After revamping its smartphone lineup last with the Galaxy S22 series and keeping the spirit of the Galaxy Note line alive through the S22 Ultra, Samsung unveiled its latest premium smartphone line Wednesday, the Galaxy S23 series. The new devices carry Samsung’s commitment to top-quality photography tools within Android-based smartphones alongside sleeker designs and improved performance thanks to the next generation of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 chip. Though these focuses extend to the entire lineup, there is plenty to unpack for each one, so let’s dive in.
Galaxy S23 Ultra (From $1,199.99)
Samsung’s amalgam of the S and Note series hit a wonderful sweet spot last year that fit squarely into the company’s positioning of the phone as a top productivity tool. The Galaxy S23 keeps that image trucking along with some notable changes, most of which are reserved for its camera array. The 10MP Telephoto and 12MP Ultrawide cameras return alongside an improved 200MP Wide camera, but it includes the same 12MP Selfie camera as the S23 and S23+, markedly down from the S22 Ultra’s 40MP. That decrease is made up by the new Adaptive Pixel 200MP sensor, which Samsung says combines 16 pixels into one pixel to improve image brightness and detail. They also feature improved image stabilization, which comes in handy when shooting 8K and 4K video.
The Galaxy S23’s QHD 6.8-inch display is encased in Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for durability and, according to Samsung, has been optimized for playing video and games. Battery and storage metrics remain unchanged from last year, and it would be the S23 Ultra without an S Pen embedded right into the casing. It comes in four colors (Phantom Black, Cream, Green and Lavender) and includes more external components made from ocean plastic, continuing the company’s sustainability initiative.
Galaxy S23+ (From $999.99)
The middle child of the Galaxy S23 series packs the processing power of the Ultra into a slightly smaller design, fueling its 6.6-inch display and 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. The major redesign rests in its camera array as well. The back cameras are now set into the casing similar to the S23 Ultra (Samsung’s “Floating Camera” design) providing a sleeker look compared to the S22+. The 12MP Selfie camera is an improvement and an AI image enhancer helps correct flaws in photos. Unlike the S23 Ultra, the S23+ only features 8GB RAM memory with storage ranging from 256GB to 512GB.
Galaxy S23 (From $799.99)
The Galaxy S23 boasts many of the same features of the S23+, including the redesigned camera array and improved Selfie camera. Its 6.1-inch display packs in the same 120Hz adaptive refresh rate and adaptive vision booster. The key differences lie in storage, battery capacity and wired charging. The S23’s max internal storage capacity is 256GB and charges a tad bit slower via wired charging. Despite that, it does get the same performance boost thanks to the new Snapdragon 8 processor.
The entire Galaxy S23 series, along with select other Samsung smartphones, utilize Samsung Notes’ new real-time co-creation function and video home screens coming with the One UI 5.1 update. All Galaxy S23 devices are available for preorder now ahead of their February 17 release date.