Samsung Galaxy S23 Series – Early Preview

So, with the Samsung Galaxy S23 series officially announced today and right now, we actually attended the hands-on session a couple of days ago so let me share all the essential info you need to decide whether it is worth your time and money to pick up the latest and greatest from the South Korea electronic giant.

So as usual, there are 3 versions – the base Galaxy S23, the expanded and enlarged Galaxy S23+, and the penultimate Galaxy S23 Ultra. Colorway choices for all of them are the Phantom Black, Lavender, Green, and Cream. But all of them are siding towards the muted gradient but they aren’t bad in general, since you can turn them into anything you like with a simple phone case. Exclusive colors will be able on the official website when the preorder starts with the Ultra getting 4 and the base and ‘+” receiving 2.

The final nail in the coffin in terms of the SoC for Exynos is in so only the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chips for everyone this time around. From what we tested, the performance is slightly better while temps are also in much greater control. And as always, 5 years of security updates and 4 generations of Android OS upgrades.

Design-wise, the base and plus models are following the steps of the Ultra as the camera cutouts are gone and the lenses just sitting there as bumpy circles. On the other hand, the Ultra is a little bit fat horizontally albeit just a few millimeters. The familiarity doesn’t stop there as the S Pen slot is still sitting at the bottom left corner.

The specifications between all 3 models are so similar we feel like it is okay to skip them for now. Heck, even the screen is the same – 120Hz, 1750nits max brightness, and the like. The sizes are identical as well so I assume they are using the same molds with the base coming in at 6.1-inch, Plus having 6.6-inch, and lastly the 6.8-inch for the Ultra (Albeit we can feel a little curvature at the edges). Protection is the latest Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 – the first phone in the market to host them.

Samsung also mentioned a couple of new display features where one of them being the new Advanced Vision Booster packing 3 levels of automatic color tone and contrast adjustment dynamically according to the environment while Enhanced Comfort further emphasizes lighter eye strain when using the device in the dark (But please avoid looking at your phone in complete darkness as much as you can).

Heavy phone users will also be glad to hear that the battery capacity is now 200mAh larger for the base and Plus yet the former is still stuck at just 3,900mAh which requires you to carry a power bank around if you wanna use it all day. Charging speed maintains at 25W for the base and 45W for the Plus and Ultra.

One of the key aspects we are looking out for is the back cameras because Samsung decided to just copy and paste the S22 specs over to the S23 for the base and Plus models but at least they promised optimized and improved digital processing for a better output result. But take it with a grain of salt as we need to test-drive them ourselves. The selfie cam is also interesting on its own as it is more powerful and allows for 4K60FPS recording from a selfie angle and that’s really useful for the “Instagrammers”.

But let’s shift the attention to the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s exclusive main sensor – the 200MP sensor with 16-to-1 pixel binning that creates a 12.5MP picture with OIS angle jacked up to a new high from ±1.5° to ±3° which means less shaky footage overall. Enhanced Autofocus is also the name of the game while 8K30FPS video recording is finally here. Also, there are things like Advanced Night videos, Astro Hyperlase, HDR Selfies, 360° audio recording, and more.

Oh yes, the professionals would like this one – the return of Expert RAW file output with the S23 Ultra supporting 50MP mode among other multi-exposure photography features.

Software-wise, they come with One  UI 5.1 which is the same as last year’s Galaxy Z Fold4. We’ve been informed of the following changes but there’s bound to be more:

• Bixby Routine moved under the ‘Modes and Routines’ tab
• Multiple widgets can be placed in the same location and scroll between them for access
• Apply videos as lock screen
• Lightly revamped Security and Privacy dashboard
• Good Lock
• S Pen enhancements – Write on screen and converted straight to text that works with more Google apps like Maps, Chrome, Gmail

As per tradition, a bunch of accessories is available but most of them are just older releases being moved to the S23 family including the silicone grip case that first debuted with the Galaxy Z Fold4 and the S22 Ultra’s Mamee Monster strap. But there’s one new case with a carabiner thing that can be rotated to become a kickstand or just act as grip support. For those who are prone to drop their phones regularly, the rugged case for the S23 Ultra is for you.

But, that’s not all – there is a rugged case for the S23 Ultra. Yes, rugged case. It adds a lot of bulk to the phone and it also has the same carabiner thing but a lot more… well, rugged. It has the same features too – hooping our finger through, rotating it 90 degrees to use it as a stand, all those stuff.

Price

As of the time of writing, we only knew about the existence of the 256GB models so the prices are listed down below.

• S23 256GB storage @ RM4,199
• S23+ 256GB storage @ RM4,699
• S23 Ultra 256GB storage at RM5,699

As for the important question of whether will they bring in the 128GB for the base and Plus model, that is still a mystery as of now but we can confirm one thing – 128GB S23 Ultra is non-existent so yeah.

Trade-in programs for them will be made available to help you clean house and slash off that daunting price tag a bit more.

What are your thoughts about the Samsung Galaxy S23 series? Let us know!