Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Honor Magic 5 Ultimate
Here we compared two flagship 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 Honor Magic 5 Ultimate, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and came out 1 month 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
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- Ready for eSIM technology
Reasons to consider the Honor Magic 5 Ultimate
- Supports higher wattage charging (66W versus 45W)
- Comes with 450 mAh larger battery capacity: 5450 vs 5000 mAh
- Has a built-in infrared port
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
Scores with a red asterisk (
*
) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Value for money
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.8 inches | 6.81 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3088 pixels | 1312 x 2848 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.3:9 | 19.54:9 |
| PPI | 500 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | Yes |
| Max rated brightness | 850 nits | - |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1750 nits | 1800 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 | Corning Gorilla Glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.5% | 91% |
| Display features |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
| RGB color space | 96.9% | - |
| PWM | 240 Hz | - |
| Response time | 2 ms | - |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | - |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 163.4 mm (6.43 inches) | 162.9 mm (6.41 inches) |
| Width | 78.1 mm (3.07 inches) | 76.7 mm (3.02 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) | 8.8 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 233 g (8.22 oz) | 217 g (7.65 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | - |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Gray, Blue, Green, Red, Purple | Black, Orange |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 |
| Max clock | 3360 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) | 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) |
| 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 |
- 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 |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 740 | Adreno 740 |
| GPU shading units | 2560 | 2560 |
| GPU clock | 719 MHz | 680 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~3481.6 GFLOPS | ~3481.6 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 377304 | - |
| GPU | 596398 | - |
| Memory | 271911 | - |
| UX | 261336 | - |
| Total score | 1517214 | - |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 34.8 °C | - |
| Stability | 64% | - |
| Graphics test | 72 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 12154 | - |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 15596 | - |
| Video editing | 7791 | - |
| Photo editing | 33958 | - |
| Data manipulation | 12948 | - |
| Writing score | 19802 | - |
Memory
| RAM size | 8, 12 GB | 16 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256, 512, 1024 GB | 512 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | UFS 4.0 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 13 | Android 13 |
| ROM | One UI 5.1 | MagicOS 7.1 |
| OS size | 39.9 GB | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 5450 mAh |
| Max charge power | 45 W | 66 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (50 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes |
| Fast charging | Yes (68% in 30 min) | Yes |
| Full charging time | 0:59 hr | - |
| Web browsing | 14:50 hr | - |
| Watching video | 19:27 hr | - |
| Gaming | 06:21 hr | - |
| Standby | 123 hr | - |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 200 megapixels | 50 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 16320 x 12240 | 8192 x 6144 |
| Zoom | Optical, 10x | Optical, 3.5x |
| 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 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (1080p) | - |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 122° |
| Lenses | 4 (200 MP + 10 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP) | 4 (50 MP + 50 MP + 50 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens |
- 200 MP
- Aperture: f/1.7 - Focal length: 23 mm - Pixel size: 0.64 micron - Sensor: 1/1.3", Samsung ISOCELL HP2 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) - Laser autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- 50 MP
- Aperture: f/1.6 - Focal length: 23 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/1.0", Sony IMX989 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Laser autofocus - Optical stabilization |
| Telephoto lens |
- 10 MP
- Aperture: f/4.9 - Focal length: 230 mm - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/3.52", Sony IMX754 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- 50 MP
- Aperture: f/3.0 - Focal length: 90 mm - Pixel size: 0.7 micron - Sensor: 1/2.4", Sony IMX758 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
| Ultra-wide lens |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX564 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
- 50 MP
- Aperture: f/2.0 - Focal length: 13 mm - Sensor: 1/2.5", Sony (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
| Depth lens | - | Yes |
| Camera features |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra from DxOMark | - |
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4096 x 3072 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | - |
| Focal length | 26 mm | - |
| Pixel size | 1.12 microns | - |
| Sensor type | ISOCELL CMOS | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.24" | - |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
DxOMark camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score
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/be) |
| 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 | 5.2 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 3.1 |
| USB features |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo |
| NFC * | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | Yes |
| Number of SIM * | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support * | Yes | No |
| 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 | - |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | February 2023 | March 2023 |
| Release date | February 2023 | March 2023 |
| 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 |
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Yes, 66 W |
Further details
Notes on Magic 5 Ultimate:
- The back panel is made of eco-leather.
*
Disclaimer!
NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the sound is more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra . But if the battery life is more of a priority – go for the Honor Magic 5 Ultimate .