The first Unpacked of the year, and the first in-person launch since 2020, has been held in San Francisco, where the new Samsung Galaxy S23 Series has been announced.
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Samsung Galaxy S23 Series
Once again, Samsung has kicked off the annual race for the best flagship phone with the February launch of its latest Galaxy S series, the S23.
The series comprises the entry-level S23, the larger S23+ and its flagship device, the S23 Ultra. If you were hoping for a big step up in design and specs, you’d be disappointed, as finding the difference between this series and last year’s S22 line-up is like splitting hairs.
Design-wise, there is only one noticeable difference, and that is around the rear cameras on the S23 and S23+. Both models lose the metal plate from the S22 versions and instead go for a cleaner ‘lens only’ style that the S22 Ultra had.
With that said, the new S23 Ultra will be one of, if not the best, smartphones in 2023, and all three will be powered by the new Snapdragon® 8 Gen 2 Mobile platform along with Android 13.
Overview //Samsung Galaxy S23 & S23+
The basic S23 and S23+ will come in six colours, replacing last year’s Violet with a Lavender option. There’s still no S-Pen support, even on the larger 6.6″ Flat FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED of the S23+. The S23 screen measures in at 6.1″; both are identical to their S22 siblings.
Whilst the main primary camera may look slightly better without the metal plate around the lenses, the S23 and S23+ share the same triple camera array comprising o2MP Ultra-Wide, 50MP Wide and 10MP Telephoto lenses. There’s a modest upgrade to both models for the front-facing camera up to 12MP from last year’s 10MP offering.
The most prominent upgrade, though, is the addition of the new Snapdragon® 8 Gen 2 processor. A chip which will likely be the benchmark of most Android-powered flagship smartphones over the next year or two and whose owner, Qualcomm, has just signed a multi-year deal with Samsung.
Qualcomm says the Gen 2 chip “is intelligently engineered with groundbreaking AI across the board to enable truly extraordinary experiences”.
Overview //Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
The Ultra represents the pinnacle of the Samsung flagship series. It carries the added expectations of the Galaxy Note faithful, who witnessed Samsung discontinue the ‘phablet’ smartphone with the hope users would move to the Ultra.
In 2020 the last and largest Note 20 Ultra was released with a 6.9″ display, and today, the S23 Ultra comes close with a 6.8″ QHD+ Edge Dynamic AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and S-Pen support. And, like the Note models, the S-Pen is built into the S23 Ultra.
The big news for the S23 Ultra, and what Samsung used most of the launch event on, is the new 200MP primary camera, a significant increase from the S22 Ultras 108MP offering just last year. Along with the 200MP camera are 12MP Ultra-wide and 10MP Telephoto lenses. All of which Samsung says bring the best Nightograhy experience to the S23 Ultra.
Improved Nightography capabilities transform how the Galaxy S Series optimises photos and videos in a wide range of ambient conditions. Filming a favourite song at a concert or grabbing a group shot of friends at dinner — users can get sharper images and videos.
Samsung
With a bigger display comes more space; Samsung has used this to include a 5,000mAh battery in the S23 Ultra. Combined with the new Snapdragon® 8 Gen 2 processors’ power efficiency, the S23 Ultra should last a full day.
Specifications //Samsung Galaxy S23 Series
| S23 | S23+ | S23 Ultra | |
| Dimensions | 146.3 x 70.9 x 7.6mm | 157.8 x 76.2 x 7.6mm | 78.1 x 163.4 x 8.9mm |
| Weight | 168g | 196g | 234g |
| Colour Options | Cream Green Lavender Phantom Black Graphite online only Lime online only | Cream Green Lavender Phantom Black Graphite online only Lime online only | Cream Green Lavender Phantom Black Graphite online only Lime online only Red online only Sky Blue online only |
| Display | 6.1″ Flat FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 120Hz refresh rate Vision booster Enhanced comfort | 6.6″ Flat FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 120Hz refresh rate Vision booster Enhanced comfort | 6.8″ QHD+ Edge Dynamic AMOLED 120Hz refresh rate Vision Booster Enhanced comfort |
| Processor | Snapdragon® 8 Gen 2 Octa-Core | Snapdragon® 8 Gen 2 Octa-Core | Snapdragon® 8 Gen 2 Octa-Core |
| Battery | 3,900mAh | 4,700mAh | 5,000mAh |
| Charging | USB-C Wireless | USB-C Wireless | USB-C Wireless |
| Connectivity | 5G LTE Wi-Fi 6E Bluetooth 5.3 | 5G LTE Wi-Fi 6E Bluetooth 5.3 | 5G LTE Wi-Fi 6E Bluetooth 5.3 |
| Operating System | Android 13 | Android 13 | Android 13 |
| Storage | 128GB 256GB 512GB | 256GB 512GB | 256GB 512GB 1TB |
| S-Pen | No | No | Yes |
| Rear Camera | 12MP Ultra-Wide 50MP Wide 10MP Telephoto 3x Optical Zoom | 12MP Ultra-Wide 50MP Wide 10MP Telephoto 3x Optical Zoom | 12MP Ultra-Wide 200MP Wide 10MP Telephoto 3x & 10x Optical Zoom 100x Digital Zoom |
| Front Cam | 12MP | 12MP | 12MP |
| Waterproof Rating | IP68 | IP68 | IP68 |
Price //Samsung Galaxy S23
All three models are available for pre-order, with prices varying depending on the model and storage capacity. The base model S23 starts at $859/£849 and rises to $1,619/£1,599 for the 1TB S23 Ultra.
When this article was published, Samsung was running some attractive launch offers across the series that varied from country to country. In North America, there are pricing discounts and, in the UK, free trials to selected streaming services.
