Given pricing for the new Galaxy S23 Ultra starts at just under two grand, you’d want it to be a sturdy machine.
Thankfully, PBKreviews has done both a durability test, and a teardown video, to show potential customers just what the phone is made of.
It seems that water submersion is no match for the Ultra’s IP68 rating, with the phone staying in perfect working order after being dunked in water for three whole minutes.
The Gorilla Glass Victus 2 screen easily fends off coin scratches — an outmoded test from back in the day when coins and phones co-mingled in pockets — but suffers minor scratching when attacked with topaz, and deeper ones when scratch with corundum. So, don’t do either of those things.
The bad news is the drop test: a waist-height drop onto cement cracked the screen, with a second drop cracking the back – although neither drop damaged the actual functionality of the phone (aside from the obvious issues a cracked screen causes).
The teardown reveals that Samsung is serious about making these phones more repairable, with pull tabs for the battery, and all connectors and cables labelled.
Bottom line: try not to drop it, although if you do – repairs are a breeze.
