Intro
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is right around the corner and with a new chip strategy and a brand new camera system, it has all the ingredients to become one of the most successful phones of 2023. But how does it compare against the surprisingly great Google Pixel 7 Pro?
After years of trying with the Pixel series, Google finally seems to have gotten it right with the seventh generation Pixel which so far has a worry-free experience and undercuts the Galaxy in price by a significant margin. The Pixel also comes with the camera quality needed in this flagship camera battle and it has the unique advantage of being a Google phone and getting Android updates faster than any other Android phone.
- Galaxy uses newer and more advanced screen tech
- Galaxy comes with an S Pen
- Faster Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in Galaxy
- Faster storage (UFS 4.0)
- Higher res main camera (200MP on Galaxy vs 50MP on Pixel)
- Galaxy has two zoom cameras, while Pixel has one
- Both have 5,000mAh battery sizes, but Galaxy supports faster charging (45W)
Table of Contents:
Design and Display Quality
S23 Ultra comes with the newest in OLED screen tech
It’s easy to tell these two apart as both the Galaxy and the Pixel have a distinct visual style. The Galaxy has this rectangular look with sharp edges, while the Pixel has a more traditional look with rounded edges.
The Galaxy is also noticeably wider and harder to use with one hand, and it is expected to be the heavier phone too.
And while the overall design of the Galaxy mostly matches the previous S22 Ultra, one little change is that the sides of the phone are now a bit flatter. Not quite iPhone flat, but flatter, and this will make it a bit easier to pick the phone up from a table for example.
We also ought to mention that the Galaxy comes with the S Pen inside. For some people, this is the reason to buy a Galaxy over any other phone, and those people probably don’t need any more advertisements for the S23 Ultra. Casual users can still appreciate having the S Pen always there for a quick note or to sketch something on the go. But there is also a group of people who would never or very rarely use the S Pen, and for that group, it just seems like a waste of space, so the S Pen might actually be a disadvantage for those consumers.
Another thing both the Galaxy and the Pixel share is a slim box where you won’t find a charger. That’s become the norm in the flagship space recently, so it’s not a surprise. You will find a type C USB cable in the boxes, but again no charger, no case, and no headphones on either one.
Both come with slightly curved screens, but the one on the Galaxy is larger and has a slightly wider aspect ratio. We expect to see the latest M12 generation OLED panel technology to make its debut on the S23 Ultra, and that is excellent news. Not only will it hit higher peak brightness numbers, but we expect to see better color accuracy and power efficiency too. The Pixel 7 Pro on the other hand seems to use the now quited E4 generation OLED technology, which was also used in the Pixel 6 Pro. There are some improvements to the brightness compared to the Pixel 6 Pro, but nothing quite as major as the generational leap in screen tech that the Galaxy gets.
In terms of refresh rate, the two use LTPO technology and support dynamic refresh rate that can go up to 120 Hertz.
Performance and Software
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 goes RAWR
Under the hood, the Galaxy S23 Ultra being the newer phone also ships with a brand new processor, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. When it launches in February, the Galaxy is expected to be one of the fastest, if not the fastest Android phone on the market. But the really good news is that Samsung will no longer split the series in two versions, one with a Snapdragon chip, and another one with an inferior Exynos chip, and will instead ship a Snapdragon powered version to all markets.
The Pixel, on the other hand, uses the Google-made Tensor G2 chip. As you will see below, the Tensor G2 is definitely not as fast as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Google, however, is saying that benchmarks are not what you should be looking at, but instead this chip is focused on having fast machine learning processing, powering unique Pixel features like an incredible accurate and fast voice to text transcription.
Performance Benchmarks:
We will be testing and comparing the Snapdragon 8 Gen vs the Google Tensor G2 a lot more once we get a hold of the S23 Ultra, so bookmark this page and check back here around February 2023 for that.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 also comes with the new X70 modem, which promises better signal reception and faster speeds on 5G. The Pixel 7 Pro uses an Exynos 5300 modem, which might not be as new, but also does a very decent job, and many people report that this new modem gets them way better signal reception and far fewer dropped calls than the Samsung modem which was used on the Pixel 6 Pro.
In terms of software, we have Samsung’s latest One UI 5 running on top of Android 13 on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, while the Pixel runs on a clean version of Android 13 with the Material You interface by Google.
But what about software support? Samsungs has taken on a huge new commitment and the Galaxy S23 Ultra is said to come with four years of major software updates and five years of security fixes, which is even longer than the three years of major updates and four years of security fixes that Google promises. Samsung is definitely the company that delivers the longest Android support for its phones and that is appreciated, but you have to remember that it still takes Samsung at least a few months to bring those updates, while with the Pixel you just get them on day one, it’s a much faster process.
Camera
New 200MP main camera on S23 Ultra steals the show
With a quad camera system on the back, the Galaxy S23 Ultra remains a dominant force in the flagship space and one of very few phones to have two zoom cameras. The Pixel 7 Pro, on the other hand, has a triple rear camera.
The big highlight this year is the brand new 200MP main camera sensor on the S23 Ultra. You still get 12MP shots out of it with 16-to-1 pixel binning, but we expect to see it perform better in low light and produce cleaner detail all around.
Let’s take a look at a detailed camera specs comparison below:
| Camera Specs | Galaxy S23 Ultra | Pixel 7 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Main Camera | 200MP, 23mm, f/1.7 1/1.3″ sensor size | 50MP, 25mm, f/1.9 1/1.31″ sensor size |
| Ultra-wide | 12MP, 13mm, f/2.2 1/2.55″ sensor size | 12MP, 14mm, f/2.2 1/2.9″ sensor size |
| Telephoto #1 | 10MP, 3X zoom, f/2.4 1/3.52″ sensor size | – |
| Telephoto #2 | 10MP, 10X zoom, f/4.9 1/3.52″ sensor size | 48MP, 5X zoom, f/3.5 1/2.55″ sensor size |
| Front Cam | 40MP, AF, 4K | 10.8MP, AF, 4K video |
We don’t have any official information from Samsung just yet, but popular leaker @IceUniverse has allegedly seen early samples from the S23 Ultra and claims the phone will have “greatly improved” night photography and night video.
Audio Quality and Haptics
The Galaxy and the Pixel feature a very similar audio setup with no dedicated 3.5mm headphone jack and with two loudspeakers, one in the bottom of the phone and a helper speaker in the earpiece of the phone at the top.
We haven’t heard any rumors about audio quality improvements to the Galaxy S23 Ultra, so we expect to have mostly the same quality speakers as the previous generation. Those lacked in the lower frequencies and could use an improvement.
We feel that haptics have been another area, which Samsung could improve in the future with tighter vibration feedback.
Battery Life and Charging
5,000mAh batteries on both
Most Android flagship phones have settled on a 5,000mAh battery and it’s kind of become the norm in the space, and that is what both the S23 Ultra and the Pixel 7 Pro have as well.
That’s good news: 5,000mAh is a solid size and unless there is a problem with the processor sipping too much energy, this battery should last you well over a day on average.
We haven’t heard exact battery life estimations for the Galaxy S23 Ultra, but we will be updating this section with our three independent battery tests when we get the phone and give you the exact numbers of how it compares to the Pixel 7 Pro.
In terms of charging, there is no charger included in the box with either phone. The Galaxy is said to support charging speeds of up to 45W, but that would require the somewhat costly and bulky Samsung 45W charger which also goes with a thicker than usual 5A cable. Most users would probably find the default 25W Samsung charger be just enough and top up that battery in slightly more than an hour, same as the previous generation.
Both phones also support wireless charging, and have the neat reverse wireless charge feature, which allows you to use the phone itself as a power bank and place a pair of wireless buds or a smartwatch on the back of the phone to juice them up.
Specs Comparison
Here is a quick overview of the specs on the S23 Ultra and what’s different compared to the Pixel:
| Specs | Galaxy S23 Ultra | Pixel 7 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 163.4 x 78.1 x 8.9mm | 162.9 x 76.6 x 8.9mm |
| Weight | unknown | 212g |
| Screen | 6.8″ OLED, M12 panel* 1440 x 3088 pixels, 19.3:9 aspect ratio 120Hz dynamic refresh rate (LTPO) 2,150 nits max brightness* | 6.7″ OLED, E4 panel* 1440 x 3120 pixels, 19.5:9 aspect ratio 120Hz dynamic refresh rate (LTPO) 1,500 nits max brightness |
| Processor | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | Google Tensor G2 |
| RAM and Storage | 8GB LPDDR5 RAM + 128GB UFS 4.0 storage 12GB RAM + 256GB storage 12GB RAM + 512GB storage | 12GB LPDDDR5 RAM + 128GB UFS 3.1 storage 12GB RAM + 256GB storage 12GB RAM + 512GB storage |
| Cameras | 200MP main camera 12MP ultra-wide 3X zoom telephoto 10X zoom telephoto 40MP front camera | 50MP main camera 12MP ultra-wide 48MP 5X zoom telephoto 10.8MP front camera |
| Battery Size | 5,000 mAh | 5,000 mAh |
| Charging Speeds | 45W wired 15W wireless reverse wireless charging | 23W wired 23W wireless reverse wireless charging |
| Price | from $1,200 | from $900 |
*Samsung and Google do not officially disclose the display panel technology they use. This data is based on web research and third-party sources and is NOT official.
Summary and Final Verdict
At the end of the day, the Galaxy S23 Ultra offers a number of technological improvements over the Pixel 7 Pro. First and most importantly, the Galaxy will ship with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip everywhere, which means that finally users from all over the world will be able to enjoy the full speed of the Snapdragon chip. And that 8 Gen 2 chip shapes up as quite the beast, beating the Tensor G2 in most tasks easily. Secondly, the Galaxy debuts a new 200MP camera technology, which promises to match or beat the Pixel in its strongest area — low light photos. Thirdly, you have the newest generation OLED screen technology on the Galaxy, while the Pixel seems to use a much older OLED screen tech.
But most importantly, it is this combination of technology with the software that will define the right choice for you. The Samsung One UI experience is full with customization possibilities, while the clean Google experience on the Pixel favors a more design-centric approach and has the advantage of super fast updates in the future. And let’s not forget the S Pen, the unique selling point of the Galaxy.
Last but not least, it’s the price difference. You are getting more with the Galaxy, but also at a higher price, while the Pixel 7 Pro is downright affordable, especially if you stumble upon one of those deals that bring its price down way lower than the $900 MSRP.
