still way ahead.
With such capabilities powered by its Snadradragon 8 Gen 2 processor for the Galaxy mobile platform, we obviously have a very agile phone, capable of switching between video and games without lag. We hooked it up to an external monitor and used it as a computer, complete with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, to write this review. Between the web browser, Word, Outlook and Excel, the phone handled it all without any noticeable slowdown.
Inherited from Note, the stylus is inserted into the phone. It can be used to take handwritten notes, navigate between applications and, even more interestingly, act as a cursor on the external monitor.
Charging is pretty fast without being a champion in this area, the 5000 mAh battery can take up to 45 watts. It still has the reverse charging feature, which allows it to wirelessly charge other compatible phones – even iPhones – headphones and some watches.
The 6.8-inch screen is AMOLED with an adaptive refresh rate of 1-120 Hz and a remarkable density of 500 pixels per inch. The polished metal frame and glass finish make for a resolutely chic design.
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At $1649.99 for the base model, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is expensive.
Unlike other more discreet manufacturers, Samsung is used to incorporating many of its in-house elements into the Android operating system. So we have a second software to save photos, a second voice assistant in Bixby, a total of 12 Samsung applications preinstalled. There is a risk of confusion for users unfamiliar with the Samsung environment.
Apart from the 200 megapixel photos, this year’s model differs little from its predecessor.
You buy?
For the Android user who wants the best and is willing to pay for it, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is the device for you. Obviously, with its photographic prowess, feature-rich and sleek design, Samsung isn’t entirely aiming here at the common customer who’ll be satisfied with a lot less.
Sheet: Galaxy S23 Ultra
Manufacturer: Samsung
Price : $1649.99 (256GB model – 8GB RAM)
note : 9 out of 10