Phones S23 Ultra - My Newest

[kp98077]

After a review, deep though, a glass of good scotch, I decided to get an S23 Ultra.

Model SM-S918U1
RAM = 12GB with optional 8GB virtual RAM
512GB storage running SnapDragon 8 Gen2 (overclocked) chip
Running Android 13 - One UI 5.1
Using Nova 8 as the launcher.
Running this on Mint Mobile.
Color Black - bought on Samsung.com

Received this device on the 13th. Shipping information was all spot on and it came a day earlier than scheduled.
Setup as new, nothing from any backup account.
No issues setting up though it did take a while. Lots of screens, choices, and options along with Samsung account.
I will be setting it up as I want as I go and plan on turning some things off.

Biggest changes so far:
1. Turned off Bixby. As annoying as Siri and so far less useful. Cannot uninstall it but can turn off and disable.
2. Replaced One UI 5.1 with Nova 8. I may go back to One UI in the future but Nova I am very familiar with.
3. Installed F-Droid and Aurora (side load) as they have a few apps I like and the Play Store no longer carries.

Alert: the system size is BIG! Apparently all of Samsung’s additions sit on top of the stock Android 13. This makes for System in excess of 60GB. Oof! Will have to see why this is so large.

First impression: Damn! This device is smooth, fast, and the battery is as good as or better than my iPhone 13 ProMax.

Sometime in the next few days I will give a more detailed view of what I am running and how all is going. I’ll be going through all the Samsung apps and deciding what to keep and what to discard.

If anyone has questions, I will try to answer or test - no promises.

More to come.

can you still do group tex/send pics with those who use IOS?

 

[dk001]

can you still do group tex/send pics with those who use IOS?

I can. Send via a group name - all MMS.
Do that with some friends and my kids - each group has a mix of devices.

Have run into some limitations from S23U to iOS. Biggest is sending multiple items: Docs, photos and video. The iOS receipients do not always get everything. I make sure we limit items to just a couple at most.

 

[kp98077]

I am sure the Ultra 23 is great, but hard to imagine anything better than the 14 Pro Max tbh!!

 

[Berries-A-Million]

I am sure the Ultra 23 is great, but hard to imagine anything better than the 14 Pro Max tbh!!

It is better as I owned both.

 

[dk001]

I am sure the Ultra 23 is great, but hard to imagine anything better than the 14 Pro Max tbh!!

Smartphones, especially flagship level devices, tend to be very personal.

My single biggest 14PM issue was the lack of a sim tray.

 

[dk001]

April update....

Been playing with various features that indicated received an update or fix.

Heard about this one on Reddit, tried it, found out it was actual, then went back to GBoard - Samsung Keyboard. Apparently is causes a significant battery drain. Normally I have around 8-10% battery drain during use. When I equipped the Samsung KB, rebooted, and used, my drain was closer to 15% for the few hours I tried it. Swapped back.

Camera has been a nice improvement. I recommend downloading the Camera Assistant from the Galaxy Store to fine tune these features. Biggest thing I noticed right off was the ability to catch shots of my Shiba while playing and having far less blurred shots. I works usually but not always. Looks like Samsung has another fix or two to go. I also noticed taking night shots I am getting better / clearer results. You can play around with taking quick shots not having to wait for the camera to fully focus. Lots to play with. btw - you can now delete from camera screen (send to trash).

Supposedly there has been some updates to process and security however I have not noticed anything good or bad in my daily use. All behind the scenes and no user use impact. Nice.

Overall I have not seen any battery SOT impact (aside from the SBoard). The device continues to run great.

More to come

 

[snow755]

Smartphones, especially flagship level devices, tend to be very personal.

My single biggest 14PM issue was the lack of a sim tray.

At some point I think all flagship will move in this direction with no sim tray

 

[dk001]

At some point I think all flagship will move in this direction with no sim tray

I agree.
I hope by that time here in the US the bugs have been worked out and the easy availability in 3rd world locations has evolved.

 

[dk001]

Quick update regarding security, privacy, and documents. This is something that really hit home for me and totally not intended.

I am in the process of buying a new house. As anyone who has done this, and a word to those that will, there is a lot of paperwork. Like reams of it. Realtor, lawyers, mortgage, home inspector, termite inspector, lender, seller, HOA, etc...

Normally for things like this I traditionally use my iPad Pro.
The newer software being used by these companies (I am buying in another State than the one I currently reside in) is a bit more stringent. Most used Docusign or Accusign for this. Between iPad Pro, and iPhone, these documents were not always executable. Thankfully my S23U worked very well. For those that needed a physical signature - it worked via SPen. For those requiring an esig - that worked by adding a pdf app. So far I have been able to execute everything I need from transferring funds to signing to commenting with this device. That alone has made this a solid for me.

All documents are via Proton Mail and stored in the Secure Folder on my device.


iPad Pro - Adobe Acrobat and PDF Pro Expert
iPhone - Same
S23U - PDF Reader Pro

 

[mjschabow]

Quick update regarding security, privacy, and documents. This is something that really hit home for me and totally not intended.

I am in the process of buying a new house. As anyone who has done this, and a word to those that will, there is a lot of paperwork. Like reams of it. Realtor, lawyers, mortgage, home inspector, termite inspector, lender, seller, HOA, etc...

Normally for things like this I traditionally use my iPad Pro.
The newer software being used by these companies (I am buying in another State than the one I currently reside in) is a bit more stringent. Most used Docusign or Accusign for this. Between iPad Pro, and iPhone, these documents were not always executable. Thankfully my S23U worked very well. For those that needed a physical signature - it worked via SPen. For those requiring an esig - that worked by adding a pdf app. So far I have been able to execute everything I need from transferring funds to signing to commenting with this device. That alone has made this a solid for me.

All documents are via Proton Mail and stored in the Secure Folder on my device.


iPad Pro - Adobe Acrobat and PDF Pro Expert
iPhone - Same
S23U - PDF Reader Pro

Very interesting! Was it just that a lot of those documents wouldn't load correctly on the iPhone but they did on the S23 Ultra?

PS. Congrats! Bought my home list year and yes that process is a ton of fun lol.

 

[dk001]

Very interesting! Was it just that a lot of those documents wouldn't load correctly on the iPhone but they did on the S23 Ultra?

PS. Congrats! Bought my home list year and yes that process is a ton of fun lol.

Most would load but not fully. Others loaded but the esig, initial, or sign boxes wouldn’t work. A couple would not load at all.
Docs were either pdf or linked into Safari with a pdf save.

For a browser I use Edge on my S23U.

 

[Technerd108]

Quick update regarding security, privacy, and documents. This is something that really hit home for me and totally not intended.

I am in the process of buying a new house. As anyone who has done this, and a word to those that will, there is a lot of paperwork. Like reams of it. Realtor, lawyers, mortgage, home inspector, termite inspector, lender, seller, HOA, etc...

Normally for things like this I traditionally use my iPad Pro.
The newer software being used by these companies (I am buying in another State than the one I currently reside in) is a bit more stringent. Most used Docusign or Accusign for this. Between iPad Pro, and iPhone, these documents were not always executable. Thankfully my S23U worked very well. For those that needed a physical signature - it worked via SPen. For those requiring an esig - that worked by adding a pdf app. So far I have been able to execute everything I need from transferring funds to signing to commenting with this device. That alone has made this a solid for me.

All documents are via Proton Mail and stored in the Secure Folder on my device.


iPad Pro - Adobe Acrobat and PDF Pro Expert
iPhone - Same
S23U - PDF Reader Pro

Congratulations on your new home! Hope it brings many years of good tidings.

Interestingly I too was in a situation where I had to sign a bunch of paperwork and initial it. Had I not had my S23U it would have taken a lot longer. It is times like that where the s pen really shows it's worth!

 

[dk001]

Been using my S23U for some fairly heavy stuff over the last couple of weeks. The S-Pen has been a nice bonus and this device has performed really well. Hats off to Samsung!

Next item and I discovered a ... flaw?
Recently Proton announced a new way to control legacy Gmail accounts (it is kind of hard to get that to "no use") by remotely taking control and forwarding you email to Proton.
Cool! I have three original beta accounts that I have used for many moons and this is a great feature!

So I set up a second Proton id (dk002 - bite me, I'm methodical!) and did this with the original Gmail account.
Oops. This apparently relies heavily on your device. Can we say battery drain till done? Sure we can.

Now for the flaw.
I noticed my battery was draining heavily - 4-5 hours SOT till 20% - but when I looked under Settings > Battery, it does not show what is being used. It showed ProtonMail as 1min with 34% battery use.

In the end when this was finished, the device is back to normal. Now I just need a more accurate way to keep an eye on battery usage.

Update: after getting everything sorted, cleaned, filed, and handled (approx. 250k of emails) the deice is running like a champ. Word of advice for anyone doing this who has large long term Gmail accounts, clean them up THEN have Proton take over. A lot less work overall. Once migrated and done, I emptied those accounts (there is a way to mass delete) as I finish changing over everything over to ProtonMail going forward.

Update: Since I started the Proton takeover of my Gmail accounts (3 in total) the system has been running pretty much flawlessly. I can still log into my Gmail accounts via the browser, Spark app, or Gmail app. This lets me see just what Proton is not allowing to get to me. Pretty good job by Proton. Think I like this setup as I unsubscribe from the myriad accounts I have linked into over the years.

Nice job Proton.

 

[dk001]

Took a trip this weekend plus across California and part of Arizona.
All aspects of the trip from reservations (hotel and food)), to purchases (Google Pay), to directions (Android Auto) were done using this device.

Damn! Everything worked like a charm. Calls, emails, messages, directions, lookups, paying, reservations (dinner and hotel), it all just worked. Color me seriously impressed.

Checking out a block fence and needed to reattach the post caps? Quick search on best way. Quick lookup for who had the products, at what price, and directions, no problem. Before and after pics then decide what for lunch, where to get it, etc... first device I have used that worked this well.

Don't recognize a bush or tree from previous owners? Quick lookup (image). btw - bushes in the back have to go (poisonous to dogs)

Need to jot a quick note? SPen and lockscreen - presto!

Only one blip in this whole trip was while using Android Auto. I had to plug it in after about 7 hours (9 hour drive) when then battery dropped below 30%. When I tried using the wireless charging my car comes with the device got hot! Cable was no problem.

 

[Technerd108]

Took a trip this weekend plus across California and part of Arizona.
All aspects of the trip from reservations (hotel and food)), to purchases (Google Pay), to directions (Android Auto) were done using this device.

Damn! Everything worked like a charm. Calls, emails, messages, directions, lookups, paying, reservations (dinner and hotel), it all just worked. Color me seriously impressed.

Checking out a block fence and needed to reattached the post caps? Quick search on best way. Quick lookup for who had the products, at what price, and directions, no problem. Before and after pics then decide what for lunch, where to get it, etc... first device I have used that worked this well.

Don't recognize a bush or tree from previous owners? Quick lookup (image). btw - bushes in the back have to go (poisonous to dogs)

Need to joy a quick note? SPen and lockscreen - presto!

Only one blip in this whole trip was while using Android Auto. I had to plug it in after about 7 hours (9 hour drive) when then battery dropped below 30%. When I tried using the wireless charging my car comes with the device got hot! Cable was no problem.

I have had some extremely minor glitches here and there but the most important things about this phone are very reliable.

I kind of like and hate that when using Android auto the plug charges the phone. I wish there were two options, a slow charge or trickle charge and an option to turn charging off while plugged in.

I never use wireless charging on any device because no matter what device I use the trade off of wireless charging is heat. It is simply part of the physics involved in the charging process. Since heat is the enemy of battery health I do everything I can to avoid it.

I do prefer using a cable as sometimes Bluetooth glitches and there are more options when connected with a cable.

I have fast charging turned off on the phone and even in the Vegas sun it doesn't get too hot. When I had fast charging enabled there was noticeable heat to the point the device was hot.

Overall this phone has been pretty much flawless in every occasion. I still get glitches with one streaming app that I don't on my Pixel and under heavy load sometimes OneUI gets a little odd but even then I don't have to reboot or stop what I am doing. The s pen has been very helpful on a couple of occasions. Battery life has been solid.

Just hope one day Samsung adopts a flat screen. 😂 Lol

 

[dk001]

@Technerd108

That would be one of my wish improvements. Actually, both of them.
Flat screen and the ability to scale the rate of charging.

 

[Sikh]

Quick update regarding security, privacy, and documents. This is something that really hit home for me and totally not intended.

I am in the process of buying a new house. As anyone who has done this, and a word to those that will, there is a lot of paperwork. Like reams of it. Realtor, lawyers, mortgage, home inspector, termite inspector, lender, seller, HOA, etc...

Normally for things like this I traditionally use my iPad Pro.
The newer software being used by these companies (I am buying in another State than the one I currently reside in) is a bit more stringent. Most used Docusign or Accusign for this. Between iPad Pro, and iPhone, these documents were not always executable. Thankfully my S23U worked very well. For those that needed a physical signature - it worked via SPen. For those requiring an esig - that worked by adding a pdf app. So far I have been able to execute everything I need from transferring funds to signing to commenting with this device. That alone has made this a solid for me.

All documents are via Proton Mail and stored in the Secure Folder on my device.


iPad Pro - Adobe Acrobat and PDF Pro Expert
iPhone - Same
S23U - PDF Reader Pro

Most would load but not fully. Others loaded but the esig, initial, or sign boxes wouldn’t work. A couple would not load at all.
Docs were either pdf or linked into Safari with a pdf save.

For a browser I use Edge on my S23U.

I am still curious why none of this worked for you. When I bought my house in the last 5 years, I asked if it can all be digital and both the bank and realtors were fine with that. They used a combination of docusign, PDF's and this one site for secure documents I had never heard of.

I did all the paperwork on my iPad Pro 12.9" because a) bigger and b) I have a pencil and can actually sign my signature properly (this was important to me because legal documents).

I didnt have a single issue doing any of the paperwork, which as you said is A LOT, and had absolutely no issues. I wonder if things have changed or companies are being more difficult on purpose or what.

 

[dk001]

I am still curious why none of this worked for you. When I bought my house in the last 5 years, I asked if it can all be digital and both the bank and realtors were fine with that. They used a combination of docusign, PDF's and this one site for secure documents I had never heard of.

I did all the paperwork on my iPad Pro 12.9" because a) bigger and b) I have a pencil and can actually sign my signature properly (this was important to me because legal documents).

I didnt have a single issue doing any of the paperwork, which as you said is A LOT, and had absolutely no issues. I wonder if things have changed or companies are being more difficult on purpose or what.

Not sure nor were my business folk.
Here’s a great example.

• Financial disclosure from my mortgage lender. Sign in two spots and initial in a few others.
• Opened from Proton Mail on my iPad Pro 11. Opens in Safari.
• Click Start and Signature blocks opens for you to sign in. You can use finger or pencil. I used pencil.
• Next you do the same for initials.
• Then you continue through the document clicking in each block to apply either the initial or signature.
• Get to9 the end and the Finish option will not focus.

Another document (from my realtor) it would only open in view mode.
Other docs worked just fine. It was inconsistent.

But when I opened on the S23U using Edge, it worked every time.
I tried a couple on my ThinkPad (Win10) hybrid. Worked there also.

The issue appears to be Safari in some fashion.
This issue really bothered me and made worse it was two different software doc sign methods.

 

[Sikh]

Not sure nor were my business folk.
Here’s a great example.

• Financial disclosure from my mortgage lender. Sign in two spots and initial in a few others.
• Opened from Proton Mail on my iPad Pro 11. Opens in Safari.
• Click Start and Signature blocks opens for you to sign in. You can use finger or pencil. I used pencil.
• Next you do the same for initials.
• Then you continue through the document clicking in each block to apply either the initial or signature.
• Get to9 the end and the Finish option will not focus.

Another document (from my realtor) it would only open in view mode.
Other docs worked just fine. It was inconsistent.

But when I opened on the S23U using Edge, it worked every time.
I tried a couple on my ThinkPad (Win10) hybrid. Worked there also.

The issue appears to be Safari in some fashion.
This issue really bothered me and made worse it was two different software doc sign methods.

Did you try opening these documents in their respective apps? I had no problems signing PDF's in a PDF app or even docx files in whatever office app I used at the time. I am not a big office app user so I dont remember what app I used but it even opened password protected files without any issues.

Sounds like you were trying to do everything in safari and not the respective apps. iOS has a big focus on "use the right app for the job". Im not saying I agree with it but for the longest time, if I "use the proper app", I never have a problem. Obviously this is where android shines because it works "just like windows" but I would rather use the proper app instead of relying on my browser to do everything. Don't like doing that on my windows pc, never liked doing it on any of my android phones (nexus's and a few pixels) or my android tablets (nexus's and one fire tab).

 

[dk001]

Did you try opening these documents in their respective apps? I had no problems signing PDF's in a PDF app or even docx files in whatever office app I used at the time. I am not a big office app user so I dont remember what app I used but it even opened password protected files without any issues.

Sounds like you were trying to do everything in safari and not the respective apps. iOS has a big focus on "use the right app for the job". Im not saying I agree with it but for the longest time, if I "use the proper app", I never have a problem. Obviously this is where android shines because it works "just like windows" but I would rather use the proper app instead of relying on my browser to do everything. Don't like doing that on my windows pc, never liked doing it on any of my android phones (nexus's and a few pixels) or my android tablets (nexus's and one fire tab).

The browser is the respective app. The emails only contain the link, no actual doc. There is no pdf or other to download or open. They are live docs that are live linked back to the sending company and using Docusign functionality.

"You can set the signing order for the document on the Recipients page. Once a person signs, DocuSign automatically sends the document to the next person in line."

The only downloadable I get is post signature.

These were used for all docs for my home purchase; finance, lender, insurance, realtor, etc... Personally I am used to the send pdf with embedded fields which you sign and return.

I have Adobe on all my devices.

 

[dk001]

Decided to do a test on backup and restore using an external SSD.
How well would it work?
How long does it take?
Does it backup everything INCLUDING the Secure Folder?
Once restored, can I just take off like it never happened?

S23 Ultra and 1TB SanDisk Extreme SSD (USB C).
Did a complete backup selecting everything including the Secure Folder. This is Backup and Restore via Settings.
When started the claim was 41 minutes to backup. Actual time was 6 minutes for 75GB.

Next was a reset of the S23U.
That took a bit. Once all was completed that process took just shy of 15 minutes.
The device now has the default basic S23U setup.

Now for the Restore.
Plugged in the SSD and saw it in files. In Settings used External Storage Transfer > Restore from Backup.
Once started it was a waiting game. Took about 12 minutes for the process to work. The device is now running Nova 8 and looks like my S23U.
One caveat, you have to redo the fingerprints, the facial recognition, the security on all your banking and similar apps, and verify the passcode on the Secure Folder.
Phone is running warm and there is a bunch of background stuff going on.
It appears to have worked and worked well.

I'll update more in a day or so to give this time to "calm down" and finish indexing or whatever is going on.

I'll call this a success. Easy to backup and restore.
Good stuff!

 

[Sikh]

The browser is the respective app. The emails only contain the link, no actual doc. There is no pdf or other to download or open. They are live docs that are live linked back to the sending company and using Docusign functionality.

"You can set the signing order for the document on the Recipients page. Once a person signs, DocuSign automatically sends the document to the next person in line."

The only downloadable I get is post signature.

These were used for all docs for my home purchase; finance, lender, insurance, realtor, etc... Personally I am used to the send pdf with embedded fields which you sign and return.

I have Adobe on all my devices.

Respective App meaning, .doc/x in word, pages or any other word based app. pdfs in adobe or another pdf based app, etc. Browsers in general have always been good at one thing and "ok" at many things. iOS has always "forced" you to use the "proper app" for what you are doing. So Safari for web browsing, pdf editor for pdfs, document editor for documents, etc.


Like I said above, most of my documents were docusign and my iPad with the Docusign app handled them flawless. Its obvious to me that you expect your phone to work like windows would on a computer and for that, android is great. I personally have always hated when my web browser on windows tried to open all sorts of file types that doesnt make sense for it to open. I would rather use acrobat or soda or pdf expert instead of my browser on all my windows machines to deal with PDFs. They have always been better at it than IE/Edge/Chrome.

 

[dk001]

Respective App meaning, .doc/x in word, pages or any other word based app. pdfs in adobe or another pdf based app, etc. Browsers in general have always been good at one thing and "ok" at many things. iOS has always "forced" you to use the "proper app" for what you are doing. So Safari for web browsing, pdf editor for pdfs, document editor for documents, etc.


Like I said above, most of my documents were docusign and my iPad with the Docusign app handled them flawless. Its obvious to me that you expect your phone to work like windows would on a computer and for that, android is great. I personally have always hated when my web browser on windows tried to open all sorts of file types that doesnt make sense for it to open. I would rather use acrobat or soda or pdf expert instead of my browser on all my windows machines to deal with PDFs. They have always been better at it than IE/Edge/Chrome.

That could be the difference.

I do not have a docusign account. So the documents opened in a web page. Safari for iPadOS and Edge for Android / Windows.
Still, why would Safari not be able to handle this? Docusign account is an option. You are correct in that I expected what works in Browser A to also work in Browser B especially if they are the default OS browsers.

Interestingly, the only time I was offered Docusign, account and app, was post completed session. That was only for signed document future download. Seeing the in-app costs and lack of real need, I skipped.

If I run into this in the future I’ll look into that.
Thx

 

[dk001]

Not a bad Thursday
Got a new update this morning and will give it a thorough going through and see what comes out good and bad.

One UI 5.1
Version AWF3 Build Number AWF3
June Security Patch
Release Date June 28 2023

More to come...

 

[dk001]

After the update spent some time playing with the camera. Didn’t see any changers but this evening pulled a couple of decent shots (out of about 20+ ).
Shot on a tripod.