The Honor Magic 5 Ultimate and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra are two feature-rich phones that you are probably excited about. Both have their advantages, but which one is best? This comparison guide will put these two phones against each other in terms of concept, design, display, performance, camera, battery and charging. After reading this article, you’ll definitely have some things to think about
| Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra | |
 | $1,251.50 |
Galaxy S23 Ultra and Honor Magic 5 Ultimate design and build
Samsung’s phone measures 163.4 x 78.1 x 8.9 mm and weighs 234 g. It has a glass front and back panel (Gorilla Glass Victus 2) and an aluminum frame. Certified IP68, this phone is waterproof, dustproof and waterproof (up to 1.5 m for 30 min).
The aluminum frame plays a protective role on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, giving it greater resistance to drops and scratches. It comes with a stylus still called S Pen, which is integrated into the chassis of the device. With this S Pen, you will be able to easily express your creativity, take notes easily or do photo editing easily.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra is available in green, black, lavender, cream, sky blue, lime, and graphite and red. Available colors may vary by conception, country or region. Some of these colors are produced for online exclusivity (lime, sky blue, graphite and red).
The Magic 5 Ultimate is available in black and orange. Its dimensions are 162.9 x 76.7 x 8.77 mm and it weighs about 217 g. It has a nano-crystalline glass front panel that increases the device’s drop resistance, as well as an eco-friendly leather back panel. With an IP68 certification, Honor’s phone is also resistant to dust, splashes and water (1.5 m deep for 30 min).
On both devices, the fingerprint sensor is located under the screen. Each of these two phones has its specificity and both look attractive. On the one hand the S23 Ultra comes with a soft and elegant design, on the other hand the Honor phone marks the difference with its rather innovative design. If you are a fan of phone design, go for the one you like the most.
As for the dimensions and weight, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is slightly longer, wider, thicker and heavier than the Honor Magic 5 Ultimate.
Honor Magic 5 Ultimate and Galaxy S23 Ultra display
The Magic 5 Ultimate features a 6.81-inch HDR10+ display that is based on LTPO OLED technology. It has display resolution of 2,848 x 1,312 pixels at 460 dpi for a refresh rate of 120 Hz. The screen of Honor’s phone offers a maximum brightness of 1,800 nits and has a glass or ceramic coating.
Samsung’s phone packs a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display. This HDR10+ display offers a 120Hz refresh rate, a resolution of 3,088 x 1,440 pixels (Quad HD+) at 500 dpi, and a peak brightness of 1,750 nits. The S23 Ultra’s display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and supports Always-on display functionality.
The screens of both smartphones are quite smooth and are almost the same size. The screen of the Magic 5 Ultimate is a bit brighter than the S23 Ultra while the Samsung device looks to be more advantageous in terms of screen resolution.
Taking a closer look at these two devices that were tested on DXOMARK, the Magic 5 Ultimate that offers almost the same display as its cousin the Magic 5 Pro, will also be ranked at the top of the list along with the latter, with a score of 151 points for its display.
For its part, the Galaxy S23 Ultra was rated for its display, with a score of 148 points in 4th place in the overall ranking. Therefore, we quickly understand that Honor’s phone will be better than Samsung’s in terms of display.
Performance duel between the Honor Magic 5 Ultimate and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Honor’s smartphone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor assisted by an Adreno 740 GPU. This processor is backed by 16GB of RAM and 512GB of internal UFS 4.0 storage. The Magic 5 Ultimate runs on Android 13 with MagicOS 7.1 interface.
The same processor as its rival powers Samsung’s device; this is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 coupled with an Adreno 740 GPU. It has up to 12 GB of RAM for a maximum storage of 1 TB. The memory technology used is UFS 4.0. The S23 Ultra is equipped with an Android 13 operating system just like its rival, but this time with the One UI 5.1 interface.
Both 5G phones do not have a microSD slot and have the same processor. However, the Magic 5 Ultimate has more RAM while the S23 Ultra has more storage space. Therefore, in terms of performance, the Magic 5 Ultimate will be slightly better than the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Does Galaxy S23 Ultra shoots better than Honor Magic 5 Ultimate?
The Magic 5 Ultimate is equipped with three cameras on the back, each with 50 MP, among which are a wide-angle main photo sensor, another ultra-wide angle sensor and a periscope telephoto lens, all combined with a single LED flash. For selfies, Honor’s device comes with a 12 MP front camera.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra’s camera block includes a 200 MP main camera (wide angle sensor), a 12 MP ultra-wide angle sensor, and two telephoto lenses of 10 MP each (one offering up to 10x optical zoom and the other up to 3x).
As we mentioned in the article that features the Magic 5 Ultimate against the iPhone 14 Pro Max, according to the experts at DXOMARK, the Magic 5 Ultimate offers the best camera of the moment with its cousin the Magic 5 Pro, which is currently ranked at the top of the list with a camera score of 152 points.
For its part, the S23 Ultra is ranked 11th on DXOMARK with a score of 140 points for its camera. Therefore, it is clear that technically, even with a photo sensor of up to 200 MP, Samsung’s phone is no match for the Magic 5 Ultimate in terms of camera.
Battery and charging
The Magic 5 Ultimate has a non-removable 5,450-mAh Li-Po battery. It supports 66W wired fast charging, 50W wireless charging and 5W reverse wireless charging.
As for the Galaxy S23 Ultra, it comes with a 5,000 mAh Li-Ion battery. It supports 45W wired charging (65% in 30 min); 15W wireless charging and 4.5W reverse wireless charging.
Honor Magic 5 Ultimate and Galaxy S23 Ultra pricing and availability
The Honor Magic 5 Ultimate was officially announced on March 6, 2023. Currently, it is only available in China since March 20, 2023 at a price of 975.11 US dollars. You can buy this phone on the official Honor website.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra was announced by Samsung on February 1st 2023 alongside the Galaxy S23 and S23+. It is already available in France at several third-party retailers, but you can also get it on the official website of the manufacturer. Here are the prices of the Galaxy S23 Ultra in France:
- – 8GB / 256GB: €1,419
- – 12 GB / 512 GB: €1,599
- – 12 GB / 1 TB: € 1,839
Honor Magic 5 Ultimate vs Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra verdict
The Magic 5 Ultimate comes out of this versus as the most powerful phone. It is also better than the Galaxy S23 Ultra in terms of display, camera, battery and charging. The S23 Ultra is not to be overlooked, especially because of its design and its stylus that will certainly not go unnoticed by you.
If you have to choose a phone between the Magic 5 Ultimate and the Galaxy S23 Ultra, we strongly advise you to go for the Honor phone. However, its major flaw is its unavailability outside China.
See also :
- Xiaomi 12T Pro and Galaxy S23 Ultra : which one is the best ?
- Honor Magic 4 Ultimate vs Samsung Galaxy S23