Mats Hellqvist
PBKReviews looked at how the all-new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra fares in terms of durability and whether it’s easier to repair than its predecessors. There is a durability test and a teardown video showing how resilient the new Samsung smartphone is and what it looks like from the inside.
The durability test begins with a water test. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is submerged for three minutes. However, thanks to the IP68 rating for protection against water and dust, it retains its full functionality. The display is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and therefore withstands scratch attempts with keys and coins without any problems. Then come the heavy artillery in the form of mineral picks. These are sorted by the hardness according to the Mohs hardness scale and leave scratches from level 8 and deeper grooves from level 9.
The glass back and the cameras of the Galaxy S23 Ultra have identical values for scratch resistance. The drop test shows a cracked screen after dropping from waist height directly onto concrete. The back also breaks after another fall from waist height. Despite the cosmetic damage, the display and the rest of the phone’s components remain fully functional.
The teardown reveals an interesting detail about the battery. Thanks to the built-in pull tabs, Samsung has made changing the battery a whole lot easier. All flex cables and connectors are neatly labeled, which also greatly simplifies the repair process. The new, larger vapor chamber that holds the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor in check can also be seen and is compared to the size of the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s vapor chamber. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra gets a very good repairability rating of 9/10 from PBKReviews.
