Phones S23 Ultra - My Newest

[dk001]

Security…

While I realize it is not as secure as FaceID, I am finding that Face Recognition works very well.
So I can either passcode, fingerprint, or face in.

As a side note, the Google account I use for my device main is a standalone used for nothing else account.
If I have to access mail on it for any reason, it is via the web and no saved password.
Have done this for my last three Android devices and it has worked well for me.

I am debating using Knox. It currently is idle.

 

[Technerd108]

Security…

While I realize it is not as secure as FaceID, I am finding that Face Recognition works very well.
So I can either passcode, fingerprint, or face in.

As a side note, the Google account I use for my device main is a standalone used for nothing else account.
If I have to access mail on it for any reason, it is via the web and no saved password.
Have done this for my last three Android devices and it has worked well for me.

I am debating using Knox. It currently is idle.

Isn't Knox active by default?

Do you have root? How can you choose to use Knox or not? It is a security measure active by default and without the user being able to disable it? At least that is what I thought?

 

[dk001]

Isn't Knox active by default?

Do you have root? How can you choose to use Knox or not? It is a security measure active by default and without the user being able to disable it? At least that is what I thought?

Yes and no - as far as I can tell.
There is Knox that is on by default. Then there is security associated with Samsung activities if activated - Health, Folder, etc.. I could definitely be wrong as this is new to me.

When I go through the security / privacy on my device, all the Google items are on and active while the Samsung ones are off. The biggest push when I search on device seems to be associated to Secure Folder. So far everything requires signing in via Samsung Account activate - I have not done that yet.

So my understanding of what exactly Knox is would likely be flawed.

 

[dk001]

Some more updates ….

Battery:
Battery has been very good. SOT is generally around 10 hours. Have been doing all kinds of things with this but predominately email, games, Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, Camera, and trying the stylus across various apps.

Calls:
Clear and have had no issues with drops. 5G Mint (T-Mobile network) has been great. Even data calls like Teams is working well.
Using it via ear, speaker, or buds, it does great on all of them. No call issues to date.

Messaging:
Using Teams, Google Messages, Telegram, and Signal. Only drawback is any kind of group chat that runs using Messages and if one user has an iPhone …. Grrrr…. Apple really needs to add RCS support. Outside of that single issue all is working well.

Mail:
Using FairEmail, Spark and ProtonMail. Have encountered no issues. FairEmail is quickly becoming my favorite app for all my nonProton email accounts. If you have not tried it, give it a thought.

Camera:
Despite what you may have seen online, this is a pretty sweet camera setup. Close? Got it covered. Local area? That too. Want a zoom? Got that. It all works well. Portrait at times will give you an odd skin texture. Other than that it is really good. Best on any of my current devices. Star shots are next.

Earpods:
Using Nothing 1 and these are awesome. Auto-detection, calls, music, and movies all work well. Also use my B&O H5s. I know good sound and these deliver. Both deliver.

Display:
I have it set to Vivid / FHD+ (2316x1080) with most other goodies turned on. Even running this setup battery life has been insanely good. Have AOD turned on with basic settings.

S-Pen:
Have been giving this a workout and trying it out in pretty much any app that supports it. Even gave it a stint as my camera trigger. Wrote a note and watched it turn to typed text. Pretty cool. I’ll be using this a good bit. Works pretty much like a real pen.

Keyboard:
I liked the Samsung keyboard but kept running into small issues. After the upteenth time it froze, I switched to the GBaord and it has been great since.

Security:
Just a quick note - Settings > Security and Privacy > App Security - I almost turned this on when I noticed it was actually McAffee. Leaving this off.

More to come…

 

[compwiz1202]

Latest installment....

Lets start with the items I am having "issues" with.
1. Fingerprint ID - it works and works well however it is a bit touchy. It is very specific on where to place your fingertip. I have tried duplicating an entry, trying it a bit different angles, but that seems to have little effect. I have tried both index fingers and both thumbs, with the index finger with a scar on the pad having the most trouble. Will keep playing with it. If anyone has suggestions, let me know.

2. Chrome - Even though I have Chrome disabled, cannot uninstall it, Some apps, especially Samsung apps, when it needs browser access, tries to pull it up via Chrome asking you to activate it instead of using the default browser. Still working on "fixing" this.

3. Storage > System - unlike other Android devices I have used or still use, System on this device is a whopping 75.74GB as of now. nothing else comes anywhere even close. Still no clue why this is so massive.

4. Android Auto - have a new vehicle and sometimes AA works great, other times it doesn't want to stay engaged. Not sure if it is the vehicle or the phone. 2022 Ford Edge ST running the latest and this device. I contacted Ford and they confirmed I was running the latest. Don't have this issue with my 1+ 10 Pro so I suspect it is the phone. Maybe.

Now on to the things that are very good.
1. Gaming - trying a number of games from PortsOfCall (oldie) to Need for Speed. Everything has run and run well. NFS was very impressive. My son tried some FPS games and he didn't want to give it back 😂. Uninstalling games was just as easy. No issue I have run into.

2. General use - Fast smooth, no hesitation, no crashes (knock on wood), it just works so far. Even the Camera has been good. I have a long ways to go to get through everything.

3. Music and Headphones - I am using my B&O H5 and Nothing Ear 1. Wow! Both sound remarkably good. Doesn't matter if I am watching a movie, listening to a podcast, YouTube or music. It all sounds very good. Better than any other device I currently own.

4. Calls - to date I have had no issues with calls. Be it Phone, Teams, or Zoom. All connected quickly whether on WiFi, 5G, or LTE. This is for both incoming and outgoing. For call screening I use Hiya and once installed and setup it works like expected.

5. Email - Using Outlook for my Exchange, ProtonMail, and FairEmail for misc accounts. Notification are working just like defined in Settings. Badges work and are accurate. I am having no issues. One note: FairEmail does a great job of flagging Tracking Images and other objects and letting you block them. Nice.

More to come .... So far aside from all the Samsung addons, this device is working extremely well.

Fingerprint has always worked well on my Z Flip 4. What do you use instead of Chrome? Will have to look at how much System is using for me. AA has never failed me. CP always seems to be finicky and just won't work even with everything restarted. Just happened to my wife and then worked again suddenly. Only issue I had towards the beginning was Maps crashing until I cleared everything. But that hasn't even happened in a while. How long do you think the battery would last from 100% to dead? Mine seems a little low in the beginning but seems better now for my use. Don't need to charge before the end of the day.

 

[dk001]

Fingerprint has always worked well on my Z Flip 4. What do you use instead of Chrome? Will have to look at how much System is using for me. AA has never failed me. CP always seems to be finicky and just won't work even with everything restarted. Just happened to my wife and then worked again suddenly. Only issue I had towards the beginning was Maps crashing until I cleared everything. But that hasn't even happened in a while. How long do you think the battery would last from 100% to dead? Mine seems a little low in the beginning but seems better now for my use. Don't need to charge before the end of the day.

Predominately use Edge and at use FireFox. Tried a couple of others on my previous 1+ but keep coming back to these and they are working well on this Ultra. Looking to see if I can find a decent Tor browser.

Haven't had any issue with Maps. Love how it can move from device to car and back.

For the battery I'll put it on my list; running it till it dies. So far I can start and early day and go till late at night and still have decent battery left. I could probably go well into the next day till it dies. I'll post it when I do.

 

[compwiz1202]

Predominately use Edge and at use FireFox. Tried a couple of others on my previous 1+ but keep coming back to these and they are working well on this Ultra. Looking to see if I can find a decent Tor browser.

Haven't had any issue with Maps. Love how it can move from device to car and back.

For the battery I'll put it on my list; running it till it dies. So far I can start and early day and go till late at night and still have decent battery left. I could probably go well into the next day till it dies. I'll post it when I do.

Gonna try Edge. Maps only crashed in the beginning. No issues in months and never issues with AA.

 

[dk001]

Been an interesting few days...

Was playing around with the camera (photo and video) when that bloody WSJ article on hijacking iPhones came out. Distracted me especially when I found you can do a lot of the same to Android. Ouch.

For Samsung, you have the option to use a Secure Folder. You can place everything from docs to photos, to apps in this folder. You can lock it with a pin, password, pattern, and biometrics. These can be different from our log in credentials.
I moved my financial apps there and reset all those app logins to encrypted mail service. After using it for a couple of days now it works well. I definitely recommend this feature. Now if you can get these apps from appearing in the Recent list ...

I have pretty much finished fine tuning the setup for battery life vs use. Getting most days 10-12hours SOT avg. I do not have Power Saving on nor do I have Background Usage Limits set. As I write this I am at 5h8m SOT with 63% battery left.

I did go into Developer options and changed animations down to 50% (.5x). Makes the phone feel even snappier.

More to come.

 

[animalx]

Been an interesting few days...

Was playing around with the camera (photo and video) when that bloody WSJ article on hijacking iPhones came out. Distracted me especially when I found you can do a lot of the same to Android. Ouch.

For Samsung, you have the option to use a Secure Folder. You can place everything from docs to photos, to apps in this folder. You can lock it with a pin, password, pattern, and biometrics. These can be different from our log in credentials.
I moved my financial apps there and reset all those app logins to encrypted mail service. After using it for a couple of days now it works well. I definitely recommend this feature. Now if you can get these apps from appearing in the Recent list ...

I have pretty much finished fine tuning the setup for battery life vs use. Getting most days 10-12hours SOT avg. I do not have Power Saving on nor do I have Background Usage Limits set. As I write this I am at 5h8m SOT with 63% battery left.

I did go into Developer options and changed animations down to 50% (.5x). Makes the phone feel even snappier.

More to come.

I like that tip about putting the financial apps in the secure folder. I think I'll follow suit and do the same. Also, I have my phone set the same regarding the animations. Here's something you might like while you're in the developer options. Right below the animation settings, is a setting called "minimum width". Set that to 435, and you'll see how nice it makes everything look.

 

[dk001]

I like that tip about putting the financial apps in the secure folder. I think I'll follow suit and do the same. Also, I have my phone set the same regarding the animations. Here's something you might like while you're in the developer options. Right below the animation settings, is a setting called "minimum width". Set that to 435, and you'll see how nice it makes everything look.

Thanks - I’ll check that out.

 

[Harthag]

I like that tip about putting the financial apps in the secure folder. I think I'll follow suit and do the same. Also, I have my phone set the same regarding the animations. Here's something you might like while you're in the developer options. Right below the animation settings, is a setting called "minimum width". Set that to 435, and you'll see how nice it makes everything look.

I tried adjusting this on my S23+ and forgot what the default number is! Does anyone know? I've set it back down to 360 which looks OK, but still would like to know what the default is.

 

[animalx]

I tried adjusting this on my S23+ and forgot what the default number is! Does anyone know? I've set it back down to 360 which looks OK, but still would like to know what the default is.

I believe it was 360, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

[Harthag]

I believe it was 360, but I'm not 100% sure.

The S22+ is set to 360 so I assume the same for S23+.

 

[dk001]

The S22+ is set to 360 so I assume the same for S23+.

@animalx
The default is 384dp on my S23 Ultra

 

[Technerd108]

@animalx
The default is 384dp on my S23 Ultra

What does changing this setting actually do?

I tried it and reverted to default and I didn't notice anything different?

 

[dk001]

What does changing this setting actually do?

I tried it and reverted to default and I didn't notice anything different?

I think it is supposed to change the app scaling on the page.

 

[animalx]

It changes the scaling. The larger the number, the more that fits on the screen. See the following. The first is 360, and the second is 435.

 

[dk001]

Camera ….

I am sure many have seen the photos, claims - pro and con, and other on the camera ability and lenses.
So while I was out and about on a rainy day, early afternoon, I freehand shot from .6x to 100x a car license that was a good block plus away. I was surprised at how … check out the photos below. This was done freehand On AF.

I would say this came out pretty darn good.

 

[dk001]

Been doing a bit of playing with settings and did some general testing over a weekend trip.

One item , especially of you are doing a lot of RAW photos or high def video, apparently Samsung has virtual RAM turned on by default. System memory is slow in comparison to stock RAM. So unless you are doing something really crazy that requires gobs of RAM, I’d recommend turning it off.

Did a run late last week where I ran the battery down to about 5% from a solid 100%. 11hrs 32min SOT. That was a mix of gaming (Heckfire), coms (phone, messages, Discord, Proton Mail, Telegram), photos (camera), reading (Kindle), news (Twitter, Reddit) and browsing (Edge). Solid performance! Heckfire and Kindle where the big users.

Been using F-Droid, Amazon, and Aurora Droid since I got this and have had zero issues. I get a few apps from these that are not offered on the Play Store.

Recent issue:
Have had a couple of instances where text messaging did not trigger the text ringtone. I have some unique ringtones set for different folk. Got the text, just not the sound. Cleaned out apps in manager and rebooted. Currently fixed.

Definite want - future generation:
Fast charging. While not the slowest, it is amazing how quickly I wish this S23 Ultra had charging like my OnePlus 10 Pro. Maybe someday Samsung will figure it out.

Weekend trip:
Phone was great the entire trip. No issues, no missed messages, or dropped calls. My Edge has the latest Ford Sync and Android Auto - everything worked great. Left mid morning and got back in the evening, battery was good all day and still had over 40% left. 5G the whole way (mostly). Trip was Ventura California to Bakersfield California with a lot of side detours just to check things out. So much new stuff I think my Shiba’s node went into overload 😂🤣!

 

[5105973]

Been an interesting few days...

Was playing around with the camera (photo and video) when that bloody WSJ article on hijacking iPhones came out. Distracted me especially when I found you can do a lot of the same to Android. Ouch.

For Samsung, you have the option to use a Secure Folder. You can place everything from docs to photos, to apps in this folder. You can lock it with a pin, password, pattern, and biometrics. These can be different from our log in credentials.
I moved my financial apps there and reset all those app logins to encrypted mail service. After using it for a couple of days now it works well. I definitely recommend this feature. Now if you can get these apps from appearing in the Recent list ...

I have pretty much finished fine tuning the setup for battery life vs use. Getting most days 10-12hours SOT avg. I do not have Power Saving on nor do I have Background Usage Limits set. As I write this I am at 5h8m SOT with 63% battery left.

I did go into Developer options and changed animations down to 50% (.5x). Makes the phone feel even snappier.

More to come.

Thank you for such an in depth examination of this phone. I could never be able to articulate everything this well. And I have never used the secure folder and did wonder about it in light of the iPhone security articles. I’ve always been hesitant to use the folder because I would forget my middle name if it weren’t on my drivers license! I was always afraid of locking myself out of my own stuff.

 

[dk001]

Thank you for such an in depth examination of this phone. I could never be able to articulate everything this well. And I have never used the secure folder and did wonder about it in light of the iPhone security articles. I’ve always been hesitant to use the folder because I would forget my middle name if it weren’t on my drivers license! I was always afraid of locking myself out of my own stuff.

I enabled biometrics, both face and finger, and chose a code/password that is well known to me but different than my device access.
Too many passwords

 

[dk001]

Let’s call this the March Update.
Sounds good

After some hit or miss, I have a Whitestone tempered glass screen protector. Seems to be doing well however I did have to redo my fingerprints. Working well so far. Tip: watch the video that is referenced from the vendor. Don’t rush the install.

Settled on a Pitaka slim case. Works and fits like a well designed glove. One note, it does tend to show grease overly well. I give it a quick wipe with windex and a paper towel. Takes care of everything.

Haven’t really changed much in the setup over the last couple of weeks. Running smooth and fast with 10-12 hours SOT every day. I have to say it; it just works and works well.

With the recent security regarding iOS and pin codes and finding Android has most of the same issues, I have been using the Secure Folder. Works really well even if it adds a step accessing some apps or files. Very useful tool.

Have started setting up Modes and Routines. Bit of a learning curve to get what I want it to do. If anyone has suggestions I am open to trying them.

Ran into an issue with Ford Sync and suspect it is on that side. I have the Ultra and the wife has a Flip 3. Sync can’t seem to decide which to link to when I start the car in the garage. I can guarantee it will link to the one on a call. Talk about a surprise if it isn‘t me.

Beyond that this device is running top notch. I have not run into any real issues outside of Sync that I could not correct.

More to come and thanks to all who suggested items or fixes. They are appreciated.

 

[dk001]

Thought I would drop in and post this for those interested … backup and restore.

I had originally tried Google backup with my 1+ 10 Pro and while it worked, it did not capture all the setting data. So for this device I wanted something a bit better. (OnePlus does allow for a complete backup and restore just not via Google).

What I have found and done is bought a 1TB SSD to use as dedicated backup for my S23U. I got the Sandisk.
Samsung has an app called Smart Switch which will let you backup to an SSD (confirmed - I have done this) and restore from the SSD (I have not done this). So far the backups apparently capture everything; data and settings. Additionally I have also backed up to my laptop. It all works simply and very well. It also includes data from the Secure Folder.

Currently I am seeing how long my S23U can go without requiring a restore and see how it operates. Have to say so far so good. By this time on my other Android and Apple devices I would have had to do at least one restore on each, minimum.

If anyone has used Smart Switch to restore and has some tips or watch-outs kindly share. Thx 😊

 

[dk001]

Recently did a week trip out of State to check out some things and have some fun.

I didn't use it for the trip out (Ventura Ca. to Prescott Az) but I did use it and Android Auto on the way back. More on that in a moment. Trip out I was testing my iPhone on Ford SYNC and Apple Car Play.

Took a lot of pictures from Panorama to .6x to 10x and video - it all came out great. The only time I had any issue was in fog. At10x, photos would come out pixelated. Loved doing a note, inserting a photo and then writing on it. That worked well when checking out a couple of properties. This turned out to be a really useful feature.

Battery life - I was on 5G the whole time - was really good. I was running 10+ hours a day SOT. Never had any issue connecting though at some points on the highway it was LTE. Overall it was a rock solid device on the trip.

Now for the main item, using it on Android Auto and Maps / Directions.
It was really really good. Route tracking, directions, ad hoc stops, accidents, traffic, construction, you name it and it was solid. In Prescott and Prescott Valley - those who have been there know there are a lot of mountain roads and back ways to get places, it did a great job of providing directions live, updates, and identifying locations. I don't remember a missed point or route. I'd be listening to my library or Sirius while the map is up (Ford Sync -AA) and things just worked. There were a few times it would alert me to upcoming traffic issues and it was spot on.

Impressive device.

More to come.

 

[dk001]

Just got the notice for the April update this morning.
Looking forward to see just what camera updates have been included and how they improve things.

Will post an update in a few days on this.