The Galaxy S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra are here! They have the difficult task of succeeding the Galaxy S22, but also of showing all the know-how of the brand in the design of high-end smartphones. We present to you the new flagships of the Korean manufacturer, starting with the essentials: their technical characteristics.
Galaxy S23 8/128 GB at the best price Base price: €959
A very familiar design
With its Galaxy S23, Samsung is not revolutionizing the design of its phones. The Ultra model is almost identical to that of the S22 Ultra, with a few details. We note for example a slightly flatter screen to improve the grip, as well as a stylus (the S-Pen) whose shape has been redesigned, but which still fits in the smartphone.
The most important change is to be found on the side of the S23 and S23+. The latter trade their camera block against modules which are now directly integrated into the chassis of the phone. Samsung thus gives more coherence to its entire range in terms of design. The three models are available in the following colors: black, green, cream and lavender.
As we are entitled to expect on high-end smartphones, the manufacturing quality and finishes are impeccable. All three models benefit from IP68 certification for water and dust resistance, as well as Gorilla Glass Victus 2 glass protection to protect them from drops and scratches.
Always impressive screens
Unsurprisingly, the Galaxy S23 with its “small” diagonal of 6.1 inches is the most pleasant to handle. The S23+ and S23 Ultra, which are 6.6 and 6.8 inches respectively, offer more viewing comfort, but are less easy to handle with one hand and will not necessarily fit in all pockets.
The entire range benefits from a 120 Hz AMOLED screen with maximum brightness that can go up to 1750 cd / m2. The screen of the Galaxy S23 Ultra will be able to adapt its refresh rate between 1 and 120 Hz to consume less energy, where the S23 and S23 + will not be able to go below 48 Hz.
Samsung masters its subject and the screens are, once again, very pleasing to the eye. However, we remain a little unsatisfied insofar as Samsung could have pushed the sliders a little further. We think in particular of a higher maximum brightness which could have gone for that of the iPhone 14 Pro. Not offering the same screen refresh technology (LTPO 2.0) on all three models is also a bit petty at this price point.
What improvements to expect in the photo?
The Galaxy S have always been photo-oriented and this new range is no exception. Still, the changes are minor. Among the photo novelties, we note the presence of a “Dual Pixel” autofocus on all the camera modules of the S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra. A technology that improves focusing speed, particularly at night, for sharper shots.
The selfie camera, which increases to 12 megapixels on all three models, benefits from a new “night portrait” mode boosted with artificial intelligence for ever more flattering self-portraits.
The S23 and S23+ versions retain the same rear camera modules as the S22, namely: a 50 Mpx wide-angle, a 12 Mpx ultra-wide-angle and a 10 Mpx telephoto lens offering x3 optical zoom. Improvements are obviously to be expected on the side of software optimization, enabled by the new Snapdragon chip and image processing algorithms.
But Samsung has of course saved its best photo enhancements for its Galaxy S23 Ultra. Thus, the main 108 megapixel module of the S22 Ultra gives way to a 200 megapixel module which benefits from “Super Quad Pixel” and “Pixel Binning” technologies. These technologies allow up to sixteen adjacent pixels to be combined into a single large pixel to capture more light and produce higher quality images.
Concretely, you will be able to choose to take photos in 12.5, 50 or 200 megapixels, depending on whether you want to favor the sharpness of the image (sharpness) or the overall rendering.
The other camera modules of the Galaxy S23 Ultra are identical to those of the S22 Ultra, namely: an ultra-wide-angle of 12 MP, a telephoto lens of 10 MP for x3 optical zoom and another telephoto lens of 10 MP for optical zoom x10. The digital zoom up to x100 is always obviously always in the game.
If you are a fan of photo editing, you will also be pleased to learn that shots captured in 50 and 200 megapixels can now be exported in RAW format for uncompressed photos.
Finally, the Galaxy S23s are capable of filming up to [email protected]with stabilization and improved image processing to reduce digital noise and produce higher quality video.
The small hour of handling did not really allow us to test the Galaxy S23 camera, so we will have to wait for the full test to take the measure of the improvements made by Samsung.
Performance worthy of the best
On the performance side, Samsung is FINALLY abandoning its Exynos chips on the high end, which we have been dragging on the European market for years, for the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip.
A very powerful SoC that we have already had the opportunity to test and which should take the Galaxy S23 to a real milestone in terms of performance. In addition, Samsung announces that it has worked hand in hand with Qualcomm to offer an optimized version of the chip on its new phones.
The Galaxy S23s are not presented as gaming smartphones, but their performance should allow you to play all the most demanding Android games in excellent conditions. We can’t wait to be able to test all this in depth in our 01Lab.
Larger batteries and the same charging speeds
As for battery life, Samsung decided to keep the 5000 mAh battery on the Ultra model, but upgrade to 4700 mAh on the S23+ and 3900 mAh on the S23, which is 200 mAh more than the previous models. Samsung therefore seems to have heard the criticisms addressed to the autonomy of the S22.
On the other hand, still don’t expect any improvement in fast charging, which remains stuck at 25W on the Galaxy S23 and 45W on the S23+ and S23 Ultra. Like Apple and Google, Samsung does not seem determined to spend the second on this point.
Storage increases, prices too
Now let’s move on to the prices of the different configurations available for the Galaxy S23. Yes, Samsung generously increases the minimum storage capacity, but also takes the opportunity to increase its prices:
- Samsung Galaxy S23 :
- 8 + 128 GB: €959, compared to €859 for the S22 (+€100 / 10%)
- 8 + 256 GB: €1019, compared to €909 for the S22 (+€110 / 11%)
- Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus :
- 8 + 256 GB: €1,219, compared to €1,109 for the S22 Plus (+ €110 / 10%)
- 8 + 512 GB: €1339 (no equivalent version)
- Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra :
- 8 + 256 GB: €1,419, compared to €1,359 for the S22 Ultra (+ €60 / 4%)
- 12 + 512 GB: €1,599, compared to €1,459 for the S22 Ultra (+€140 / 10%)
- 12 + 1 TB: €1839, compared to €1659 for the S22 Ultra (+€180 / 11%)
For pre-orders, which will be open from February 1 to 16, Samsung is doubling the storage. So you can get the 256 GB version for the price of the 128 GB and the 512 GB for the price of the 256 GB, etc. The trade-in bonus of 150 euros for your old smartphone will also make it possible to lighten the bill a little if you wish to acquire a Galaxy S23.
We can’t say we were surprised by the Galaxy S23s which are content with incremental improvements over the S22 Ultra. Samsung’s new high-end smartphones still promise to be more efficient, more durable and better in photos, but to what extent? So many questions that will find answers in our complete test which should arrive very quickly on 01net.
Galaxy S23 Ultra 8/256 GB at the best price Base price: €1,419
