Galaxy S23 Ultra benchmarks suggest Android flagship parity

Initial CPU benchmarks for the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra have hit the internet, suggesting that its custom chip might not be offering such a huge boost.

In the lead up to the launch of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, much was made of the custom ‘Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy‘ chip that would power Samsung’s new phone range. This tweaked component would reportedly run faster than other 2023 Android flagships running the off-the-shelf Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

Now, with final hardware in the hands of reviewers, the initial Galaxy S23 Ultra benchmarks are starting to trickle in. Based on Geekbench 5 scores supplied by CompareDial at least, the Galaxy S23 Ultra doesn’t really offer a performance advantage.

Indeed, with a multi-core score of 4,584, the Galaxy S23 Ultra falls a little below other Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 phones we’ve tested. I’ve personally clocked the iQOO 11 at 4,855 and the OnePlus 11 at 4,867.

In single-core terms, the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s score of 1,480 is roughly level with the iQOO 11 (1,462) but ahead of the OnePlus 11’s 1,159.

Ultimately, then, the Galaxy S23 Ultra CPU appears to be broadly of a piece with other Android flagship phones running the plain Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Meanwhile, all Android flagships run well behind the iPhone 14 Pro Max in CPU terms, with its single-core score of 1,872 and multi-core score of 5,264 blowing away all comers.

That doesn’t mean that Samsung’s deal with Qualcomm hasn’t yielded other advantages, but these seem likely to be particular to Samsung’s particular set-up rather than offering any great sense of performance headroom over its rivals.

Of course, benchmarks should never be the basis of any purchase decision. For a more rounded view, you’ll need to wait for our definitive Galaxy S23 Ultra review. Stay tuned on that front.