Samsung Galaxy S23: everything you need to know

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With February just around the corner, it’s time to turn our attention to Samsung’s outlook. The tech company is gearing up for its next Unpacked event on February 1, and the Galaxy S23 lineup should be the star of the show.

The Samsung Galaxy S22 lineup features some of our best phones of 2022. The basic S22 impressed as a more affordable option, the S22 Plus is an excellent all-rounder while the almighty S22 Ultra blew us away with its outstanding capabilities of the camera. We’ve even awarded CNET Editors’ Choice Plus and Ultra awards.

If Samsung maintains the pattern followed over the last three generations, we can expect to see a Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23 Plus and Galaxy S23 Ultra. We’ll probably know more on February 1, but here’s what we expect based on rumors, leaks, and previous Samsung product launches. As for what we want to see from the Galaxy S23 lineup, longer battery life and smarter camera features top my list.

Galaxy S23 release date

Samsung will likely announce the Galaxy S23 series during its upcoming Unpacked event on February 1, which will take place in San Francisco. The announcement of the event follows previous leaks, including this report from Korean newspaper JoongAng Daily, which suggests an early February launch for the Galaxy S23. A prominent January 6 leaker, Ice Universe, also claimed to be showing a Galaxy Unpacked teaser image with a February 1 date.

Whether the phones are available in stores for purchase that month is another matter, as global supply chains are still struggling and it’s possible there could be a longer than usual delay. But Samsung is already offering promotions for customers in the US who want to reserve a phone in advance. You’ll get $50 in Samsung credit if you sign up to reserve one device, or $100 if you ask to reserve two.

The S22 Ultra had some stiff competition this year, including Google’s Pixel 7 Pro.

Models and dimensions by Andrew Lanxon/CNET Galaxy S23

We strongly expect Samsung to continue its strategy of launching more phone models, each with different specifications and prices to appeal to a wide variety of people. Based on Samsung’s history, we’re confident we’ll see an entry level Galaxy S23 model, an enhanced S23 Plus with a larger screen, and the higher-end S23 Ultra. It’s the Ultra that will pack the best tech, including extra cameras, the biggest display, and almost certainly the S Pen stylus.

Samsung’s Unpacked event invite also includes what appears to be three spotlights, which could be a subtle nod to three upcoming new Galaxy models.

Samsung’s next Unpacked event will take place on February 1st. We expect to hear about the Galaxy S23 lineup.

SAMSUNG

Reputable leaker Ice Universe has posted a detailed rundown of the dimensions of the three upcoming phones (via GSM Arena), which puts them almost exactly in line with the current dimensions of the S22 range. Therefore, we don’t expect any notable differences in the screen size of any of the range compared to their predecessors.

Those were 6.1 inches for the Galaxy S22, 6.6 inches for the S22 Plus, and 6.8 inches for the S22 Ultra.

Galaxy S23 price

Assuming Samsung launches more models, the S23 range will have three main price points. We don’t expect Samsung to deviate from last year’s pricing. For reference, the base S22 launched with a price tag of $800, while the Plus model started at $1,000, and the high-performance S22 Ultra debuted at $1,200 in the US last February.

The S22 range is available in three sizes and we expect the S23 range to do the same.

Lisa Eadicicco/CNET Galaxy S23 cameras

It looks like the cameras could be one of the key areas of focus for the new series. This is likely to be especially true of the Ultra model, which is usually where Samsung’s biggest camera innovations are found.

We expected the S22 Ultra to include a massive 200-megapixel image sensor considering Samsung has launched two such image sensors and they can be found in other phones. We didn’t see this on the S22 Ultra, but it seems likely that a 200-megapixel sensor will be one of the S23 Ultra’s main bragging rights. Ice Universe also predicts that the Galaxy S23 Ultra will have a 200-megapixel sensor. Whether it’s the HP1 or HP3 sensor that the company already produces or a new variant made specifically for the phone remains to be seen.

In our tests, the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s camera performed very well compared to both the Pixel 7 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro.

Andrew Lanxon/CNET

Samsung’s product pages for these sensors boast improved resolution (obviously), but also better low-light photography by combining smaller pixel sets into larger single pixels that can capture more light. The S22 Ultra is already one of the best night camera phones, beating out the Pixel 7 Pro in our recent tests, so a further blast of its low-light prowess is exciting to hear.

That massive resolution will also help with the phone’s zoom capabilities, which are already impressive thanks to its 10x optical zoom lens. Recent rumors from Ice Universe suggest that the range of lenses will remain the same across all phones, but that extra resolution should help make zoomed shots even sharper.

There’s a chance we could also see a slight change in camera design, at least on the Galaxy S23 Plus and potentially the Galaxy S23. Rumors from reputable leakers Ice Universe and Steve Hemmerstoffer suggest the new devices could have circular cutouts for camera lenses that sit directly on the back of the device rather than on a camera module. The Galaxy S22 Ultra already has a camera like this, but Hemmerstoffer’s leak suggests this style could make its way to the Plus model as well.

Check out the photos of the Galaxy S22 Ultra alongside the Galaxy S22 Plus and Galaxy S22 below to see what I mean.

Galaxy S22 Ultra (left), Galaxy S22 Plus (middle) and Galaxy S22 (right)

Lisa Eadicicco/CNET Galaxy S23 battery, processor and other specs

The Galaxy S23 range will almost certainly use the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. In previous years, Samsung has used its own Exynos chips for its European models. But a recent Qualcomm earnings call suggested that Samsung will actually use Qualcomm’s silicon for every phone in the lineup.

As for other specs, we expect a minimum of 8GB of RAM on base models, with 12GB available on the S23 Ultra. Storage is likely to continue as high as 128GB, with higher capacity options available at higher price points. And no, we don’t expect a return of the microSD card slot to expand storage. Sad face.

Recent Federal Communications Commission certifications show that the base S23 will have a 3,900mAh battery, a step up from the base S23’s 3,700mAh, while the S23 Plus will also receive a battery bump to 4,700mAh. There’s no official figure yet for the Ultra model, but again Ice Universe suggests it will have the same 5,000mAh cell size as the S22 Ultra.

We’ll likely know more as we progress through January and get closer to the expected February launch date. But if the rumors prove to be accurate, the Galaxy S23 range will likely be a modest step up from the Galaxy S22 family.

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