Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs Galaxy S23

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.9-inch Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite) that was released on January 22, 2025, against the Samsung Galaxy S23, which is powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy and came out 2 years before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
  • 83% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (3128K versus 1712K)
  • Has a 0.8 inch larger screen size
  • Comes with 1100 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 3900 mAh
  • Shows 30% longer battery life (28:43 vs 22:02 hours)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • The rear camera has a 5x optical zoom
  • Has 50% more RAM: 12GB versus 8GB
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.4)
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
  • Delivers 19% higher peak brightness (1416 against 1191 nits)
  • More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 16
  • 17% higher pixel density (498 vs 425 PPI)
  • Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 25W)
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S23
  • Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
  • Weighs 50 grams less
  • Better grip in hands – the body is 6.7 mm narrower

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy S23 crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
DeviceFacts Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate DeviceFacts Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 90% Yes
Yes, this is a clear and meaningful upgrade.
Updating from Samsung Galaxy S23 to Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is a clear step forward, and the improvements should be easy to notice.
Main improvements: gaming, performance, and battery life.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.9 inches 6.1 inches
Resolution 1440 x 3120 pixels 1080 x 2340 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
PPI 498 ppi 425 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (1-120 Hz) Yes (24-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness - 1200 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 2600 nits 1750 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Touch sampling rate 240 Hz -
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Armor 2 Gorilla Glass Victus 2
Screen-to-body ratio 92.4% 88%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 97.7% 98.9%
PWM 240 Hz 240 Hz
Response time 1 ms 1 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Screen space comparison
Galaxy S25 Ultra
6.9″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 18.1 in2
Galaxy S23
6.1″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 14.2 in2
~27% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
1416 nits
1191 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 162.8 mm (6.41 inches) 146.3 mm (5.76 inches)
Width 77.6 mm (3.06 inches) 70.9 mm (2.79 inches)
Thickness 8.2 mm (0.32 inches) 7.6 mm (0.3 inches)
Weight 218 g (7.69 oz) 168 g (5.93 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber Vapor chamber
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Black, Silver, Gray, Blue White, Black, Gray, Green, Purple, Yellow
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Repairability Good (3.23/5) -
Drop resistance Excellent (A) · 270 drops -
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S23
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy
Max clock 4470 MHz 3360 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 6) 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3)
Architecture - 6 cores at 3.53 GHz: Oryon (Phoenix M)
- 2 cores at 4.32 GHz: Oryon (Phoenix L)
- 3 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A710
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A715
- 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X3
L3 cache 8 MB 8 MB
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 3 nanometers 4 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon Hexagon
GPU
Graphics Adreno 830 Adreno 740
GPU shading units 1536 1536
GPU clock 1100 MHz 680 MHz
FLOPS ~3379.2 GFLOPS ~2089 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S23
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
3202
1987
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
10347
5171
Compute Score (GPU)
26581
9410
Compute Score (GPU) 26581 9410
Single-core score 3202 1987
Multi-core score 10347 5171
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
3128552
1712393
CPU 987646 587063
GPU 1190760 434955
Memory 362214 275390
UX 587932 414985
Total score 3128552 1712393
Samples [66 tests] [29 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
2272
1069
Stability 61% 76%
Graphics test 17 FPS 8 FPS
Graphics score 2272 1069
3DMark Solar Bay
10441
5348
Stability - 73%
Graphics test 40 FPS 20 FPS
Section 1 50 FPS 23 FPS
Section 2 40 FPS 20 FPS
Section 3 29 FPS 18 FPS
Graphics score 10441 5348
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
5827
3669
Stability 56% 61%
Graphics test 34 FPS 21 FPS
Graphics score 5827 3669
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
19901
15924
Web score 21582 15188
Video editing 8625 7873
Photo editing 34425 33939
Data manipulation 17556 12935
Writing score 26844 19390

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-10-09 (IceBaer)AnTuTu 123395994
📘 2026-10-04 (Gun park)AnTuTu 123085318
📘 2026-10-04 (potatowan)Geekbench 7 CPU2791 / 10180
📘 2026-10-03 (Apple Slayer)AnTuTu 123529678
📘 2026-10-02 (potatowan)AnTuTu 123590956
Samsung Galaxy S23
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-10-13 (Ct)AnTuTu 121868238
📘 2026-09-21 (Mil)AnTuTu 121763249
📘 2026-09-16 (Fluffyicebite:3)AnTuTu 121835927
📘 2026-09-09 -> Rafarobbie22AnTuTu 111708074
📘 2026-09-09 (Rafa)AnTuTu 111708074

Memory

RAM
RAM size 12 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Memory clock 5300 MHz -
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 256 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 4.0 UFS 4.0
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 17) Android 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 16)
ROM One UI 9.0 One UI 8.0
OS size 30.4 GB 29.7 GB
OS updates 7 years 4 years
Security updates 7 years 5 years

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 3900 mAh
Max charge power 45 W 25 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (25 W) Yes (10 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) Yes, (wireless)
Bypass charging Yes Yes
Fast charging Yes (72% in 30 min) Yes (57% in 30 min)
Full charging time 0:59 hr 1:16 hr
Battery cycles 2000 cycles -
Battery life tests
Web browsing 11:10 hr 08:12 hr
Watching video 19:32 hr 13:41 hr
Gaming 06:22 hr 05:20 hr
Standby 132 hr 109 hr
General battery life
28:43 hr
22:02 hr

Main camera

Matrix 200 megapixels 50 megapixels
Image resolution 16320 x 12240 8160 x 6120
Zoom Optical, 5x Optical, 3x
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording Up to 30FPS Up to 30FPS
4K video recording Up to 120FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 240FPS Up to 120FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 960 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 120° 120°
Lenses 1) Standard: 200 MP
2) Telephoto: 50 MP
3) Telephoto: 10 MP
4) Ultrawide: 50 MP
1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Telephoto: 10 MP
3) Ultrawide: 12 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 200 MP 50 MP
Aperture f/1.7 f/1.8
Focal length 23 mm 23 mm
Sensor Samsung ISOCELL S5KHP2 Samsung S5KGN3
Sensor size 1/1.3" (≈ 0.77 inch) 1/1.57" (≈ 0.64 inch)
Pixel size 0.6 micron 1 micron
Autofocus Laser autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 50 MP 10 MP
Aperture f/3.4 f/2.4
Focal length 111 mm 70 mm
Sensor Sony IMX854 Samsung S5K3K1
Sensor size 1/2.52" (≈ 0.4 inch) 1/3.94" (≈ 0.25 inch)
Pixel size 0.7 micron 1 micron
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 50 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/1.9 f/2.2
Focal length 13 mm 13 mm
Sensor Samsung ISOCELL S5KJN3 Sony IMX564
Sensor size 1/2.5" (≈ 0.4 inch) 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size 0.7 micron 1.4 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh 165 70
Preview 81 72
Zoom 137 126
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra from DxOMark Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 4000 x 3000
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm 26 mm
Sensor Samsung S5K3LU Samsung S5K3LU
Sensor size 1/3.2" (≈ 0.31 inch) 1/3.24" (≈ 0.31 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1.12 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.4 5.3
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes, DP 1.2 Yes, DP 1.2
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* - 20
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
93 dB
91.5 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced January 2025 February 2023
Release date February 2025 February 2023
Launch price (MSRP) $1299 $799
Successor - Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra - Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus (Snapdragon)
SAR (head) 1.25 W/kg 0.96 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.42 W/kg 1.3 W/kg
Sensors - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Not included Not included
Further details
Notes on Galaxy S25 Ultra:
    - Supports up to 2 eSIMs. The international model has 2 physical SIM slots, while the U.S. version has 1.
    - Uses Grade 5 titanium and Corning Gorilla Armor 2 glass on both sides.
Notes on Galaxy S23:
    - The 128GB version uses slower UFS 3.1 memory, while the 256GB and 512GB models have UFS 4.0.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
26 (52%)
24 (48%)
Total votes: 50

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