Samsung ups the ‘Ultra’ experience with new Galaxy S23 and GalaxyBook3 series

Samsung Galaxy S23 series: What has changed, key features? 

With the Galaxy S23 series, the focus is on the camera of the Ultra, improving overall performance– especially from a gaming perspective — and sustainability. One noticeable design change is that all three phones now have a floating camera at the back. Samsung has done away with the ‘contour cut’ that we saw on the previous S22+ and S22. This ensures a more uniform look for all three phones in the lineup.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with a 6.8-inch 2K SAMOLED display. But this time the Galaxy S23 Ultra has a flatter display, minus the signature curved edges seen in the past. This new display ensures a larger flatter area compared to the previous S22 Ultra. In comparison, the S23 Plus and S23 get a 6.6-inch and 6.1-inch display (Full HD+ resolution) respectively. Samsung is sticking with the same colour options for all three models: Black, Cream, Green and Lavender.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra in Green is seen in this photo. (Express photo: Shruti Dhapola)

Samsung claims the S23 Ultra has several parts made using recycled aluminium, uses natural dye for the colours and comes with recycled glass and plastic being used. For instance, the S23 Ultra’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and back includes recycled material. The Ultra is also the first phone to sport Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for durability.

As always, the Galaxy S23 Ultra gets the most premium camera. But this time Samsung is introducing a 200MP main camera at the back– far ahead of what other flagships offer. The phone will shoot in 12MP, 50MP and 200MP modes using this camera. Samsung is introducing what it calls ‘Adaptive Pixels’ technology on the Ultra, where the phone automatically decides the resolution at which to shoot depending on lighting conditions. The company claims the autofocus will be faster on the S23 Ultra’s rear and front camera, it is also bringing the HDR mode to the front camera. It is also promising significant improvements to low-light Portraits on the S23 series and for videos shot in low light.

All three Samsung Galaxy S23 phones are seen with their display turned on in this photo. (Express photo: Shruti Dhapola)

The S23 Ultra will also get a new ‘Astro-photography’ mode, where it stitches nine photos together in a multi-exposure shot. The mode will be added in the RAW camera mode. Further users will be able to extra 50MP resolution photos from the RAW mode as well–this was earlier limited to 12MP resolution. With the S23+ and S23, Samsung is sticking with a 50MP main camera.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra gets a 200MP camera. (Express photo: Shruti Dhapola)

The Galaxy S23 series will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, but this is a custom version of the same, with Samsung claiming significant improvements to the CPU, graphics processing and neural processing unit (NPU). This will also be the first smartphone to support real-time Ray Tracing, ensuring that the S23 Ultra is geared for high-end games. Ray Tracing refers to how light refracts or reflects in a game, and typically most phones don’t have support for this. But the S23 Ultra will support mobile games that introduce support for this particular feature. The Galaxy S23 Ultra also gets a larger vapour cooling chamber compared to the previous variant.

Samsung Galaxy S23 in Lavender colour is seen. (Express photo: Shruti Dhapola)

Finally, Samsung has bumped up the battery on the S23 and S23+ variants, while the Ultra continues with 5000 mAh. The S23+ now has a 4700 mAh battery, while the S23 has a 3900 mAh one. For most users, the increase in battery size could make these phones a more exciting proposition. The company is also bringing what it calls the Adaptive Vision Booster to the display which can boost brightness depending on conditions, such as too sunny or indoor lighting, etc.

Samsung GalaxyBook3 series: List of devices, key features 

Samsung showcased a slew of laptops under the GalaxyBook3 series, which includes the GalaxyBook 3 Pro in 14 and 16-inch options, the GalaxyBook3 Pro 360 (16-inch), and the GalaxyBook3 Ultra (16-inch display). There’s also the GalaxyBook 3 360 in 13.5 and 15.5-inch display variants, which will come with the S Pen inside the box just like the Pro variant. The 360 is the 2-in-1 laptop in Samsung’s portfolio, which can function as a laptop and also be folded to use as a tablet.

This is the first time that an ‘Ultra’ variant has been introduced in Samsung’s laptop segment. All of the laptops are on Intel’s 13th Gen series of processors, though the Ultra variant will come only with the Intel Core i9 processor along with Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU option. The Ultra has a 3K display, though Samsung also kept the 3K resolution on the Pro and Pro 360 variants.

The GalaxyBook 3 Ultra is seen in this photo, along with Galaxy Ultra being used as well. (Image credit: Samsung)

But more than specifications, Samsung is emphasising the multi-device connected experience between the GalaxyBook laptops and Galaxy phones as well– similar to how it is on rival Apple’s MacBooks and iPhones. For one, Samsung says those with a GalaxyBook3 laptop will be able to control their Galaxy tablets and phones using the laptop’s keyboard and trackpad, though this ability will be limited to select models. Samsung is calling this the ‘Multi Control’ feature, and it will work on phones with One UI 5.1, tablets with One UI 4.1 or higher versions and works on Galaxy Book series devices released in 2021 or later with either Samsung Settings v1.5 (Intel) or Samsung Settings v3.3 (ARM).

It will also let users copy, paste, drag and drop between devices– which is something that Apple also offers in its ecosystem. The ‘Instant Hotspot’ feature will connect the phone’s internet hotspot to the laptop with one click. Users will no longer need to turn on the mobile hotspot separately. The ‘Recent Websites’ feature will let users access websites opened on mobile on the laptop itself. Users will be able to sync their RAW photos from their Galaxy phones– again support is limited to select premium devices and not all Galaxy phones– and transfer them to their GalaxyBook 3 devices.

The GalaxyBook 3 Pro in 16-inches is seen in this photo. (Image via Samsung)

Samsung users will also allow users to turn their Galaxy tablet into a second screen along with their GalaxyBook 3 laptop. Overall, with the Galaxy Book3 laptops, Samsung is focusing on seamless integration between the laptops and premium Galaxy phones.

Disclaimer: The author is in Bengaluru attending Samsung’s ‘Unpacked event’ on the company’s invite.