Samsung galaxy S23 and S23 ultra

[Technerd108]

So anyone find a decent tempered glass screen protector for the s23 ultra?

Whitestone Dome is what I am considering but the cost is always a bear. On Amazon it is $35 with tax. Anyone find a better deal or better alternative?

 

[keithop]

So anyone find a decent tempered glass screen protector for the s23 ultra?

Whitestone Dome is what I am considering but the cost is always a bear. On Amazon it is $35 with tax. Anyone find a better deal or better alternative?

Im still running on the one someone suggested earlier on..... I usually go for glass but this one was cheap, extremely easy, zero bubbles, no liquid involved and touch/feel/look of the screen all fine (to me at least!)

LK 2+2 Pack for Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Screen Protector, 2 Pack Soft TPU Film with 2 Pack Camera Lens Protector [Touch Sensitive] 3D Curved Max Coverage, Screen Protector for S23 Ultra

LK 2+2 Pack for Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Screen Protector, 2 Pack Soft TPU Film with 2 Pack Camera Lens Protector [Touch Sensitive] 3D Curved Max Coverage, Screen Protector for S23 Ultra

www.amazon.co.uk

I dont know that it'll be as good as glass in a drop but it's pretty good for the price

 

[keithop]

Umm... highly doubt it. It's either you like Android notifications or don't lol.

I do quite like the edge lighting! but I found out why I wasn't seeing it, it doesnt seem to be an option if notifications are "detail" rather than "brief" argh.. its like iphone wants to show me exactly what I'm being notified about whereas android wants to just say "app has a notification".

 

[torana355]

out of genuine interest, what it is with your graphic arts on the mac that can't be done just as well on windows these days?

Nothing, it can be done on pc, but my company uses Macs and in my experience Macs are just easier to work on, even small things like being able to drag a file into an import window within indesign makes all the difference.

 

[keithop]

Nothing, it can be done on pc, but my company uses Macs and in my experience Macs are just easier to work on, even small things like being able to drag a file into an import window within indesign makes all the difference.

brill thx good to know! totally agree it's the little things in a workflow that you do over and over again can make a huge difference

 

[sunking101]

you're kidding right ;-) it's their time to spend how they like and no one's wasting Samsung's time, money is being spent in return for goods, exactly what Samsung wants!

Not if they return 'em for a refund.

 

[keithop]

Not if they return 'em for a refund.

yep even if returned for a refund cos yah know, samsung aint daft ;-)

On the S21u for example, the cost breakdown was around $533 on a $1079 phone. Even with return postage paid and a discount on the refurb that the returned phone becomes, Samsung are still making a VERY tidy profit and it sure as heck hasn't been a waste of their time ;-)

 

[Klyster]

I know, lame comparison video etc..

But still..

 

[Klyster]

So anyone find a decent tempered glass screen protector for the s23 ultra?

Whitestone Dome is what I am considering but the cost is always a bear. On Amazon it is $35 with tax. Anyone find a better deal or better alternative?

For what it's worth, I had the twin pack for my S22 Ultra, and when new, they are very nice.
But they chip on the edges (anecdotally) and start to crumble.

I use the Samsung screen protectors now, the last quite a bit before needing replacing and are cheap.

YMMV.

 

[Technerd108]

I know, lame comparison video etc..

But still..

Considering that the S23 ultra was just released and the iPhone has had a few updates to optimize I think this is a pretty impressive result for Samsung.

Samsung may get faster as One UI is better optimized over time.

 

[drinkingtea]

I genuinely love this phone so much. Android just works better for my day-to-day.

 

[5105973]

I am sorry for the assisted living situation. My Mom is also in assisted living and it took a couple places and a few years to find a decent place. They are incredibly expensive and it is just a tough situation. Wishing you the best. Take time for your own mental health too.

Look forward to your impressions when you have the time.

Thanks! Yeah it's challenging to get good elder care in the best of times. And these are definitely not the best of times.

I was just extra reluctant to head over there because they have an active Covid outbreak and meanwhile at home and school we have a different new virus tearing through yet again. There was one we all just got over a couple of weeks ago. Whew!

And as of an hour ago I just started feeling sick. Sigh. That could complicate my adjustment and evaluation of this new phone because one of the features of the new virus from school is a wicked headache. It actually may be Covid again. I am going to have to test everyone. I don't currently have a headache though which is a good sign all around.

Anyway, I'm here setting everything up from scratch. I haven't done that in a few years. Having my S22 Ultra already set up has given me the freedom to try this. It's nice having a Samsung already set up. So I can just take my time with the new one.

I applied the Samsung branded screen protector to my display. Bubbles everywhere! I like the clarity of it and the feel of it, but I did a bad job with the application. I hope the bubbles work their way out by tomorrow. If not, there is a second one in the box.

I've got the phone itself in a Ringke clear case. I also had a new Torras clear case come in for my S22 Ultra that I put on that phone.

Hmm...as I type this out I realize I'm not digging the Samsung keyboard. It's not terrible, but I prefer GBoard so off I go to fetch it.

I'm hoping my nervous system continues to do well on this phone. I really, really want to keep the lavender and have my husband keep the lime one. He's sitting with me setting his S23 Ultra up a bit more, too.

I can't wait to test everything out. At least this time the display didn't dismay me straight out of the box! It's bright and crisp and compares favorably to the one on my S22 Ultra and kicks the one I returned right in the butt.

The screen defect I mentioned earlier is definitely a nothing burger on this device. It's completely undetectable in use. You have to shine a bright light on it to see it at the very bottom of the right corner. So that's settled!

 

[Technerd108]

I was able to adjust the color temperature almost like my Pixel 7 Pro. I had to use vivid mode all the way to cold and reduce the green almost all the way and blue just above that. Now it has a much more natural look. Almost identical to the Pixel.

Just thought I would share if anyone thinks the screen looks too green.

 

[Technerd108]

Thanks! Yeah it's challenging to get good elder care in the best of times. And these are definitely not the best of times.

I was just extra reluctant to head over there because they have an active Covid outbreak and meanwhile at home and school we have a different new virus tearing through yet again. There was one we all just got over a couple of weeks ago. Whew!

And as of an hour ago I just started feeling sick. Sigh. That could complicate my adjustment and evaluation of this new phone because one of the features of the new virus from school is a wicked headache. It actually may be Covid again. I am going to have to test everyone. I don't currently have a headache though which is a good sign all around.

Anyway, I'm here setting everything up from scratch. I haven't done that in a few years. Having my S22 Ultra already set up has given me the freedom to try this. It's nice having a Samsung already set up. So I can just take my time with the new one.

I applied the Samsung branded screen protector to my display. Bubbles everywhere! I like the clarity of it and the feel of it, but I did a bad job with the application. I hope the bubbles work their way out by tomorrow. If not, there is a second one in the box.

I've got the phone itself in a Ringke clear case. I also had a new Torras clear case come in for my S22 Ultra that I put on that phone.

Hmm...as I type this out I realize I'm not digging the Samsung keyboard. It's not terrible, but I prefer GBoard so off I go to fetch it.

I'm hoping my nervous system continues to do well on this phone. I really, really want to keep the lavender and have my husband keep the lime one. He's sitting with me setting his S23 Ultra up a bit more, too.

I can't wait to test everything out. At least this time the display didn't dismay me straight out of the box! It's bright and crisp and compares favorably to the one on my S22 Ultra and kicks the one I returned right in the butt.

The screen defect I mentioned earlier is definitely a nothing burger on this device. It's completely undetectable in use. You have to shine a bright light on it to see it at the very bottom of the right corner. So that's settled!

When I lived in California I was paying $8,000 a month for a private room for my Mom after caring for her myself for almost 3 years. I went through most of my savings and sold a house to do it. I moved into a cheap Condo in a less than desirable area of las Vegas. I had to quit my job of 16 years to care for her as I made a promise to her that I would not put her in a home. It broke my heart to do it but she had become extremely aggressive. She wasn't taking her medicine and wouldn't listen to me. It was affecting my family. I had to move my Mom here and the care here is less than half and it is way better. I have gone through most of my remaining savings. I have a very small amount left and her social security stopped several months ago and I have to figure out how to get it back. Once I do that I should at least be on better footing. I separated from my wife of many years because of the stress when I was taking care of her by myself full time. Now I am caring for my son with no child support and I am disabled with a chronic pain condition. Of course I could work if doctors would prescribe pain medicine but after the crack down on opiates people who actually need relief can't get it.

That is why I have basically a non existent budget for tech but through having older devices over the years and some other stuff to sell it is the only luxury I afford myself. I have to figure out a way to get a virtual job that way I can take care of my son and get an income. All the times I have tried it is mostly scams. I am 51 and have been a full time caretaker for my Mom and now my son with special needs. So I can't just work a 9-5 and my pain condition limits what I can do.

COVID has knocked me and my son down a couple times and the vaccines were not fun either. So I understand. I feel like some symptoms have not gone away. And with a kid in school and no masking germs are a constant battle.

So I totally sympathize with your situation.

I am glad this phone is working out better. It has to be the best phone on the market. I can't even believe I was able to snag one. I actually got more money for the s22 plus when I sold it than I paid for it and was able to use that to pay for the ultra. I had to pay less than $100 when all was said and done. I got the Pixel as an even trade for my iPhone 13. So I feel really lucky to have what I have.

 

[Klyster]

Hmm...as I type this out I realize I'm not digging the Samsung keyboard. It's not terrible, but I prefer GBoard so off I go to fetch it.

I love the Samsung keyboard but find it plays havoc when entering text in forums, like here for instance.

If I quote someone, I can never seem to get the cursor out of the quote box, even using the spacebar cursor, infuriating.
Apart from that, I like it.

I hope you're not too sick Mom.

 

[Harthag]

Thanks for the well thought out response! I think the other thing weighing on me is that I might decide to trade the iPhone in and then a month or so down the road, switch back. Just throwing money out the window at that point. Did the same thing a while back so I think part of it is self awareness of old habits. I really do want to try to make the switch work and I have no interest in having two phones.

I'm going to give it through the weekend since this is my first full uninterrupted weekend with this phone. I have until Monday to either trade in my iphone or initiate a return.

Why not just go through with the trade in and then buy an old cheap iPhone to have just in case? Until you get into the routine of using the S23 full time. I know it’s still pissing away money, but may give you some peace of mind.

 

[swarlos]

My green S23 ultra delivers on monday!!
Also picked up a LTE 46mm classic 4 galaxy watch today also haha.

 

[mjschabow]

Why not just go through with the trade in and then buy an old cheap iPhone to have just in case? Until you get into the routine of using the S23 full time. I know it’s still pissing away money, but may give you some peace of mind.

Yeah that's the plan as of now I actually still do have an iPhone 11 through work (though I just use my personal phone for work) and an iPad Air, so I could still go to both for that Apple itch.

 

[5105973]

When I lived in California I was paying $8,000 a month for a private room for my Mom after caring for her myself for almost 3 years. I went through most of my savings and sold a house to do it. I moved into a cheap Condo in a less than desirable area of las Vegas. I had to quit my job of 16 years to care for her as I made a promise to her that I would not put her in a home. It broke my heart to do it but she had become extremely aggressive. She wasn't taking her medicine and wouldn't listen to me. It was affecting my family. I had to move my Mom here and the care here is less than half and it is way better. I have gone through most of my remaining savings. I have a very small amount left and her social security stopped several months ago and I have to figure out how to get it back. Once I do that I should at least be on better footing. I separated from my wife of many years because of the stress when I was taking care of her by myself full time. Now I am caring for my son with no child support and I am disabled with a chronic pain condition. Of course I could work if doctors would prescribe pain medicine but after the crack down on opiates people who actually need relief can't get it.

That is why I have basically a non existent budget for tech but through having older devices over the years and some other stuff to sell it is the only luxury I afford myself. I have to figure out a way to get a virtual job that way I can take care of my son and get an income. All the times I have tried it is mostly scams. I am 51 and have been a full time caretaker for my Mom and now my son with special needs. So I can't just work a 9-5 and my pain condition limits what I can do.

COVID has knocked me and my son down a couple times and the vaccines were not fun either. So I understand. I feel like some symptoms have not gone away. And with a kid in school and no masking germs are a constant battle.

So I totally sympathize with your situation.

I am glad this phone is working out better. It has to be the best phone on the market. I can't even believe I was able to snag one. I actually got more money for the s22 plus when I sold it than I paid for it and was able to use that to pay for the ultra. I had to pay less than $100 when all was said and done. I got the Pixel as an even trade for my iPhone 13. So I feel really lucky to have what I have.

Wow, yeah I'd say you do understand and then some. Down to having this one thing to distract and cheer you up.

The obsession may not be healthy by other people's standards, but its what enables me, when things get too heavy, to remove myself for a minute, look at my pretty phone, center myself and then go deal with things with superhuman calm. 😉

I do appreciate the empathy you've extended to me. I've met so much kindness and greatness of human spirit on MacRumors. It's pretty darned amazing.

I do have so much ridiculous fun with these gadgets. I'm older than you by just a handful of years so I know you watched all of this pretty tech go from imagination to reality. We have an awe of it because of that. Of course we also are aware of the negative impacts to society from our perspective. But the technology itself, is just gorgeous and I'm always going to be impressed I have a real handheld computer nicer than anything I ever saw Captain Kirk use. 🤣

So, it's still early and I have to be cautious, but I've been looking at my screen for a couple of hours now and I'm doing okay so far.

I'm going through the apps more thoroughly than I have in a long time. I noticed I can disable but not remove Samsung's message app. I forgot about that because I locked it away in a folder on my other phone a long time ago.

Yeah this is going to take me a few days to go through and set up.

 

[5105973]

I love the Samsung keyboard but find it plays havoc when entering text in forums, like here for instance.

If I quote someone, I can never seem to get the cursor out of the quote box, even using the spacebar cursor, infuriating.
Apart from that, I like it.

I hope you're not too sick Mom.

Lol yeah I've gotten trapped in the quote box, too. Yikes!

I'm hanging in there. I have autoimmune issues. Sometimes it's actually good for me to get sick so my immune system has something to attack besides me! It's keeping it at bay so far, compared to the kids.

My last bout of Covid was rough, but when it was over, I had a nice break from joint pain and digestive inflammation. I felt normal for the first time in ages! I'd almost forgot I could feel so good! But then I caught a different virus that brought back all my problems again. Drat! My body is so weird! 😂

Well I'm off to test more of the phone. I'm stuck doing loads of laundry at past midnight again, so I may as well have some fun.

 

[SteveJUAE]

Well I'm off to test more of the phone. I'm stuck doing loads of laundry at past midnight again, so I may as well have some fun.

Suggest you sit on the tub during spin cycle and check out image stabilization for fun LOL

 

[The Game 161]

Thanks for the well thought out response! I think the other thing weighing on me is that I might decide to trade the iPhone in and then a month or so down the road, switch back. Just throwing money out the window at that point. Did the same thing a while back so I think part of it is self awareness of old habits. I really do want to try to make the switch work and I have no interest in having two phones.

I'm going to give it through the weekend since this is my first full uninterrupted weekend with this phone. I have until Monday to either trade in my iphone or initiate a return.

what concerns do you have from completely switching?

 

[three]

I love the Samsung keyboard but find it plays havoc when entering text in forums, like here for instance.

If I quote someone, I can never seem to get the cursor out of the quote box, even using the spacebar cursor, infuriating.
Apart from that, I like it.

I hope you're not too sick Mom.

Holy crap so that wasn't only me? Wow, that was an annoying bug.

 

[Dave245]

Holy crap so that wasn't only me? Wow, that was an annoying bug.

This happens to me too, i thought I was doing something wrong

 

[M5RahuL]

You have to use Google Fi unlimited $50 plan for four months. That is it. Device comes unlocked.

Trade in value with Google Fi was terrible so I sold it on Swappa for just about the cost of the ultra at half price. Plus they bumped up the specs to 512gb, 12gb ram model.

I checked all the deals from Samsung, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and this was the best with no 36 month pay back. No locked device. Half of the base model cost with mid range model specs and tax was on the discounted price too.

Most of the others will give you $800 off with trade in. Then they want you to have an $80 a month plan to get it. And they were selling the base model in some cases with 256/8gb.

With Fi I got half off no trade in. I don't have any credits. Plan is no contract after 4 months. Device is unlocked. I could then sell my s22 on private market for more than trade in which allowed me to buy the s23 ultra at practically no cost.

After my experience with Boost mobile and mint I might just keep Fi. But we will see. It is basically $25 a month more than I was paying for 4 months. $100. Then I can decide to keep Fi or go to another carrier.

Best deal I could find.

You don’t need to sign up for the $50 plan. I got the $20 flex plan ( an additional $10 for 1 GB data, but I didn’t use any more than what was needed to activate the device ~ 140 MB ) and qualified just fine.

Once activated, took the Fi sim out, reset the device and using it with my TMobile sim.

118 days to go to fulfill the promo (120 day) requirement.