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In this article, we’re comparing the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs OnePlus 11. Both of these smartphones are brand new. Both of them launched this month, and both of them are flagship-grade phones. These are the best devices Samsung and OnePlus have to offer, respectively. Comparing them will be interesting, but before we get started, do note that the Galaxy S23 Ultra is considerably more expensive.
These two phones do differ a lot in the design department. Some of the specs they share, but for the most part, they’re quite different. We’ll first list their specifications, and will then compare them across a number of other categories. We’ll compare their designs, displays, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio performance, as per usual. That being said, let’s get started.
Specs
| Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra | OnePlus 11 | |
| Screen size | 6.8-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display (curved, 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, LTPO, down to 1Hz, 1,750 nits peak brightness) | 6.7-inch QHD+ LTPO3 Fluid AMOLED display (120Hz refresh rate, curved, 1,300 nits peak brightness, LTPO down to 1Hz) |
| Screen resolution | 3080 x 1440 | 3216 x 1440 |
| SoC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 |
| RAM | 8GB/12GB (LPDDR5X) | 8GB/16GB (LPDDR5X) |
| Storage | 256GB/512GB/1TB, non-expandable (UFS 4.0) | 128GB/256GB, non-expandable (UFS 4.0) |
| Rear cameras | 200MP (f/1.7 aperture, 24mm lens, 0.6um pixel size, multi-directional PDAF, Laser AF, OIS) 12MP (ultrawide, Dual Pixel AF, 120-degree FoV, f/2.2 aperture, 1.4um pixel size) 10MP (telephoto, Dual Pixel AF, OIS, f/2.4 aperture, 1.12um pixel size, 70mm lens, optical zoom 3x) 10MP (telephoto, Dual Pixel AF, OIS, f/4.9 aperture, 1.22um pixel size, 230mm lens, 10x optical zoom, 100x Space Zoom) |
50MP (f/1.8 aperture, 1.0um pixel size, OIS, multi-directional PDAF) 48MP (ultrawide, f/2.2 aperture, 115-degree FoV, AF) 32MP (telephoto, f/2.0 aperture, 2x optical zoom, PDAF) |
| Front cameras | 12MP (f/2.2 aperture, 26mm lens, Dual Pixel PDAF) | 16MP (f/2.5 aperture, 25mm lens, 1.0um pixel size) |
| Battery | 5,000mAh, non-removable, 45W wired charging, 15W Qi wireless charging, 4.5W Wireless PowerShare Charger not included |
5,000mAh, non-removable, 100W wired (80W in the US) charging Charger included |
| Dimensions | 163.4 x 78.1 x 8.9mm | 163.1 x 74.1 x 8.5mm |
| Weight | 234 grams | 205 grams |
| Connectivity | 5G, LTE, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C | 5G, LTE, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C |
| Security | In-display fingerprint scanner (ultrasonic) | Face Unlock In-display fingerprint scanner (optical) |
| OS | Android 13 One UI 5.1 |
Android 13 OxygenOS 13 |
| Price | $1,199.99/$1,299/$1,399/N/A (1TB) | $699/$799 |
| Buy | Samsung | OnePlus |
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs OnePlus 11: Design
Both phones are made out of metal and glass. In fact, both phones utilize an aluminum frame, and a glass backplate. Samsung brands the aluminum on the Galaxy S23 Ultra as ‘Armor Aluminum’, and the phone’s backplate is covered by Gorilla Glass Victus 2. The OnePlus 11 has Gorilla Glass 5 on the back. The two phones have different shapes. The Galaxy S23 Ultra has sharp corners, and flat top and bottom sides. The OnePlus 11 has rounded corners, and a design that is more in line with most other phones, as far as the general shape and curves are concerned.
Both phones have a display camera hole, but in different spots. It’s centered on the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s display, and in the top-left corner of the OnePlus 11’s panel. Both devices do have curved displays, and both include thin bezels. On the Galaxy S23 Ultra, the rear cameras protrude directly from the backplate. The OnePlus 11 has a dedicated, circular camera island in the top-left corner.
They’re almost the same height, but the Galaxy S23 Ultra is considerably wider, it’s also slightly thicker. The Galaxy S23 Ultra weighs 29 grams more than the OnePlus 11. Both phones are slippery, and feel large in the hand, though the Galaxy S23 Ultra definitely feels like a larger and beefier device. They do feel premium, however. There is also an S Pen silo in the bottom-left corner of the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s body, in case you were wondering, and an S Pen is included. Your design preference will play a huge role here, as they both look and feel different in the hand.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs OnePlus 11: Display
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra includes a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display. This panel is curved, and it offers a 120Hz refresh rate. It actually offers an adaptive refresh rate, from 1 to 120Hz. This is a QHD+ (3088 x 1440) panel, and it’s protected by the Gorilla Glass Victus 2. The panel does support HDR10+ content, and it gets considerably bright at 1,750 nits of peak brightness.
The OnePlus 11, on the flip side, has a 6.7-inch QHD+ (3216 x 1440) LTPO3 Fluid AMOLED panel. This display is also curved, and it offers an adaptive refresh rate between 1 and 120Hz. The panel is protected by the Gorilla Glass Victus, and supports HDR10+, while Dolby Vision support is also included. This display gets to a max brightness of 1,300 nits, so it’s less bright than what the Galaxy S23 Ultra has to offer. Most people will be pleased, though. The display is easily visible in all conditions but in direct sunlight.
Both of these smartphones do have excellent displays. The Galaxy S23 Ultra’s does seem better on paper, and the main reason is the brightness, in all honesty. Other than that, these two displays are neck-to-neck. They are immensely sharp, offer great, vivid colors, and deep blacks. The viewing angles are excellent on both, and the touch response is really good too. They feel smooth during usage, extremely smooth, even. We really have no complaints worth noting.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs OnePlus 11: Performance
Both of these phones come with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC. The model inside the Galaxy S23 Ultra is branded as the ‘Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy’, and is slightly different than the regular variant. It comes with a higher clock speed, and some other tweaks. All in all, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is one of the best SoCs on the market at the moment. Both phones combine that processor with LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 flash storage, the latest and greatest. Android 13 comes pre-installed on both phones, with different skins, though.
The bottom line is, both phones perform admirably. They fly through everyday, regular tasks. It doesn’t really matter if you’re browsing the web, processing an image, watching YouTube, or doing something else entirely. Yes, that includes gaming. Both phones are well-equipped in that regard, and can run basically any game you’ll find in the Google Play Store. Other than getting warm, there are no problems. We did not notice any slowdowns during our usage, or anything of the sort.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs OnePlus 11: Battery
You will find a 5,000mAh battery inside both of these smartphones, and quite honestly, they both offer outstanding battery life. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is definitely a great chip when it comes to power consumption, while both companies did a great job with optimizations, it seems. Do note that during our testing, both smartphones were on their default settings. In other words, they were both set at fullHD+ resolution and adaptive 120Hz setting.
Having said that, we were able to cross the 10-hour screen-on-time mark on both phones. Getting 9+ hours was rather easy, to be quite honest, and that included a bit of gaming as well. These two phones are absolute road warriors when it comes to battery life. So, if you’re worried about it prior to purchasing, don’t be. At least at the moment, running their current builds, they’re outstanding in that regard. Your mileage may always vary, though, of course, for a number of reasons.
The charging situation is quite interesting. The Galaxy S23 Ultra supports 45W wired, 15W wireless, and 4.5W reverse wireless charging. The OnePlus 11 offers 100W wired (80W in the US) charging, and no support for wireless charging. Do note that out of these two, only the OnePlus 11 includes a charger in the box. The OnePlus 11 can reach 100% in only 25 minutes, while the Galaxy S23 Ultra takes around 55-56 minutes to fully charge using 45W PD3.0 charging.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs OnePlus 11: Cameras
Alright, so… the cameras. The Galaxy S23 Ultra has four cameras on the back, led by a 200-megapixel main unit. A 12-megapixel ultrawide camera is also in use, as are two 10-megapixel cameras. One telephoto unit, and one periscope telephoto camera. The OnePlus 11, on the other hand, has a 50-megapixel main camera, a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera, and a 32-megapixel telephoto camera. Hasselblad branding is also present here, along with the company’s color-tuning.
How do they stack up? Well, spoiler alert, we did prefer the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s performance overall. That may not surprise many of you. In regards to the main camera, the Galaxy S23 Ultra did provide us with better dynamic range, more detail, and overall images that are better tuned. The focusing on the OnePlus 11 was a bit iffy at times, especially indoors. It also overexposed more shots than the Galaxy S23 Ultra during our testing. The Galaxy S23 Ultra was truly reliable in that regard, it really managed to balance out the shots. Don’t get me wrong, though, the OnePlus 11 did provide great results too. It’s actually a much better experience than the OnePlus 10T, for example.
In low light, the main camera on the Galaxy S23 Ultra shined. That even goes for very challenging situations with neon signs, and truly dark scenes. It managed to optimize images better, to make them look like it’s dark, but with plenty of detail. The OnePlus 11 did that as well, but less often, as it tended to miss a shot here and there, and overexpose some of them.
Ultrawide cameras are a tossup, it all depended on the scene and time of day, to be quite honest. Some shots we preferred were from the Galaxy S23 Ultra, and some from the OnePlus 11. One thing to note is that you will likely get more softness towards the edges of images shot with the OnePlus 11’s ultrawide camera. It’s not that noticeable, though. Everything over 2x on the telephoto camera was a win for Samsung.
The video recording is easily better on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, even though that aspect is also improved on the OnePlus 11, compared to the OnePlus 10T. The OnePlus 11’s front-facing camera was actually the worse aspect of its cameras, to be quite honest. The images looked a bit hazy, and often overexposed. The Galaxy S23 Ultra did a much better job in that regard. Both phones offer really capable cameras, but for us, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is the better of the two.
Audio
You will find stereo speakers on both phones, and both sets sound really good. The Galaxy S23 Ultra does bring improved speakers compared to the Galaxy S22 Ultra, and compared to the OnePlus 11, they are louder, and offer slightly more detail and bass. It’s not a huge difference, but it’s something worth noting.
There is no audio jack on either of these two handsets. You can utilize their Type-C ports for a wired audio connection, if that’s what you need. If not, there’s always Bluetooth 5.3 which is supported on both devices.