So, what should we expect when the Samsung Galaxy S23 range arrives? Here’s all we know so far.
When will the Samsung Galaxy S23 be released?
Samsung has now officially revealed that it will hold its next Galaxy Unpacked event on 1 February, teasing the launch of a new Galaxy phone – so we’re pretty certain that this is when we’ll meet the S23 line. There’ll be a physical launch event in San Francisco, but most of us will be streaming the launch live on Samsung.com (and presumably on YouTube too), where it will kick off at 10am PT/1pm ET/6pm GMT. If you’re in the US and already know that you’re likely to pick one up, you can register on the Samsung site to reserve a phone, and in return receive $50 of Samsung online store credit. You can actually get an extra $50 of credit if you reserve the upcoming Galaxy Book laptop too, which will presumably be revealed at the same event. Meanwhile in the UK, you can register with Samsung to enter a prize draw for a chance to win a £1,000 Samsung store voucher – enough to get you a new phone outright. Usually these launches include the standard S model alongside the Plus and Ultra variants – these are the models we’ll focus on in this article. In 2020, Samsung introduced the FE (Fan Edition) models, which are essentially toned down versions of the standard S model. These have had a more sporadic release schedule, but always launch months after the other models. Since there’s been no sign of the Galaxy S22 FE yet, and some rumours say that it’s been cancelled, it’s also possible that there’ll be no S23 FE either.
How much will the Samsung Galaxy S23 cost?
With no official word from Samsung so far, we’ll need to look at a combination of leaks and the prices of the past few generations to get an idea of the pricing that may accompany the S23 release. First up, here’s how the regular models have lined up, starting with the most recent S22:
Samsung Galaxy S22 – $799/£769Samsung Galaxy S21 – $799/£769Samsung Galaxy S20 – $999/£899
Then there’s the Plus models:
Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus – $999/£949Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus – $999/£949Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus – $1,199/£999
And finally the Ultras, where we see a little more variation:
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra – $1,199/£1,149Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra – $1,299/£1,149Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra – $1,399/£1,199
So what are leakers expecting this year? RGcloudS has tweeted out pricing for the full range in the US, and isn’t expecting much to change – he nods to starting prices of $799, $999, and $1,249 respectively, which means a $50 hike for the Ultra but flat prices on the other two models. A leaked spec sheet from Verizon obtained by 9to5Google is even more optimistic, with the S23 Ultra pegged to also stay at its previous price, $1,199. There’s a chance that prices will change more outside the US though. One leaker has reported on Korean pricing allegedly sourced from carrier SKTelecom, which works out to the equivalent of a $50-130 price increase for each model compared to the S22 equivalents. Similarly, 9to5Google has reported on a likely increase of $100 per model in Australia. So we could see flat pricing in the US, but increases elsewhere. For more on getting your hands on the new smartphone range at launch, take a look at where to buy the Samsung Galaxy S23 range.
What features and specs will we see in the Samsung Galaxy S23?
With the launch of the S23 range still a little way off, we haven’t had any confirmation from Samsung on what the hardware will look like. Of course, this hasn’t stopped the rumour mill from reporting on leaks and news on what we may see.
Design
While last year Samsung kept the base model design the same while updating the Ultra, this year it seems to be doing the reverse – which handily brings all three phones back in sync. After months of relying on fan-made renders, multiple leakers have now revealed what they claim to be Samsung’s official high-res imagery of the three phones. The best of the bunch probably comes from evleaks, who dropped a huge thread of images on Twitter. Swipe through below to see the key images of the three models. While the S23 Ultra looks much like last year’s model (albeit with slightly larger lenses), the S23 and S23+ have changed much more. They now match the Ultra’s design with a simplifed camera module, now made up of three discrete circles with the flash alongside – RIP contour cut. If you want to check out more images, beyond the evleaks set there are similar shots available from WinFuture and Nieuwe Mobiel, so this design is all but confirmed. The leaks also include dimensions for the phones, which as you can see are incredibly similar to the previous generation – though by and large the phones are getting very slightly larger.
S22: 146.0×70.6×7.6mmS23: 146.3×70.9×7.6mm
S22+: 157.4×75.8×7.64mmS23+: 157.8×76.2×7.6mm
S22 Ultra: 163.3×77.9×8.9mmS23 Ultra: 163.4×78.1×8.9mm
The leaked renders also reveal the four default colours for the S23 range: black, beige, green, and purple. The only other thing to note here is that the Ultra’s S Pen no longer colour matches the phone, but instead seems to come in black regardless. Good news if none of those appeal though: Ross Young has since added that he’s heard of more colours – specifically for the Ultra – including Grey, Light Blue, Light Green, and Red. These will reportedly be “much lower volume,” so will probably be exclusive to Samsung’s own online store.
Core specs
Samsung usually fits its S-series devices with the latest processors, which in this case is likely to be the recently announced Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Traditionally Samsung has used Qualcomm chips in the US and some other territories, while Europe and India gets the Samsung’s own Exynos processors. This is apparently set to change this year though, with Qualcomm itself announcing that it’s struck a deal with the Korean giant that will see it supply Samsung with Snapdragon chips through 2030 including a “global share” for the S23. Prominent analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reports that the change comes because Samsung is not confident that its upcoming Exynos 2300 is sufficiently competitive with the 8 Gen 2, and presumably doesn’t want too great a performance disparity between different versions of the phone. An earlier report from RealmiCentral suggests that Samsung has decided to concentrate on building new bespoke processors for the Galaxy range, although these won’t be ready for a couple of years. The 8 Gen 2 has already been spotted in leaked Geekbench results in a Galaxy S23, S23+, and S23 Ultra, and the benchmark results so far look promising, though with pre-production hardware it’s too early to really assess performance. Interestingly, these benchmarks show a prime core clock speed of 3.36GHz, up from the 3.2GHz the chip is officially clocked at. This has led to speculation from leakers including Ice Universe that Samsung has access to an exclusive, faster version of the 8 Gen 2 that should give the S23 line a very slight performance edge over the competition, which 9to5Google has reported will officially be branded the ‘Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy’. As mentioned above all three S23 models have appeared on Geekbench, all with 8GB RAM. Ahmed Qwaider reports that the RAM will be Samsung’s new LPDDR5x RAM, which can handle 8.5Gbps transfer speeds – the fastest around on mobile right now – and adds that the Ultra model will also have a 12GB RAM option. There’s been more variation in reporting on storage. Leaker Yogesh Brar has predicted a choice between 128GB and 256GB storage for the regular S23, but Qwaider reports that all three models will start from 256GB storage, with the 128GB version now limited to “very few countries.” WinFuture has reported what seems to be most likely: that the S23 will come with 128GB and 256GB models while the S23+ will offer 256GB and 512GB. Most leaks now agree that the Ultra will offer 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB options. It’s also been reported by Korea’s ET News that Samsung will follow in the footsteps of Apple and Huawei by introducing satellite communications into the phone. As with those cases, this is likely to be limited to text messages and basic images, and probably reserved for emergency communications in cases where no regular phone signal is available, and will presumably be powered by the Snapdragon Satellite tech revealed recently by Qualcomm for the 8 Gen 2.
Display
We’ve already mentioned that according to leaks the three S23 phones are basically the same sizes as their predecessors. With that in mind, it should be no shock that the screens are apparently the same size too: 6.1in for the S23, 6.6in for the Plus, and 6.8in for the Ultra. The resolutions are apparently the same too: 2340×1080 for the S23 and S23+, and a more detailed 3088×1440 panel in the S23 Ultra. WinFuture’s spec sheet adds the unsurprisingly details that the S23 and S23+ will use AMOLED panels with 48-120Hz variable refresh rates, while the Ultra has a more dynamic 1-120Hz panel, all coated in the new Gorilla Glass Victus 2. Another Twitter leaker, RGcloudS, has claimed that the S23 Ultra specifically will use a bright panel, with over 2,000 nits of max brightness – well up from the 1,750 cap of the S22 Ultra. This has since been explicitly denied by other leakers though, and it’s possible the original source was confused by development on a prototype 2,000-nit display Samsung showed off at CES 2023. There’s also been some speculation about what might be underneath those screens. One Twitter tipster reports that Samsung may use Qualcomm’s 3D Sonic Max fingerprint sensor on the S23 Ultra. This scanner – already seen on the Vivo X80 Pro – is larger and faster than most rivals, making it easier to unlock a device because you don’t have to hit such a precise spot. It can also enable extra security options requiring two fingerprints to be presented simultaneously. That’s since been thrown into doubt by Ice Universe, who shared a photo of an S23 Ultra screen protector, revealing a fingerprint sensor area that’s no larger than before. Of course, that could be down to any one of a few factors, so doesn’t prove we won’t see the larger sensor used – but it does suggest as much.
Cameras
Cameras are another major selling point on Galaxy phones, and we’re pretty certain that this year’s headline change will be the introduction of a 200Mp sensor for the S23 Ultra’s main camera. In January 2023 Samsung officially unveiled the ISOCELL HP2 sensor, which we’re pretty confident will appear in the Ultra. Despite the name, this isn’t the second in its line, as Samsung has already launched three 200Mp sensors – the HP1, HP3, and HPX – which have been seen in phones including the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra, Xiaomi 12T Pro, and Redmi Note 12 Pro. This also isn’t the second-best sensor of the lot, and in fact it’s the most advanced. It features a large 1/1.3in sensor, enhanced HDR, improved low-light focussing, and Tetra2pixel technology that allows the phone to pixel-bin to different levels depending on lighting Leaker Ice Universe has shared what he claims are images taken with the S23 Ultra 200Mp camera, which he says is set at an aperture of f/1.7. You can see one on the left below, compared with a shot from the S22 Ultra on the right – both images cropped to magnify 16x, with no AI image enhancement features enabled. Check out another sample comparison over at GSMArena. Beyond the main camera, we’ve heard that the S23 Ultra will use the exact same ultrawide, 3x zoom, and 10x zoom camera hardware as its predecessor (meaning 10Mp for the two telephotos, and 12Mp for the ultrawide), though IceUniverse says that thanks to computational changes we’ll still see an “obvious” improvement in camera quality, especially from the telephoto. He also thinks that the phone’s night photos are “very strong and much better than S22 Ultra’s,” later calling them “night vision,” adding to the sense that Samsung’s emphasis right now is on algorithmic updates. The Ultra will also move to a 12Mp selfie camera – though that’s seemingly a downgrade from the 40Mp sensor used previously. Of course, resolution isn’t everything, so the Ultra could still be getting improved selfie quality even with the drop in Mp count, but Samsung may have some work convincing fans of that. There should also be changes to the regular S23 and S23+ cameras, though they’ll be less drastic, with Samsung sticking with the same 50+12+10Mp configuration (main, ultrawide, telephoto) as on last year’s phones. That will mean a 3x telephoto, and OIS only on the main lens. There should also be a jump to new 12Mp selfie cameras on the S23 and S23+, a change from the 10Mp units it’s used since the Galaxy S10.
Battery and charging
Of course, all of those pixels and processors are going to require a fair bit of power, and fortunately for the most part we’re getting increases – albeit small ones – from last year’s battery capacities. WinFuture’s spec sheet matches earlier leaks, revealing that the S23 with have a 3900mAh capacity (up from 3700mAh) while the S23+ offers 4700mAh (up from 4500mAh). Meanwhile Ice Universe and Galaxy Club both predict a 5000mAh cell for the Ultra, matching last year’s exactly. As for charging, the S23 is set to 25W wired, with Ice Universe adding that both the Plus and Ultra will use faster 45W wired speeds. Wireless charging will also return, though sticking with relatively slow 10W speeds. Although battery capacity is only increasing slightly (and not at all for the Ultra), battery life may still be better thanks to the introduction of a ‘Light’ power mode. Introduced in the company’s Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 foldables, this mode lowers performance slightly to prioritise battery life and cooling efficiency, and tipster Ice Universe says it’s making the jump to the S23 too. So far, that’s all the news and rumours we’ve found around the Samsung Galaxy S23. Of course, we’ll continue to update this article as more information comes to light, so be sure to check back regularly. If you can’t wait until the S23 release date to replace your existing device, check out our best Samsung Galaxy S22 deals roundup to see if you can pick up a bargain. Tech Advisor’s Deputy Editor, Dom covers everything that runs on electricity, from phones and laptops to wearables, audio, gaming, smart home, and streaming - plus he’s a regular fixture on the Tech Advisor YouTube channel.
