The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra currently tops our list of the best camera phones, and yet the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra could be significantly better for photography; with improvements to the main camera, telephoto performance, and low light shots.
That’s according to leaker @UniverseIce, who has a reasonable track record and sent out a flurry of tweets, hyping this upcoming phone.
They claim that its night photography and night video skills have both been “greatly improved,” with low light photos being much better than those on the Galaxy S22 Ultra. In fact, they go so far as to say that this is “the biggest improvement of Samsung’s flagship mobile phone in five years.”
It can be confirmed that S23 Ultra's night photos are very strong and much better than S22 Ultra's. I think it's the biggest improvement of Samsung's flagship mobile phone in five years.October 27, 2022
Presumably they just mean the biggest improvement to night photography, but either way that’s a big claim.
It’s not just night photos that are apparently getting better though, with the same source also saying – not for the first time – that the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will have a 200MP main sensor, up from 108MP on the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
That’s not a new claim, but they add here that it’s the strongest 200MP camera they’ve so far seen on a phone, and that it has “unparalleled analytical power.”
The 200MP of Samsung S23 Ultra is too strong. It has unparalleled analytical power. It is stronger than all the 200MP I have seen before.😭October 27, 2022
Slightly less promisingly though, they say that this 200MP camera isn’t currently capable of taking 50MP photos through pixel binning. Though this is apparently a software, rather than hardware, issue and is being worked on; so by the time the phone launches, 50MP shots might be possible.
Finally, the say that while the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will apparently have the same 3x and 10x optical zoom cameras as the S22 Ultra, the resulting photo quality will be improved; thanks to better colors and AI algorithms.
So, the only expected rear camera not mentioned here is the ultra-wide, which might mean that’s not being improved, but only time will tell. Either way, if @UniverseIce’s claims pan out, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra could be the top camera phone in 2023, just like the S22 Ultra is this year.
Although the 3x and 10x camera specs are exactly the same as those of the S22 Ultra, the S23 Ultra still has an improvement in telephoto, and the improvement in color and some AI algorithms is obvious.October 28, 2022
Analysis: the cameras could be the main upgrade
All of this sounds extremely promising, even if we would have liked to see hardware upgrades for the telephoto cameras, but it’s sounding like for the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Samsung is putting almost all of its attention on the cameras.
That’s because other leaks suggest very little else is changing. The overall design is reportedly near identical, and while the screen might offer improved HDR and a higher peak brightness, it will supposedly be 6.8 inches, again – and likely the same resolution as the S22 Ultra’s display. We’ve also heard reports that the battery will once again be 5,000mAh.
Beyond the cameras, one thing that will, of course, be changing is the chipset, but that’s not overly exciting, since that gets upgraded every year. Though at least this time Samsung might offer the same chipset globally.
So while the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra’s design overhaul made it feel like a major improvement, the S23 Ultra might be a more modest upgrade overall. Still, it’s building on an already excellent handset, so it will probably rank among the best phones, regardless.
