The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra currently holds the top spot on our list of the best camera phones, but the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra may be even more photogenic thanks to enhancements to the primary camera, telephoto capabilities, and low light shooting.
The leaker @UniverseIce(opens in new tab), who has a respectable track record and published a flurry of tweets advertising this impending phone, claims as much.
According to them, both its night photography and night video capabilities have “greatly enhanced,” with low light shots being significantly better than those on the Galaxy S22 Ultra. They even go so far as to claim that this is “Samsung’s flagship mobile phone’s largest advance in five years.”
That’s a huge claim, even if they simply mean the biggest advancement in night photography.
However, the same source also claims—not for the first time—that the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will have a 200MP primary sensor, up from the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s 108MP—so that daytime images will also reportedly get better.
This is not a new claim, but they add that it has “unparalleled analytical capability” and is the best 200MP camera they have yet seen on a phone.
However, they claim that this 200MP camera can’t now take 50MP photographs using pixel binning, which is somewhat less encouraging. Though it appears that this is a software problem rather than a hardware one, and it is being fixed, so by the time the phone launches, 50MP pictures may be feasible.
Last but not least, they claim that although though the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will reportedly have the same 3x and 10x optical zoom cameras as the S22 Ultra, the quality of the resulting photos will be increased because of better colours and AI algorithms.
The ultra-wide is the only expected back camera that isn’t listed here, which may indicate that it isn’t getting better, but time will tell. In any case, if @UniverseIce’s claims come true, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra may surpass the S22 Ultra as the best camera phone in 2023.
Analysis: The cameras might be the primary improvement.
Even while we would have loved to see hardware improvements for the telephoto cameras, everything here sounds quite promising. However, it appears that Samsung is focusing nearly exclusively on the cameras with the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
That’s because previous leaks imply that not much else is altering. While the screen may have better HDR and a greater peak brightness, it will allegedly measure 6.8 inches and likely have the same resolution as the S22 Ultra’s display. The general appearance is said to be nearly comparable. Additionally, there are rumours that the battery will be 5,000mAh once more.
The chipset will change in addition to the cameras, although that is not particularly intriguing because it is updated annually. However, Samsung might internationally sell the same processor this time around.
As a result, whereas the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra seemed significantly improved thanks to its new design, the S23 Ultra may really represent a more incremental advance. It is improving upon an already fantastic device, thus it will undoubtedly rank among the finest phones.
