Latest Galaxy S23 news
Introduction
The Galaxy S23 is the first entry-level flagship Samsung announced in 2023. The phone has a new design language that borrows from the 2022 Ultra model, a Snapdragon chipset everywhere, and new software to boot, featuring improvements and quality-of-life features over the original One UI 5.0.
Better mobile photography is also a part of the experience in 2023. And the phone seems to boast an even higher level of resilience than the 2022 model, thanks to Armor Aluminum and Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
Design
The new Galaxy flagship for 2023 has more or less the same design as the 2022 model, with one key exception: this year, there's no contour cut-out for the camera, and all three rear-facing sensors pop out of the back panel individually.
The Galaxy S23 has an Infinity-O display design for the selfie camera and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 screen protection. The device was announced in four color options: Phantom Black, Cream, Green, and Lavender.
The body is IP68-certified for dust and water resistance. It measures 146.3 x 70.9 x 7.6mm and weighs 168 grams. It's one of the lightest smartphones on the market.
Specifications
Samsung's new Galaxy S23 is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset globally. There's no more Exynos variant this time around, which means that every Galaxy S23 buyer gets the same experience, no matter where they are in the world.
The phone ships with 8GB of RAM and 128, 256, or 512GB of storage. The base model has UFS 3.1 storage, but the 256GB and 512GB variants take advantage of UFS 4.0.
Other specs include 5G, Wi-Fi 6e, Bluetooth 5.3, and a 3,900mAh battery with 25W charging capabilities.
Display
By today's standards, the Galaxy S23 is a fairly small flagship phone. The bezels are thin and the display has a 6.1-inch diagonal.
The panel is of the Dynamic AMOLED 2X variety and offers a refresh rate of 48-120Hz, with a 240Hz touch sampling rate in Game Mode.
The display got a brightness boost to 1,750 nits (peak), and color accuracy in highly-lit environments is controlled by Vision Booster technology.
Camera
The Galaxy S23 is equipped with three rear-facing cameras and a 12MP selfie sensor. The latter features an f/2.2 aperture and an 80-degrees FOV. The selfie camera takes advantage of Super HDR for video recording.
On the back of the phone, there's a 50MP primary camera with an f/1.8 aperture and an 85-degrees FOV, a 12MP ultra-wide camera (f/2.2 and 120-degrees FOV), and a 10MP telephoto camera with an f/2.4 aperture, 36-degrees FOV, and 3x optical zoom capabilities.
Software and Features
The Galaxy S23 runs Android 13 and One UI 5.1 at launch. The latter is an incremental update for One UI 5.0 and introduces a multitude of improvements and new features.
One UI 5.1 adds an Effects button for the selfie camera, a shared family album to the Gallery, improved search and the ability to change the location of screenshots and screen recordings via the Gallery app, improved handling (which automatically removes shadows and reflections from your photos to improve quality), and the ability to search for photos in the Gallery by tapping on people's faces.
Samsung DeX also got better split-screen and corner window snapping, and One UI 5.1 improves connectivity through Samsung Notes Collaboration, media output to Wi-Fi speakers, continuous online surfing on your connected PC, and the ability to use a Galaxy Book's mouse, keyboard, or trackpad to control your Galaxy smartphone.
The Galaxy S23 lineup is eligible for four major Android OS upgrades and five years of security updates. The first major update, which includes Android 14 and One UI 6, was released for the Galaxy S23, S23+, and S23 Ultra in late October, 2023.
Availability and Price
Samsung announced the base Galaxy S23 model for $799. The phone was introduced on February 1 and Samsung scheduled it for release on February 17.
