Daily Authority: 📱 Galaxy S23 Ultra reviewed

🌅 Hello! I’m flying to Spain next week for MWC 2023, so it will be great to meet colleagues I haven’t seen since before Covid (or ones I haven’t met at all). Either way, today’s newsletter highlights include our S23 Ultra review, Nintendo’s forward-thinking marketing, and more.

We recently released our Galaxy S23 Ultra review, written by fellow AA Ryan Haines. And he believes the new phone “continues to set the gold standard for a do-it-all flagship, regardless of price.”

A more refined proposal

• It looks like the Galaxy S23 Ultra is more of an evolution from the S22 Ultra on paper.
• That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as Samsung can fix where it went wrong.
• And Samsung has indeed made many improvements, according to Ryan.
• Starting with the design, he praised the flatter edges and reduced cascading curves.
• The phone also impressed with battery life, getting “roughly” two days of use and six to eight hours of screen time.
• The phone has the same 45W charging speed but takes less than an hour to charge. We have a S23 Ultra load analysis if you want to know more.
• Ryan also said he didn’t notice any lag or lag, and rarely noticed any warming up outside of long gaming sessions.
• This is not a surprise because the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy brings a boost in speed and TSMC manufacturing.
• The 200MP is the big new upgrade, and our reviewer thought it delivered great results.
• Samsung has also refined the zoom cameras, with Ryan also praising those images.

Where the Ultra needs to improve

• The S23 Ultra isn’t without its flaws, however.
• Ryan noted that the phone would be too big for some, much like previous Ultras.
• He also lamented that you only get 8GB of RAM in the base model while rivals offer at least 12GB.
• Finally, he criticizes the price, especially for more storage.
• The phone still costs $1,199 in the US, but the rest of the world is experiencing a sharp rise in prices.

Should you buy the S23 Ultra?

• It really depends on your budget and needs, right?
• It’s worth considering if you want a phone with everything but the kitchen sink and don’t mind the high price tag.
• This proposition is more difficult outside the United States, however, thanks to the aforementioned price hike.
• Again, how many phones in any market have a 200MP camera and a 10x camera?
• Ryan also lists some alternatives like the Pixel 7 Pro And iPhone 14 Pro Series.
• Users outside the US may also want to wait for phones like the Xiaomi 13 Pro And Oppo Find X6 Pro.
• Don’t want to spend $1,200 or more? So that’s what the S23/S23 Plus is for, with the Pixel 7 And OnePlus 11.
• Anyway, my rule of thumb for upgrades is that if you have the previous generation phone, you can skip the next generation model.
• But it does seem like the S23 Ultra is the phone the S22 Ultra should have been.

💪 Geekbench 6 is here: What you need to know about the next-gen benchmark app (Android Authority).

Nintendo is well known for its historic family nature, but Eurogamer traveled back in time to mark 20 years of the Game Boy Advance SP. And the revised handheld saw some rather “edgy” ads upon release.

“Second best thing to do in the dark,” reads a magazine advert for the Nintendo handheld at the time (see above), with a couple in bed. Of course, it was the first Game Boy to sport a built-in backlight, which let you play in the dark.

The ad also notes that the Game Boy Advance SP was “for men”. Nintendo even produced a Tribal GBA SP edition back in the day with designs resembling tribal tattoos. It’s almost as if they were courting everyone’s sketchy older cousin who bragged about starting fights in bars.

Have a nice day!
Hadlee Simons, Editor