Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Google Pixel 8a
85 out of 100
VS
75 out of 100
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy) that was released on February 1, 2023, against the Google Pixel 8a, which is powered by Google Tensor G3 and came out 1 year and 3 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
- The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom
- Has a 0.7 inch larger screen size
- Shows 32% longer battery life (26:01 vs 19:43 hours)
- Has 50% more RAM: 12GB versus 8GB
- Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 18W)
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Comes with 508 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 4492 mAh
- 26% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1541K versus 1223K)
- Thinner bezels – 8.2% more screen real estate
- 16% higher pixel density (500 vs 430 PPI)
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 8a
- Delivers 19% higher peak brightness (1518 against 1279 nits)
- The phone is 1 year and 3 months newer
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+1)
- Weighs 45 grams less
- Better grip in hands – the body is 5.4 mm narrower
Review
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
Choose the importance of each parameter to more accurately identify the smartphone that best meets your particular needs.
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.8 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3088 pixels | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.3:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 500 ppi | 430 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (1-120 Hz) | Yes (60-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 850 nits | 2000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1750 nits | 1400 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10 |
| Touch sampling rate | 240 Hz | - |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.5% | 81.3% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 96.9% | 99.1% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Response time | 2 ms | 2 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 163.4 mm (6.43 inches) | 152.1 mm (5.99 inches) |
| Width | 78.1 mm (3.07 inches) | 72.7 mm (2.86 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 233 g (8.22 oz) | 188 g (6.63 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP67 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Gray, Blue, Green, Red, Purple | White, Black, Blue, Green |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy | Google Tensor G3 |
| Max clock | 3360 MHz | 3000 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) | 9 (1 + 4 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 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 | - 4 cores at 1.7 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 4 cores at 2.37 GHz: Cortex-A715 - 1 core at 2.91 GHz: Cortex-X3 |
| L3 cache | 8 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | Samsung |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Yes |
| Graphics | Adreno 740 | Mali-G715 MP7 |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 896 |
| GPU clock | 719 MHz | 890 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~2089 GFLOPS | ~1594.8 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 371084 | 368321 |
| GPU | 600732 | 432077 |
| Memory | 299004 | 218319 |
| UX | 270462 | 204978 |
| Total score | 1541246 | 1223695 |
| Samples | [29 tests] | [3 tests] |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 34.8 °C | 46.4 °C |
| Stability | 64% | - |
| Graphics test | 72 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 12159 | - |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 16012 | - |
| Video editing | 7809 | - |
| Photo editing | 33775 | - |
| Data manipulation | 13104 | - |
| Writing score | 19811 | - |
Memory
| RAM size | 8, 12 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 4200 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256, 512, 1024 GB | 128, 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 14) | Android 14 |
| ROM | One UI 6.1 | Stock Android |
| OS size | 39.9 GB | 18.4 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 4492 mAh |
| Max charge power | 45 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (68% in 30 min) | Yes (33% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 0:59 hr | 2:09 hr |
| Web browsing | 09:57 hr | 08:15 hr |
| Watching video | 15:38 hr | 13:00 hr |
| Gaming | 06:22 hr | 04:54 hr |
| Standby | 130 hr | 86 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 200 megapixels | 64 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 16320 x 12240 | 9000 x 7000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 10x | Digital |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 120FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 200 MP 2) Telephoto: 10 MP 3) Telephoto: 10 MP 4) Ultrawide: 12 MP | 1) Standard: 64 MP 2) Ultrawide: 13 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 200 MP | 64 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.7 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 23 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung ISOCELL HP2 | Sony IMX787 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.3" | 1/1.73" |
| Pixel size | 0.64 micron | 0.8 micron |
| Autofocus | Laser autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 10 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/4.9 | - |
| Focal length | 230 mm | - |
| Sensor | Sony IMX754 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.52" | - |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Optical | - |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 13 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | - |
| Sensor | Sony IMX564 | Sony IMX712 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" | 1/3.06" |
| Pixel size | 1.4 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 70 | 60 |
| Preview | 73 | 71 |
| Zoom | 141 | 126 |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra from DxOMark | Photo samples of Google Pixel 8a from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 13 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | - |
| Focal length | 26 mm | - |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3LU | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.24" | - |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | - |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | - |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
DxOMark front camera
| Photo | 139 | - |
| Video | 145 | - |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | 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 | 5.3 | 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 |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 20 | 20 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | No |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Mid-range |
| Announced | February 2023 | May 2024 |
| Release date | February 2023 | May 2024 |
| Launch price | $1199 | $499 |
| SAR (head) | 0.96 W/kg | - |
| SAR (body) | 1.4 W/kg | - |
| Sensors | - Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint | - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Not included |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
