Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Honor Magic 5 Ultimate

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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

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
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

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Honor Magic 5 Ultimate 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
Scores with a red asterisk ( * ) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation

Value for money

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

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
Display tests
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

Tests of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Honor Magic 5 Ultimate in the benchmarks
SoC
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 -
Web score 15596 -
Video editing 7791 -
Photo editing 33958 -
Data manipulation 12948 -
Writing score 19802 -

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8, 12 GB 16 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Channels 4 4
Storage
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 -
Battery life tests
Web browsing 14:50 hr -
Watching video 19:27 hr -
Gaming 06:21 hr -
Standby 123 hr -
General battery life

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main 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 -
Selfie camera
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

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
Network
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 .

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