Technologies

Galaxy S23 Ultra: My Earliest Impressions After a Day With Samsung’s Latest Flagship

The camera on Samsung’s new high-end phone already shows promise.

This story is part of Samsung Event, CNET’s collection of news, tips and advice around Samsung’s most popular products.

Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra is all about the cameras. The tech giant spent a good chunk of its launch event last week flaunting how well its new cameras can capture more colorful photos and cinematic videos. Veteran movie director Ridley Scott even made an appearance in Samsung’s promotional clip.

I’ve only spent a day with the $1,200 ( 1,249, AU$1,949)Galaxy S23 Ultra so far, but some of the camera upgrades are already noticeable. Portraits taken in low light, for example, seem more vibrant and flattering.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra is one of three new phones Samsung announced, alongside the $800 ( 849, AU$1,349) Galaxy S23 and $1,000 ( 1,049, AU$1,649) Galaxy S23 Plus. The Galaxy S23 Ultra is Samsung’s first with a 200-megapixel main camera, but the company also made some significant under-the-hood changes that should improve dynamic range and video capture.

Here’s a look at what has stood out the most in my first 24 hours with Samsung’s new phone.

Galaxy S23 Ultra: Great low-light portraits

The Galaxy S23 Ultra has four cameras just like the Galaxy S22 Ultra, but the main sensor has an upgraded resolution of 200 megapixels instead of 108. There’s also a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera and two 10-megapixel telephoto lenses, one with 3x optical zoom and the other with 10x.

Behind-the-scenes upgrades to dynamic range should also result in more accuracy when capturing the light and dark areas in video recordings. But it seems like these improvements are noticeable in photography, too.

My biggest takeaway so far is the way the S23 Ultra takes flattering portraits in low light. The photo below of my colleague Claire Reilly was taken in a very dim podcast studio in CNET’s San Francisco office. It was her favorite of the bunch when compared to similar photos I took of her with the Pixel 7 Pro and Galaxy S22 Ultra.

She said the lighting and color in the S23 Ultra’s photo made her face look «radiant» and is comparable to the way she looks in CNET videos that she films on a Sony ZV-1 camera with a professional lighting setup. The Pixel 7 Pro’s photo, by comparison, made her skin tone look muddier. The sequins on her sweater also look more colorful in the S23 Ultra’s photo than in pictures taken with the Galaxy S22 Ultra and Pixel 7 Pro. (Note: The Galaxy S23 Ultra photos below aren’t displayed at their full 200-megapixel resolution because of the large file sizes.)

The Galaxy S23 Ultra also excelled under mixed lighting and captured vibrant photos, as shown in the image below taken in CNET’s kitchen. But whether the photo is better than pictures taken on the Pixel 7 Pro or Galaxy S22 Ultra depends on your preference. For example, Claire said the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s bolder colors made the photo look less natural than the Pixel 7 Pro’s, despite the Pixel’s image having harsher contrast and more severe shadow lines in the face.

When it comes to selfies, Samsung says the phone should have better dynamic range and object segmentation. That means the camera should be smarter about separating the subject from the background, as well as distinguishing other fine elements like strands of hair. You can also access manual controls for the front camera in pro mode or take selfies with the Expert Raw app. Raw capture saves full, unretouched versions of images and should offer more flexibility when editing.

So far, I haven’t noticed a huge difference in selfie quality. In fact, I prefer the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s selfie over the S23 Ultra’s in the images below. That said, the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s selfie is much brighter than the Pixel 7 Pro’s photo. I also intentionally took this photo in challenging lighting conditions to see how it handles a mix of dim indoor lighting and natural light.

Keep in mind that these are just a few early camera examples. Our full review will have more photos and videos.

Galaxy S23 Ultra design: Just as big, and just as beautiful

The Galaxy S23 Ultra looks almost identical to the Galaxy S22 Ultra. It has the same boxy shape, which sets it apart from the regular Galaxy S23 and other Android phones. The only major aesthetic difference is its color; the Galaxy S23 lineup is available in cream, green, lavender and black, while its predecessor came in burgundy, green, white and black, in addition to a few Samsung-exclusive colors. I’ve been using the cream version so far, which looks sleek and eye-catching.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra has a 6.8-inch screen that seems just as bright and vibrant as its predecessor’s, although it’s a tad large for my taste. It’s too soon to tell how long the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s battery will last on a single charge, but my review unit dropped to roughly 90% around lunchtime after starting the day at 100%.

Overall, the Galaxy S23 Ultra seems promising, particularly for photographers and videographers, but I have to put it through more testing to know for sure. I’ll have more details on the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s camera, battery life and performance in our full review.

Technologies

Facebook Brings Back Local Job Listings: How to Apply

One of Facebook’s most practical features from 2022 is being revived by Meta.

On the hunt for work? A Local Jobs search is being rolled out by Meta to make it easier for people in the US to discover and apply for nearby work directly on Facebook. The feature is inside Facebook Marketplace, Groups and Pages, Meta said last week, letting employers post openings and job seekers filter roles by distance, category or employment type.

You can apply or message employers directly through Facebook Messenger, while employers can publish job listings with just a few taps — similar to how you would post items for sale on Marketplace.

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Facebook offered a Jobs feature before discontinuing it in 2022, pushing business hiring toward its other platforms. Its return suggests Meta is attempting to expand Facebook’s usefulness beyond social networking and to position it once again as a hub for community-driven opportunities.

«We’ve always been about connecting with people, whether through shared interests or key life events,» the press release states. «Now, if you’re looking for entry-level, trade and service industry employment in your community, Facebook can help you connect with local people and small businesses who are hiring.»

How to get started with Local Jobs on Facebook

According to Meta, Local Jobs will appear as a dedicated section in Facebook Marketplace starting this week. If you’re 18 or older, you can:

Tap the Marketplace tab on the Facebook app or website.
Select Jobs to browse available positions nearby.
Use filters for job type, category and distance.
Tap Apply or message the employer directly via Messenger.

Businesses and page admins can post jobs by creating a new listing in Marketplace or from their Facebook Page. Listings can include job details, pay range, and scheduling information and will appear in local searches automatically.

The Local Jobs feature is rolling out across the US now, with Meta saying it plans to expand it in the months ahead.

Technologies

Tesla Has a New Range of Affordable Electric Cars: How Much They Cost

The new, stripped-back versions of the Model Y and Model 3 have a more affordable starting price.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 22 #598

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 22, No. 598.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a fun one — I definitely have at least two of these in my house. Some of the answers are a bit tough to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Catch all.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: A mess of items.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

BATE, LICE, SLUM, CAPE, HOLE, CARE, BARE, THEN, SLAM, SAMBA, BACK

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

TAPE, COIN, PENCIL, BATTERY, SHOELACE, THUMBTACK

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is JUNKDRAWER. To find it, look for the J that’s five letters down on the far-left row, and wind down, over and then up.

Quick tips for Strands

#1: To get more clue words, see if you can tweak the words you’ve already found, by adding an «S» or other variants. And if you find a word like WILL, see if other letters are close enough to help you make SILL, or BILL.

#2: Once you get one theme word, look at the puzzle to see if you can spot other related words.

#3: If you’ve been given the letters for a theme word, but can’t figure it out, guess three more clue words, and the puzzle will light up each letter in order, revealing the word.