Oppo Find X9 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Oppo Find X9 Ultra

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 puts it near the top of the benchmark charts, but sustained-load stability is mediocre and Oppo deliberately throttles early to control heat.

• As expected, the Find X9 Ultra earns excellent benchmark scores near the top of the charts.
• A 3D ultrasonic fingerprint scanner Oppo claims is 35% faster and 33% more reliable, plus vapor cooling to dissipate heat through the aluminium frame for better sustained performance.
• 3DMark returned ~7,530 best-loop and ~3,682 low-loop with only ~49% stability, and peak performance didn't last a minute — weak sustained behaviour.
• Genshin Impact stayed consistently above 50fps and remained smooth even when throttling to ~30fps after ~16 minutes at 41.5°C, at under 4W power draw.
• Honor of Kings averaged 144fps over 30 minutes at max settings; Genshin held max 60fps before stabilizing near 50fps.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

The bespoke Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy (3.36GHz, higher-binned) was the fastest mobile chip of its day, with a much-improved vapor chamber. Three years on it still feels snappy for everyday use, only outclassed by the latest 8 Gen 3/4 silicon.

• Powered by a bespoke 'Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy' — same chip as other 8 Gen 2 devices but clocked higher at 3.36GHz vs the standard 3.2GHz.
• 12GB RAM + 256GB UFS 4.0 base storage, scaling up to 1TB — flagship-tier specs that still hold up in 2026.
• Significantly cooler under sustained load than the S22 Ultra and even the iPhone 14 Pro Max thanks to a larger vapor chamber.
• Still smooth in 2026 for everyday use, app switching and Call of Duty — multitasking remains snappy on 12GB RAM.
• Sustained-load testing showed frame rate improvements over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 with much less throttling.

Oppo Find X9 Ultra

A genuine highlight: a 7,050mAh silicon-carbon cell that posts some of the best endurance numbers of any 2026 flagship, with fast 100W wired and 50W wireless charging.

• Draws power from a 7,050mAh battery — a sizeable increase over the previous generation — with 100W SuperVOOC wired and 50W AirVOOC wireless charging.
• Earned an active-use battery score of over 20 hours; with the SuperVOOC charger it went 0–75% in 30 minutes and to full in 45 minutes.
• After ~10 hours of continuous use starting at 7am it still had 53% battery, regularly getting 8–9 hours of screen-on time and ~40% left after a 13-hour day.
• A PCMark synthetic loop returned 15 hours 2 minutes, and 100W SuperVOOC charging took ~49–52 minutes (the charger isn't included).
• With moderate usage you can easily expect more than 2 days of battery life — Oppo finally feels like a truly complete product.
• Charges 0–100% in about 52 minutes on the official 80W charger in a head-to-head charge test.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

5,000mAh paired with the efficient 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy delivered the era's best Android battery life — 6-7 hours of screen-on time, still close to 5 hours of mixed heavy use after 2 years. The catch is charging speed: 45W wired (and a special cable is needed to hit it) when rivals offer 80W+.

• 5,000mAh battery + the efficient 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy gives 6-7 hours of screen-on time at full brightness in WQHD with no power-save modes.
• Two-year battery test still delivered ~4h44m of mixed heavy SOT (PUBG, Genshin, 4K video, Spotify) — strong longevity even after 2 years.
• Pure-runtime lab test hit 11h5m vs 8h13m on the S22 Ultra — a major efficiency leap from the Snapdragon chip alone.
• 45W wired charging: 40% in 15 min, 72% in 30 min, 91% in 45 min, full in ~1h3m — but only with a separate 5A cable and 45W brick.
• The included box cable doesn't trigger Super Fast Charging 2.0 — Samsung sells the 5A cable and 45W brick separately, a recurring complaint.

Oppo Find X9 Ultra

Premium-priced and hard to buy in many markets, but reviewers broadly conclude it out-cameras the S26 Ultra and Pixel and edges the Vivo X300 Ultra on usability.

• Its main compromises are the ~€1,699 price, large 236g body, occasional software concerns and limited availability in some markets.
• It feels like Oppo wanted to make the camera first and just happened to also create the best Android phone you can get right now — though it won't win every year-end award.
• The base Find X9 Ultra starts at 7,499 yuan in China — roughly £814 / ~$1,100 — but the heaviness and visual pressure are the first impression.
• The closest rival is the Vivo X300 Ultra, but the X9 Ultra wins by having a more user-friendly OS.
• The Hasselblad alliance delivers a phone that genuinely challenges the Galaxy S26 Ultra on cameras.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Launched at $1,199 in early 2023, the S23 Ultra is now $500-650 used / ~$800 new — one of the best smartphone bargains in 2026, especially with the S25 Ultra delivering only modest gains. The Pixel 8 Pro and OnePlus 11 were its strongest contemporaries.

• Launched at $1,199 with 256GB UFS 4.0 — premium flagship territory then; Samsung's trade-in deals + $200 cashback / Disney+ kept the real cost down.
• Now ~$500-650 used on eBay/Swappa, ~$800 new — an absolute bargain for the spec package in 2026.
• The S25 Ultra disappointed many owners expecting big gains — the S23 Ultra still feels close enough that 'I'd buy this again' is a recurring sentiment in 2026.
• Versus Pixel 7 Pro ($300 less) and OnePlus 11 (much faster charging at lower price) — the S23 Ultra's S Pen and zoom range are the deciding edges.
• Versus iPhone 14 Pro Max — the S23 Ultra wins on zoom and customisation; iPhone wins on video and ecosystem 'just works'.