Apple iPhone 17 / Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

ProMotion adjusts the refresh rate to the content: 120 Hz smoothness when scrolling, lower rates on still images to save battery. The Always-On display shows the time and notifications dimmed while locked. Because of the rounded corners, the visible area is slightly smaller than the rectangle measurement.

Adaptive refresh drops to as low as 1 Hz when content is static to save power and rises to 120 Hz when scrolling and gaming. Vision Booster adjusts colour and contrast in bright conditions across three lighting levels; the edge curve is reduced compared with the S22 Ultra.

3,000 nits is a short peak in strong sunlight, not sustained full-screen brightness. The 1-nit minimum aims to avoid eye strain in a dark room. The screen has anti-reflective and oleophobic coatings.

According to Apple, the colour-infused back glass is used on Black, Mist Blue, Sage and Lavender.

Apple notes that this resistance is not permanent, may decline with normal wear, and that liquid damage is not covered by the warranty.

The GPU supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing; the Neural Accelerators speed up AI work inside the GPU.

There is no memory card slot.

The 2× image comes from the centre of the 48 MP main sensor rather than a separate telephoto lens; the optical-quality zoom range is 4× in total, with digital zoom up to 10×. The ultra wide camera also takes 48 MP macro photos.

The 200 MP sensor outputs 200, 50 or 12 MP images through pixel binning. 100x Space Zoom combines 10x optical with 10x AI-assisted digital zoom; image quality may deteriorate beyond 10x. The optical stabilisation angle was doubled compared with the S22 Ultra.

Dual Capture records with the front and rear cameras at the same time. Action mode strongly stabilises footage shot while walking or running.

The Expert RAW app (downloaded separately from the Galaxy Store) offers RAW capture at up to 50 MP.

Center Stage automatically adjusts the framing to the people in photos and video calls; the TrueDepth system for Face ID works with this camera.

On the S23 series the front camera gets fast autofocus and 60 fps Super HDR.

25 W wireless charging needs a 30 W or higher adapter; no adapter is included. Battery life varies with Apple’s test conditions, network and settings.

45 W requires a separately sold 45 W adapter and a 5 A USB-C cable; wired charging is compatible with QC2.0 and AFC. Wireless PowerShare charges Qi-compatible devices from the back of the phone when the battery is above 30%.

Wired data transfer is limited to USB 2 speed, so moving large video files takes time. USB-C can output to an external display at up to 4K HDR.

Thread provides low-power mesh connectivity with smart-home devices. Ultra Wideband helps locate devices such as AirTag by direction and distance; availability varies by country.

Emergency SOS and Roadside Assistance via satellite are offered depending on country; Crash Detection is included.

The Action button can be set to functions such as silent mode, torch, translate or a shortcut. Camera Control is a touch-sensitive button that adjusts exposure, depth and zoom by sliding.

No power adapter or EarPods are included.

According to Samsung, the S23 series was the first S series to use Gorilla Glass Victus 2.

Samsung says the vapour chamber is larger on every S23-series model.

Memory depends on the storage option; usable space is lower because of preloaded software. There is no memory card slot.

Update timing can vary by model and market.

Using Wi‑Fi 6E’s 6 GHz band needs a Wi‑Fi 6E router and market availability.

Knox Vault keeps critical data in separate hardware isolated from the operating system.

Samsung does not recommend beach or pool use.