Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra blows away Pixel 7 Pro in new photo samples

The latest Samsung Galaxy S23 leaks have shown off more of the Galaxy S23 Ultra's camera abilities, and teased the future of the phones' chipsets.

We'll start with the fresh camera samples from the Ultra, again published by Twitter user Edwards Urbina, who has posted alleged Galaxy S23 Ultra image samples before.

The first image we have here are two 30x zoom shots, with the Galaxy S23 Ultra pitted against the Google Pixel 7 Pro. The Galaxy's image is certainly brighter, and it's a bit sharper too when you look at the images on a larger display. With a rumored 200MP main camera, it's little surprise that you get more detail from the Galaxy S23 Ultra's shot compared to the Pixel 7 Pro, which will be cropping in from a 50MP main image at this magnification.

Next up, we have example 12MP and 50MP images captured in RAW format, a high-detail shooting mode ideal for taking shots for later editing. 

The 50MP image does a better job of showing details in the clouds, particularly on the left side where it gets "burned out" to white on the 12MP version. While it's good that you can take RAW in 12MP, it does look like photo fans will be better off capturing shots in the phone's higher resolution modes. 

We also get a sample from the front-facing selfie camera, compared against the Pixel 7 Pro again. Urbina's face looks much flatter on the Pixel's image, even if it is brighter, plus its colors are overall cooler. 

As well as the main camera, it's worth paying attention to the Galaxy S23 Ultra's selfie camera. It's the other snapper rumored to be swapping sensors on the phone, leaving behind the Galaxy S22 Ultra's 40MP sensor and moving to a 12MP one like the other Galaxy S23 models, several rumors have said.

Lastly, we have another low-light mode image of some figurines. It's impressive how much detail the Galaxy S23 Ultra is able to extract, with attractive colors and little to no noise. It's a shame that Urbina didn't compare the Galaxy S23 Ultra against his Pixel 7 Pro, as Google's night mode shots are some of the best in the business; a direct face-off between the images would have given us a good idea of how capable the new Samsung phone really is.

We'll of course perform our own detail camera testing once we get our hands on the Galaxy S23 Ultra. That shouldn't be too far in the future, since it's heavily hinted by Samsung that new phones will be appearing at the Galaxy Unpacked event taking place on February 1. 

More custom Snapdragon chips for future Samsung phones rumored

Beyond camera performance, the rumors for the Galaxy S23 series claim it'll be powered by a custom Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, named Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy. This would be a change from Samsung's usual two-chip approach to its Galaxy S phones, and it could be one that sticks around.

Leaker Yogesh Brar claims to have heard that Samsung's special partnership with Qualcomm, the maker of the Snapdragon line of chips, will continue into the future while Samsung prepares a new generation of Exynos chips. This will apparently take at least two years, Brar says in a reply to a commenter.

Galaxy S phone buyers outside the U.S. have historically had only Exynos versions of the phones to choose from, which have typically been less powerful than the Snapdragon-powered versions sold in the States. Giving Snapdragon chips to every Galaxy S23 handset would help unify the user experience worldwide, rather than selling a "good" and "bad" version of the phone in separate markets. If this is only a temporary arrangement though, let's hope the next generation of Exynos chips don't lag behind Snapdragon rivals in performance once again.

Until Samsung confirms or denies these and other Galaxy S23 series rumors , we'll keep bringing you the latest on these phones, including the Galaxy S23 Ultra, the model that likely stands the best chance of becoming one of our new best phones picks.