Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Google Pixel 7 Pro: Which should you buy?

Punch, meet counterpunch. The Pixel 7 Pro became Google’s most complete, refined flagship smartphone to date, racking up end-of-year awards in the process. With its incredible photography processing and smooth, intelligent software, it put plenty of 2022’s early-year launches out of our minds. Now, Samsung has a chance to respond. As always, it’s kicking off the year with a new premium slate that’s capped off with the Galaxy S23 Ultra. The only question is which phone you should buy. Let’s compare the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Google Pixel 7 Pro to find out.

As mentioned above, the Galaxy S23 Ultra and Pixel 7 Pro are about as high-end as you’ll find from Samsung and Google, respectively. However, neither one massively rocks the boat from its previous generation. Many comparisons between the Galaxy S22 Ultra and Pixel 6 Pro still apply, just with some updates for the new generation. In fact, the designs are almost unchanged, save for a bit of polish and some flatter sides.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra gets a material upgrade in the form of Gorilla Glass Victus 2, the first phone to adopt the tough material. It’s perhaps slightly more durable than Victus or Victus Plus, able to withstand impacts from up to two meters on softer surfaces like asphalt. However, if you drop it onto concrete or something solid, the limit is closer to a meter.

Perhaps the most important difference — one that finds its way into almost all areas of both devices — is what lies under the hood. Google moved to its in-house Tensor chip for the Pixel 6 generation, and it’s on to the Tensor G2. On the other hand, Samsung is all-in on the latest from Qualcomm. The Galaxy S23 Ultra, like the rest of its series, relies on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 to keep the lights on. This time, there is no Exynos version reserved for specific markets.

The powerful chipsets are backed by ample power, with the Google Pixel 7 Pro offering 12GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. Samsung, on the other hand, starts with 8GB of RAM in the base 256GB model before moving to 12GB on the 512GB and 1TB versions of the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Both Google and Samsung find themselves locked in a battle for the best Android software commitment, with Samsung taking a slight edge. The Galaxy S23 Ultra — and the rest of the Galaxy S23 series — will see four Android version updates with five years of security coverage. Google offers three years of Android updates with five years of Pixel updates, usually a combination of security patches and feature drops.

It’s also worth noting that Google and Samsung take very different approaches to Android. Google’s Pixel UI is light and smooth, preferring to lean on Google’s services and Assistant to do most of your heavy lifting. It embraces Material You and icon theming throughout, even if it doesn’t work for all third-party apps yet. One UI 5.1 is a little more heavy-handed, bringing Samsung-tuned customizations and alternative versions of a lot of base apps like the browser and dialer.

Of course, many of these changes were present in the previous versions of each device, so let’s move on to more topics.

If you’ve held a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and a Google Pixel 6 Pro up against each other, you know how tough this comparison is. Both are big, both are relatively boxy, and both have screen real estate for days. Samsung’s flagship is the boxier of the two, packing sharper corners and flat edges on the top and bottom — flat enough that it can stand upright unassisted. The Google Pixel 7 Pro, on the other hand, is rounded at all four corners and on the edges, which gives it a softer feel in the hand.

If you look carefully, you might notice that the Galaxy S23 Ultra is a hair taller and a hair wider, but we’re talking fractions of millimeters. They’re equally as thick, too, though the Pixel’s widest point is its camera bar, while the Galaxy S23 Ultra is a slab all the way down.

Ultimately, if you liked the Pixel 6 Pro design, the Galaxy S22 Ultra design, or even the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra design, there’s something here for you to appreciate.

Well, here it is. Arguably the most significant point of contention in the debate about the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Google Pixel 7 Pro — the cameras. It’s a battle of high-end camera phones but with two very different approaches.

For Google’s part, it brought back the same upgraded trio of rear shooters from the Pixel 6 Pro. That means a 50MP primary lens flanked by 48MP telephoto and 12MP ultrawide options. The telephoto shooter has shifted from 4x optical zoom to 5x, but the other two sensors are unchanged. Also unchanged is Google’s camera app. You essentially choose your shooting mode and let the Tensor G2 do the rest — no manual controls to be found.

Samsung didn’t change the number of lenses for its Galaxy S23 Ultra, but it raised the megapixel floor. There’s a dual-10MP telephoto setup and a 12MP ultrawide camera, but the primary camera is all-new. The Galaxy S23 Ultra is the first device to use Samsung’s Isocell HP2 sensor, complete with a whopping 200MP resolution. It’s not a larger sensor, meaning the pixels are smaller. Samsung uses pixel binning by default, giving you 12.5MP images, but you can tap into the full 200MP if you’re not too worried about storage size.

Besides boosting its megapixel count, Samsung is more willing to give you in-depth camera controls. You can shift to Pro mode or Expert RAW to fine-tune everything from the white balance to the ISO and shutter speed. Expert RAW is still a separate app you’ll have to download, but it allows you to capture and export RAW files that are much easier to edit in apps like Lightroom.

Both the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Google Pixel 7 Pro come with nominal downgrades to the selfie cameras. The Pixel 7 Pro shifted from an 11.1MP sensor to 10.8MP — though you’d never notice a difference. Samsung, on the other hand, dropped its 40MP lens for a 12MP lens, which is the same as the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus. It might not be an actual downgrade, as it won’t rely on pixel binning, but we’ll have to wait and see.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Google Pixel 7 Pro just about set the gold standard for the best Android flagship battery life. You’ll get a full 5,000mAh cell no matter which way you go, though your mileage may vary. We’ve seen the Pixel 7 Pro take steps forward over its predecessor thanks to better heat management from the Tensor G2, but it still drains quickly under heavy load. You should have no problem stretching into a second day of usage, though it might be tough to scratch two full days.

As for the Galaxy S23 Ultra, we don’t yet know what its battery life will hold. We haven’t had the chance to test it properly, but we expect it to improve on its predecessor. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is a more efficient processor than the flawed Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, so its thermal management could go a long way.

Also vital to battery life is the charging situation for each device. Samsung has an edge in raw speed, packing 45W wired charging and 15W wireless charging, with reverse wireless charging for good measure. Google’s Pixel 7 Pro continues the vague language of getting the fastest speeds with Google’s in-house charger — up to 30W. In reality, it charges at closer to 23W, both wired and wireless.

Despite rumored price increases, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is sticking with the same retail price as its predecessor. That means you’ll have to shell out nearly $1,200 to get your foot in the door. It’s still one of the most expensive flagships, though you get a lot of phone for your money. The Galaxy S23 Ultra also starts with double the storage space of the Galaxy S22 Ultra before it — 256GB instead of 128GB.

Samsung loves to roll out colorways, and the Galaxy S23 Ultra is no exception. It’s widely available in four shades — Phantom Black, Cream, Lavender, and Green — with additional Samsung exclusives to choose from. You can opt for Lime Green, Red, Graphite, or Sky Blue if you buy right from the source.

Google, however, remains the king of the perfectly priced flagship. The Pixel 7 Pro starts at less than $1,000 for the base model, with 12GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Each upgrade will cost you another $100, but all three versions are more affordable than the base Galaxy S23 Ultra. As the slightly older model, it’s also easier to find a discount on a Pixel 7 Pro.

The Pixel 7 Pro has graduated to slightly more mature colors, with Hazel offering the most fun of the three. Other choices include Snow or Obsidian — white or black to the rest of us.

It’s difficult to come out and recommend either the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra or the Google Pixel 7 Pro as the definitive choice. Both represent the best of their respective brands, but they take two different approaches. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has the edge on paper, offering faster charging, more robust camera hardware, and a longer commitment to updates, but the Pixel 7 Pro emphasizes the smart in smartphone.

Google, for its part, offers a premium experience for less than $1,000, and it finds ways to work the Google Assistant through every aspect of the Pixel line. You cede some control over the finer aspects of the camera, but the Tensor G2’s image processing is second to none. Feature drops keep the Pixel 7 Pro fresh and new when Google creates new wrinkles like VPN by Google One.

You might also have to consider which device you’re upgrading from. The Pixel 7 Pro will feel like a natural evolution from earlier Pixel devices, while the Galaxy S23 Ultra is the most refined Samsung experience yet. Ultimately, it comes down to which ecosystem you prefer and how much flagship you can afford.