Samsung’s first major Unpacked event for 2023 came and went, and after what felt like years of talking about the Galaxy S23 series, it’s finally officially here. , spent a few days gathering some thoughts about them.
This is our hot take on the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+ and Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Galaxy S23 Ultra excels in all important ways
On paper, the Galaxy S23 Ultra isn’t a more impressive update than the Galaxy S22 Ultra. In fact, the Galaxy S23 Ultra looks a lot like its predecessor.
But it’s a far superior phone in features and refinement. Samsung flattened the side frames a bit. This goes a long way in making the S23 Ultra more comfortable to hold. Also, the edges of the display aren’t curved as much, which adds comfort and security to your hands.
Then there are the important changes under the hood. The new chipset improves performance while also improving battery efficiency. Sustained performance, in particular, should be a key area for improvement, with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2’s TSMC 4nm process known to significantly outperform 2022 processors in terms of heat.
Then there is the new camera. A sharper unit than its predecessor. It pulls out more detail from every light scene and is impressive.
The display and battery are technically the same, and that’s not bad either. Both will lead the industry in 2022 and still top in early 2023. The panel refreshes from as low as 24 Hz (but you can turn off the GPU to effectively 1 fps) to as high as 120 Hz. You can easily exceed 1000 nits if needed. 5,000mAh should last with his latest Snapdragon silicon.
Galaxy S23 and S23+ upgrade lackluster
The Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+, on the other hand, are less impressive. This pair added her 200mAh to each battery. It’s a welcome addition and a speed boost to his Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform for the same bespoke Galaxy as the Ultra. The two also share a new 12MP selfie camera with the Ultra, but that’s about it.
We were hoping that the ultra-wide camera would add autofocus and enable macro mode.
There are potential buyers for both new Galaxy S phones, but certainly not previous generation owners. Not enough incentive to upgrade unless there is a significant buyback promotion.
Samsung will have to decide what it wants from the smaller S model.
Which brings us to the fact that Samsung seems a little lost when it comes to non-Ultra S phones. Looking back at the Galaxy S22, Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S20, they lack direction. The Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S21 had 4,000mAh batteries and 6.2-inch displays, but the Galaxy S22 suddenly shrunk them to 3,700mAh and 6.1 inches. The Galaxy S20 he enjoyed a 1440×3200 pixel display, but until today it has been scaled down to 1080p from its successors. There was also the Galaxy S21’s move to a plastic rear panel that was undone with the S22.
The same is true for the Plus model. The Galaxy S20+ has a 6.7-inch 1440p display and a 4,500mAh battery, the S21+ has a 1080p resolution and a 4,800mAh battery, and the Galaxy S22+ has a 6.6-inch display and a 4,500mAh battery. Now the Galaxy S23+ has a battery up to 4,700mAh.
It’s a slightly winding road with ups and downs as well as sides. There are true fans of the smaller Galaxy S series phones, but Samsung seems to have trouble identifying their needs.
Samsung did an Apple S year upgrade thing
This is the first time Samsung has done an honest S-year upgrade that didn’t even make a noticeable design change. That’s not a bad thing per se. Change for change’s sake is not what anyone wants.
Samsung evolves, matures, and faces annual challenges full of economic and cultural challenges.
It won’t be the most exciting upgrade.
Snapdragon was the only correct choice
Going exclusively to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset makes a lot of sense and benefits end users. Qualcomm’s latest SoC is excellent, and Samsung seems to have understood that his Exynos in-house can’t compete on a consistent level.
Over the last few generations of flagship-level Exynos and Snapdragon, efficiency and thermal performance have slowly shifted in favor of Qualcomm.
A chipset is more than just core count, clock speed and thermal performance. AI, neural processing units, and most importantly, a built-in network modem that enables faster and better Wi-Fi, 4G and 5G. Qualcomm has an excellent offering for his 2023, and the Galaxy S23 lineup is well suited to using only the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. It also has the advantage of shipping updates for a single hardware configuration.
