Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Samsung galaxy S23 and S23 ultra
- Thread starter The Game 161
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Just ordered it. If I have buyer’s remorse I’ll return it.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Galaxy-Lavender-Chromebook-Version/dp/B0BYZTFSSM
So basically it’s the 512gb bundle with the free Chromebook for £1249 but once you get the bundle, you return the Chromebook and you get a refund of £241 making it £1008 net.
You can still apply for the £200 Samsung cashback so it’s £808 in the end.
Save your iPhone SE for a future deal.
Got my S23 Ultra yesterday for a crazy deal. About $450 total for the phone over the two year contract after the various rebates. I have to say that I'm very impressed with it so far.
I'm coming from a Galaxy Fold 2 and couldn't see myself not having a folding phone again. I didn't trade in my Fold in case I didn't like the Ultra but I don't think I'll go back. The screen and cameras in particular are incredible.
I'm coming from a Galaxy Fold 2 and couldn't see myself not having a folding phone again. I didn't trade in my Fold in case I didn't like the Ultra but I don't think I'll go back. The screen and cameras in particular are incredible.
Awesome
it's an awesome phone .. definitely a keeper
I don't know what it is about the S23 Ultra that I like more did I like the S22 Ultra.
I received the June update for my S23 today. Package size 2245 MB.
I still have both and use both. I find the S22 Ultra display easier on my eyes and use it at home on Wifi a lot.
Otherwise everything else on the S23 Ultra is, to me, a noticeable upgrade in terms of battery life, camera results (in challenging situations) and overall feel and performance. Lol and I love the lavender pink color when I'm in the mood to display it. But currently it's in an orange case giving a citrus vibe.
I have been using my Pixel 7 Pro and I love it but I get like what a lot of iPhone users describe, a longing to go back to the s23 ultra. 😂 Lol
I actually have NEVER felt that way over a Samsung phone. I generally liked the hardware but despised the software UI. Now I still prefer Pixel UI but there is just something about the s23 ultra. It is specific to the Ultra though. The square screen. The s pen. The battery life. The speed. The cameras. It has a unique feel.
I actually kind of regret getting the green. I should have gone for the lavender but at the time it was sold out and green was the only option on Google Fi pre order.
It is really funny, maybe I am crazy or my mind is just odd. Well, my mind is certainly odd but I miss my Pixel 7 Pro when I use the s23 ultra and I miss the s23 ultra when I use the Pixel. I think that is a good thing because I really like both of them for different reasons.
I only had a Note 10 and never an ultra until now. The Note 10 was a great phone and I loved the rainbow finish but there is just something better and different about the ultra. I am so happy with it that I am pretty sure an Ultra will be a constant companion for the next few years. Same with the Pixel.
I miss my iPhone 13 Pro Max but iOS 16 really downgraded one of the best features of that phone and changed other things in a way I didn't like. I used to be able to use that iPhone for 3 days straight without a charge. I could go out the door in the morning with 50% battery and not even worry. On iOS 15 I never had a single bug or problem it literally just worked. Those two features along with the excellent screen and build quality made me very happy. It also had a sim card so I could swap out my main sim any time. After iOS 16 I had experienced bugs for the first time on iOS, battery life went down 30% in a single update. Now it was a two day phone.
I am really hoping that the iPhone 15 is much better. Better battery life, better zoom cameras, USB c finally and hopefully iOS 17 is big free. But with a big price increase and difficult to find deals on an unlocked phone I just don't know?
Plus with my s23 ultra and my Pixel I have call screening which is a big deal for me since I get a lot of spam calls. Pixel AI is really amazing. iPhone just can't compete in that area so unless I can get a cheap iPhone 15 or iPhone SE I don't think I will be buying an iPhone. I would really like an iPhone 15 Max as I like big screens but I don't want to pay Pro Max but that has to many compromises and still costs a lot.
It looks like I will be staying with Android for a while anyway.
Just one more day on Google Fi and I will have completed the terms for my s23 ultra discount. Tomorrow I should be able to switch carriers or switch out my sim to another phone.
I have to say the Google Fi pre order deal was pretty sweet and the service while using it was very good. The Google Fi app is the best carrier app I have ever used. You can do a lot with it. It is easy to use. The unlimited plan is competitive and not crazy in price.
The area where I live Verizon sucks for cell reception and coverage. AT&T and T-Mobile have the best coverage and speeds. I can actually get At&T pre paid unlimited plan for $25 a month if I pay for a year all at once which is $10 a month cheaper than Mint. So I am going to switch most likely to AT&T but I am not sure because I want the flexibility of being able to use Fi again next February if they have another pre order deal on s24 ultra. No matter what though I have to switch away from Fi so I can qualify as a new user next year.
Getting an unlocked s23 ultra with 512gb storage and 12gb ram for $599 without a trade was a killer deal. Only having to use any Fi data plan for 4 months instead of 2 or 3 years was the cherry on top.
If you like Samsung and can live with the standard colors and don't use Fi for four months before you buy the s24 you might be able to get a similar deal next year. I highly recommend it. I just wanted to share my experience with Google Fi.
I have to say the Google Fi pre order deal was pretty sweet and the service while using it was very good. The Google Fi app is the best carrier app I have ever used. You can do a lot with it. It is easy to use. The unlimited plan is competitive and not crazy in price.
The area where I live Verizon sucks for cell reception and coverage. AT&T and T-Mobile have the best coverage and speeds. I can actually get At&T pre paid unlimited plan for $25 a month if I pay for a year all at once which is $10 a month cheaper than Mint. So I am going to switch most likely to AT&T but I am not sure because I want the flexibility of being able to use Fi again next February if they have another pre order deal on s24 ultra. No matter what though I have to switch away from Fi so I can qualify as a new user next year.
Getting an unlocked s23 ultra with 512gb storage and 12gb ram for $599 without a trade was a killer deal. Only having to use any Fi data plan for 4 months instead of 2 or 3 years was the cherry on top.
If you like Samsung and can live with the standard colors and don't use Fi for four months before you buy the s24 you might be able to get a similar deal next year. I highly recommend it. I just wanted to share my experience with Google Fi.
Anyone else running an Apple Watch with a S23 Ultra? I’m planning to keep the Apple Watch linked to an iPhone that will be in a drawer at home. Will that work? I need the watch for fitness and health tracking. Not worried about the notifications etc.
I do. The Apple Watch is connected to my XS, which sits on a wireless charger on my desk. I rarely take it out of the house, and the Watch works perfectly for fitness tracking. That's the same reason I use it. So long as you have the iPhone for it to check in with at various points, the Apple Watch works just like normal.
For fitness and health checks - does it wirk without lte i mean, all you need iphone is to set it up, right? In case of heart rate problem/fibrilation you do get alarm even if iphone is at home and watch is disconnected (non lte version), right??
Hello everyone. I have a quick question. After updating to the June update I noticed my camera app has 1.49gb of storage occupied. I never looked before updating so don't know what it was before. Please see attached pic. Is this normal? Can I clear data (not just cache)? If I do would that delete anything important?
I still get all the fitness alerts, however I can't be certain that it doesn't use the iPhone for that as I typically turn off my workout when at home so it's still connected to the iPhone. The best way to do it is to set it up with an iPhone and then just leave that iPhone on and plugged in at home so that your watch can connect regularly. When out of the house I don't notice any difference with my watch besides the fact it isn't connected so I don't get notifications and updates.
This article is why I still stick with Pixel and not comfortable going to a Samsung, I would love to try the S23 Ultra, it looks like an amazing phone, but the duplicate apps thing still is a bit annoying, and the Galaxy app store etc...
It runs a Google OS, there should be no Samsung apps or separate store installed, those should be optional and allowed to be freely and completely uninstalled permanently without needing to use ADB.
www.xda-developers.com
It runs a Google OS, there should be no Samsung apps or separate store installed, those should be optional and allowed to be freely and completely uninstalled permanently without needing to use ADB.
Samsung needs to stop installing apps without our permission
You should own your smartphone after spending hundreds or thousands of dollars for it. Samsung needs to stop installing apps without permission.
Last edited:
This article is why I still stick with Pixel and not comfortable going to a Samsung:
Samsung needs to stop installing apps without our permission
You should own your smartphone after spending hundreds or thousands of dollars for it. Samsung needs to stop installing apps without permission.
You do realise that you can uninstall them
I've never had any game installed on my Samsung phones I have game launcher disabled ... If the app can't be deleted I disable it...more storage use I agree but slower phone I disagree ... If this phone runs any quicker it would be a marathon winner 
This article is why I still stick with Pixel and not comfortable going to a Samsung, I would love to try the S23 Ultra, it looks like an amazing phone, but the duplicate apps thing still is a bit annoying, and the Galaxy app store etc...
It runs a Google OS, there should be no Samsung apps or separate store installed, those should be optional and allowed to be freely and completely uninstalled permanently without needing to use ADB.
Samsung needs to stop installing apps without our permission
You should own your smartphone after spending hundreds or thousands of dollars for it. Samsung needs to stop installing apps without permission.
While I agree that I wish Samsung did not pre install any 3rd party apps and let you uninstall duplicate 1st party apps this article is highly inaccurate.
Samsung does not install any apps on your device after the initial setup. In other words you will never get new apps on your phone that were not already there after initial setup. There may be updates that install new versions of 1st party apps that may even change names but they are not new apps.
You will never have a 3rd party app installed through an update.
I also am not a fan of duplicate app stores.
All that being said it is not as big a deal as it was in the past. You can uninstall and disable most apps and those you can't do either you can put to sleep and stop them from using any background resources. So they are as close to being disabled as possible.
Samsung bloat in terms of storage might have been an issue when the s series started at 128gn but with 256gb base storage except in the s23 it is mostly a non issue. At the moment I have 81gb used. That number might go up or down a few gb and if I stored a lot of videos it could go up but in normal use Samsung gives a lot of storage. My Pixel in contrast uses about 40gb. So it is an issue but Samsung has made up for it by increasing the base storage on s series phones for the most part.
In terms of slowing the phone down in real world use again it is a non issue. You can limit the apps without root or adb. You can uninstall or disable most and the other you can shut down background resource use. Even still you have the fastest ram and ufs storage available at the moment and one of the fastest Android processor available until the 8 gen 2 plus and then Samsung 8 gen 2 made for Galaxy might be on equal footing.
All of the claims made in the article are either not true or exaggerations of the truth. Not a very well balanced article. Certainly biased.
Tig Bitties you seem to post a lot of negative opinions on Samsung devices over and over again, yet you are on a Samsung s23 thread over and over. I don't understand why people who don't like something come on a thread to complain about what they don't like when (generally speaking - not implying this is you specifically) they don't even own or haven't owned in a long time the brand or device they are complaining about. Why not just focus your attention on what you do like?
That being said, no phone from any brand or OS is perfect. They all have strengths and weaknesses. You and I may agree about the bloat and dual stores but until Samsung decides to do something different which may never happen it is just a fact of using a Samsung phone. So you either deal with it and mitigate the issues as best you can or you don't buy a Samsung phone.
In my personal opinion Samsung has come a long way. There were times when you couldn't uninstall or disable much of what you can now and there was no way to put apps to sleep or deep sleep. But Samsung in all the years I have owned them has never installed a third party app that wasn't pre installed on the phone without my permission or knowledge, ever.
If you don't like how Samsung operates you can buy a Pixel BUT there are a lot of Google apps preinstalled that aren't on other Android phones that you can't uninstall, disable or put to sleep. There are no third party preinstalled apps which is nice but you don't have complete control over the apps on your phone on a Pixel either. iPhone is similar.
So you just have to decide if it is worth it or not? Is a s23, s23+, or s23 ultra worth it? Does the extra apps and app store actually negatively impact the day to day performance of the phone? Does it reduce the lifespan by slowing it down over time? Is there any phone that doesn't slow down over time with new OS versions and app updates?
In my opinion maybe Samsung phones are slightly worse but not much more than any other OEM and you can mitigate most of it while at the same time you have some of the best hardware available on any phone.
I have known many people who only buy Samsung phones and keep them beyond 3 years and they say they don't really notice much slow down and that is why they may use them for 5 or more years. They have such good experience they stick with Samsung. And they don't uninstall or disable anything.
I will not disagree that adding more apps and services may be a way to slow things down in order to get people to upgrade but it is kind of an industry wide issue with even the OS makers doing it. You would think as technology improves that operating systems would be orders of magnitude faster but in real life they feel faster but not as much as hardware has improved. Why is that? Windows, Mac OS, iOS and Android all get bigger, add more features and need more resources with each successive update. Couldn't they add more features and at the same time make their OS more efficient? Why is the efficiency of the OS rarely even an issue or thought of attention?
The fact is all tech devices slow down over time. People try to future proof in a doomed effort to get the best specs and two years later the base model of a new device is as fast or faster. You can't win the fight.
My suggestion is to buy what works now. But what you can afford and never over spend in an effort to future proof. Refresh your devices every 2 to 3 years then you will always have the latest and greatest but will not have wasted your money trying to battle a war you can't win.
Next year we will have Snapdragon 8 gen 3 and it will be significantly better than the 8 gen 2, 8 gen 4 will be even better and so on. Apple's a17 will be a big improvement over the a15/16. A19 will probably blow the a17 out of the water. Each couple generations big improvements and each year decent improvement and that is just the processor, camera tech, ram, ufs storage standards all improve as well. Better screens, better speakers, more efficiency and better battery life.
So in the bigger picture I wouldn't worry about the things the article brings up which again are either untrue or exaggerations.
But the phone that works for you and has what you enjoy to use.
If you don't like Samsung OneUI and how it works that is completely understandable. Get an iPhone or a Pixel and be done with it.
Maybe contact Samsung customer service and voice your complaint.
The idea that because you paid for it and you should have complete ownership and power over a device is something I completely agree with but in reality it is a bit naive. Every EULA on every device in the last 20 years or more gives users only limited rights of the OS where we simply rent it under license. Most OEM'S will void your warranty if you try to alter the hardware in a way they don't like. Most OEM'S will limit or restrict what you can upgrade on your own devices no matter the OS or brand.
Your rights when using electronic devices are limited and not unrestricted and have been this way across the industry almost since inception. The only exception to this is Linux based OS and even some of those have some restrictions and open source built hardware products for which there are just a few. Everything else is locked down.
If you don't like it then you need to change laws and user agreements which will be no easy task.
I am not sure why we are even discussing this given the blatant bias of the article.
Phones with work profiles are largely so restricted so all that he says or implies is just wrong
One users bloat is another's favorite app and its all splitting hairs. We accept the amount of perceived control over our phones on purchase and Samsung is far from some of the most restricted
Dual app stores has never bothered me and sometimes a benefit with exclusives or specific apps and is in part the right to alterative stores without having to 3rd party sideload, so a win win.
Why anyone has this so called bloat on their pro's and con's list along with hardware and features specs etc is beyond me, just delete it or disable it etc and move on IMO
I'm ok with Samsung phones and tablets. I'll just disable what I don't want otherwise I like their little extras they give.
My only issue with them is they are very slow to get you the latest OS update, but it's not like I need the latest and greatest anyways.
I got an update today on my Pixel and not sure if it was just a security update or a OS update or both lol. It gave me some extra features.
My only issue with them is they are very slow to get you the latest OS update, but it's not like I need the latest and greatest anyways.
I got an update today on my Pixel and not sure if it was just a security update or a OS update or both lol. It gave me some extra features.
Has anybody else found that since the June update that their eye comfort shield randomly turns itself on during the day, I have mine set to custom time between 22:15 - 06:00 and several times a day it has come back on itself, at the point now where I'm going to turn it off completely.
I've not seen that mentioned anywhere else on the forum. Have you noticed big updates with the June update? has it made a different to the cameras?