The wait is over! Samsung today announced the brand new Galaxy S23 series, featuring three phones — S23, S23+, and S23 Ultra. This time around, all three devices come in four colors — Phantom Black, Green, Cream, and Lavender, and there are more Samsung.com exclusive colors.
Galaxy S23 Ultra
The Galaxy S23 Ultra is pretty much like its predecessor, which still supports S Pen. It sports a 6.8-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display covered by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, which will adjust the refresh rate from 1Hz to 120Hz depending on what content the screen is showing. It still has the ultrasonic fingerprint sensor located under the screen.
Unlike the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the Galaxy S23 Ultra screen is less curvy. Its screen comes with a vision booster, which maximizes outdoor visibility and adapts to the user’s lighting conditions at three levels for an easy and comfortable viewing experience.
Powering the phone is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor for Galaxy, which Samsung claims to have more than 40% faster GPU compared to its predecessor, and it is exclusively optimized for the Galaxy S23 series. Samsung also mentioned that its vapor cooling chamber is 2.7x larger than its predecessor. The phone has three storage configurations — 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB, all variants come with 12GB RAM. Yes, the base model now comes with 256GB internal storage instead of 128GB like last year.
In terms of cameras, the Galaxy S23 Ultra still comes with a quad-camera setup — 12MP ultra-wide + 200MP main + 10MP 3x telephoto + 10MP 10x telephoto. Apart from the main camera, the other three cameras are pretty much the same as the ones on the Galaxy S22 Ultra, Samsung did mention that the software algorithms are more advanced though. The phone is also capable of recording 8K videos at 30fps and it now has improved image stabilization with Adaptive VDIS and 2x wider OIS. As for the front camera, the phone has a 12MP selfie camera, which works better in low light compared to last year’s 40MP selfie camera.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra packs a 5,000mAh battery with 45W fast wired charging. The phone runs on One UI 5.1 based on Android 13, which offers better customization and privacy controls. Other features include the IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, 5G connectivity, Wi-Fi 6E, Ultra-wideband, and Bluetooth 5.3.
Apart from the four colors — Phantom Black, Green, Cream, and Lavender, the phone will come in four Samsung.com exclusive colors — Graphite, Sky Blue, Red, and Lime. You can read my first look at the phone here.
Galaxy S23 and S23+
As for the Galaxy S23 and S23+, both phones are identical to last year’s models with two screen sizes — a 6.1-inch Full HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display for the S23 and a 6.6-inch Full HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display for the S23+. Both screens are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and will adjust the refresh rate from 48Hz to 120Hz depending on what content they showing.
Both Galaxy S23 and S23+ take the same design approach as the S23 Ultra. The Contour Cut Camera design has been replaced with a cleaner three-camera ring design.
Powering both phones is the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor for Galaxy as the S23 Ultra. Both phones have 8GB RAM together with 256GB or 512GB internal storage. The regular S23 also has the 128GB storage variant as the base model.
Speaking of cameras, both phones have the same camera setup as their predecessors — 12MP ultra-wide + 50MP main with OIS + 10MP 3x telephoto with OIS. Both phones have more advanced software algorithms to post-process photos. As for the front camera, Samsung has upgraded to a 12MP selfie camera, which works better in low light.
Both the Galaxy S23 and S23+ pack bigger batteries than their predecessors — 3,900mAh for the S23 (from 3,700mAh) and 4,700mAh for the S23+ (from 4,500mAh). However, only the Plus model supports 45W fast wired charging. Both phones run on One UI 5.1 based on Android 13. Other features include the IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, 5G connectivity, Wi-Fi 6E, Ultra-wideband (only S23+), and Bluetooth 5.3.
Both phones will be available in four colors — Phantom Black, Green, Cream, and Lavender, together with two Samsung.com exclusive colors — Graphite and Lime. You can read my first look at both phones here.