Zac Kew-Denniss / Android Authority
For a long time, I upgraded my phone every year. Samsung made it easy with its upgrade program here in the UK, and it was always fun to open up a shiny new phone after the next model was announced. The upgrade program ended just before Samsung launched the Galaxy S25, though, so I traded in my Galaxy S24 Ultra for a Pixel 10 Pro, which left me with an “aging” Galaxy S23 Ultra. After re-using it for a bit, I can see how pointless yearly upgrades are.
How often do you upgrade your smartphone? 54 votes Every year 7 % Every 2 years 20 % Every 3+ years 48 % When your current phone breaks 24 %
I know — many of you reading this will find my conclusion obvious. Most people don’t upgrade every year. Even so, it’s worth looking back at how a phone like the S23 Ultra has aged. It provides context for how well subsequent models will mature, and reminds those of us who do like to upgrade more often that it isn’t worth it.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra doesn’t feel its age
Robert Triggs / Android Authority
The image above features a Galaxy S23 Ultra and an S24 Ultra. Can you tell which is which? I owned both phones for over a year, and I can hardly tell them apart unless I look closely at the details: The S24 Ultra (right) doesn’t have curved glass on the front or back. The similarity of design means the S23 Ultra doesn’t feel like a phone that will be three years old in 2026. This year’s S25 Ultra tweaked the design more, and it is easier to identify, but even so, the S23 Ultra still feels like a more modern smartphone.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra still lasts until bedtime before I need to plug it in.
Not much has changed beneath the surface, either. The S23 Ultra has the same 12GB of RAM and 5,000mAh battery as both of its predecessors, as well as the same wired and wireless charging speeds. What has changed is the SoC, but the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is still an incredible chip in 2025, and the phone hasn’t so much as dropped a frame in any game or app I ran on it. That’s a stark contrast to the older Galaxy S22 Ultra, which, like many Samsung phones at the time, shipped with an Exynos chipset here in the UK. The S23 Ultra was the first Samsung phone I’d used in a long time that didn’t feel like a compromise.
Battery life is a little harder to gauge on an older phone, obviously. This one hasn’t been used much in recent times, but batteries age over time even when they aren’t in use. Even so, this S23 Ultra is managing almost identical battery life to my S24 Ultra, which I used daily for a year and a half. I’ve been averaging at least six hours of screen time, and the phone always lasts until bedtime before I need to plug it in.
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