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The S23 Ultra debuted in February 2023 and received unanimous critical acclaim for nailing the overall balance. The display goes bright, up to 1750 Nits, and has a 2K resolution. There’s a new 200MP 1/1.3″ primary sensor and the usual Samsung zoom perks.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 has fixed a critical problem with Samsung flagships over the past few years. Since it’s built on TSMC’s 4nm fabrication process, the efficiency gains are fantastic. The chip runs way cooler than the 888 or 8 Gen 1.
As a result, battery life and thermal performance are way better than last year, possibly going toe-to-toe with the best from Apple. With the S23 Ultra, Samsung made tiny changes to the smartphone’s design.
The 8 Gen 2 also supports ray tracing with its GPU. Moreover, Samsung collaborates with Qualcomm, and the entire S23 lineup has slightly overclocked CPUs and GPUs.
We’ll probably see this as the 8+ Gen 2 in the future, but Samsung has early access to that chip.
The design remains essentially the same except for moving to a flat design on both the front and back. Displays with curves were Samsung’s main design differentiator, but Samsung is slowly phasing it out in favor of flat displays.
The phone has the iconic S Pen for productivity and multitasking, which is more comfortable to hold in hand.
Navigation gestures become much more fluid and seamless if displays have a curve. The back gesture feels more natural, and the screen looks very futuristic. However, there are many downsides to using a curved screen.
The durability suffers, and applying suitable screen protectors is difficult. They’re prone to accidental touches, and content and multimedia look weird to some people. You’ll have a hard time repairing them, and they are much more expensive.
Considering these problems, Samsung uses a flat display on the S23 Ultra. The S22 Ultra’s curve was subtle, and many favored it. Unfortunately, flat screens are much cheaper, and Samsung probably did this to cut manufacturing costs.
Since we have a slight design change on the front, manufacturing defects or quality control problems in the initial batches are possible. This looks like the case with the S23 Ultra.
The S23 Ultra isn’t free of problems, though. Some people report poor battery life on One UI 5.1, though Samsung could address that with software updates. Recently, many people had problems connecting to Android Auto.
According to many people on Reddit and Twitter, one of the corners of the displays looks quite weird. Many people saw a slight bubble formation at the corner. It’s visible if you tilt the screen at a particular angle and stare at it under the light.
This minor deformity is very noticeable if you’re looking for it, especially under a bright light source. It’s a minor detail that you can easily ignore, and it makes no difference to the overall experience of the phone.
The S23 Ultra isn’t the first time Samsung phones have faced such problems. Samsung themselves say that it’s not a problem.
On the Taiwanese portal, Samsung has an article explaining it. Displays are composed of several transparent and protective layers, and it’s a structural and functional design.
This design enables better water and dust resistance. It helps with intrusion from liquids or foreign objects. Samsung claims that all their smartphones go through rigorous testing periods at labs.
Samsung claims these multiple layers don’t impact usability and cause slight bubble formation. Lines of light refraction may happen at certain angles, which is a relatively normal phenomenon.
These screen wrinkles only appear at the corners and both corners in some cases. It doesn’t interrupt the multimedia viewing experience in any way.
Refraction is the bending of light when it goes from one medium to another. Since it’s entering glass from the air, these fine lines or bubbles may appear at the corners.
However, it’s still a pretty weird design qualm, and flagships probably deserve spot-free design.
Only some phones have this problem, and there are many reports of people having no issues. We aren’t sure why this happens at the manufacturing level and why only some units have it.
But since Samsung officially says it isn’t a problem, you shouldn’t worry unless the bubble annoys you. You may apply for a replacement unit, but there’s no guarantee that you’ll get a flawless device if you replace it.
The problem isn’t exclusive to the S23 Ultra, and reports of this go as far back as the good old Note 10 Plus from 2019. Some people wonder whether Samsung didn’t bond the glass correctly, but they assure you it doesn’t affect the phone.
Samsung says it isn’t a product defect, but many didn’t expect a weird design flaw on a 2023 flagship phone. You’ll likely get the same response if you report this problem to Samsung’s customer care.
After paying well over a thousand dollars, many people won’t be content with a display blemish underneath the glass. We hope Samsung takes attention to detail more seriously in their future phones.
Despite this problem, the S23 Ultra remains a fantastic deal and is one of the best smartphones you can get. We’ll update you if more units have these problems and it affects the phone.
P Krishna prasad
I have also faced this problem with the S23 plus at corner and the color is shaded at that corner. I purchased this device on 15th march 2023 and I want new one duly replacing.